Twin Cam Special 2267P

[SilverBeast]

The handbrake adjuster should be below the water pipes.

I'd decided that that was probably the case. I believe it was your opus that I probably read it in before, though I'm only at page 60.  I've dipped in and out of it for reference and to read about your LOG trip with envy!

.....and to look at the garage 

I'm pretty sure the handbrake cable has been replaced,  or at least taken off,  as it's just threaded through tie-wrap loops in the engine bay and the  balance bar/swingtree/u shaped bit is upside down compared to yours.  This will mean, if/when it does rub on the cooling tubes  rather it'll be the sharper edges of the pressing that rub, rather than the curve. I'll push it down for now, if I can, but it probably needs the rear section refitting at some point. Not an easy task, as I have read. I may be lucky and be able to flip the cables in the chassis slot and "swap" the two rear sections, particularly as the rear outers don't seem to be fastened to the frame.

Is there a bigger access hole, under the armrest, if I remove the centre console/tunnel trim? There is nothing under my armrest, was it just a piece of foam or was there a cap? It does aid cabin ventilation though in warm weather as there is a nice cool breeze from under it to cool my palm, at least until the engine warms up.  Is this one of Colin's design features, to dry sweaty palms to aid with the gear change?

[Certified Lotus]

Glad you read most of my postings on my rebuild. It was meant to aid others going thru the same thing, particularly the areas that aren’t well documented or explained. You will note I asked lots of questions from forum members. There is great advice from everyone and it really helped in my rebuild.

My garage was a 15 year exercise of collecting and adding. It doesn’t happen over night And because I knew I would be doing a number of restorations I always bought the tools I needed vs borrow or rent.

There is a large opening in the chassis under the arm rest. In my car the arm rest is held in place with 2 plastic clips. You just pull the armrest up. I don’t know if there is any sealing of the opening. Mine didn’t have it and I noticed on my 800 mile road trip warm air flowed thru this area at speed. I made a mental note to seal this off for summer use (I won’t be driving this car during the winter).

You have a very nice car to start with. Take your time and get to know it. The clutch needing replacement will get you into the thick of things pretty quickly. Removing the engine and transaxle isn’t hard, but you need a long engine lift stand along with basic tools.

Regarding the shift tube, everything I read talked about how shifting was marginal even from new. So I decided to replace everything at the same time to get the best shifting possible. The main tubes are usually fine, it’s everything that is connected to them. Here in the us, the middle u-joint between the two tubes is unobtainable. I did find one OEM new one, but the shop wanted $400 for it and I said no way and bought RD Enterprises new version of this u-joint. It works fine.

Make sure you safety wire the roll pin at the end of the tube where the small u-joint bracket and the transaxle gear selector rod are connected. If that roll pin comes out you are stranded without the able to shift any gears. Same with the axle shaft roll pins, safety wire them.

[JR73]

I'm pretty sure the handbrake cable has been replaced,  or at least taken off,  as it's just threaded through tie-wrap loops in the engine bay and the  balance bar/swingtree/u shaped bit is upside down compared to yours.  This will mean, if/when it does rub on the cooling tubes  rather it'll be the sharper edges of the pressing that rub, rather than the curve. I'll push it down for now, if I can, but it probably needs the rear section refitting at some point. Not an easy task, as I have read. I may be lucky and be able to flip the cables in the chassis slot and "swap" the two rear sections, particularly as the rear outers don't seem to be fastened to the frame.

The U shaped part should really be open side to the top - look at the drawings of it in the workshop manual and parts listing. Suspect the idea is that when the car is moving and the handbrake is off the cable technically falls slack and the rear cable can’t fall down out of the U - it is going to be bounced around quite a bit in there as you drive. The car isn’t going anywhere (usually!) when the handbrake is on and the amount it moves when you pull the handbrake is fairly small so you would be applying the handbrake an awful lot before you rub through the water pipes!! If you are worried about any sharp edges catching then dress them with a file to smooth them off.

[BDA]

There used to be a slab of foam under the access hole in the frame under the arm rest - apparently for just the purpose you mentioned: keep the hot air from coming in there in the summer and the cold air from coming in in the winter. Certified's plastic clips sound nice. I used Velcro.

[SilverBeast]

The U shaped part should really be open side to the top - look at the drawings of it in the workshop manual and parts listing. Suspect the idea is that when the car is moving and the handbrake is off the cable technically falls slack and the rear cable can’t fall down out of the U - it is going to be bounced around quite a bit in there as you drive. The car isn’t going anywhere (usually!) when the handbrake is on and the amount it moves when you pull the handbrake is fairly small so you would be applying the handbrake an awful lot before you rub through the water pipes!! If you are worried about any sharp edges catching then dress them with a file to smooth them off.

I pushed it under but as soon as I pull handbrake it comes back up again!  So it's staying as it was..

There used to be a slab of foam under the access hole in the frame under the arm rest - apparently for just the purpose you mentioned: keep the hot air from coming in there in the summer and the cold air from coming in in the winter. Certified's plastic clips sound nice. I used Velcro.

Mine has the clips, but they need fettleing as they are a bit tired.  They look like standard trim clips. The hardboard backing has also distorted without any foam support.

I've also tie wrapped speedo cable? to choke as it was crossing over handbrake cable. I think it should have been left on the bottom of the chassis tunnel with rear handbrake cable passing over it when this was fitted, but it hadn't been!

[SilverBeast]

So I finally got it onto axle stands, then the heavens opened.

Oh well it didn't leak in!  Though pressing on the panel in front of the driver I can see the panel flex away from the windscreen trim.  I guess this means the screen needs refitting?

[BDA]

Your setup is a pretty nice replacement for the stock attachment of the armrest. Originally, there were plastic clips that I never saw unclipped, only broken. I know some people put warnings on their pads because many people figured the cushion came off ao access storage. Any system whereby you can take the pad off to get to stuff in the backbone and reattach the pad is good. I've had my pad off at least a dozen times!

[SilverBeast]

When the rain eased I tightened the rear wheel nuts/lugs  (which I had loosened prior to lifting) to 45lb/ft as per the Workshop Manual and two stripped  . So I backed off to 40lb/ft - the low end of the range.

I'm not sure if they are standard or not, they look different to those listed as Genuine Lotus at SJ Sportscars https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/A074G6000Z.htm Mine don't look as though they extend into the alloy as far.

The wheel stud doesn't seem to extend outside the Alloy as far as the fronts do either.  I'm wondering if the studs have been changed for shorter ones, or maybe ones that should be for steel wheels?

[BDA]

So I finally got it onto axle stands, then the heavens opened.

Oh well it didn't leak in!  Though pressing on the panel in front of the driver I can see the panel flex away from the windscreen trim.  I guess this means the screen needs refitting?

I'm not sure it does. That plastic windshield trim piece covers the joint and below the part you see, it has a piece that the edge of the windshield fits in. The bottom edge of that piece (that grabs the windshield on its inner side) is where the sealing takes place so if it seals in the rain when you're driving you should be in good shape. I doubt I described that very well but hopefully you'll figure it out without too much trouble!

[SilverBeast]

So I put it back in the garage and the sun came out.  Typical British weather.

I'd noticed the steering wheel was scraping against the column surround and that the "outer column" that holds the indicator/headlight stalks could rotate slightly and also move in and out so I decided to look at that.  I also wanted to finish getting the centre horn push to work.

The outer column was moving inside the clamp that holds it to the dashboard with two studs, one of which is a ground point for some of the wiring.  After I took it apart I noticed a shaped steel spacer which I assume is supposed to locate in the groove on the inside of the two clamp halves (it's easier to look at the pictures). I assume that the join faces up so that it doesn't pinch the wiring held in the lower half of the clamp. Can anyone tell me if I am correct?

As mine was already tight I have taken the paint off the mating faces so it will hopefully clamp a little tighter.  Is the spacer supposed to grip the clamp and column? It is shaped and has high and low points.

[jbcollier]

Replace all the wheel studs if some have stripped.  Usually this means a tire shop has used an impact wrench on them and over-tightened and stressed them.  Stock studs and nuts can be torqued to 45 ft/lbs all day long, every day of the year and not give any trouble at all.

[SilverBeast]

Can that be done in-situ or will I need to take the hubs/uprights off?

[jbcollier]

Hubs off at the front (a simple operation).  Not sure about the rear.

[SilverBeast]

The front studs actually look longer (I took one wheel nut off to check) have clean thread all the way to the end.  The rears look rounded at the end, almost as if they were made like that, with the naked eye anyway. Not so sure when I zoomed in on photos though!

[jbcollier]

Same stud front and back IIRC.