HKM400

Well, after the worst week of my life last week (will spare the bastard details) Decided to take the car around the block for the first time- with mixed results. Tuning needs a serious check because it's misfiring all over the place and running super rich- still getting serious flames out the trumpets when it does misfire. Before I took it out I topped up the fluids, turns out when welding on a bracket for the handbrake cable and rod the weld has penetrated the diff case... so I left a nice line of oil from home around the block and back- least I could follow it to find my way home. Got to the bottom of the driveway and it was missing so badly I had to tow it up the driveway... hmmm, not how I had planned that drive to go but never mind. At least it goes and it was a bit of light relief until all went wrong haha- that is the life we live with these old cars I suppose. Need to tighten everything down, rattles like hell. Sorry no photos, new phone camera is too shitty anyway. Short of welding the hole in the diff up properly, any chance I can just bog it with silicone for the time being? http://oldschool.co....tus-7-series-3/

Yes I think if I turned it over I would be long gone. Provides incentive to not push quite as hard... ha. Did drive it the other day for the first time, running like a bag of shit but still took it around the block, needs some serious tuning which will be beyond my expertise.

Roll bar was built to fit me with a helmet on.. is more for looks than safety however. Will look better once the windscreen is on!

Evening, Had some time this afternoon to bleed up the clutch and indeed there was some air in there, so now the pedal certainly feels better. Also removed the shift remote as it is really tricky to locate the moving parts on the remote into the selector rods... sure enough that was causing the backwards only issue. Did take me about 3 goes to get them in the correct location which involved cursing and some blood. Upshot of all that is... look which way it's facing in the other garage... And no I didn't push it... Photo of offending article And some flamethrower action whilst not in use So now it goes forwards... I feel a trip around the block is in order... Discussion if desired... http://oldschool.co....tus-7-series-3/

Will give that a go tomorrow, I think being that this is the first time it's been bled there is bound to be some air remaining. Yep got oil in the box and the shift remote is locked down. Hopefully your trick works! Cheers

If anyone can think of why I can't select gears easily please feel free to comment- I have a feeling it's a bleeding issue as one of the joins wasn't fully tightened so I suspect there is a bit of air in the system- may not be getting enough fluid to the slave- insufficient pushing power... otherwise I'll have to do some pedal adjustment... hmmmm

Well well well, three holes in the ground. Today one green beast towed the other green beast home- decided against driving it home as it is way too low for our lovely roads and I can't find my C Spanners... Got it unloaded and prepared myself for the first ever drive... however there were a few issues. My mechanic has told me the carb needs some fine tuning or possibly re jetting as currently it is a 1.6L flame thrower... which is nice but I feel the novelty will wear off once I burn through the filters. The clutch does work however I need to adjust it more, I can only select reverse easily for some reason, forward gears you would need a hammer to get the selector into 1st or second... Oh bother. All in all though my first drive of the car- albeit backwards was a lot of fun. Imagine how good it will be going forwards! Another interesting point is driving something with an engine designed to power a car nearly 3 times the weight, its a matter of letting the clutch out and off it goes... backwards. Sitting in the driveway after its maiden backward voyage... Any comments to add please feel free. Cheers http://oldschool.co....tus-7-series-3/

Cheers for the info, presumably because the car was in at my mechanics for a safety check, few other bits and to tell me what I need in order to comply for WOF- driving it home could be acceptable in those circumstances? I need to get it home to make the changes required, but could equally tow it home on a rope or trailer with little attention from them. Could go either way I guess in the eyes of the cops...

Evening all, A brief update. Car was meant to be coming home today but due to several factors- (me being Nigel no mates at the moment) meant I couldn't tow the car home on a rope, and the starter didn't come back from the sparky in time. Such is life. Anyway it will be coming home Tuesday with a functioning clutch, throttle and brakes. Anyone know the legalities of driving a car home with a reg on hold but no wof? I am technically pursuing compliance and the car is safe and road worthy bar a windscreen, wipers and speedo cable among other little bits and pieces, only issue is that if I get rolled I'm unsure about getting the car up to scratch within the 28 days notice I will more than likely receive...hard to pinky a car without a windscreen to stick it to. Anyway, bit gutted as today was meant to be the first drive ever. Guess i've waited 4 years, another 3 days won't hurt. Advice on the driving home legalities/ any other comments welcomed: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of. Getting a bit machined from one piece- no welds so theoretically no death. Will be cheaper too.

Been a while, Small update, no pictures sorry, bit shit but it is what it is. Clutch issue has been remedied by some cunning mechanical witchcraft- (naturally it wasn't me that solved it). So I now should theoretically be able to select gears, which is nice than sitting in it and pretending. Had a few points brought up though which are both poignant and demoralizing at the same time, should have really known they were coming. The starter I bought off trademe which was marketed as a direct higher torque replacement for the standard ford unit is not the right sort, and as I heard earlier the engagement is pretty shithouse crunching cornflakes type deal without the delicious element. Of course the old unit is long gone- I know, should have checked, don't throw anything out until the bastard goes ra ra ra. I've kicked myself already and I'm sure there will be many with their faces in their palms. Governor Sam have a spare 1600 starter lying about? Other issue is that I was hoping to not have to get cert but as some of the steering components have been modified, as such for WOF they really should be crack tested- mega dollars potentially. Solution that has been offered is to engineer up some whole components without the need for welding or looking dodgy for a fraction of the cost- and no need for cert. Needless to say I'm going down that route. Love paying for shit twice to get it right... So a mixed bag of good and bad, hopefully it'll move under power in the next week or so. Could really use that to liven up the excitement about it again. Discussion, consolation, abuse for throwing away bits... //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

Quick update, been wiring lights up tonight. Needs to be done at some point- thought it might be a nice relaxing job to do this evening... HA. Got it done in the end though with much swearing and confusion. Amazing how in dim light green can look like black and your earth disappears- all results in the park lights flashing instead of the indicators... not ideal. Half the problems occurred due to me being an idiot and buying shit connectors- majority of them pulled straight off in my attempts to diagnose the earth issues- you get what you pay for I guess. Bloody fibreglass cars... My little box of hateful shite Rears working I do have it on stands by the way, not just sitting on the jack... Connectors do the job though. Tried to keep the wiring as tidy as possible- not a fan of having wires hanging all over the show but I will have to address this later once I fit the stop light switch in the brake pedal. Thursday this week I'm taking the car to my mechanic to give it a check over, sort my clutch issues out, throttle cable and speedo cable in and bleed everything up. He can also tell me what is missing for WOF so I can address those issues and hopefully soon be driving it. Still on the hunt for someone to make a windscreen- McGregor Motorsport seem to be a no go... Discussion is welcomed: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/ Cheers

He did indeed, really good service. He got it to the point where you can plug it all together and fill the resivour with fluid for bleeding.

All hard lines from the masters to the wheels, including flexibles, also did the clutch and bent the fuel line away from the exhaust manifold which was a good move. All up it was $500 bucks but money well spent I would say. Cheers

Due to buying a new daily driver I have been somewhat distracted with turbo noises, I digress This update will probably bring me to where I'm at presently with the car: Mounted the battery, it's from a motorbike which is pretty cool- more than enough cranking power for my psychotic starter motor. Mounted the other electrical bits and pieces, bit of a mess currently but I will tidy once I know everything works as it should. I also got the brake lines in- had a mobile guy come up and run them which was very reasonably priced and he did an awesome job. Brakes, not something I mind spending money on... Haven't bled the system yet as the front brakes need some adjustment on their mounts to get the rotor running properly between the pads- very fiddly and hard to get motivated for such a job- but it will be done soon. I want to drive it so badly! Mounted the rear panel, glue and riveted into place, looks pretty good. Aero style filler cap looks awesome, well worth the money. Couple of enamel Lotus badges from Ebay... All guards on, and exhaust in place Shift remote on aswell, I've got a tunnel and handbrake ready to slot in but will need to be adjusted so leaving off for now What the car looks like presently, all guards on, headlamps in and nosecone on. Bought some Land Rover Series/Defender indicator units as well- look like original parts from lotus and they fit really well on the guard brackets. It's been like this a few weeks now as I don't really know which direction to go next... lots of fiddly little jobs to do which all hold it back. Biggest issue currently could be that the clutch fork can't actuate far enough to move the release bearing... but luckily a mechanic I know had a lotus in his workshop with the same problem and rectified it by fitting a different pressure plate and clutch cover. Fingers crossed it will work for me as well. I guess I should bleed the clutch up and try engage a gear but I don't have high hopes... If that doesn't work there is always the option of a grinder and some repainting... Things left to do: Windscreen Bonnet- probably get it rolled by the same guys who did the body panels Interior Bleed and adjust brakes, fit handbrake Wheel alignment/set up suspension for our delightful Christchurch roads... which will assist with undoing the alignment Troubleshoot and fix the clutch I will probably get my mechanic to fix the clutch and do an overall check to make sure everything is as it should be... Don't want anything coming off! WOF Super happy days. 6 lines of things left to do, down from about 6,000,000. Still a fair way to go though- will I ever finish the bastard? Discussion if anyone wants to, I really appreciate comments and feedback. Also provides motivation to finish it: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/ Cheers

Yes I agree rookie, Another opinion has been that it was modeled on a real one and self fabricated with some changes from original. The dimensions are almost identical when compared to a genuine series 2 which was recently sold by one of the guys at mcgregor's. Way I see it is same fun for a fraction of the price!

Yes they're they guys that did the chassis work, however I think they may have downsized and moved from their shop and are focusing on racecar prep now...

Been a bit slack recently, due to no internet access and insufficient time, anyway: I took a break from fitting the fibreglass panels to focus on getting the engine running, as it has been ready to go for about 2 years but only ever turned it over by hand to keep the oil rolling around and everything nice and fresh. I chucked the loom at it with the hope that everything would work, the old one was so rat chewed that it wasn't worth salvaging so I purchased one from the guys who fixed the chassis. Mounted it on the vertical part of the scuttle panel, it's strong and will provide good access. At this point, after threading everything through I ran out of talent, so contacted GovernorSam to come work his magical electrical witchcraft and he had it wired up ready to run in no time. Only problem was I replaced the standard starter motor- which was a bit rooted, for a new high torque job. Seemed like a good idea until we turned the key, if you want to replicate the sound, go chuck a handful of nails in your food blender. So the pinion didn't match the ring gear- I know, stupid move not checking. So that had to be changed. Engine out, again. Bother... After a few weeks it was sorted thanks to a lovely chap at transgear and the engine went back in again, thanks to my mates Rowan and Chris, fingers crossed for take two. Naturally there were more problems, one of which was that the fuel wasn't getting to the carb at a high enough rate so had to change the regulator a bit, and also put a load of fuel in the tank because the pickup was starved... even though I put about 5L in... Chris will never let me forget that simple suggestion which turned out to be the problem. Anyway all things sorted out and the engine runs, I would try upload a video of it running (I have one) but due to me being a bit shit with video editing software and the file being too large I am unable to do so, sounds sweet though. New starter could probably turn the whole bloody car over, lots of power. That's all for now, Discussion is welcomed, and if anyone can recommend someone to make up a windscreen frame in Christchurch let me know, scratching my head on that one currently. http://oldschool.co....tus-7-series-3/ Cheers

Yep you're right, Steel Bros only did Series 4's. Mine is a Series 3 in terms of shape and style, still no idea if it's real or not though! Cheers for the comments guys

Evening, again at a loose end so time to grab a beer and get updating. Been a bit slack recently on the car for several reasons, one of which is having the motivation and getting swamped with what to do next, so will catch up to where I'm at currently very soon I suspect. Anyways a while ago I fitted the exhaust after a coat or two of heatproof paint, was exhausted after that job... Sorry, couldn't help myself For wof reasons (I'm guessing they won't be so happy with the potential of burning passengers legs off) I will have to roll up a heat shield to keep ones legs barbecue free. Other than that I tidied things up, cleaned up the brake calipers and shift remote- which is a pretty awesome piece of kit considering a brand new one now costs mega dollars... I thought about moving to vented discs from a capri 2.8 but the calipers are not the type that have readily available spacer kits, plus the front end has such good airflow anyway I don't think they will overheat unless i'm a bastard to them on a track. So the front brakes were sorted, the rears were a bit more of a pain in the arse, the diff has in a previous life been shortened to fit the car correctly, as such it was cobbled together from all sorts which made finding the right back plates and drums a right mission. Luckily I sent off some photos to a wrecker and they identified them from a mk1 cortina, picked them up After some scrubbing and cleaning they came up like new, I also got a whole bunch of shoes included, which is good because safe r brakes were really low on mk1 shoes. I swapped a few pairs to them and they did me an awesome deal on some green stuffs. If anyone is looking for shoes safe r brakes now have a few sets to rebond which you can exchange for your olds. Mad. I fitted on the fiberglass nosecone to check clearance for the motor, and the radiator filler was on the top of the head, but it would never have cleared it, so had to switch to this Bit of a bastard considering now to check the coolant level I will have to remove the nose, but such is life. I also had to fill in the filler nose on the rocker cover as that wouldn't have cleared either. So I also have to pull the rocker cover off to fill with oil. Not too phased though, as long as everything fits under the bonnet. Anyways around November I picked up the painted bits from an awesome chap in New Brighton called Wayne who sprayed them up for me. In my efforts to never have to redo things on this car (Ha I know right, what a dreamer) I decided to pay some good money to get a great finish and he did a great job. Cheers Wayne. Getting close to where I'm at now, so here is a sneaky look at the colour I chose Also a good opportunity to show off my fitment, as many users will enjoy it. I mounted the guards with a rivnut gun and it is probably the most awesome invention ever... probably. I'm pretty fond of it anyway. Now trying to utilise it in as many ways as possible because its such an easy way to get a strong fixing. That is all for now, as always feel free to comment with guidance or assistance, it's cool to hear and also provides incentive to finish the bastard. //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/ Cheers

What else is there to do on a Saturday evening than drink and write about cars... Following on from last time, I fitted majority the aluminium (pulled the drivers side panel off to access and adjust the pedals, has since gone back on and been glued/fastened) and then got it into rolling chassis stage. So it looked like this No engine in at this point, needed to get the roll bar sorted so needed a trip away. Other reason was that the old steering rack was buggered so the guys doing the fabrication work put a replacement in, and we never tested to make sure it turned the correct way. You can imagine my reaction when I mocked it up at home in the car, connected everything up, turned the steering wheel... oh bother. Goes the wrong way. Not really anyone's fault and turned out to be an easy fix. Sure did provide endless pisstaking opportunities for my friends though, love you guys. Sadly no ingenious transportation solution 3.0 this time, wouldn't fit on the land rover in rolling form. It also had no brakes at this stage either, and I live up a long steep driveway so had to roll it down the hill using my other car as an anchor. Strangely nobody volunteered to sit in it and steer... reflection of their confidence in the rope or my handy work? My friend George in the photo, trying to unravel the mysteries of the universe in knot form. All that got sorted and it came home again. Couldn't resist having a drive with my new functional steering. No engine but I was powered by my mate Rowan's Legacy GT. Apologies for the snapchat quality photo Then the engine could go back in In properly That is all for now, as always discussion is welcomed: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/ Ta

The panels have been stuck on with adhesive and also have rivets holding them in place, also screws for ease of removal. Are they really considered structural? The chassis is braced throughout the front and sides of the car, the side panel is really just a covering being a thin sheet of aluminium. Are they considered to add significant structure? I guess they would serve a purpose of slowing objects down in a side impact but really the chassis will be taking the bulk of the impact?

Awesome, cheers!

Another day off, so more posting to be done. Slowly catching up to where I'm at currently Bit more panel work completed. As mentioned by some other members rivets are all good, especially for holding the panels down tight so a few have gone in, just in lesser numbers than previously. Also like the ability to remove the panels by undoing screws seeing as it is a hand build car and of course there will be issues, so easy removal is a must. Both sides skinned, ability to turn it over is pretty convenient but it is getting a bit heavier at this stage. Still manageable with 2 people. Cutting the holes for the steering rack was a terrifying process. Had to attack it with a holesaw and hope. Enjoying the plate in the background. Everyone will try tell me it isn't a real one... then they see my spotty- and have to think a little harder. Don't know if I've mentioned previously but the rego has been on hold for over 20 years. Which is beyond awesome. Supposedly I should be able to just register and then get a wof... somehow I don't think it will be that simple. Minor modifications have been made but it's fairly similar to the original. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. I'm aware of cert requirements for things that have been changed like engines etc. Put the steering wheel in and scuttle on for a test fit- wheel is very small but couldn't be much bigger due to space. Apologies for the shite photo Then some more fun stuff, drilling out the dash for gauges. Way more enjoyable than sheet metal in my opinion Came out pretty good. The minor gauges are Vthree- got them for a good price and they look fine, pretty sure they're made by the same people who do VDO but don't quote me, the speedo is a Pricol mechanical and a VDO tacho. The dash is pretty small so fitting all the switches was a bit of a pain, and the key of course. Naturally I forgot about the horn and hi low dip switch so I've had to go too soon jr style and mount them on a button plate behind the steering wheel. Not really keeping with the classic look but then again I'm secretly enjoying it. Then I fitted the rear panel for drilling, this was going to be painted so I couldn't fix it in place That is all, as always comments are appreciated- and regarding the cert issue (if I need it at all). //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/ Ta

Makes sense, I guess the harder areas to get in with the welder are easier to access with braising. Plus there a few bits left in there which were strong enough as is. A few rivets have gone back in, just in much fewer numbers! Also wanted to make panels easier to remove without the use of a drill bit. Cheers for all the comments guys