soldave

I've just gone through a UJ replacement at the back and I went for the non-serviceable Spicer heavy duty ones. Have heard them mentioned in discussions before but don't think they've been tested, long term. It's an option if you're don't get Lotus Bits ones.

Completely understand that. If it ain't broke, upgrade it anyway!

Incidentally Charlie, what coolant temperatures are you seeing when driving and idling? Mine stay just about centre (90C) once warmed up and I've got the fan on constantly on a manual switch. Only got one fan working though - might add it to my winter list of things to do with the Eclat while she's down.

Relevant to my interests.

If you do get a new radiator, I always recommend Winner Racing. They're a Ebay-based company from China so you might be sceptical initially (as was I). I had a custom sized radiator made to fit in my drag Evo and they made it exactly to spec. Inlet and outlet right where I wanted it, good quality welds and had no complaints at all. Just an option for you

Yeah, that carb spitting fuel is one of the main reasons against having no sort of filter. Even a K&N filter over each carb would help with that somewhat.

It's a good point you make, Mark. And it's one that is mentioned in the "How to Build and Power Tune Weber and Dellorto DCOE and DHLA Carburettors" book. I would probably say that if you're going to be driving in dusty conditions then you should be using some sort of filter (even the socks would help). Now from a power point of view, it's something I've discussed with one of the best tuning guys I know back in Japan. He's said that he's all for putting gauze in front instead of full on filters for power. It's something I want to look at after the winter when I put my car on a dyno. Also sounds much nicer without the stock air box, in my opinion.

Door cards looking very classy. Impressive

Aaaannnnddddd we're back on the road again! http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/75293-vibration-on-right-turns/#entry591115

The Lotus lives! Took a day off work today, got everything fitted and quite impressively nothing has fallen on while on a 10 minute test drive. Had the Gaz shocks initially set to about 13 clicks from their softest setting, but found that a bit hard for roads around here so have dialled it back to 10 clicks which feels quite a bit better. So now to enjoy the car for a little. And then I have to think about oiling the trunions at the front, greasing the u-joints on the prop shaft ad infinitum... Might leave some of that until the winter though - the car is going off the road from October when insurance and MOT runs out, and will come back in the Spring. No reason at all to be driving on wet, icy roads during the winter. Dat gap tho

Did you have 2 nuts on the top, or just the one nyloc nut? Also, how right did you tighten that top nut?

Here are the pictures of the top of the shock.

Good spot, Dunc. What I found was that the new stud from SJ was longer than the ones on my car by about 1cm, with one end having more thread on it than the other. it's sticking out a bit more near the yellow arrow as I positioned it so the smooth part of the stud was over the pivot points. Hope that makes sense to you as it sounds like an awful sentence as I read it back!

There's just one nut at the top but it's a nyloc one. I guess I'm just worried about doing it too tight and breaking a thread, or not tight enough and it bouncing off! And I will take photos tonight, but there is a rubber above the bumpstop and two metal discs. I know it doesn't look like it from that shot. One thing I also noticed (and this may be because I'm not at ride height) is that the shock isn't bang in the middle of the spring. It's not fouling right now, but is not centred.

Shocks came in and the passenger side fitted nicely. Only question I have right now is how tight the top nut should be. The FSM states: Ensure nut is nipped down to shoulder on stem. But how tight is "nipped down" supposed to be? I'm just worried that I've cranked it down too much (or not enough). Anyway, it's looking like this right now. Not long to go now I hope.

Passenger side of the car is back together, minus the shock which should come in tomorrow. The new stiff poly bushes made sliding studs etc into place much more difficult - brought back memories of grazed knuckles when I put Ralliart bushes into my Mitsubishi Evo. Managed it in the end though. I did notice the lower link was a little stiffer once the stud was through it and tightened up, although with the weight of the hub carrier was letting it move up and down. That shim on the other side between diff carrier and link might have to be shaved down a mm or 2. It was a little thicker than the one I've fitted, and that one that's on there needed a lot of effort to get on. Hopefully this week I can get everything finished up and back on the road.

Great success! The Ebay one came today and after chucking some grease in with the bearing, it slotted in perfectly. So right now it looks a good bet if you want to save a few pounds.

Thanks Dan. I had spotted those. Have you noticed any difference with those on the car, or were they done at the same time as other work?

Thanks for the thoughts Dunc. Can't budget for it now but will keep an eye on things and know where to look if it does feel strange.

Thanks. The shafts will stay as they are. I'm considering having the radius arms media blasted and powder coated though.

And yet another item to add to the shopping list. Was cleaning up the threads on some of the aforementioned studs today when I saw the thread on one of them looking like below. Am wondering if it compressed the stud when I was wailing on it with a hammer trying to free it. Either way, another one is going to have to be ordered, and typically it's the diff carrier stud which costs around 30 quid.

I've heard that similar train of thought too. Right, so a combination of copper grease, LM grease, elbow grease and vaseline to make things super lubricated ;-)

Thanks for the thoughts. My only thought going the other way is that if I drill holes in the hub carriers for a grease nipple, then it's much easier for me to pump LM grease in.

Got my suspension apart and over the next few days will be putting studs back in to diff carriers and hub carriers, and everything together. Should I be using copper grease on the studs as well as threads, or Castrol LM grease on the studs/diff carriers/hub carriers themselves with copper grease solely on the threads? I'm guessing the latter but just want some confirmation.

Thanks Tom. Have ordered the eBay one so will report how it turns out