My 1973 Sprint saw daylight for the first time in 12 years last week. Like so many jobs, I had put off the evil day as long as possible. Why evil? Well, I feared the likely-hood of an ENORMOUS bill (We all know what L.O.T.U.S. stands for, after all!). A seized Twink for a start. Well, having pumped up the tyres and got it on to the trailer it disappeared to Temple Cloud for investigation.
Gary, at Bath Classic & American Cars, knows the car well and is very sympathetic to the old ladies. First, having checked oil and water, he made sure by hand that it would actually turn over, then he removed the plugs and squirted some light oil into the cylinders, and left it for a few hours while he sourced and fitted a Lumenition box (I had thieved the old one for some long forgotten project). Fortunately, there were a number of spares in the garage; he peered into the carbs to see if there was a layer of green gunge in the float chambers and turned it over a few times again by hand. He put the plugs back in, fitted a new battery, (sadly the old one was out of guarantee), spun it up on the starter to get some pressure and gave it a good sniff of 'Start-u-Bastard' and turned the key....Brooom,she fired!
A few litres of petrol the the tank, a tickle of the primer, five good prods of the throttle and another sniff of S-u-B and BINGO! Up to temperature, fan on, good OP... What's not to like.
Now the expenses start: new master cylinders for brakes and clutch, new alloy wheels and tyres, free off the clutch and calipers etc etc.
It's worth noting that only a few months before I 'laid' it up she had had a ground up rebuild including a Nick Stagg engine and full body off chassis repair.
The engine is balanced and lightened, has a Vegantune flowed and ported head and Ian Walker Racing cams (IWR 141 grind), full SS exhaust etc etc. The suspension was re-bushed and fitted Spax shocks all round.
The windows and frames have gone walk about, I'm sure I have them somewhere, but twelve years is a long time; I'm lucky I remembered that I had the Lotus in the garage...
The 'censored' in the above refers to the Australian variant of the genteel English 'Quick-start': :'Start-u- Illegitimate child'
How long have you had it then? Are you finally planning to get it back on the road now then? :)
Hi, MM.
I've owned this car from it being 18 months old so, very nearly 40 years!!!
It will be back on the road and in 'regular' use from now on...
Thats a long time. :o Hope to see it on the road soon then. ;D
How about a few photo's so that we can see the delights!! :P
Good luck with it.
Just briefly I saw "Sprint" and thought Dolomite - a touch of momentary ambiguity there and then I enjoyed the Australian start aid.
It reminded me of a friend who had to ask a difficult question once. I asked him how he got on......
"Well" he said "He suggested I was born out of wedlock and then said I should go and make love elsewhere!" ;D