1980 Lotus Elite 504
Discussion
Just picked this up yesterday 
, sorry about the crappy pics, will take some decent ones when i get it outside.
Didn't plan on buying an Elite, have been looking for another project though and have been looking at everything from Reliant Scimitars to Cadillacs, the Elite was local always fancied one so i went for it.
Drove fine on the way home (20 miles) despite sitting parked half in a hedge for the last six months, sounds great, battery is completely dead though, wont hold a charge and the alternator is suspect, going to get a battery later today for it so i can at least fire it up without a jump start.
Interior is pretty shocking (read somewhere that the leather was pretty fragile in these), had horrible seatcovers and floormats (those imitation tread plate things), swiftly binned all that, front seats will need a lot of work (or replaced), new carpets (predictably the interior was wet), also the centre console has been butchered for a radio, aftermarket steering wheel was broke so i fitted a spare Mountney (will source a standard wheel for it, as i've got older i've grown to dislike aftermarket wheels in most cars), headcloth is sagging, rear seat will be salvageable with leather conditioner, dash is decent, all guages and windows etc work.
Was told that the engine and carbs had been recently been rebuilt but annoyingly the car came with no history, receipts or paperwork (except the log book and MOT) so have no evidence of this, motor certainly looks and sounds good, a bit concerned about low oil pressure when hot though (dont know what is normal for these engines ?
The S1 achilles heel rear chassis crossmember area looks sound (gave it a jolly good stabbing/poking session with a screwdriver), will scrape off the surface rust, Kurust then underseal)
Rest of the underside is pretty fresh, has all new brake pipes and Stainless steel exhausts.
Other short term plans are to get it starting and running good, new Falken tyes (fronts are prehistoric Eagle NCT's and the rears are crappy Nexens), polish the wheels (these will come up nice), tidy up the interior and that's about it.
Long term it will need a respray, paint is quite badly microblistered all over and shell is cracked at the top right tailgate hinge, will probably do most of the repairs and prep myself and get a pro to do the painting (probably next year).
Still not too bad a buy for £1200
Have a 96 BMW 750iL that will need to go soon to justiy spending money on the Elite though.
, sorry about the crappy pics, will take some decent ones when i get it outside. Didn't plan on buying an Elite, have been looking for another project though and have been looking at everything from Reliant Scimitars to Cadillacs, the Elite was local always fancied one so i went for it.
Drove fine on the way home (20 miles) despite sitting parked half in a hedge for the last six months, sounds great, battery is completely dead though, wont hold a charge and the alternator is suspect, going to get a battery later today for it so i can at least fire it up without a jump start.
Interior is pretty shocking (read somewhere that the leather was pretty fragile in these), had horrible seatcovers and floormats (those imitation tread plate things), swiftly binned all that, front seats will need a lot of work (or replaced), new carpets (predictably the interior was wet), also the centre console has been butchered for a radio, aftermarket steering wheel was broke so i fitted a spare Mountney (will source a standard wheel for it, as i've got older i've grown to dislike aftermarket wheels in most cars), headcloth is sagging, rear seat will be salvageable with leather conditioner, dash is decent, all guages and windows etc work.
Was told that the engine and carbs had been recently been rebuilt but annoyingly the car came with no history, receipts or paperwork (except the log book and MOT) so have no evidence of this, motor certainly looks and sounds good, a bit concerned about low oil pressure when hot though (dont know what is normal for these engines ?
The S1 achilles heel rear chassis crossmember area looks sound (gave it a jolly good stabbing/poking session with a screwdriver), will scrape off the surface rust, Kurust then underseal)
Rest of the underside is pretty fresh, has all new brake pipes and Stainless steel exhausts.
Other short term plans are to get it starting and running good, new Falken tyes (fronts are prehistoric Eagle NCT's and the rears are crappy Nexens), polish the wheels (these will come up nice), tidy up the interior and that's about it.
Long term it will need a respray, paint is quite badly microblistered all over and shell is cracked at the top right tailgate hinge, will probably do most of the repairs and prep myself and get a pro to do the painting (probably next year).
Still not too bad a buy for £1200
Have a 96 BMW 750iL that will need to go soon to justiy spending money on the Elite though.
mrtwisty said:
Ooohhhh, that's a bit unusual. Very nice. Don't think I've ever seen one of these on the road.
Look forward to the thread unfolding (and more pics soon!)
I seen a black one driving into my local Morrisons car park last year, first one i'd ever seen, such an unusual shape these days, got some looks driving it home yesterday including a guy on a bike in lane three (i was pootling along in lane one) screwed his head round and sat there matching my speed for ages (i was doing 50), found myself saying out loud "for christ sake look where you are going man" Look forward to the thread unfolding (and more pics soon!)
Dont think the car warrants a full resto as such, will prioritise and fix the important bits first and sort the rest as i use it.
Cheers for the advice on the oil LordFlathead, the oil pressure is a concern, especially as the owner said the engine was rebuilt, blew then had to be rebuilt a second time.
I also really wanted an Esprit but find the Elite slightly less scary (couldn't afford an Esprit anyway) , if the worst comes to it and i need to pull the motor out the Elite i can manage that fine in my garage, taking the motor out of an Esprit is a different ball game.
Not properly introduced myself on here, i'm 43 and been messing with cars all my days, car history is pretty eclectic, five Capri's including two 3.0S's, a few yanks including a 70 Mach1 Mustang and a 68 Dodge Charger, Hillman Imps, Mini's, VW Polo's, this is my first fibreglass car though, refreshing buying a 34 year old car that isn't rusty
Cheers for the interest guys, promise i'll keep this thread updated, will post some engine bay pics later
72twink said:
Exactly how low is the oil pressure - these engines can run crazy low oil pressure at idle, always go by the pressure at 3k rpm.
Guage is at just over 50LB (squared) at 3K, same at idle when cold but drops to probably 10-20 on the guage at idle when hot, guessing that's ok then ?Was used to the big Essex V6 on my Capri's showing nearly 0 at idle.
As mentioned here's a pic of the fabulous 907 motor
, carbs are Delorto DHLA's, not sure if they are 40's or 45's ?, sound glorious anyway, may replace the standard airbox with K&N's eventually. 
Hoping it has been fitted with electonic ignition (suspect it has), standard these came with points, the dizzy is burried under the carbs so a swine to get to.
Bought this battery from Halfords earlier and it doesn't fit in the recess in the rear 1/4, despite being listed for a Elite, at least it let me get the motor fired up off the key, checked the charge rate and it was 13.6 volts so looks like the Alternator is ok, old battery just died with the car sitting around so much.
Love these GKN alloys, they are not laquered so should shine up a tread with Brillo pads and Peek
Also love these flip open fuel caps, one either side but a single tank (can be seen in the boot behind the rear seat) so they are purely for style
Jings, cheers for the interest guys, and the interesting (and horrific) memories stories
Not bothered though, i've always spent money on my cars, some good choices some bad choices, if i put a few grand into the Elite and have a few years fun with it that will be good value (cheaper than the depreciation and servicing costs on a new car) and i'll have hopefully prolonged the Elites life.
Read somewhere that complete carpet sets can be bought for £200, i was going to get carpet sections made up for the footwells though as the rest of mine are pretty decent.
The Elite is a 504 so as mentioned would have originally came with an autobox, power steering and air conditioning, of course it is now a manual, the air con is gone as is the power steering.
mdw said:
Put a K and N panel filter in the box but DONT get rid of the air box. Dizzy is obviously right under the carbs and any fuel dribbling out will end up on top of it. If its like an excel it should have a long hose on the front of the air box running forward and over the rad to pick up cold air.
WOW, cheers for that, never even thought of that, just love the look of the deep oval K&N's but i think i'll be leaving them, i'm pretty sure it has a K&N panel filter in the airbox already, i'm also going to fit a decent sized fire extinguisher.The Crack Fox said:
I think I saw that car on EBay, it looks (for the money) pretty good! Please keep us posted with your resto progress
Yep, it was the one half parked in a hedge listed as being in Inverness but was in Hamilton.Loose_Cannon said:
Owned two of these as runners and still have two "sheds"; bikers do seem to love them for some inexplicable reason, lots of thumbs up (or I think they were thumbs).
Worth very little even when restored unfortunately, there are enough nasty in-built jobs to frighten off even the most hardened enthusiast. Nothing like them on the road however, bar perhaps the Scimitar, and even that looks more classic than "space" age.
Would be very interested to hear progress, especially carpets as mine needs them
Aware of the values, dont know why they are so low, reputation maybe ?, but then the Esprit has pretty much the same reputation and those go for decent money.Worth very little even when restored unfortunately, there are enough nasty in-built jobs to frighten off even the most hardened enthusiast. Nothing like them on the road however, bar perhaps the Scimitar, and even that looks more classic than "space" age.
Would be very interested to hear progress, especially carpets as mine needs them
Not bothered though, i've always spent money on my cars, some good choices some bad choices, if i put a few grand into the Elite and have a few years fun with it that will be good value (cheaper than the depreciation and servicing costs on a new car) and i'll have hopefully prolonged the Elites life.
Read somewhere that complete carpet sets can be bought for £200, i was going to get carpet sections made up for the footwells though as the rest of mine are pretty decent.
The Elite is a 504 so as mentioned would have originally came with an autobox, power steering and air conditioning, of course it is now a manual, the air con is gone as is the power steering.
kev b said:
Rear view mirror mounted upside down on the dash top is worthy of Citroen and the glass between the rear seats and the boot is unusual as well.
Yep, love that mirror, was surprised to find the rear glass between the seat and the boot but it's to seal the fuel tank from the passenger compartment.Really didn't know a great deal about these before i bought it (still learning), looking at the shape (googled pics of Elite's) i imagined the rear seats folding down like a Scimitar, so maybe it'd be quite practical, maybe even get my mountain bike in the back, HA, fat chance
kev b said:
They were typical Lotus, suspension pared down to a minimum, for weight saving allegedly but more likely to use up what they had on the shelf.
Elites have Triumph Herald front suspension which is ok for Elans, not Elites at twice the weight
Rear suspension is a clever design but making the driveshafts double as top links was never going to work on such a heavy car.
The U/Js didn't last long, not surprising as they have to transmit the the power, support the car, withstand cornering forces and take all the rear braking loads all whilst hammering up and down.
Jaguar made it work but a Jaguar IRS is much beefier and uses real bearings not rubber.
A couple of pounds spent on paint or galvanising wouldn't have hurt and as for sandwiching a piece of foam between the body and rear chassis crossmember, what were they thinking?
It's such a shame, if the testing and build quality had been better then surely many more would have been sold. The Excel was more like the Elite/Eclat should have been from the start but the damage was done by then.
Cheers for sharing your knowledge Kev, i'll PM you if i'm stuck with anything Elites have Triumph Herald front suspension which is ok for Elans, not Elites at twice the weight
Rear suspension is a clever design but making the driveshafts double as top links was never going to work on such a heavy car.
The U/Js didn't last long, not surprising as they have to transmit the the power, support the car, withstand cornering forces and take all the rear braking loads all whilst hammering up and down.
Jaguar made it work but a Jaguar IRS is much beefier and uses real bearings not rubber.
A couple of pounds spent on paint or galvanising wouldn't have hurt and as for sandwiching a piece of foam between the body and rear chassis crossmember, what were they thinking?
It's such a shame, if the testing and build quality had been better then surely many more would have been sold. The Excel was more like the Elite/Eclat should have been from the start but the damage was done by then.
As for the tinkering and maintenance i dont mind that at all (worked as a mechanic for 8 years back in the late 80's early 90's), will do as much preventative maintenance as i can, already found a bit of play in the water pump so will replace that and noticed one of the twin fans is'nt cutting in but may upgrade these for more efficient ones anyway, check the rad condition at the same time.
And if it breaks down at least i'll have something nice to look at at waiting for the AA.
kev b said:
The U/Js didn't last long, not surprising as they have to transmit the the power, support the car, withstand cornering forces and take all the rear braking loads all whilst hammering up and down.
Jaguar made it work but a Jaguar IRS is much beefier and uses real bearings not rubber.
Ah, read this earlier, had the rear wheels off to get access to the rear chassis for de-rusting/painting, popped the wheels back on, every U/J has play in it resulting in a fair bit of top/bottom movement at the wheels Jaguar made it work but a Jaguar IRS is much beefier and uses real bearings not rubber.
Dont know about the wheel bearings there was no bearing rumble when driving it, suppose i can check these when i pull the shafts out.
Funny, i did really consider a Scimitar, would have easily have gone for one if a suitable one came up the same time as the Elite.
Got the rear shafts off earlier, everything came apart really easily, from what i understand the U/J's are a common size so hopping my local Motor Factor can get them in.
When i strip these i'll be de-greasing and painting them.
Kurust'd then painted the rear of the chassis, will blast it all with Waxoyl later.
Figured that while i have the shafts off to re-bild and paint them i might as well pull the drums off and paint those too, only one nut holding the shockers on so i may as well pull those off, paint them and the springs.
Stainless rear silencers cleaned up nice.
As did the rear wheels, just a Brillo pad and Peek.
Also read up on the front Trunnions, sound advice seems to be if the history of the car is not known they should be done as a matter of course, so i'll be fitting new ones for peace of mind.
I remember seeing a Herald snap a trunnion years ago while turning a corner, was pretty messy
Got the rear shafts off earlier, everything came apart really easily, from what i understand the U/J's are a common size so hopping my local Motor Factor can get them in.
When i strip these i'll be de-greasing and painting them.
Kurust'd then painted the rear of the chassis, will blast it all with Waxoyl later.
Figured that while i have the shafts off to re-bild and paint them i might as well pull the drums off and paint those too, only one nut holding the shockers on so i may as well pull those off, paint them and the springs.
Stainless rear silencers cleaned up nice.
As did the rear wheels, just a Brillo pad and Peek.
Also read up on the front Trunnions, sound advice seems to be if the history of the car is not known they should be done as a matter of course, so i'll be fitting new ones for peace of mind.
I remember seeing a Herald snap a trunnion years ago while turning a corner, was pretty messy
Edited by Markgenesis on Wednesday 18th June 20:55
16VJay said:
Make sure your factors gets hold of the heavy duty spec U/Js with grease nipples, normal ones won't last. Nor will the heavy duty ones tbh, but they'll last longer.
When my Elite was my daily, I used to get Hardy Spicer GSK-163s (from memory) direct from GKN but that was a few years back now. I used to get around a year out of a set (about 15,000 miles) and two years out of the Maxi wheel bearings.
Get some Dinitrol (not Waxoyl, useless stuff on old metal) into that rear crossmember, they will happily rot from the inside out.
That look's lovely in white, cheers for the advice on the U/J's, popped into the Motor Factors today and they cant get them so E-bay beckons i think, the E-bay ones look decent and have grease nips, seem cheap at £12 odd a pair though.When my Elite was my daily, I used to get Hardy Spicer GSK-163s (from memory) direct from GKN but that was a few years back now. I used to get around a year out of a set (about 15,000 miles) and two years out of the Maxi wheel bearings.
Get some Dinitrol (not Waxoyl, useless stuff on old metal) into that rear crossmember, they will happily rot from the inside out.
Edited by 16VJay on Wednesday 18th June 22:54
Never fancied Waxoyl myself but it's easy to get (Halfords), used Dinitrol once on a Capri and liked it, may need to send away for some (Frost maybe ?)
TBH this car will be far from a daily driver, wont see anywhere near 15,000 miles, will probably not even do 3K per year (summer/dry weather toy) so even normal U/J's should last a while.
Berw said:
My mate is bulding one to race, will run a Vitec and six speed box, came of the corner weights yesterday at 698 Kg. I used to race a 2.2 910 engine in my car, make sure you join the Jensen Healy group in LA, (Greg Fletcher), they are a great source of engine and gear box parts much cheaper than the UK, Great engine but the head is better than the bottom end, Look at things like restricting oil flow into the head, (Pm me if you want picture how to do this) and opening up/polishing the oil returns is you intend to drive it hard, also look at changing to the latter timing belt and pullies.
Sump oil temp is critiacal get a good oil cooler, I've blown engine throught to high oil temp (track use)
Cheers for the tips and advice, not sure how hard i'll be driving this Lotus (i'm a bit like James May TBH Sump oil temp is critiacal get a good oil cooler, I've blown engine throught to high oil temp (track use)
)When you mention the later timing belt and pulleys do you mean off the 2.2 motor in the S2 Elite ? and what's the difference ?, deeper ?, wider belt ?
Pretty certain my Elite wont see a track but an oil cooler would still be nice to have.
LewG said:
Looks great! I'm sure it'll be a hoot to drive, are decent tyres still available in that size?
Yep, Falken do 205 60 14's from about £65 eachmarshalla said:
There are some good ideas for improvements in this presentation from Mike Taylor :
http://www.lotusbits.com/improving_your_lotus.pdf
Cheers for that http://www.lotusbits.com/improving_your_lotus.pdf
Ozzie Dave said:
from the diff photo that looks like the original fuel pipe, it looks it, please chaeck it as if it has gome brittle anywhere you will have a problem.
Noticed your advice earlier in the thread Dave, cheers for that , will be changing the line for better stuff, want to get all the suspension sorted first though. Once again thanks for the interest and the great advice guys, really appreciate it
Suffered a slight setback last night, my daily driver 300tdi Disco started chucking out loads of blue smoke and running rough, recon it needs piston rings or possibly an engine rebuild (there is back pressure too)
, sods frigging law as my BMW is for sale so if that goes i'm left with no useable car
Been thinking about it today and out the two the Lotus will be easier to get useable, at least it runs, if i sort the drive shafts, tyres, trunnions, fuel lines, get the motor running better, lights, wiper blade, MOT (due on the 5th of next month) so i think i'll forget the Disco for now and steam ahead with the Lotus
Fortunately i dont really need a car for work etc.
Suffered a slight setback last night, my daily driver 300tdi Disco started chucking out loads of blue smoke and running rough, recon it needs piston rings or possibly an engine rebuild (there is back pressure too)
, sods frigging law as my BMW is for sale so if that goes i'm left with no useable car Been thinking about it today and out the two the Lotus will be easier to get useable, at least it runs, if i sort the drive shafts, tyres, trunnions, fuel lines, get the motor running better, lights, wiper blade, MOT (due on the 5th of next month) so i think i'll forget the Disco for now and steam ahead with the Lotus
Fortunately i dont really need a car for work etc.
Couple of interesting developments tonight, removed the airbox to check the Dizzy (first step in trying to get the car to run properly, Dizzy, Timing then Carbs), found the Dizzy cap loose and signs of the rotor arm hitting the electrodes so looks like that may have been the running problem, engine is still running points but these, the condenser, cap and rotor arm all look new so just going to clean and check everything and set the ignition timing.
Access to the Dizzy is pretty good with the airbox removed, will still need to pull the Dizzy out though to set the points properly.
Pulled the spark plugs out and found they were Accuspark multi electrode things, think i'll be replacing these with standard Bosch or NGK plugs.
Stripped the drive shafts down and found some of the U/J bearing caps quite a loose fit so will probably need to stake (sp ?) the flanges and shafts to tighten the caps up, long term will look for a better pair of shafts.
Front Trunnions have been pumped full of grease, probably to take out play so will definitely be stripping (and probably replacing) these.
Access to the Dizzy is pretty good with the airbox removed, will still need to pull the Dizzy out though to set the points properly.
Pulled the spark plugs out and found they were Accuspark multi electrode things, think i'll be replacing these with standard Bosch or NGK plugs.
Stripped the drive shafts down and found some of the U/J bearing caps quite a loose fit so will probably need to stake (sp ?) the flanges and shafts to tighten the caps up, long term will look for a better pair of shafts.
Front Trunnions have been pumped full of grease, probably to take out play so will definitely be stripping (and probably replacing) these.
skeggysteve said:
Mark,
Don't use 'Jubilee' clips on small diameter hose use the sort that close without nipping the hose. Sorry but I can't remember what they are called at the moment.
Small Jubilee clips do not tighten enough but the other sort do.
Get rid of the copper pipe it's not right!
Sign up on: http://www.lotusexcel.net/phpbb/index.php
In there you will find a bit about changing the cam belt on an Excel - pretty much the same engine and a lot of fellow Lotus owners that will give you a lot of help.
I have Morgan Carbtune:
http://www.carbtune.co.uk/
You are welcome to borrow if you want. It takes a bit of time but is well worth it.
I used to own an Excel and one day I will have another so please don't tell everyone just how good these cars are as it only puts the prices up!
I know they are not ideal but i've never had a problem with Jubilee type clamps, will look into an alternative though as i agree they are not great looking.Don't use 'Jubilee' clips on small diameter hose use the sort that close without nipping the hose. Sorry but I can't remember what they are called at the moment.
Small Jubilee clips do not tighten enough but the other sort do.
Get rid of the copper pipe it's not right!
Sign up on: http://www.lotusexcel.net/phpbb/index.php
In there you will find a bit about changing the cam belt on an Excel - pretty much the same engine and a lot of fellow Lotus owners that will give you a lot of help.
I have Morgan Carbtune:
http://www.carbtune.co.uk/
You are welcome to borrow if you want. It takes a bit of time but is well worth it.
I used to own an Excel and one day I will have another so please don't tell everyone just how good these cars are as it only puts the prices up!
Also going to tidy up the metal overbraid, it's covering the fabric covered type fuel hose, was never keen on that stuff, prefer the plain rubber hose.
Knew the copper pipe was a bodge but what's meant to be there ?, heater take off pipe on the head looks fine.
TBH there are quite a few bodges on this car, a fair amount of tidying needs to be done (some of the wiring is a mess), my main priority at the moment is to get the car running properly and road worthy, get some use out of it while the weather is decent, then sort the details later.
Cant wait to get it outside, at least into the street to take some decent pics.
Cheers for the link the the Excel forum, that will come in handy, also cheers for the offer on the carbtune, will see how it's running after i set the points, plugs and timing.
I have been told about a classic car garage in Glasgow who are meant to be good at setting up twin Dellorto or Webber carbs so that's an option too.
Cheers for the helpfull advice Steve and Jay.
Going to strip the Trunnions anyway, if any doubt i'll replace them, was reading on a Triumph forum that if you buy a car and dont know the history then it's best to replace them for peace of mind.
Also suspicious of the amount of grease around them, in my experience people tend to pack a worn joint (when it has a grease nipple) with grease in the hope it'll somehow take out wear (which never works), the rear U/J's were plastered with grease and they were worn so i'm suspecting the same of the Trunnions.
Got the back of the car stuck on stands just now but i'll see if i can get the front in the air tomorrow.
Todays progress, pulled the Distributor out, checked and set the points, fitted a set of new NGK plugs, fired the motor up, managed to get the ignition timing set but still seemed to be running rough, idle got slower and slower, tried to catch it and it died then wouldn't start, following some investigation the fuel pump is dead, maybe that was the cause of the running problems all along, it's still the standard SU pump so good excuse to upgrade to a Facet, will fit a pressure regulator, new fuel lines and filter at the same time.
Also got the rear U/J's ordered from SJSportscars, bought a new throttle cable too so hopefully get those sorted next week.
Going to strip the Trunnions anyway, if any doubt i'll replace them, was reading on a Triumph forum that if you buy a car and dont know the history then it's best to replace them for peace of mind.
Also suspicious of the amount of grease around them, in my experience people tend to pack a worn joint (when it has a grease nipple) with grease in the hope it'll somehow take out wear (which never works), the rear U/J's were plastered with grease and they were worn so i'm suspecting the same of the Trunnions.
Got the back of the car stuck on stands just now but i'll see if i can get the front in the air tomorrow.
Todays progress, pulled the Distributor out, checked and set the points, fitted a set of new NGK plugs, fired the motor up, managed to get the ignition timing set but still seemed to be running rough, idle got slower and slower, tried to catch it and it died then wouldn't start, following some investigation the fuel pump is dead, maybe that was the cause of the running problems all along, it's still the standard SU pump so good excuse to upgrade to a Facet, will fit a pressure regulator, new fuel lines and filter at the same time.
Also got the rear U/J's ordered from SJSportscars, bought a new throttle cable too so hopefully get those sorted next week.
Couldn't sleep last night so ended up doing a bit of a night shift
Managed to get the front end safely up on stands.
Checked the front suspension, brakes etc, surprised to find it's actually all pretty good, no wear detected in the Trunnions and the grease surrounding them looked pretty fresh (wiped it all off) so may just try pumping fresh stuff through, top ball joints look new, discs, pads, flexy hoses, shocks, springs, steering gaiters, track rod ends, brake pipes, bushes are all sound, found a bit of play an the O/S wheel bearing but thats about it.
Found this rot in the front chassis extension though, did check this area when i was buying the car but uncovered this after stabbing it with a chissel, something you cant really do when viewing a car unfortunately, no worries though, will fire up the sparky electric glue gun later.
Ripped out the old SU pump, tried shorting it out on a battery, coaxed it back to life ater bashing it a bit but it soon stopped again.
The standard plastic fuel line looks a swine to replace, looks like it goes through the chassis, thought about routing it along the brake pipe but it'd be too close to the exhaust, may consider routing the new metal line through the inside of the car.
Managed to get the front end safely up on stands.
Checked the front suspension, brakes etc, surprised to find it's actually all pretty good, no wear detected in the Trunnions and the grease surrounding them looked pretty fresh (wiped it all off) so may just try pumping fresh stuff through, top ball joints look new, discs, pads, flexy hoses, shocks, springs, steering gaiters, track rod ends, brake pipes, bushes are all sound, found a bit of play an the O/S wheel bearing but thats about it.
Found this rot in the front chassis extension though, did check this area when i was buying the car but uncovered this after stabbing it with a chissel, something you cant really do when viewing a car unfortunately, no worries though, will fire up the sparky electric glue gun later.
Ripped out the old SU pump, tried shorting it out on a battery, coaxed it back to life ater bashing it a bit but it soon stopped again.
The standard plastic fuel line looks a swine to replace, looks like it goes through the chassis, thought about routing it along the brake pipe but it'd be too close to the exhaust, may consider routing the new metal line through the inside of the car.
marshalla said:
Re the SU pump - Burlen do a kit to convert it from points to an electronic system - that turns it into a very reliable pump which still looks original.
Ah, didn't know that, only trouble is i've bent and mashed the bracket to bits trying to get to a siezed lower bolt , will still look into it though, but this car is so far removed from the spec it left the factory with i'm not too bothered about originality.Had my mind set on a Facet Silvertop anyway as i had one in my last Mini and loved it, been looking for an excuse to buy another.
Only trouble is they run at 4 psi so will need a regulator to stop the Dellortos flooding.
Lotus 50 said:
It's interesting to see how similar the front suspension is on the Elite compared to the Elan +2... On the subject of which the front cross member on a +2 is used as a vacuum reservoir for the mechanism that raises/lowers the headlights. The vacuum feed for this runs of the inlet manifold and the front cross member normally contains an explosive mixture of fuel vapour/condensed fuel. As a result welding in and around it can be very dangerous. I'm not sure that the Elite will have the same arrangement but probably a good idea to do so if you're about to attack those brackets with the electric sparky glue gun!!
This Elite has the same vacume headlight system with acres of hose.Cheers for the concern, i'll wait till the car is out in the drive before welding, the garage is full of petrol fumes at the moment anyway (and it's timber)
Always stay safe when welding anyway, always have a fire extinguisher handy and my fast running shoes on just incase
16VJay said:
Although the Elite's headlamps are vacuum operated like the Elan and Plus 2, the chassis is not the vacuum reservoir, there are two tanks in the body in front of the door hinges that store the vacuum.
Ah, got you now, welding the Elite should be safe enough then.I did see those tanks and wondered what they were, the one on the drivers side anyway when i was in there looking at how to get the throttle cable out, now i know.
I've learned so much from this thread
Found this pic on a Google search earlier, didn't realise what a sexy looking rear the S1 Elite has
Does anyone know how to remove the front bumper on one of these ?, got the two brackets in the middle (above the reg plate but stumped if i can see whats holding the ends, seems to be behind the lights but the lights are held on by tiny nuts behind the bumper, need to get the bumper off to fix a wiring fault to the side lights.
Other news, got my new fuel pump mounted and plumbed in, battery relocated and tray mounted, started repairing the O/S tailgate hinge area, that has turned into a horror (if i get the car painted next year i'll really need to look for another body section to let in, it's that bad), still waiting on the drive shaft U/J's from SJSportscars, delayed as i didn't put my house number in their order form.
Hope to get it MOT'd and on the road in the next week or so, though i'll still have to do oil and filter change, timing belt, water pump, fan upgrade, tyres (the tyres will pass an MOT but i'll be fitting fresh ones) and find a trimmer to repair/rebuild the front seats.
Other news, got my new fuel pump mounted and plumbed in, battery relocated and tray mounted, started repairing the O/S tailgate hinge area, that has turned into a horror (if i get the car painted next year i'll really need to look for another body section to let in, it's that bad), still waiting on the drive shaft U/J's from SJSportscars, delayed as i didn't put my house number in their order form.
Hope to get it MOT'd and on the road in the next week or so, though i'll still have to do oil and filter change, timing belt, water pump, fan upgrade, tyres (the tyres will pass an MOT but i'll be fitting fresh ones) and find a trimmer to repair/rebuild the front seats.
interloper said:
I'm not familiar with how these go together but I am used to dealing with some perverse fittings! Have you looked behind the side light/indicator units? and also looked down the inside of the front wings from in the wheel arches?
I would hope they aren't simply glued on, there has to be a fixing there some were!
The light units butt hard against the front panel behind the bumper, as i said i can see tiny bolts holding the light units to the bumper but it's impossible to get to these with the bumper on.I would hope they aren't simply glued on, there has to be a fixing there some were!
Googled "Elite bumper removal" but it didn't help much, seen a pic of a stripped Eclat shell and it had holes in the front panel for the light unit bulb recesses to go into but no other holes.
Will have another go at it later.
LuS1fer said:
This is about the Esprit bumper but may offer clues:
http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/43581-f...
Found this 504 restoration blog (US)
https://sites.google.com/site/kwolshomepage/lotus-...
Cheers for those links, the 504 resto is interesting http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/43581-f...
Found this 504 restoration blog (US)
https://sites.google.com/site/kwolshomepage/lotus-...
Cracked it anyway, the bumper is held on by two 10mm bolts accessed through the headlight pod recesses, mega tight to get to, disconnected the vacuum line so the pods would raise, in the best tradition one side came off ok, the other side the whole bolt is turning, would need to remove the headlight pod on that side to get in to cut the bolt off, not getting involved in that just now so have came up with a temporary fix for the side light for now.
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