The revival of 650143R, 1970 with TS.

[Richard48Y]

Finally found a few hours to work on my own car.
Dismantled the "Rebuilt" front suspension.
Repainted the lower arms in black, not a fan of odd colors on suspension bits.
Found that the hub bearings had almost no grease, the inner seals were poorly installed, and outer bearing races have minor rust staining so will replaced.
Rotors appear new but have "Patina" after sitting so long so are being cleaned, may have to be replaced.
I am getting anxious to actually begin putting parts back ON the chassis.

[dakazman]

  Finding time 😂
    I think that is the hardest to achieve. I hate the word , priorities..I thought that when you retire I’d have all the time I need 💩. I just can’t say no when helping others.  Another word , juggling, that’s when all the parts you ordered are sitting somewhere in your garage waiting to find a place next to that missing 10mm socket. Okay, I totally agree with your Frustration.
  Hang those parts 👍👍
Dakazman
 

[Richard48Y]

Completed what should be the last long trip to obtain large parts.
Picked up a better body from Joji, near San Diego.
Long trip, I hope to sell the truck ASAP and put the funds into the S2.
It would have been a shorter trip if NAPA had not compromised their parts quality along with everyone else. Failed fuel pump at less than 3,000 miles.
A Lotus cannot be any less reliable than a Chevy with modern parts installed. 

Now to get it all unloaded and cleaned up.
Vacuum and pressure washer to begin with.

This body has never been repainted so all flaws should be easy to find and repair.
Honest first time repairs have to be better than layers on layers.
No Bondo® so it will be lighter than the old one. 

[Bryan Boyle]

  Finding time 😂
    I think that is the hardest to achieve. I hate the word , priorities..I thought that when you retire I’d have all the time I need 💩. I just can’t say no when helping others.  Another word , juggling, that’s when all the parts you ordered are sitting somewhere in your garage waiting to find a place next to that missing 10mm socket. Okay, I totally agree with your Frustration.
  Hang those parts 👍👍
Dakazman
 

That's what I'm afraid of when I finally pull the plug later this year.  My parts cabinet is full of new parts to put on 3291R, and my time right now is limited (my company is jumping on the AI bandwagon after doing nothing groundbreaking with it since it was deployed...and we're all jumping through hoops to become AI conversant) more than I'd like it to be (well, that and the stifling temps in the garage, even in the northeast...). 

Right now waiting for the shop up the street to ring me up to bring the car in so they can road force balance the steelies and new rubber I put on last month.  Still a bit of vibration around 65-70 MPH (gear knob wiggles a little...not as bad as with the alloys, but still noticable), so going to try road force balance and see whether that makes a diff.

It's too much fun driving it otherwise...which keeps putting me off of pulling the lump and all that entails.  Drive or wrench?  The eternal Europa conundrum...and my Cessna is going in for annual inspection this week in NJ.  And my day to day ride needs to have the AC looked at.  It never ends.

[Richard48Y]

Pressure washer worked well and at 97ºf getting wet was no bother.
Got years of dirt, most of the old black lacquer and interior glue off, made progress on the old undercoat.
I swear some of the panels are a single layer thick, you really can see through them.
Only finding one old repair, LF wheel arch, and one other repair to be made at the bottom of the nose.
While it is on the forklift I will remove the remnants of the fiberboard at the bottom of the bulkhead and make the cut for my second fuel tank.
Convenient that I got a second fill pipe and cap with the body, so one less purchase to make.
Calling this one a Win!

[Richard48Y]

Back to fighting the Camshaft war again.
Dug up my old notes, opened an Inch to MM conversion app.
Cam is my last big ticket mechanical item and seems to be the most difficult as well.
What I think I have concluded is that the cam I have has too much lift for a street car, nearly 12mm.
The cam grinder failed to relieve the blank at the heel of the cam as we had agreed.
This means the lifters would be contacting the blank which has been pointed out as bad for cam/lifter life and power.
So it seems I am going to be buying a billet cam once I decide which to get.
As a practical matter CAT Cams seem to be the only readily available source.
Wishing their data was more complete, Lobe Center?
I will be sending them an email in hope of extracting more data.

If anyone knows another source for a "hot street" but not Full-Race TS cam please share.
I do not have a blank as I doubt mine can be ground yet again without a lot of welding.
Maybe a racer can use mine?

CAT offerings,
No. 5500525, 280°/280° - 236°/236° - 10.00mm/10.00mm - 2.15mm/2.15mm
No. 5500526, 287°/287° - 244°/244° - 10.45mm/10.45mm - 2.85mm/2.85mm

If the second cam is a 108º lobe center it would be pretty close to what Salv Sacco recommended.

EDIT: 110º per an earlier CAT email.

You can expect a 2500-6500rpm powerband with 5500525.
The powerband of 5500526 will be around 2800-6800rpm.

[Richard48Y]

Arguing with myself over the two readily available cams above.
Will I really notice an operating range shift of 300 RPM?
And just what is the stock operating RPM range of a TS headed car anyway?
Seems I see a lot of mention of 7,000 RPM or greater.
Seems doubtful a 1545/1595 engine pulls away at less than what, 900 RPM?
I seem to recall a caution that over 6,000? RPM significantly shortens engine life.

Wossner high compression pistons, so will one cam be noticeably better for dynamic compression than the other?
Home altitude is an average of 4,000' above sea level.
Any direction I go I have to climb out of the valley.
Best pump octane without race fuel is only 91 octane.
I have yet to hear of an octane booster that truly works without having to use a LOT of it.
100 and 105 race fuel are available locally but the price is murderous.
No CAT so a mix with aircraft 100LL may also be possible.

[Richard48Y]

Removed the fill neck from the "New" body.
I need it to have twin tanks in my car.
I assume I may use the left location as a template for the right, just make a pattern and flip it over?
Same for the opening in the bottom of the body?

[TurboFource]

Richard I will post pics of the bottom cut outs on Twin Cam later this morning since it’s still hanging from ceiling.

[TurboFource]

Here ya go.... Notice the precision of the cuts

[Kendo]

On my TCS with extensive damage to the driver side, the DPO didn’t repair that area at all. So I reconstructed the bottom of the left gas tank area, using a mirror image of he right side. So that approach works fine. And yes, hole originally cut on a Monday 

[Richard48Y]

Just happened to lean a "Bahama Yellow" bonnet against the MG Midget.
Different names, but I cannot see any difference in color between the two.
Wondering if other colors were shared with MG, Jaguar, Triumph?
Paint shops may have formulas for the more common cars?

[Richard48Y]

Sold my oversize truck this morning.
This means I should have almost enough funding to complete the Lotus with the exception of paint.
So sending CC payments and making my list.
Concentrating on engine, drive-train, and brakes to begin with.

[Richard48Y]

Committed modification to the Lotus body!
Cut a hole up top for the second fuel tank filler and a larger hole below for access to fit the second tank.
I live in the wide open spaces out west, I must have two tanks.
Also began stripping old paint.
Realizing my large compressor may be tired, I keep having to wait for more air pressure to get effective use from the soda blaster.

[Richard48Y]

Since I am in bodywork mode the comments on engine compartment airflow have been on my mind.
Past discussion has the S2 recirculating warm air from the open rear back end, then IN through the deck vents.
TC escapes this by deleting the open rear end.
So my thought is to put a thin panel behind the original mesh.
But I wonder if there might be another way, such as louvers in place of the rear deck mesh?
Interested in suggestions, prefer to retain the original appearance as much as possible.