Wipers and Brake Servo
Today (and like this weekend) I have been driving around thinking and doing things. I enjoy driving I find it very relaxing, and good for the unwinding. I am sure 99% of people would think the opposite, but I am not them.
Anyway this morning I popped over to a company called SVC in Tamworth who do classic cars parts, having seen them at an auto jumble the other week I noticed they do a multi speed wiper setup kit and wondered if I could convert the GT to multi speed. First job pop down to Retropower and unbolt the wiper assembly from the car then pop over to Tamworth so I had the opportunity to compare things with their kit.
Alas the kit although good quality doesn’t work with the Viva, the spindles were much smaller in diameter and would require some extra bushes spinning up on a lathe (more cost) to stop them moving around on the scuttle panel. The wiper motor needs a gear set adding and dependant upon the wipers themselves, its a bit hit and miss working out the wiper angles (90 degrees to 130 degrees are the sets available). Looking at the wiper linkage I had did not answer the question, so I left empty handed. This is the kit in question.
I need to work out the wiper linkage changes sooner rather than later as the heater box all sits in front of the linkage and changes could be messy at a later stage. Luckily upon return to Retropower, I was informed of a kit they used on another car that uses the same single speed wiper motor then adds wash wipe / intermittent wipe functions from a programmable unit added to the car. So when i get a minute the wiper linkage assemble will be put back in the car and I shall follow that route.
The second reason for popping over to SVC was to buy a twin remote brake servo for my GT, which they were out of stock, as I said earlier good thing I like a nice drive. I have put one on order but it looks like it will be a few weeks at least. This is the servo from SVC.
last on the shopping list was a replacement set of gauges for the GT, knowing the old ones are a bit iffy (not calibrated to the engine sensors on the lotus unit) I obtained a VDO set of gauges from a late Lotus Esprit (so they match the engine) also the speedo cable should fit the speedo to the gearbox! (I have no idea if it will read the right speed mind!) The faces are the same size as the GT gauges and with a bit of cutting and folding of some flat metal a mounting chassis like the GT one should be possible, that means the original gauges and the mounts will remain untouched.
