The Lotus Grand Tourers

Ive never used the choke on mine, even in the darkest depths of winter when I used to leave it outside. Two pumps on the accelerator before churning and a gentle right foot to nurse it into life is all Ive ever needed.

Bash

Just to put another viewpoint on this, Im an accident investigator and forensic vehicle examiner in the police and have been for a number of years. I cant think of any instance of anyone being taken to task over tyre sizes in a serious incident. I could see that if someone was driving like an idiot ...

The shoes are the same as for the Toyota Celica Supra of around 1986 vintage and I got mine alot cheaper from a Toyota dealer. They are listed in the linings section of a few brake manufacturers, which I would imagine are alot cheaper than Lotus supplied. As an aside, to save others some brass, they...

The best place to meet would be in the car park for the racing car museum near the entrance at Donington. Its never anywhere near full on the Lotus weekend and ( famous last words ) you cant miss it as you drive in. Anybody who's not been in the museum ( after the show of course ) is missing a treat...

Ill put the engine change off for a few weeks ( hopefully ) so you can count me in for the Saturday

Bash

Have you tried the base of the windscreen wiper. a rubber seal under the outer nut perish's, the water then finds its way into the footwells.

Getting to all that useful info would be quite a bonus, if Dave could put it as a resource for everybody all the better. As for your unfiring cylinders, if you are getting fuel and a spark I would check the compressions. No compression equals no bang. If thats ok, ask again. You havnt had the plug l...

I did the door beams a few years ago, its worthwhile filling the beam with plumbers foam, from an airasol tin. It stops any water getting inside the beam and rotting it out from the inside, ands its stronger cos its now a composite structure. Do it a couple of days before you fit the beams cos it wi...

I always keep some mouse poison on trays around the inner walls of the garage to keep the sods out. A nieghbour with a Volvo S70 got mice who had a taste for the wiring loom, the insurance bill ran well into 4 figures !

Ive done the twist test a few times now. I did borrow the correct tool for setting the belt up the first time I did a belt a few years ago. After setting it I did the twist on the longest length and surprise surprise, it was about 85 to 90 degrees. As Rob says, the belt will howl a bit if its too ti...

I get this problem every year with my Lotus badged lawnmower. I give it a dose of Castrol Valvemaster plus, which has got an octane booster in it. Some of the more volatile components of petrol do evaporate over time, the valvemaster just restores the balance. Come spring the mower wont start withou...

Sorry, just thought of something, when the cars cold my car likes the rearmost of the two expansion chambers likes to be almost empty. If you over fill it this will chuck the excess coolant out, a much cheaper fix than changing the head gasket.

Mine did this a few years ago, eventually I realised it was the head gasket. I would make sure that you havent got an air lock somewhere first, but I found that the gasket had gone very slightly allowing cylinder pressure past the liner into the coolant. The head didnt need skimming and if you do ha...

Thanks

Bash

Just a quick question, is the parts show this coming weekend on Saturday and Sunday or just Sunday