Replaced drive peg & new tires on

Wheels & tires are back. Before they go on, I decided to replace the missing drive peg on the rear passenger side:

I left the peg in the freezer overnight, and it was a warm day, so it was easy to get started.

I used a 'D' clamp to drive the peg about 1/8". When it got stiff, I gently tapped it with a hammer (moving 1/64" at a time) to finish the job.

10 minutes later - job done, and new wheels and tires back on the car.

Refurbishing the wheels

After 45+ years, all of the original steel wheels had various dents, dings and rust. I decided to have them repaired and powder coated.

Here is the original (unused) spare from the boot. I will also have to refurbish the bracket, which is also in pretty good condition.

The four best wheels:

After powder coating in Anodized Silver:

Tires go on next.

Weber service notes

The Webers need some work. Found these notes and wanted to post them for future reference.

New tires ordered

I have been going through the different options for tires & wheels:

You can fit 175R13 70 (wider, lower-profile) tires on the +2. But these are considered odd sizes and are expensive and/or hard to find.

The best modern solution is the combo of 14" Minilites wheels with 65 series tires. Your speedometer will be correct, and there are plenty of good tire options. But this is also an expensive route.

Finally, there are reproduction tires like the Vredestein Sprint Plus 165HR13 82 (see https://www.cokertire.com/165r13-vredestein-sprint.html). They look original and preserve the legendary Lotus handling and ride quality. I ordered five...

Progress update

Over the weekend:

• Installed the Pertronix distributor, coil and wires. Added a ground wire to the coil bracket.
• Replaced the battery (with dry-cell Red Optima).
• Installed the new hi-perf starter motor.

The hardest job was the starter motor. It is very difficult to reach the top bolt, and you have to work blind. The ring (connector) on the wire that connects to the starter solendoid also needs to be drilled out. It was worth the effort, the starter turns the engine over at 600 RPM.

After installing the new parts, I could not get the car to start. It would kick and backfire, but that was it. A friend recommended rotating the distributor 180 degrees. Once I corrected the orientation, the car roared to life with a strong & aggressive note.

More TODO items:

• Use timing light and set precise timing.
• Get radiator overflow bottle installed.
• Track down oil leak at back of the engine.
• Weber carb servicing; including new floats.

Starter-motor notes:

Fixing the electronic ignition

When the twink was rebuilt, we installed a Pertronix FlameThrower distributor / electronic ignition. It caused us a lot of grief, working sporadically and eventually burning out, so we changed back to the points system. A few weeks ago, I ordered a Pertronix Ignitor III "upgrade" module with the hope that I could fix the distributor and tune the engine.

Removing the Ignitor module is straight-forward. Pop the distributor cap, cut the red & black wires, unscrew / remove the "horseshoe" plate and drill (carefully!) out the 3/32" (#1) rivets. Now you're ready to install the Ignitor III module.

I used 4-40 nuts & bolts with lock washers to secure everything - you will have to grind/file the heads down so the plate seats correctly. These will make servicing the distributor easier (the module MTBF is 25,000 miles).

Follow the same procedure, in reverse, to put the distributor back together.

Next, follow the instructions that come with the Ignitor III module to set the rev-limiter. I set mine to 7,600 RPM.

I also labelled the spark plug wires.

Pertronix replacement Ignitor III module

The Pertronix FlameThrower III distributor is still on backorder (ordered end of Nov. 2014). Which is frustrating - I'd like to get the engine running & properly tuned; and my existing FlameThrower distributor has an unknown problem.

So I decided to gamble and ordered a Pertronix Replacement Ignitor III Module (D7500701) from Amazon. The instructions look like they are easy to "misplace," so I scanned them for future reference (below). I hope it works!

New differential output yokes

The weather is almost warm enough to start working on the car. Lots of updates soon.

I purchased some new differential output yokes on the weekend.