1970 s2 0453R - A new Beginning

[dakazman]

                     I'm happy to be starting on to this new chapter, A new beginning with 86,139 miles on the clock.
                            This is where I'm the dealer listening to complaints...
   
    Going for a test ride is where I'll begin, brakes being the focus. Which brings me to a maintenance schedule I heard most of you talking about but didn't do. It would have been easier to do some with the body off but I wanted to put myseft in a real world LOTUS state of mind.  WTS my first job when I come back will be service the front uprights, and lube front end. Then go find the owners manual.
 Dakazman 

     

[TurboFource]

To a new chapter!   

[BDA]

Yet another step in your journey!! 

[dakazman]

  Thank You Guys and YES,it is exciting. My one regret is I didnt yet add the finalpart
    a Lotuseuropa.org sticker.I know I have it somewhere safe... 

   As for my brake problem, its non existent now, apparently the master cylinder only supplies so much fluid. being that the rear brakes were never brought into contact with the drums after bleeding caused the lack of stopping power. It stops on a dime now addded 5 miles to the ticker.
   I know I said, I was going to do some servicing but got distracted and washed the last 3months of dust and alot of oil off her. 
  Then I just played with a bluetooth speaker linked to my I-Phone to give me some relaxing music while driving. The mpow speaker was an old christmas gift that I finally put to use. it sounds great hanging on the Iphone hanger that is meant for an I-phone with a bluetooth camera.
 Dakazman

 
 

[dakazman]

  Customer complained that he didn’t like the look of the wiper arms and plastic connectors.
 So with some can do attitude and a little reverse engineering on the new wiper blades and the original blade holders tedious swapped the wiper blade to the original holder.
  I have step by step pics but I’ll spare you for now .
 
Next,
  customer complaint,
  Rear luggage floor gets hot .
 With some help getting some material, 1” ceramic muffler wrap was selected and muffler removed.
  Muffler was wrapped with the insulation and strapped with .22 stainless safety wire. Thin sheet of aluminum flashing will be added to keep dirt out and fraying.  It’s a work in progress. See pic.
Dakazman


 

 

[dakazman]

  Finished the muffler wrap and checked for fit , now to test !
   After 10 minutes of idling muffler was warm but I could hold my hand to it . After a 5 minute
drive, not so much, and stayed warm 10 minutes after. Still cooler than the heat shield which felt like an oven. There is about 3/4” clearances above and below  muffler .

  Then on to the next complaint about the left window stop working. 🤔
Dakazman
 

[TurboFource]

I see you wrapped your forearm too …. 

[dakazman]

  Ever since my operations my skin on my forearms tear and bruises easily, blood thinners and what I think is crepe skin or bat skin from the COVID shots. I just bumped a screen door while it was closing .
  I keep a good supply of bandaids around or masking tape. 🤣
  Dakazman

[Fotog]

Just thinking about the muffler wrap.  It sounds like you might not be totally satisfied with the resulting temperature at the luggage tray.

As you know, the original insulation was not to the muffler, but instead installed on the luggage tray.  I'm thinking that makes sense, as some substantial amount of heat will be dissipated from the muffler itself before radiation and convection from the top side of it gets to the luggage tray.  Air flow around an un-insulated muffler could get rid of much of the heat out the back of the car via convection before it even gets to the luggage tray.  Meaning less of a task for the insulation.

As it is, you're trying to keep the heat in the muffler to exit with the exhaust gasses.  The muffler itself probably gets extra-hot.

I could be dreaming, but after a career in industrial heating, that's my instinct.  It might be a bit difficult to analyze, with some significant approximations and guesses involved.  :-)

[dakazman]

 You’re correct with that assumption. I’m following your train of thought. I was also thinking I may have wrapped it too tight . Crushing the fibers together.  It’s only held together with safety wire so no real loss .
Dakazman

[Kendo]

You could wrap just the top with insulation. Even with the aluminum flashing wrapped around the bottom, heat should escape downward pretty well.

[dakazman]

  Kendo that’s a good test, in baby steps, loosen the batting and still protect it . I was thinking about adding back the metal cover that I had on the top that would allow the air to flow completely around the muffler.
  Thanks , keep you posted.
Dakazman

[Fotog]

Dave:  you're right that wrapping it very tightly will compromise the insulation.  Air in the ceramic fiber provides much of the insulating effect.

[dakazman]

 Fotog,
  I tried another test idling for 10 minutes, insulation and a stainless cover, still not happy. I also cut out vents in the lower mount.
Tomorrow insulation/ durarock/ stainless , who knows at this point. The durarock takes the place of firebrick.
  I also filled in some of my spare time with replacing the rear taillights with a set I purchased awhile back but needed to replace the reverse lenses . They both had a small hairline cracks in them. My left side light assembly has some surface rust so I’ll get to replacing that one soon.
 Then I spent about 3 hours putting in two rivnuts to hold the console in , instead of nuts that I kept dropping in the tunnel along with the wrench. I’ll save time in the future.
Dakazman

[BDA]

  I can't tell you how many times I've had those bolts out to move the console cover aside and I struggle with the nuts underneath every time!!! I have riv-nuts several other places but for some reason, it has never occurred to me to install them there!! I'll get some riv-nuts and install them the next time I get in there!!!