mudguard

Saturday afternoon, heading towards Westerham.

Sunday afternoon. Hope you missed the snow - we didn't :-)

Wow - less than a mile from Chapman Cars, I reckon, and what nice roads for the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Lovely colour scheme and paint job on Kevin's car. I was so busy admiring it - whilst paying attention to the road - I didn't really notice the tintop :-) following.

We passed as you were heading towards Sevenoaks.

I went for the SBFS vinyl half hood and am pleased with it. Very well made, fits easily and properly, matches the doors, no maintenance needed to keep looking good (although occasional use of vinyl and rubber care solution adds shine). No problems with sagging, and it folds up to a slightly smaller size than the tonneau, ideal for stashing both behind the seats. Needless to say, the only function of the old full hood is now to waste some space in the shed!

I just got the car back from Andy Belcher with new cambelts, alternator belt, fresh coolant, and heater bleed tee installed. After the advice here I was curious to have a look at the condition of the old belts. The smaller rear VVC drive belt had no visible wear. The larger front belt had minute hairline cracking between a small number of the teeth when bent backwards. Andy was in agreement with everybody on this thread that replacing them was a wise move. Mindful that the only professionals who've looked closely at the car in the last 2 years have been CC, I did challenge him to pump up the bill by finding anything else that needed doing. The grand total of faults was a loose connection on the foglight! So a thumbs up to CC's pre-sale checks and a thumbs up to Andy - top bloke!

I delayed your right turn by slowing down to wave! Great morning to be out!

Note to self re: longevity of K-VVC, poss. future problems: announce afternoon tea party, bribe with cake.

I'm really moved by the helpful advice and Andrew's very generous offer of help - what a great community this is! Thank you! Round our way, asking for some cake is a risky proposition because what you get is this, courtesy of my far-better-half: Known to cause severe damage to S3s in the form of cockpit shrinkage and loss of ride height! Even those of us with an SV might have to upgrade to a forklift! Anyway, I've already asked Andy Belcher - and I wouldn't offer work to a professional and then take it away. But next time I'll be up for jamming the screwdrivers in the cambelt, putting the locking tool on the window wipers, smacking the alternator with a scaffolding pole, and adding lightness by rounding the head of the crankshaft bolt!

This time it's going to a professional. As far as I know, it's so long overdue that it seems risky to postpone till the winter, when I could take much more time with less worry over disrupting prime driving season. Next time will be different. Yes I know it'll cost me quite a lot more, but in context of the amount of joy the car brings at this time of year, and how sad I'll be if my ham-fisted spannering scuppers the car for weeks, it's a price worth paying. Sometimes being a chicken makes sense!

I must admit I am leaning towards chickening out and taking it to the redoubtable Mr. Belcher, who I've already met. I think I could do it if I took it on (as always, the advice available on BC is extremely useful), but for a half a day of worry and then, with a mistake potentially putting the car out of action for several summer weeks, it's worth seeing beyond my personal pride and satisfaction.

There's no question of whether they'll be changed or not - the only question is whether it'll be me doing them Already have the plastic tee - was going to fit at the next opportunity anyway. Have only held off as temps have been very steady recently - suspect I had a small airlock which has somehow worked its way out. But draining the coolant for waterpump change gives an opportunity to fit - and also to refill with new coolant as I don't know how long the old has been in.

Ok looks like changing both belts is the way forward then - thanks for the insights. The remaining question is Jonathan's - I'll have to have a ponder on that one. It looks like a couple of levels up from whipping the sump off. There's that tight bolt in the crankshaft pulley, and the possibility of trashing the valves. And I really should do the waterpump at the same time, which means draining and then battling the airlocks on refill. Perhaps it's one for a professional.

Sadly I have no idea about the age of the belts. The service record (albeit patchy) has no record of any change. So they could be as old as the car (14 years).

The mudguard voyage of discovery into basic Seven maintenance continues These belts look to be in pretty good condition to me, and they are pretty firm when I try to deflect them with a finger at various points on the belt. With the engine not running But then I wouldn't know one end of a dodgy cambelt from another. Before someone helpfully points it out, I know cambelts are technically not designed to have ends, but I'm told that their life's ambition is to transform themselves into having two ends, which makes the openy things for the acceleration-juice and the pollution-smelly gas have a violent argument with the big up-and-down-slidy things. Which is not good. Any opinions please? https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ubrcq3ekw2l9pv3/AACk6nHH0bsS3gnquRLNdrQla?dl=0 Oh, and final photo - where is the radiator coolant bleed screw? Don't need to open it at the moment but at some point I might.

Hi from yellow SV!

Maybe my right foot is softer than yours The engine did sound a lot happier when I blatted this morning - but then it always sounds happier with fresh oil. Now the note is crisper and lighter under acceleration. Am I becoming a petrolhead? From reading the various threads on here, I don't think 5w50 synth is necessarily "wrong" from a high-revving high-temperature track perspective, it's just that the VVC mechs were apparently designed with 10w40 semi in mind, and there are anecdotes that they wear out more quickly with the oil that CC use as standard for all Ks. But yes, it is a continuing theme of CC getting things just slightly "wrong" for the car, IMO. Wheels, headlight bulbs, oil, brake light switch, the list continues. I think the lesson is that as an owner you have to step up and make the minor tweaks to make such a big improvement. I'm enjoying the journey!

I know, I know. And it's only about 10 months old. But I have the unusual silvered dials and the mechanical gauge will stick out like even more of a sore thumb than it usually does. Maybe remoting the sender is a good compromise.

All done. The big surprise when I got the sump off was that the foam was pristine - looked like it had been installed yesterday. As far as I know it dates from 2010, unless CC renewed it in 2016 as part of their "81 point check". It was still spongy and plump and I could not break even a small fragment away. There were also no foam fragments in the sump - only about 7 of the strange tiny hard particles mentioned in the Alcester guide. There were no particles of anything in the oil pickup mesh. I noted that the headshell has three substantially raised divots so that it sits proud of the sump base - so maybe it has already had the mod. So - I left it as it was. New oil is in and no leaks at temperature. Will check again after a blat. Couple of things I noticed - the oil pressure gauge read slightly lower (3 instead of 4) after start than previously. At temperature, idle, it's slightly higher at around 1. At temperature and 4krpm, about 3.5 which matches previously. I'm not keen to read too much into this as the sender, in the OEM location, has always been a bit random, and the new oil has a different viscosity. VVC mechs are indeed quieter. The entire 5L container of new oil was necessary to bring it to just below the highest x, engine running, so I need a little more but not urgently. One warning missing from all the guides is how tough on the shoulders wielding a torque wrench in that position is! But I didn't find the process difficult at all, just time-consuming - sure that was down to the good information from the community (thank you!) and adequate preparation. The "normal" oil change will be a piece of cake now.

Thanks for all the suggestions, including some over BM referencing a lowflying article (sadly not in the archive yet) which shows very helpful photos of what to expect when the sump is off. Not having seen these before I somewhat stupidly expected the oil pickup pipe to run vertically to some high recess and thus be tricky to refit in terms of locating that recess. A bit thick given that the oil pump is at crankshaft level. Now I see that it runs near-horizontally to a hole which will be clearly visible and accessible. Ok so it is slightly tricky to refit anyway because of the alignment with the baffle plate, but I'm expecting that and am aware about the need for loose fitting of the bolts. With 2 axle stands my Cunning Plan is to lower the car back to the horizontal during the later part of the draining of the old oil, and then raise it again afterward. The profile of the drip tray I have is low enough to permit this. Now just waiting for the new filter to arrive, then I can crack on.

The thing that really puts me off attempting to modify the pickup is that replacements aren't readily available should I accidentally smack it a bit too hard. https://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/k-series-oil-pickup-pipe The gasket holes are more straightforward and in the worst case new gaskets are available.

Thanks Jonathan - haven't seen that before. Much more detailed than GTKY7.

I know this is something that many of you do every other month without breaking a sweat, but for me (not the car) it's the first time so all a bit new and unfamiliar. Stop me now before I land myself with a large engine rebuild invoice! I'm planning to do it myself because a) I want to b) it's encouraged round these ere parts c) the car isn't due another service for a while and d) it has burnt an x or two of oil over the last 5k and I'd rather replace than top up, because reasons which will become apparent below. The bits and pieces I've done to the car so far (changed wheels /headlight bulbs/minor cosmetic tidyups etc) have gone very well so I'm confident enough to tackle the next level in getting my hands dirty. I've read the GTKY7 article and that all seems to make sense. I've also read a couple of gotchas elsewhere which are specific to the K-series 1) careful with the sump plug as it sits in soft aluminum 2) when dropping sump don't forget the two long bellhousing bolts. Yes, I'm planning to drop the sump after the old oil is out as I want to get a look at the infamous foam and check its condition, and also the oil pickup to check for foam debris. If there's any breakup or crispiness I'm planning to remove the foam permanently. I've read both sides of the great debate and I'm on that side. I know I have to put back the tray it sits in if I remove it. I think I'll not drill the two extra holes in the gasket this time - maybe later. Question - do I have to get a new sump gasket if I'm dropping the sump? The current one is not leaking so I was planning to reuse it or in the worst case, get hold of a replacement quickly. I've also read the VVC oil grade debates and am planning to refill with 10w40 semi-synth. Currently it has 5w50 fully synth courtesy of CC. I have 5 litres (mobil 2000) which is allegedly enough for a wet sump car. So what else do I know about that's not mentioned in the GTKY7 article? Don't overfill the new oil as it hits the cranks - get it to the bottom of the dipstick, then measure with engine running and top up with it stopped, small amounts each time. Before first start on new oil, turn it over a bit with plugs disconnected to prime the oil system. Prime new filter with new oil before fitting. Sump might be stiff to remove - if so, ensure all bolts are out then put one back a little before "persuasion" to avoid sump flying into the drain tray. Persuade with wood block + mallet not screwdriver. Tighten sump bolts in stages gradually, torque to the numbers I've got noted down somewhere.... Here's the bits I have and am planning to use - 2 axle stands, trolley jack (I'm fine with raising the car safely), spanner to fit sump plug, replacement filter, sump plug and washer, drain tray, funnel, nitrile gloves, chain filter wrench (for removal only), torque wrench, hex bits. Main thing - if anything goes wrong, leave it alone, don't turn the engine and ask and/or pay for help from someone who actually knows what they're doing. Have I missed anything!?

These look like black-painted HPCs? After having lived with them on an SV, I can't recommend them. They're much less forgiving of uneven road surfaces and low grip situations than smaller lighter wheels. I'd gently suggest that the car will prefer to be driven much more conservatively than previously. All IMO.

Mine recently failed - a matter of days after its MOT pass! It had an interesting - and fairly dangerous - failure mode. Worked fine when you test by tapping the pedal with a hand. Worked only intermittently when pressing smoothly and progressively with a foot (as you're supposed to do!). Replaced with a new OEM unit from CC. Fine for the moment - we'll see how long that lasts! If these parts are poor quality, why do CC persist in fitting them as OEM spec? Especially when the product as a whole, overall, is so good. Why don't they learn from the experiences of the community and make small inexpensive tweaks as a policy of continuous improvement? It does smack a bit of spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar.