Lotus Elise S1 in Norfolk Mustard
Discussion
I've been on the look out for a nice Elise S1 for a while now and around a month or so ago I found one 
I originally decided I wanted a 111S but prices have rocketed in the last year and with an on going house renovation, I decided a nice condition standard car was better than a tatty 111S. Anyway, I've now had it a couple of weeks and despite not being the fastest car in the world, I'm pretty happy. Please excuse the crappy image but the weather is not exactly great for taking pictures!
Having owned a K Series Caterham R300 spec car, I'm pretty familiar with the issues. I'm pleased this car has a PRRT fitted with the thermostat mod and the better Multi-Layer Gasket so hopefully HGF won't happen...we'll see!
The car is in very good order with a comprehensive service history and is on 71k miles. It's completely standard engine and gearbox wise (118bhp) but has Corbeau LE Pro Seats with Schroth 4 point harnesses and a removeable Momo steering wheel.
First job on getting home after collection was to replace the rubber aerial gasket which had disintegrated and fallen off.
A new one was sourced through ebay for £2.99
and tidies up the rear nicely. I won't ever use the radio but I couldn't stand not to have it looking right!
Future plans are to do a couple of other minor tidy up jobs and to fit a Hurricane Induction Kit. I'll also be whipping out the seats to deep clean the interior and also be replacing the sill pads. Updates to come
I originally decided I wanted a 111S but prices have rocketed in the last year and with an on going house renovation, I decided a nice condition standard car was better than a tatty 111S. Anyway, I've now had it a couple of weeks and despite not being the fastest car in the world, I'm pretty happy. Please excuse the crappy image but the weather is not exactly great for taking pictures!Having owned a K Series Caterham R300 spec car, I'm pretty familiar with the issues. I'm pleased this car has a PRRT fitted with the thermostat mod and the better Multi-Layer Gasket so hopefully HGF won't happen...we'll see!
The car is in very good order with a comprehensive service history and is on 71k miles. It's completely standard engine and gearbox wise (118bhp) but has Corbeau LE Pro Seats with Schroth 4 point harnesses and a removeable Momo steering wheel.
First job on getting home after collection was to replace the rubber aerial gasket which had disintegrated and fallen off.
A new one was sourced through ebay for £2.99
and tidies up the rear nicely. I won't ever use the radio but I couldn't stand not to have it looking right!Future plans are to do a couple of other minor tidy up jobs and to fit a Hurricane Induction Kit. I'll also be whipping out the seats to deep clean the interior and also be replacing the sill pads. Updates to come
Thanks for the nice comments chaps, it certainly gets a lot of attention on the road.
Longer term, I'd look at the uprated toe link kit if I take it on track and I'd possibly look at the DVA 135bhp kit, not purely for the power increase but it makes the top end of the rev range much more urgent. But that's down the line though, for now I just want to enjoy driving it
Krikkit said:
Phwoar, best colour for an S1 imo.
Any other plans for mods, or keep it standard?
Nothing major planned in the short term, aside from the minor cosmetic bits. It's had a great deal of love and attention from the previous owners so not much needs doing. I liked the fact the previous owner had already replaced the seats, harnesses and steering wheel as these were top of my list to do if I'd have bought a car with the standard bits in.Any other plans for mods, or keep it standard?
Longer term, I'd look at the uprated toe link kit if I take it on track and I'd possibly look at the DVA 135bhp kit, not purely for the power increase but it makes the top end of the rev range much more urgent. But that's down the line though, for now I just want to enjoy driving it
Small update!
Despite vowing not to allow my OCD tendencies to get the better of me and to just drive the car, I rapidly decided that a couple of jobs needed doing! First up, the dog-eared Lotus badge was peeled off and replaced with a new one:
The new sticker was pretty easy to get lined up and smartens up the rear of the car nicely:
The interior also needed a slight tidy up as several things were annoying me. With the weather being a bit rubbish and also because I thought it'd be quite quick, I cracked on and started by taking out the seats. This was relatively simple despite the awkward angle of some of the bolts.
This revealed quite a lot of grime and dirt, so the whole interior was washed down, dried and hovered out. I then cleaned up the bare ali with a 'magic sponge' which is slightly abrasive and removes dirt and small scratches and brings it up to a more uniform finish. The old sill pads, which had seen better days and were covered in scratches, marks and tears were then removed to be recovered. This was a b
h of a job that involved lots of swearing and cursing and breaking various tools trying to lever the damn things off. But perseverance (and the use of a chisel) meant I got there in the end!
The old ones:
I'm not sure if they were the original factory sill pads, but they'd been stuck on with the world's strongest double sided tape that resisted all attempts to remove it.
I then remembered reading Tickle's Elise 111S thread about using a drill with a toffee wheel attachment to remove all the sticky crap and make a dusty mess, so I shamelessly did the same
Then, with the old leather pads pulled off, the old foam was scraped away:
Then the plastic pads were recovered with new 3mm closed cell sticky backed foam ready to be recovered with new leather:
Next, the seats were removed from their frames as they were looking a bit manky:
These were then wire brushed, primed and painted in satin black:
The seat bolts all had various degrees of rust and corrosion on, so new bolts were bought ready for the seats to be refitted:
The old speaker grills had also seen better days and looked shocking:
A quick look on eBay turned up some brand new ones for £4 delivered
. Although I won't use the radio much, these look much better:
Finally, the sill pads were recovered and fixed in place, the seats reinstalled with the nice new shiny bolts and the inside given another hoover. Much better
Despite vowing not to allow my OCD tendencies to get the better of me and to just drive the car, I rapidly decided that a couple of jobs needed doing! First up, the dog-eared Lotus badge was peeled off and replaced with a new one:
The new sticker was pretty easy to get lined up and smartens up the rear of the car nicely:
The interior also needed a slight tidy up as several things were annoying me. With the weather being a bit rubbish and also because I thought it'd be quite quick, I cracked on and started by taking out the seats. This was relatively simple despite the awkward angle of some of the bolts.
This revealed quite a lot of grime and dirt, so the whole interior was washed down, dried and hovered out. I then cleaned up the bare ali with a 'magic sponge' which is slightly abrasive and removes dirt and small scratches and brings it up to a more uniform finish. The old sill pads, which had seen better days and were covered in scratches, marks and tears were then removed to be recovered. This was a b
h of a job that involved lots of swearing and cursing and breaking various tools trying to lever the damn things off. But perseverance (and the use of a chisel) meant I got there in the end!The old ones:
I'm not sure if they were the original factory sill pads, but they'd been stuck on with the world's strongest double sided tape that resisted all attempts to remove it.
I then remembered reading Tickle's Elise 111S thread about using a drill with a toffee wheel attachment to remove all the sticky crap and make a dusty mess, so I shamelessly did the same
Then, with the old leather pads pulled off, the old foam was scraped away:
Then the plastic pads were recovered with new 3mm closed cell sticky backed foam ready to be recovered with new leather:
Next, the seats were removed from their frames as they were looking a bit manky:
These were then wire brushed, primed and painted in satin black:
The seat bolts all had various degrees of rust and corrosion on, so new bolts were bought ready for the seats to be refitted:
The old speaker grills had also seen better days and looked shocking:
A quick look on eBay turned up some brand new ones for £4 delivered
. Although I won't use the radio much, these look much better:Finally, the sill pads were recovered and fixed in place, the seats reinstalled with the nice new shiny bolts and the inside given another hoover. Much better
Thanks chaps. The car is overall in extremely good condition for it's age, but doing these little jobs makes it as good as I can get it It also does wonders for bonding with a new car
A few more little jobs done this week....
When I picked up the car the alarm/immobiliser fob case had fallen apart and been wrapped in bodge tape so looked like this:
You can just see the dimple top middle which was where I had to press to start the car. Unwrapping it and a bit of tinternet research showed it was a GT Auto GT82 fitted to a few different cars (like the Mk1 Focus RS) around 15 years ago. The case is wrapped in a rubber surround that doubles up as the key ring part, predictably this falls apart and the net is littered with people asking where to get replacement cases as they're not made anymore
At first I considered bodging a different make case to take the circuit board, but in the end ebay came up trumps and replacement after-market cases are available in Italy. The old circuit fits in perfectly and it works really well.
Next, the paint protection film was replaced on the rear arches. I forgot to take pictures of the old stuff, but it had yellowed quite badly. The new stuff was pretty easy to apply and looks tonnes better.
Finally this week, I took the car to Neil Garner Motorsport near Kemble to have the geo done. I thought the turn in wasn't quite as precise as I'd read it should be and with the steering wheel being slightly left hand down when driving straight, it had to be looked at. Neil and his guys did a superb job and confirmed the settings were WAY out with 4mm toe in with mismatched camber on the front and not enough toe on the rear.
The cars how running -1.2 camber on the fronts with 1mm toe out and -2.5 camber on the rear with 3mm toe in and feels like a different car, so I'm really happy Plans are now, finally, to get out and drive the thing
It also does wonders for bonding with a new car A few more little jobs done this week....
When I picked up the car the alarm/immobiliser fob case had fallen apart and been wrapped in bodge tape so looked like this:
You can just see the dimple top middle which was where I had to press to start the car. Unwrapping it and a bit of tinternet research showed it was a GT Auto GT82 fitted to a few different cars (like the Mk1 Focus RS) around 15 years ago. The case is wrapped in a rubber surround that doubles up as the key ring part, predictably this falls apart and the net is littered with people asking where to get replacement cases as they're not made anymore
At first I considered bodging a different make case to take the circuit board, but in the end ebay came up trumps and replacement after-market cases are available in Italy. The old circuit fits in perfectly and it works really well.
Next, the paint protection film was replaced on the rear arches. I forgot to take pictures of the old stuff, but it had yellowed quite badly. The new stuff was pretty easy to apply and looks tonnes better.
Finally this week, I took the car to Neil Garner Motorsport near Kemble to have the geo done. I thought the turn in wasn't quite as precise as I'd read it should be and with the steering wheel being slightly left hand down when driving straight, it had to be looked at. Neil and his guys did a superb job and confirmed the settings were WAY out with 4mm toe in with mismatched camber on the front and not enough toe on the rear.
The cars how running -1.2 camber on the fronts with 1mm toe out and -2.5 camber on the rear with 3mm toe in and feels like a different car, so I'm really happy
Plans are now, finally, to get out and drive the thing 
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff