Looking back through my photos and videos, realised I missed quite a significant part out.
We did try and get it running.
No change of position on the car needing a full rebuild, but thought it would have been useful to even be able to take the car round the block to see if it drove fine.
Quick trip to Dingbro for oil & filter.
Borrowed a battery from my Celica, no idea where the Lotus’ battery is, hadn’t had one the entire time it’s been with me.
Lack of keys, not so much of an issue when you’re dealing with stuff from the 60s/70s, quick bit of hot wiring in the engine bay and we verified there was spark!
Problem appeared to be the fuel side of the equation. Thoroughly perished fuel lines to the carbs
So whilst we still had some juice left in the battery, decided to run a compression test.
Now, the engine having sat for so long without running would probably guarantee some interesting numbers, but ideally I wanted to understand if the head gasket had gone when the engine last overheated.
Results, all values +/-5psi
Cylinder 1 – 125psi
Cylinder 2 – 125psi
Cylinder 3 – 75psi
Cylinder 4 – 125psi
Hmmm… could just be a sticky valve…