Ownership Log – ERA#2124

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by tkb289

Glen,

That 'valve' on the roll bar down tube, looks like a camera mount to me.

Nice work Allen!

Ha ha, thanks Tim! Sometimes I maybe overthink a little!
Cheers,
Glen

[dcdoug]

After seeing these pics, which are awesome, I'd change to a white stripe that matches the meatballs.

[Fullchat289]

Doug: Yes, I modified the triumph steering column to add a Sweet Mfg quick release and a Sparco wheel for auto-x.

Glen: Tim's right...that contraption is a homemade camara mount made out of a piece of PVC pipe/cap, some clamps, and a bit of metal.

Thanks for the compliment on the topless pics.

OK, so on to this stub axle issue. I've had some success in contacting Coventry West this morning and they had a re-built unit sitting on the shelf, so I should have it at my door on Thursday in time to (pre-oil the bearings) and install it prior to the wedding on Saturday. I took the afternoon off y-day and went the more efficient route of removing the stub axle with the rear end assembly in the car. A few pages back on this thread, you'll see I removed the entire rear end assembly when I did the repair this past Winter...this time, I just accessed everything from the wheel-well and it took me a matter of minutes to extract the stub axle assembly once I had the car on stands....Strange what you think about lying in bed in the morning, waiting for the alarm to go off...lol

So here are a few pics...

The california car cover did a nice job of shedding the water while the car sat outside waiting for me to organize a tow on Sunday:



With the car up on stands, just remove the upper radius rod, unbolt the axle flange from the stub axle, rotate the upright/rotor outward, and unbolt the stub axle housing from the diff casting - easy-peasy..



A close-up view of the side of the differential showing the remains of the crusty o-ring inside...it wiped out cleanly with a rag.



Here's the heat-affected housing and crusty remains of the o-ring. This thing was smoking pretty good and grabbing a bit by the time I conceded to the fact that something was awry. Thankfully Coventry West has a replacement on the shelf...



...so aside from this drama, the battery went flat, and I also discovered that the negative post on my 5-yr old Optima yellow top was completely corroded...for some reason, this post was loose in the top of the battery..which was likely the reason for the corrosion development and reason for the charging issue I was about to begin troubleshooting. Hopefully a new battery will solve things on this front.

- Allen.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Fullchat289

With the car up on stands, just remove the upper radius rod, unbolt the axle flange from the stub axle, rotate the upright/rotor outward, and unbolt the stub axle housing from the diff casting - easy-peasy..

Dang, that is easy. What DCDoug wouldn't give for that shortcut "rotate and drop" method. His CSX stub axle fix has been much more difficult.

[ERA Chas]

You guys miss the idea that the yellow stripe is a very Team Lotus trademark from Colin's creation.
That's what contributes to Allen's very 'vintage English' coupe.
Ever hear of Hirondel? An 'into the night, over the road' very early (and English) precursor to the Batmobile.
Allen has achieved that romantic look.

[ERA Chas]

WTF does Leno know? He's been FIRED!

[ERA2076]

Leno should dump the stripe or complete it. It completely detracts from the car.

chr

[Fullchat289]

All:

Happy to report that I received a replacement stub axle from Coventry West on Thursday of last week, bathed it in Gear Oil, and installed it that evening, and went for a test run. Car ran fine save for the fact that I still had the charging issue, but I threw it on the charger and with the new yellow-top, I figured I would be fine for the upcoming wedding on Saturday considering I was running around for a few days on the old battery with a faulty charging system. I did some preliminary trouble shooting Saturday morning per the ERA guide for the charging system to isolate the problem between the voltage regulator and the alternator, and found (at that time) that there was no change in the Ampmeter when I looped the power and field wires at the voltage regulator plug....hence leading me to believe that I had a alternator problem. BUT!!! yesterday, I began removing the wires from the back of the alternator to take it for testing and found that my field wire was broken off inside the connector on the alternator post....so a quick repair there, and I now have a working charging system!! Lots of lessons learned here over the past week, but with each day I drive the car, I just fall more deeply in love with it...

So on to the wedding day....the weather was beautiful, and the bride and groom had a wonderful time using the car and things went very well. The car drew quite a bit of attention and questions from the attendees, and kinda-sorta stole the show...lol. The groom txt'd me this morning saying again how appreciative he was and how he thought it was the hit of the wedding...the newly wed couple used the car as their mock "get away" car post ceremony, but returned with it to do a few more photos before then driving to the reception at a local Country Club. The car then sat outside the Country Club entrance the remainder of the evening and continued to draw conversation..photos, etc... It was a fun time, and I was happy to be a part of it considering the tribulations leading up to the event....

Bride and Groom getting ready to set off:



Cool photo set up by the Groom for the wedding photographer...this was taken on the Groom's cell phone...



- Allen.

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by Fullchat289

....the new yellow-top.....

Allen , I only hope that's the battery you're talking about
Cheers,
Glen

[dcdoug]

Very cool. Must have been a groom you know well.....

[Fullchat289]

I contacted Peter at ERA a week or so ago, figuring that they would have their usual presence at the Carlisle Kit & Import show, and asked if they would like ERA#2124 as part of their display. To my delight, he responded quite enthusiastically to the affirmative and we set up arrangements. I drove the car there late morning this past Friday as they were setting up, and left the car there over the weekend to Sunday Afternoon. As I purchased the car from the original owner, I had never personally met Peter or any of the other ERA crew, so it was nice to finally do that, and I experienced no permanent scarring…real nice guys. Here are some pics. There were 6 cars in the display this year, two slab-sides, ERA’s street 427, two 427 SC’s, and my FIA:











- Allen.

[ERA Chas]

That's why you shouldn't change a thing Allen. The car's got so much character that it does ERA proud.
You didn't even have to buy food to get Peter to accept the car!

[ERA2076]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

That's why you shouldn't change a thing Allen. The car's got so much character that it does ERA proud.

Single yellow - my, my.

[dcdoug]

I still say change the stripe to white.

[jolsen42]

Deleted.

[jolsen42]

Originally Posted by dcdoug

I still say change the stripe to white.

Nah, yellow is perfect with the green. It also picks up the yellow(gold) from the Terlingua decal.

John O

[kevins2]

Allen,

I was there all afternoon Saturday and looked your car over. So, since we all have opinions (unsolicited, I might add), mine is to leave it the way it is - it's beautiful.

Regards,

Kevin

[Jim Holden]

Allen:

Your daughters are as cute as buttons... Lord help you when the young men start knocking on your door.

It was good to have your car as part of the display. It is a great example of an indivdual ERA owner's effort to build a car to his own vision and yet be very true to the character of the original cars.

...and I would leave the yellow stripe just the way it is.

Jim

[*13*]

If people still want a 427 car after that, they better get their head checked! Best of the bunch!

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by *13*

If people still want a 427 car after that, they better get their head checked! Best of the bunch!

I better make a doctor's appt.