AntonyH

Maybe Ian's had better luck with that particular flasher relay (the one marked "0.1 - 150W") but the one I bought - from that linked, reputable, eBay seller back in 2015 - lasted 160 miles. I wasn't impressed, particularly given we were on a 200 mile blat at the time and dusk was approaching. Shortly afterwards - still in February 2015 - I replaced it with one of these WIPAC units: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-90-110-4-PIN-LED-INDICATOR-FLASHER-UNIT-RELAY-WIPAC-WFL7LED-/271666860888 It's been perfect ever since.

I like to think it's a possibility.

Saturday 4th February... I was heading down Stannington Road in Sheffield when the driver of said Transit gave me a cheery wave and a (headlight) flash. Posting here on the offchance it was a club member. I was on my way to see "Doctor" Dave Gemzoe for a 12,000 mile service and a minor fuel leak fix.

Nick, they've been out before - it's just that I've never done it. :)

Thanks all. Paul, I will recheck the socket - you may be correct; I didn't want to lean on it too firmly and potentially damage the plug, given I've not removed them before. Having done some googling, I'm thinking that a much longer, magnetic, variant may be better (as Mark mentions), given the added complexity of the hole depth to the plug. With my socket set, just reaching the damn things meant putting the supplied extension bar *and* the UJ piece onto the ratchet, as the extension wasn't long enough on its own. This, obviously, leaves three connections between pieces, i.e. more points of potential disconnection, and is rather clumsy.

My Halfords socket set contains a pair of what it claims are spark plug removal sockets. However, having tried to use these yesterday it appears that the tops of my plugs are somewhat taller than the socket recess is deep - as far as I could feel, the socket was resting on the top of the plug and just spinning round, having failed to reach and engage with the 'nut' faces of the plug. This is not helped by the fact that on an EU3 K-series the plugs are so far down into the block that you need a significant extension bar and also have no hope of actually seeing what you're doing, so there's a bit of guesswork here. I'm therefore after recommendations of a spark plug removal socket that actually works...

If you haven't already purchased... The last time I bought any (granted, 2015), the cheapest seller I found was from eBay seller 'wheel_spacers_uk' http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Econoseal-AMP-Waterproof-Electrical-Wiring-Multi-Connector-2-3-4-6-10-12-Way-Pin-/271674203749

Funny thing, I had the boot floor out yesterday, investigating a fuel leak (well, "up" at least; "out" appears to be impossible whilst the roll bar is fitted). Mine (both parts) is also attached with self-tappers. I would say "all round" but there appears to be less than 50% occupancy in total, and of the three in the wooden part, one just isn't coming out. Annoyingly it's the one in the centre whose point seems to be very close to the fuel return pipe. I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong there... The absence of most of the fixings doesn't appear to be an issue; the few that exist, in combination with the boot side carpet lining, mean that it doesn't go anywhere (even when you want it to, without an amount of swearing).

NB. My blog on rear lights doesn't include my high level brake light, but there are bits on the connectors, getting to them, etc... https://www.lotus7.club/comment/2112779#comment-2112779

There will also be a connector inboard of the sideskin on the nearside. The advantage there is, the void between the body panel and the fuel tank on the nearside *isn't* filled with fuel filler and breather pipework, and is therefore easier to get your fingers into by a factor of roughly infinity. Get under the rear arch and follow the cable from the rear lights; where it goes through the panel there should be a rubber grommet (25mm I think). This grommet can be removed and the cables may have enough slack to let you pull them through far enough to split the connection and plug the subloom in. This also will be much simpler than trying to reach up beside the fuel tank to do the unplugging and replugging, but it might be a case of one hand either side of the skin. :)

Update: With our battery out of the car, I left if on the Caterham's CTEK (MXS 3.6) for about 36 hours, after which the open circuit voltage was about 11.5V. Put it back in the car and by the time I got the multimeter on it (maybe 10 seconds later) I read about 7V from it. Took it out again and instead hooked it up to the Defender's CTEK (MXS 7.0) which has an explicit 'recond' setting. 48 hours later, 13V o/c and about 12.6V on the car and she started first time. Been out for a bit of a blat this afternoon, all is good (barring the muppet in the Ka who thought an unbroken white line approaching a blind crest on a NSL road was no impediment to overtaking... happily the brakes still work and 59mph to zero doesn't take much distance in a Seven, so the idiot was able to complete his manoeuvre and regain his lane).

Thanks all. We do have an FIA switch, but unfortunately it's mostly useless as it also disconnects the tracker, which then falls back to its internal emergency battery which then also dies after a few days. I've little doubt that the tracker is the reason for the batteries lasting two years only, despite the conditioner. Note to self, the fix is to use the car more... Many thanks to NicMac who selflessly blatted over this morning with a spare.

Despite being hooked up to a CTEK at all times when in the garage, yet another sodding Banner has decided that cold temperatures just aren't its "thing" and if I ask nicely I can have almost as many as seven volts from it. Apparently it's a Boxing Day sale - 40% off all battery voltages... Other than being mighty annoyed about cancelling tomorrow's blat (forecast: glorious sunshine), I am therefore now after suggestions for a decent battery that will survive a winter on a conditioner when the car gets driven only occasionally. 1.8 K-series from 2005; if it involves moving the battery tray (currently over the toe-end of the passenger footwell) due to size differences, etc, then so be it - sufficiently fed up of another day spoiled by a dead Banner (third or fourth, I think this is, in four years) that I'm willing to get more involved than just doing a straight replacement. TIA

I am trying to register, but the recaptcha thingy is just sitting there spinning when I click it. :( Never gets as far as accepting I'm not a robot or deciding that I am...

There's also a 10% club discount at Opie Oils, *but* last time I used them their 'standard delivery' was definitely not rapid enough for delivery by the weekend. If you're planning a few weeks ahead (next time) then they're worth a look. http://www.opieoils.co.uk and https://www.lotus7.club/membership/special-offers-members/opie-oils

One of these: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/gauges/217-water-temperature-gauge-052000-onwards.html Fully working condition, some blemishes in the metal bezel as you'd expect from a gauge taken from a 2005 car that's used all year round and is north of 50,000 miles. The plastic housing is cracked (see pictures). This does not affect operation or fit, it just means you can't wind as much tension onto the mounting bolts as a gorilla might, but then you shouldn't be doing that anyway as they're plastic threads and nuts. You can mount it perfectly securely as is, I only replaced it due to my personal fussiness about such things. If I hadn't removed all my dash gauges and switches for a dashboard clean, I wouldn't have known. Comes complete with a round-section o-ring, all mounting hardware (bracket, nuts, wavy washers) and the brand new bulb holder and filament bulb from the new replacement I bought as that was easier than unplugging my existing bulb unit. RRP £46 and change for a new one, £20 plus carriage for a club member or collection from Sheffield.

Within the bracket, the wires are loose. The sheath goes up into the headlight bowl but not really down the bracket tube any; it's purely to keep the wires together and vaguely protected from flying debris. With extra length or maybe heat shrink, I imagine you could encase them throughout the bracket tube, but there's not a huge amount of space down there already, plus a 90 degree bend of course, so getting the whole lot fed through would be even more of a PITA.

On my car, where the wires run between the headlamp bowl exit and the bracket tube, under the indicator mount, the wires aren't / weren't wrapped as such, but were contained in a flexible plastic tube (a bit like a heat-shrink tube but not heat-shrink). This tube has a slit cut into it to let the indicator wires to come out to the flasher. I don't have a picture to hand but that could be arranged if necessary. While you're about it, you could replace your indicator cones with carbon ones at not much expense, meaning a reduced likelihood of having to replace a cracked one in future. https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/front-lights-refresh Less that double the cost of plastic ones from Caterham, so if they have double the lifespan (probably more than), they're a bargain... man maths!

The shoulder strap points are in the top rail behind the seats / front of the boot area. It's quite likely that these will be obscured by the leading edge of the boot cover and a little cutting may be required. The lap belt mounts are easiest (by far!) to see if you take the seats out, although you *might* be able to access them without, depending on how far you can slide each seat forward. I'm not certain but it's possible (likely?) that these are the same mount points that the inertia belt mounts to. Here's a 2014 assembly guide, you want page 157. Yes, it's post-K, but the words and pictures in the relevant section are identical to those in my K-series guide, with the exception of some aspects of the 6-point mountings which you may not be doing anyway: https://www.lotus7.club/sites/default/files/images/Docs/Guides/guide.pdf Edit: And with a little more googling, the K-series version, in which you'll want section 7, page 6 (about half way through the guide): http://www.lotus-super7.com/stock/Assembly%20Guide.pdf

Lol! We've done 20,000 miles in the last four years and have had exactly one "spotted"!

You were trundling towards Sheffield in traffic near Hollow Meadows. We were heading east in the red SV, taking advantage of an empty road, having been held at the roadworks lights at Rivelin dams (slightly engineered by holding back and waiting for the red!).

That's Rog and Anne, of our (South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire) parish. :)

Excellent day out all round. :) Rear lights came from the now-defunct Kit Car Supplies (formerly Seven Speed), but I have found them available from other suppliers now, mostly Car Builder Solutions. See: http://www.lotus7.club/blogs/better-rear-lights-project for links and details, and a lot of waffling.

:)

On the infield just outside the hangar. :) We're in the very shiny red one closer to the flight line.