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HKM400's 1969 Lotus 7 Series 3


HKM400

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Hi all,

 

I have been lurking for awhile now but only recently signed up. Thought it was time to start a thread. I started my Lotus 7 project a few years ago but have documented it well- I had intentions of doing something like this anyway and oldschool seems to be a cool place to show what i've been up to. It is registered as a 1969 Lotus 7, aspects of it's construction are similar to that of the originals but honestly I have no idea if it is genuine or not. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

 

This is the car on the day I dragged it out of a shed, despite appearances it was a shed itself. Had been used by rats as a walnut storage facility (who knew they did that), luckily all rats had evacuated it before I got it home. 

 

Still- it was a whole car at this point which was all that mattered. 

 

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Didn't see a whole lot of point in trying to start it, had sat in the same place for over 20 years so we decided to rip it to bits. My friend Rowan was happy to assist in the dismantling. 

 

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Clearly it had been built by a merits professor of engineering judging by the construction of certain aspects. A broken rear control arm had been fixed by bending reinforcing steel around the arm and arc welding it in place. Awesome.

 

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Got the engine out- in the background is my Series Land Rover- has come in very handy with transporting the chassis. 

 

After a rather long period of time- considering the car is very small it looked like this, residing as a pile of bits on the floor.

 

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The person that put it together clearly had shares in a rivet factory and decided to maximise rivets per square millimetre. All the panels and floor were held on by the bloody things.

 

Anyway to keep the powers that be happy, I will continue on a new post. I will start a discussion thread and link it on my next post.

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So then I got it blasted, ingenious transportation solution: 

 

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Again this revealed the extent of the rivet usage, looked like swiss cheese but still pretty strong. After several weekends of welding with the help of my mate Dan we fixed the hole issue and I could see what had to be done. 

 

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And some grinding later...

 

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Given my welding skills are minimal if that and also considering I would be driving around in what is effectively a lunch box I decided to seek professional help with strengthening the chassis. To give an idea of how OSH approved it was, the driveshaft spun about 10cm from the drivers thigh and there were no loops to prevent removal of said thigh. I enjoy my legs, so this was obviously going to be changed.

 

In the meantime I pulled the engine apart, it's a 1600 crossflow, 711M block, single weber 40, reground cam etc. I cleaned everything using my very generous mechanics degreaser tank, and painted the block ford blue

 

 post-19221-0-26668900-1422173540_thumb.jpg

 

The engine received race bearings, the crank was ground and polished, kenelly cams reground the cam to what I believe is similar to a Kent 244, pistons machined, block honed, head planed- a full rebuild. As far as power output I have no idea. Being the car is so light it won't need much anyway. 

 

Please forgive the red rocker cover- a momentary lapse in judgement. The "ooooo red" factor got me, but fear not, I have subsequently seen the error of my ways and resprayed it black. Much tidier. 

 

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Once this was completed focus returned to the chassis. I found a small race car prep shop in Christchurch and got them to make the chassis strong, and also remake some of the dodgier mounts for the suspension. Some parts had just been braised on which wasn't going to be strong enough. They also helped straighten the chassis which was slightly bent. I did some of the fabrication work myself, cutting out the bad bits and making new parts to be professionally welded into place. Some photos of that process:

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The car got new control arms with rose joints to make the geometry easier, and a pannard rod. I also replaced the suspension with an adjustable setup. 

 

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It is worth saying that in the past two posts this process took me about a year for various reasons. Not a fast project by any means.

 

Discussion if anyone is interested:

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

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Continuing on with the chassis work: The engine mounts were pretty poorly welded on and they had no rubber mounts on the bottom, so they were refabricated and the engine was dropped back in so the new driveshaft loops could be welded to the newly strengthened mid section. This was completely open beforehand. It also had no real firewall, just a piece of sheet aluminium. 

 

The real issue was fitting in the car, I'm not that tall- only just 6ft but in original form my knees would have been around my ears. To remedy this the engine was shifted forward slightly so the footwell could be extended. Also using a floor mounted pedal box gave a few extra inches of space. A new steel firewall was also welded in. The steering column was also very low, so it was lifted so the wheel comes through the dash so I don't have limbs sprawled over the dashboard. 

 

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The rear strut tops were braised on, so needed to be chopped out and new plate welded in. The old roll bar also got a haircut, being that it had been compression bent and the only purpose it would serve in a crash would be to assist in the removal of your head. I was also too tall for it anyway so it had to go. You can see the new control arms powdercoated with rose joints. Also a second hand baffled fuel tank.

 

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Another shot of the rear suspension setup: 

 

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Using a single weber 40 is handy for ease of tuning but it has other problems, one of which is my mainfold is on quite a rake, meaning the trumpets will stick out of the bonnet. When I bought the car the bonnet had a big (ugly in my opinion) power bulge bubble thing. I am yet to figure out how I will make this look better. Maybe I'll just cut a hole in the bonnet, added benefit of lots of carb noise. Mmmmm, carb noise. 

 

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More photos of that chassis, and the new muffler. The exhaust manifold is a bit rubbish but it will do for now, the rest of the system is just a 2inch straight through to the side pipe. I have since started it, and no surprises that it is very loud... may have over done it slightly. 

 

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This is what it looked like after majority of the repairs had been completed. Still had a fair bit to do. All those little irritating jobs you forget about:

 

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Also switched the dunlop d1's for some minilites- The dunlops were cool but not to my taste.

 

 

Discussion if anyone is interested: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

 

 

 

 

 

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Seeing as I have a free evening, another stage in the build: 

 

After the photo from my last post I dragged the car home to disassemble for paint- although that was a mistake because of course I had forgotten important fabrication work... Anyway this is what it looked like when it arrived home, ready to be torn to bits yet again

 

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And within an hour or so, with some assistance: 

 

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I do enjoy the fact that you can take it apart within a very small amount of time.. although the amount of times it's been put together and pulled apart I should be good at it by now. 

 

Chassis had to go back to get a few bits finish welded, access was poor being it is small and cramped around the engine.

 

Atleast it gave me an opportunity to try ingenious transportation solution 2.0:

 

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Did get a few strange looks, probably thought I was a scaffolder. 

 

Discussion if anyone has anything to say: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

 

 

 

 

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Decided to rattle can it, that's all the originals received plus powder coating is more expensive and rather final, at least with paint I can modify if necessary and not stuff the powder coat... although I'm hoping to not have to chop anything else.

 

Just an idea of what the car looked like before all the work went into it, and got to the point where it could be painted.

 

Mmmm rusty goodness

 

Also loving the vast chasm where I'm meant to sit. Not dangerous or anything, just a drive shaft spinning next to you 

 

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Some excellent engineering in there, that has all since been removed in case anyone thought I was serious.

 

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After some DIY paint booth action... which looks suspiciously like a car port with a tarp around it... the rattle canning began. Took a fair bit of paint to get a decent finish but good enough

 

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Just like a bought one! HA...

 

Probably the trickiest part was to come, skinning the car with aluminium. I had been dreading this bit because, if we're honest, it could easily look really shite if this bit went wrong. Luckily I got Idiens to cut out the panels from paper patterns my mate Chris and I made up one afternoon. 

 

Put the floor on first, sadly for the person who put this car together previously, as mentioned earlier, had a rather odd affection for a certain metal fastener which caused me great pain and suffering for several days, I opted for self tapping screws and glue to seal the floor to the chassis.

 

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Much tidier and looks less religious. Holy, sorry, bad joke. Moving on...

 

Once the floor was in I could start putting exciting bits and pieces in, partly because hooking up the pedal box with the side panel in place was going to be much easier and require less grunting noises. 

 

Then I decided to stop procrastinating and try fit a side panel without making a massive mess of it

 

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Note delicate fitment tool #7 residing on the chassis. Came in handy later when I realized I have got the measurements wrong. Needless to say that day ended in the drowning of sorrows at the pub. Got it sorted though in the end.

 

Mocked up the dash too, ready for drilling. Because the steering come right out of the dash, the clocks can't be mounted in the traditional place behind the wheel. Not that you could see much of them anyway given my choice of momo wheel from a formula ford...

 

 post-19221-0-61731700-1422427438_thumb.jpg

 

Can also see the mad cool pedals. 

 

Anyway, that is all for now.

 

Feel free to discuss, thoughts or comments appreciated: 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another day off, so more posting to be done. Slowly catching up to where I'm at currently

 

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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. 

 

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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. 

 

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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.

 

 post-19221-0-72535400-1422487050_thumb.jpg

 

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. 

 

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Then I fitted the rear panel for drilling, this was going to be painted so I couldn't fix it in place 

 

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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

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

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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

 

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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...

 

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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

 

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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

 

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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

 

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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

 

 

 

 

 

 

post-19221-0-33096500-1423206058_thumb.jpg

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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.

 

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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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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: 

 

post-19221-0-10613400-1424056051_thumb.jpg

 

Mounted the battery, it's from a motorbike which is pretty cool- more than enough cranking power for my psychotic starter motor. 

 

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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...

 

post-19221-0-07036000-1424056346_thumb.jpg

 

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!

 

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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...

 

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All guards on, and exhaust in place

 

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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

 

post-19221-0-45806900-1424056776_thumb.jpg

 

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. 

 

post-19221-0-13071200-1424056910_thumb.jpg

 

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

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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. 

 

post-19221-0-09283500-1425282739_thumb.jpg

 

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...

 

post-19221-0-66945900-1425282595_thumb.jpg

 

My little box of hateful shite

 

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Rears working

 

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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

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  • 1 month later...

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/ 

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  • 3 weeks later...

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. 

 

 

post-19221-0-02523900-1429855571_thumb.jpg

 

Advice on the driving home legalities/ any other comments welcomed:

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

 

 

 

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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...

 

post-19221-0-27730100-1430288120_thumb.jpg

 

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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. 

 

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Sitting in the driveway after its maiden backward voyage...

 

Any comments to add please feel free.

Cheers

 

http://oldschool.co....tus-7-series-3/

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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... 

 

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post-19221-0-78612500-1430381994_thumb.jpg

 

Photo of offending article

 

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And some flamethrower action whilst not in use 

 

post-19221-0-40223900-1430382083_thumb.jpg

 

 

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/

 

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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/  

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

When you find your project lurking in the darkness of page 8 it's probably been awhile..

Not much has changed due to many things, I digress. 

 

In reality the car isn't far from being usable on the road... Just need to find someone to give it a good tuning and see what the carb is up to- whether it needs bigger or smaller jets etc. Can anyone recommend such a person to come to my shed and do that? Just easier than towing the fucker all around town. 

 

All it needs then is a windscreen and some interior design, a scatter cushion or two perhaps? 

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/

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  • 3 weeks later...

Evening,

 

A modicum of progress has been made. Oil catch can is in... A cheapish trademe job which doesn't really fit in with the old English vibe but such is life. Maybe it'll be worth a few extra horses... or make it slide all over the place. Time will tell.

 

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I am also aware that the hose supplied will be rather shite so I will get some proper stuff later this week

 

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In other news the diff in my Landy isn't far from this world... which means it is soon time for me to pull that to bits completely and even put in a new powerplant, my current plan involves 8 cylinders.... 

 

 

Discussion if required:

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/46798-hkm400s-1969-lotus-7-series-3/page-4

 

post-19221-0-06281200-1440216868_thumb.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

A brief update on this. I've spent the last few days tinkering around tidying things up and addressing some irritating issues. I've patched the small hole in the diff so it doesn't leak anymore- it's really a temporary fix for now but it's doing the job. Was only a small hole from welding the handbrake brackets onto the back of the case.

 

Also rechecked all the valve clearances and made some adjustment, checked the timing.

 

I've had a strange issue with the connection between the carb and the manifold. I've been getting a small amount of fuel leaking from one of the O ring seals so I pulled the carb off and checked the state of the gaskets- they were brand new from the rebuild. I just refitted the carb and tried to get the tension on each nut equal so it pulled up tight and flush- I can't get my torque wrench in there to get it perfectly accurate but it seems to have sealed up properly this time.

 

Getting the shift remote correctly aligned with the selector rods is a massive wanker of a job, with such limited space I'm sure a gynecologist would probably have a go and think, "Oh god i'm at work!"

 

I really need to sort a windscreen- my mates all ask why it's so close and it's taking so long and I don't really have an answer for them- it's more all the niggly little things holding it back.

 

As picture less updates are pretty boring- and I imagine half the shit I write is just waffle:

 

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Discussion...

http://oldschool.co....series-3/page-4

 

 

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