Lotus Elan, range rover, TR7, Streetka, mx5, minor,

Looked at the mazda in daylight, radiator full to the brim, expansion tank full of cracks and falling appart so an easy fix, as this ia a relatively low mileage and last of the mk1's there seems little point in getting a secondhand one, but none of the UK suppliers seem to have a new one, IL motorsport in germany do though so it looks like that's where it will come from once they have confirmed the cost isn't to ridiculous.

This is where the coolant was coming from.






Fortunately it's not a pressurised tank so it's only what gets pushed out when it warms up or perhaps what was sucked out by the depression behind the popped up headlight at highish speeds,  coolant in the tank is a bit rusty (clear blue in the rad) so I will flush it all out and fill with Prestone 10 year stuff when the new tank gets here.

Been using the range rover in support of a building project and yesterday bit the bullet and filled it up with fuel (£95) as I don't think it's going to get cheaper anytime soon, about 2 miles later it failed to proceed! Immediate thoughts were with the fuel, but is seemed more like ignition and sure enough I connected up the spare coil I carry and it fired straight up, the failed coil is a new one I fitted when I was having starting problems (turned out to be temperature sensor), now has the old one back on and runs perfectly, the joy of modern pattern parts.

We have also begun a new project, build a tweaked 1275 engine with mx5 gearbox to go in the minor.

Andrew has bought this as a starting point.

It's a well used but unmolested Maestro 1275, the Maestro engine is about the most advanced  A series they did with a rwd type crankshaft, the only thing which makes it difficult to fit in a minor / midget etc is they lengthened the crank and added a cast backplate with a proper crankshaft seal, given we are going to need an adaptor plate this is not too much of  a problem, it will mean the engine is about 30mm longer but with out the engine driven fan there is room for this at the front and swapping the engine mount brackets from side to side moves it forward easily on the standard mounts.

he other issue is the flywheel but we struck lucky here, the maestro uses a VW gearbox and clutch so the end of the crank is a metric 6x65 mm with one slightly offset,  the mx5 apparently also uses 6x65 but without the one offset, so slotting one hole on the mill should give us a flywheel which matches the gearbox and given the mx5 starter is gearbox mounted it looks like we can also use this so get a modern starter as well.

New header tank for the mazda arrived from il motorsport in Germany, ordered Thursday arrived tuesday, better than some UK suppliers manage!




Coolant was pretty rust coloured which is strange, it's been in there for only 3 years, filled warmed it up and drained it 2 times but the new coolant is still a bit orange, might do it again in a few weeks. Easy enough to do it has a drain tap in the bottom of the rad and a hole to access it in the undertray.

All back together,




Took it for a high speed drive, nothing seems to be leaking now.

Bits for window retractor arrived, replacement went well enough, to get it off the car you don't need to remove the front glass guide as per the manual just take out the bottom bolt, I think you may need to for a manual retractor though. Threaded all the cables and left the top roller and abutment disconnected and wound the adjusters fully in then wrapped the cables around the drum until it was full and fitted it to the motor, finally pulled the cable over the top roller and slipped the abutment into the bracket, its tight but just about doable. After that it was just a matter of winding the adjusters out (I put them in the same place as original) locking them with a dab of Loctite and fitting the clips.

I thought I had put the cables in back to front but checking the photos they are definitely in the same place, they must have crossed over in the car originally.




also put some dynax over the motor where it had started to rust



Just need to get some white grease to put on the guide and fit it now (I've checked it works with a battery).

I've drawn up the 2 parts of a new knob, I had hoped to re-use the front bezel but it broke when I tried to unscrew it.





Hopefully get a chance to print them over the weekend.

Also had a look at the fuel tank, pressurised it to 15psi , sprayed loads of leak finder spray around and no bubbles so I can try putting more that 2 or 3 gallons in it next, only thing I did find was the filler neck was loose, not sure if this could be fuel smell fhough, may be back to original theory of it being the hoses in the boot.

Yes it's not rusted away yet!

It's not moved since I fixed the window, it's the wife's car and she has had a unpleasant dose of Covid which so far I seem to be dodging. I have been using the Lotus for work and everyday tasks for the last couple of weeks, the fuel and cooling system changes are all working well and now I am not worried about traffic. etc I could quite happily use it every day, it is still leaking oil around the front of the engine but now it's all cleaned up it seems the oil is coming out around the 1/4" bolts which hold the front cover to the head, I've ordered some Dowty washers to put under them and I'll see if this helps. Only other problem is the roof, it's double duck but seem porus, it doesn't drip but the whole inside gets damp, any ideas on a good water proffer?

Since I have fitted the original coil the Rangie has been back to it's usual dependable self, largely being used as a builders truck, this is with the external resistor to make the fuelling OK, need to open up the spare ECM and solder up all the connections and possibly replace the resistors with something modern, Eventually I would like get a tornado ECM for it which is basically a pre-calibrated modern ecu in the original case but at £650 that may have to wait for a while!). This summer I hope to go through a load of odds and ends on this (replace all the fuel lines / hoses, front brake discs / callipers and the crank bearings), I suspect that unless someone has already done it(there is plenty of red sealant around the gaskets) the last may also grow into a cam change when I inspect it too.

Minor is also being used regularly, often with my son's canoe on the roof, I haven't driven it for ages but apparently the new tweaked engine pulls like a train, he's now not sure he needs the 1275! and that's with the standard carb and exhaust. It also needs a service hopefully Andrew will do most of that though.

I think the ride may be even more choppy if you fit the 7-leaf Traveller springs; I had a new pair on my 2-door Fiat twin-cam saloon (fitted by the previous owner), and even with the Spax adjustables on softest setting it was too harsh. Minor Mania built a convertible, and fitted it with IIRC 4-leaf springs and quite firm dampers, and it was purported to have an excellent ride/handling.

Yes, you have to be quite careful about your choice and fitment of alternative rear dampers; I fitted a cheap set of Gabriel oil telescopics to the rear of the Traveller (angled at 45 degrees to the axle), and tbh, they make the ride a bit harsh and crashy unless the car is loaded up at the back, though to be fair they have lasted for years. I may revert to the lever arms at some point...