unity1

Smitten for life indeed. ... I've had Loti for 14 years now. I had a period of little use and storage due to work time and sproglets. However before then I warmed her boots several times a week.

Nice to see the project is still going strong Mike.

I didn't know that about the filler flap and agree it looks much better with the rounded back edge to mirror the air scoop. If I had I would have replicated it when I modified my car.

I wouldn't worry about it. Most of us can only hope for a 9" chopper on a good day..

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/gallery/image/4283-unity1-esprit-2015/ Others can be found here https://photos.google.com/u/0/album/AF1QipMIKkD-1SEbQWLP9ewpC2M9m2XA5uRerF0X_Cn6

There have been a few over the years. My other half loves the car but not driving it. Not exclusively male only but then not far from it.

Unfortunately not at least in the practice sense.. If you were to remove the roof panel and have the top of your head sticking out the sun roof may be if your height is more back than leg bias.

As a follow up I replaced the vapour with 4mm ID fuel line. OD was near identical to the original clear hose. Replacing the lot didn't take much more than 40 mins.

Good news is I solved the issue over the weekend and it looks like the pump is fine. I used the carb tune tester to check the vacuum by connecting it directly to the larger bore plastic pipe over the RH fuel tank. The noise stopped instantly and the guage was off the scale. I got a length of 4mm fuel pipe, soften then end with a bit of hammer bashing to push it onto the plastic pipe by about 15mm. Was cut and the other end is a good straight fit to the T connector. The sound has now completely gone, the brake warning light operates as expected and significantly less leg pressure is required to stop If I listen around the engine bay I can still hear a very slight sucking sound. I'm not sure if I'm currently being overly critical and just listening for it or I've still got a slight seal issue somewhere. The downside is with all the poking around I've also broken both the clear fuel vapour pipes that run around the tailgate although to be fair they do perish anyway. The 4mm fuel pipe I had left from the vacuum pipe fix looks to be a good replacement (6mm is to big but cannot get 5mm fuel pipe) so I'll intend on picking some up later. At least they wont perish with the fuel vapours in the future.

I only got to have a brief look at this last night. Investigation of the vacuum pipes did show that the three prong connector on top of the RH tank had separated. I could not follow them in total but suspect the larger diameter had plastic pipe links to the vac pump with a reducer rubber end that connects to the white 'T'. The rubber end crumbled when I tried the refit it. I lashed it with some tape. Its not air tight as I can hear slight sucking. The brake light is now working as expected although the noise still exists. I not driven it yet to see if the braking is any different. Do you know if we can purchase the end rubber connector on its own. I could probably come up with something using a small length of pipe and a jubilee clip if not. Would you expect to still have the vac pump noise even though the seal is obviously good enough to solve the brake issue or suspect the pump will need replacing anyway. I've already found your previous post to bibs about a third part vac pump from the US via ebay. I can go down that route although not a job I would want to attempt until I can get the car back in the new garage (Still about 2-3 weeks away).

That is exactly the sound and general location. I'm well out of practice as I didn't link the two faults together I really would not be surprised if I have a leaking / cracked hose. I've already replaced the fuel line as it was as hard as rock. Its also possible I connected up the vacuum pipes incorrectly or are not making a good seal especially on the push fits as I had to remove them to refit the distributor. I won't have a chance to look at it until Wednesday evening but I think you got it, Thanks.

I've had my car off the road and stored for several years essentially due to kids and a faulty dizzy pickup wire. Its now back on the road again largely without issues (two actually so far). One thing I do have is a what could be described as a rubbing or small blowing coming from the flywheel, clutch, release bearing region, more release bearing. Symptoms are: 1. Rubbing sound is linked to revs and most prominent at tick over. 2. Dipping the clutch has no effect. 3. Gear changes and clutch operation as normal. 4. No whine etc from gear box that I can tell when engauged. 4. I've had not checked the gearbox fluid or changed it yet. Tried last nigh but the filler plug is absolutely jammed fast and despite several squirts of WD would only end up rounding it with a 10mm spanner so ordered a 10m square socket. Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing the sound. Its does not appear to be affecting the drive although any rubbing is likely to lead to some failure eventually. I'm considering squirting some WD down the clutch release arm in case it is the bearing just to see if the sound changes. If I don't use much hopefully any on the clutch would just burn off. The second is to do with the brake warning light. It seems to stay on and go out with higher revs. The breaks themselves seem ok with no sign of fluid leaks, The fluid is topped up, no air or sponging, Sensor float checks out and although the electrical contacts to the float are a little corroded a connection is being made. regardless of engine revs if the handbrake is pulled on the light stays on as expected. If I completely disconnect the float wires the the light behaves the same !! I tend to think its purely electrical but cannot quiet put my finger on it. I did have to remove the boot floor and all connections to replace the dizzy so it is very possible I've missed something there. S.Wright (aka Unity1, Drive with a smile)

MOT passed, taxed and now fully road legal.