What a load of old tut

I was highest bidder on this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180392717293

But didn't win it. Seller wanted £1200, apparently. It didn't make any
sort of price because the model description was wrong, the pix were crap
and there was sod all description.

But.... the thought occurred to me that as it was the same model and
colour as my LT, I could swap over a few parts like mirrors (to replace
my scuffed ones), panniers lids (ditto), get it MoT'd and then just sell
it.

A cheap and fast refurb of my LT.

So, as I had to go to Gaydon today[1], I took the trailer, stuffed £1200
in my pocket, and made a short detour to Oxford.

And found...

The brakes were all fucked. All semi-seized and the front discs had
about an eighth of an inch of vertical play. So, new bobbins and a total
brake overhaul if the ABS is to continue working.

The tank had patches of rouch-up paint. One mirror was scuffed worse
than mine. One pannier was scuffed. The pannier clasp has hanging off
the other, minus two of its three rivets. The seller had said that the
leccy screen worked, but didn't say that it worked as slowly as a sloth
on Largactil, so that was on the way out.

The switch for the heated grips had a hole melted through it. Hm.
Needless to say, no heated grips either.

I asked when he'd last had the drive shaft splies greased. He'd never
had in done, not in the five or six years he'd had it. Any service
history? "No, but I've changed the oil every 3,000 miles...."

No history at all, no tax, no MoT. I left it. I tell you, I'd have been
seriously pissed off if I *had* won it on eBay

I called Timo as I left, just for reassurance that I was doing the right
thing. Apparently I was.

[1] Bonneville 50th anniversary bash. Lots of ShiteOldTrumfs gently
leaking into several acres of Warwickshire. Rather good, though.

 

I hope you didn't have to pay to get in? Or you didn't see my post up there?

I was 'sposed to take my trumpet to show off but couldn't make it in the
end. Bit of a cheek though - even as an exhibitor I had to buy a ticket.

 

Of course not!

It was your post that made me go - turned out Classic Bike had nobody
covering it.

 

Double bugger. You could've done a nice piece on my bike then. It has
been in CB once, a while ago now.

 

Now that's something even I haven't seen bfore.

The get-out clause would have been that he stated in the auction that
it was in good condition when it clearly isn't.

Of course you were. I mean, wouldn't you trust the judgement of someone
who's just bought a Lotus?

 

We went there last Sunday as a sort of treat for me as we made our way
back from our break up in Derbyshire... and when we got there we found
there was some kind of BMW cagers event on.

Much as I quite like Beemers, I felt having to pay an extra tenner
over the normal price for a family to get in was a bit off really,
given it literally was a load of BMWs parked up in the car park and
not much else, and you couldn't just elect to go straight in the
museum and pay the standard admission fee.

Still... the museum itself is worth a visit, if for nothing else than
to see some of the prototypes BL / Rover etc produced back in the 60s
and 70s, in the flesh.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Greasing the splines is not listed in the maintenance schedule for my bike.

Asking 2 independent service chaps if this procedure is needed received a
negative response.

Is this a K specific thing?

 

Yes, to a certain extent. The clutch splines need lubrication on the K
and on the R, but clutch life on the oil heads is comparatively short
so you tend to get a new clutch with lubricant on the splines in good
time. On the K, the clutches last longer but the gearbox input shaft
might not, as I found out to my cost. And that's a fairly expensive
repair.

Driveshaft splines are more of a K thing, too.

 

Agreed 100%.

And even earlier: the Rover jet car section is worth the price of
admission on its own.

 

<Holds head in hands>

Don't tell me. A cheap Esprit?

 

Seems so, yes. Ask Timo, whose K drive let go.

It wasn't a service item on my old Guzzis back in the 1980s, but I still
had to source another drive box because nobody had ever greased the
splines on the exit of that, either. Like razor blades they were.

 

No, even though I was very tempted by this one:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=1085651

It's an early and not that cheap Elise. For once I bought a better
rather than a cheaper one.

 

Went there with Katie a few weeks ago - also went to the motorcycle
museum, which we both found a bit dull.

However, she loves the Motor Heritage Centre.

Did you do the 'gift aid' thing, to turn your standard price ticket into
a 12 month season ticket? - you may not plan to go back, but it's handy
if you're going to another event there.

 

<Baffled>

You don't think I *paid* to get in, do you?

 

A lucky escape.

Heh. We shall see...

Oh, I was outbid on the donor TS250, so forget what I said earlier.

 

Ahhh, you went there under the pretence of 'work'.

 

That's one way of looking at it.

Oh, there were plenty of worse ones about. Notice I didn't say I bought
a "good" one...

Fair enough.

 

I've seen it in the flesh (1) and it's absolutely mint, and has
obviously been well cared for.

(1) And moving under its own steam... with Timo at the wheel as well.

 

Ooh, I like Esprit's

But that one not so much.

I imagine driving one will be a disappointment, like driving an old
kit car, but I live in hope ..

Paul.

 

It appears that it's also hiding the odd (positive) surprise[1].

I've done my usual MOT tester/engineer wivva clipboard thing this
morning and the todo list is surprisingly short. Apart from either
sticking the feline back on (or a silenced de-cat)[2], the clutch
pipework will need doing as it's still on the original plastic Lotus one
that doesn't deal well with heat. It also looks like it wants the later
remote pressure relief thermostat and a set of new tyres in the not too
distant future. And err, that's it unless I start upgrading bits.

And at this point the whole thing becomes a little hard to believe?

[1] The exhaust manifold looks very un-Rover-y in a 4-1 or 4-2-1 way.
[2] The latter probably makes it more quiet and has less back
pressure. I wanted to do that this morning but one look at the amount of
exhaust seal mastic on the joints convinced me that I really wanted to
buy a new couple of gaskets first.