Choppa

Have you called Lotusbits to see what they have on their shelves?

IMO that or a slight drop in oil viscosity won't have caused your problems, my bet is that all the wear you can see now was caused when you first fired up the engine and it ran for however long with zero oil pressure, and you've been "lucky" that it's run for a few months and a few hundred miles before the follower gave up. As an illustration on how resilient an engine can be to fuel contamination, many moons ago I drove a Lancia Beta Coupe. It had a mechanical fuel pump probably driven off the camshaft but I can't really remember how it worked now. Anyway the diaphragm in the pump failed while the car was on my drive and just ticking over. The pump failed in such a way that the sump filled up with fuel and spray coated the engine compartment with an oil/fuel mixture. When I lifted the bonnet to see what was going on (the engine had stopped!) the mixture was coming out of the dip stick pipe just like a small fountain in a garden pond. On checking, there was absolutely no damage to crank or cam shaft, I just cleaned it all down replaced the fuel pump and drove it around for a couple more years before the rot killed it. Also agree with Steve that the head did look very sooty for something that had only done a few hundred miles

I've found that applying a thin layer of petroleum jelly over the surface of the rubber weather shield where it meets the glass helps reduce that noise. I also put a little on the rubber bump stop on the latches and the metal tongues as well which also seems to help.

I've been talking with Duncan at Classic Car LEDs these last few days. He's a really helpful chap. I want to get replacement LED bulbs that have a similar colour temperature to standard halogen bulbs (around 3000k apparently). They currently don't have any "warm white" 3000k H1 bulbs in stock. They'll get more in late February. They do however have the 3000k H4 bulbs. If you wanted to go with the ice white 6500k bulbs I think they have both H1 and H4 bulbs in stock.

This is what to look for!!

I believe that the top plate on the Dellorto has a small hole that vents to air. If fuel is being pushed past the needle valves when the ignition is on but the engine is not running, at some point the air space above the float chamber will fill up and fuel will leak through that small hole, into the trumpet, onto the air filter, and then past that and down onto the distributor. I've experience this exact problem which was cured by fitting a new set of vitron tipped needle valves. @Sparkywill probably remember seeing the problem first hand and helping to fit the replacement needle valves at the time. If you are not seeing fuel being pushed past the needle valve as I describe I'd suggest Eurocarb did an OK job on that section of your carbs. It is also my firm belief that a significant proportion of the engine fires that have happened to owners over the years have been caused by failing float chamber needle valves rather than failed fuel pipes.

Do take care when placing those skis on that lovely paint work. The edges, even an old set of skis like those, could still be sharp enough to scratch the paintwork, and if you've taken then to have the edges sharpened......

Are the bearings on the gear change relay pivot worn? That could possibly affect movement in the front to back plane of the gear lever and maybe that's why its jumping out of gear This thing https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/A082F4050K.htm There are two different versions of these pivots this link is to the one for the older gearbox, the later boxes use a pivot with a 1:1 ratio

Two thoughts on your temperature calibration conundrum. I've always believed the temp gauge to be indicative at best, slightly better in that regard than the Veglia gauge (!) but a little non linear around the 90 mark. Hence with mine which has an 82c thermostat, at normal running temp the needle is just short of touching the edge of the 9 if that makes sense. In my head I've always translated the mark to the left of 90 as a reading of 70c and to the right as a reading of 110c, other owners may have different values in mind. Also worth bearing in mind when you are calibrating your gauge that with the radiator cap on engine running etc the cooling system gets pressurized. So for example at 15 psi water boils at 121c so you probably don't really want the gauge range to max out when the coolant gets to 100c.

If you had x-ray eyes you'd likely find the chassis number engraved on the chassis just about underneath the brake servo. Engine number will be stamped on the engine casting(!) and the gears box will also have a Cxxx number stamped on it, upper surface LHS near when it meets the bell housing, probably covered in years of oil and grime

Looks great! Love the body coloured engine cover, not so sure about the toggle switches in the reworked dash, but hey, it's yours and will look fab when it's on the road in August!

On the S3 the binnacle stays where it is bolted and the three sections that comprise the dash unscrew from in front of you as you sit in the drivers seat. Screws for the side sections come out from underneath the pod, screws for the central panel are in the corners and a couple hidden under the dimmer knobs. Take great care when removing the plastic surround that goes over the speedo and rev counter as it will have probably been (or become) stuck on the upper edge where it touches the underside of the binnacle and the plastic will be very brittle. Once this is off you'll be able to undo the metal plate that holds the central dials and shift it around so you can get to the bulbs that need replacing. The LHS and RHS sections can be moved once the screws have been removed from underneath. The lower edge of this central plate isn't particularly smooth so use something to protect the leather when you are moving it around. Also it might be the perfect time to replace the bulbs for all your gauges with green LEDS, they are much brighter than the filament bulbs, but they don't dim, unless there are dimmable ones on the market these days.

Might also be worth checking on the float valves in the carbs, to see if they are set to the right height and that the needle valves are in good condition and working as they should. If they need replacing get the ones with Vitron tips from somewhere like Eurocarbs.

Just been released after a week in hospital being treated for an inflamed gall bladder and a septicemia that came as part of the package! My problem was with "sludge" blocking things up rather than a gall stone. At its peak in the ambulance on the way to A&E the pain was indescribable, but I can attest to the effectiveness of morphine as a pain killer, the AMG (!) cocktail of antibiotics they gave me, and the quality of care available on the NHS. Still have a drain in the gall bladder waiting for them to do some tests to see if it's going to drain normally when/if the tube comes out, and if they intend to take the gall bladder out. Amazed that they regularly remove them as a day patient using keyhole surgery, which is the likely scenario for me I expect.

Very interested to hear your verdict on the beam from your LED headlamp conversion once it's on the road again.