The original colour was........

News just in - the car was originally white! This information as a result of checks whilst assessing the work required to respray.

That makes the decision easier - white car with silver wheels and bumpers.

Update - the car had been resprayed in a non-standard colour, actually Bermuda Yellow (and not Burnt Sand). This was an option on later models but not on the S3.

Sparks fly

More work stripping out the interior. Two layers of fabric trim plus felt, some of it very rotten. Removed the seats and runners (including the unusual wooden items!). Scraped most of the crud off the floor. Cleared out the boot and interior. Scraped as much of the remaining dirt as I could from the underside of the car.





Max has removed the offside door and the badly corroded frame from the nearside door. New glass will be required for the nearside as well as major repairs to the frame.

The top picture shows Max angle-grinding out the bolts holding the wooden and old rusted seat runners.




The other two pictures are of the interior as it looks now, rear and front.

It's a Lotus, so........ (and a belated "happy reg-day").

Hawkeye Hurst has spotted that a piece of black felt pop-riveted inside the engine bay covered up the required holes for LHD steering rack etc. The theory is that it was originally intended to be LHD for export, but UK demand was such that the factory made a late decision to build it as RHD. I've emailed Lotus to see if they can shed any light on this.

Belated 46th Birthday  - on 24/4.

Dashboard and heater removed

A busy day at Lakeside today. Thanks to Max and Tim for providing care in the community ... and for the tea, advice etc.
The car is up on a trolley. Max has removed the wheels, hubs, brakes & suspension, cleaned up arches and the engine bay.

The rear window has been removed for access to the suspension.
I was able to contribute by removing the dash, disconnecting all the instruments, switches and cables, labelling them ready for reconnection later.

Also removing the heater and dismantling this ready for overhaul.

Next steps for me, remove the seats, prepare the engine bay for painting and remove more accumulated grime from the wheel arches. 

Max will be listing the replacement mechanical items to be bought and fitted.

Colour and chrome

Still not sure about the colour. Keeping the original colour - Bunt Sand - with silver wheels and bumpers may be an option, but.....

Max has some magic chrome cleaner / polish, which when applied started to transform the chrome from scruffy to pretty good. Lots of polishing ahead........

The windscreen is cracked - may be a MOT fail - and a new seal will be required.

Update on 1st May - it's not Burnt Sand, but a non-standard colour over the original white!

Wheels, suspension, brakes.....

Next week, the car will be put on a trolley and the wheels removed and sent away for refurbishment. Then, the suspension and brakes can be checked out and decisions made on what needs repair or replacement.

Sorting out the engine

The engine bay looks a bit empty..... The block is on a stand in the workshop, and the head is away having the hardened valve seats fitted and a general overhaul. This IS a tall (crossflow) block. We still don't know the actual capacity.

The block and pistons look OK    Max has been tidying up and painting the block, cam covers,

sump, fan etc.. These will all be ready for refitting when the cylinder head is back in a couple of weeks. Now it's time to clean up the engine bay & start thinking about taking the dash out ready to start checking the electrics and preparing for  hose replacement, heater overhaul and more once the engine is ready to go back in.

The engine's missing!

Well, the engine is out, and there is lots to do. It seems that a 'tall  block' (crossflow rather than the original) has been fitted, which means longer stroke. We'll need to measure the actual capacity, and eventually update the logbook. A number of compromises (!!) were made in the installation and will be improved.