*Pocket Supercar* Bargain Lotus 111S?
Discussion
This isn't my first rodeo!
R53 Police Auction
I've absolutely loved working on the mini, it's become such a labour of love. Because of different time constraints, i haven't got round to finishing it yet. That being said, im looking forward to getting it done. According to howmanyleft.com (Anybody know exactly how accurate this site is??) , there are only 18 of the '03 ilk left on the road - seems a little low but hey ho - surely i can claim i own a 'rare' mini now?
ANYWAY,
My dream car has always been a Lotus Elise. An S2 ticked all the badges growing up for me and Personally i think its such a better looker than the S1 - testament to this is how little the design has changed since first hitting the roads. The Head Gasket get issues with the K seem to be the biggest thing to look out for when buying amongst a few other tit bits that owners using the car as a daily driver point to.
A kin to those that think it's acceptable to wear branded clothing of cars they don't own, i knew pretty much everything there was to know about the car without ever having driven one. Regardless of the Head Gasket and small myriad of other issues if you've read my previous thread you'll know i like to get my hands dirty so with the blessing of the Mrs (on the condition i buy us a 'sensible family car' too) i went on the hunt.
After a few months of searching i found the '52 111S i wanted, only half an hour down the road and at somewhat of a very reasonable £12,500. It really was one of those moments you need to seize in life before it passes so i called the number and arranged to go and see the car the next day. I only saved the below picture from the listing but all looked well:
Went for a test drive and was as happy as i thought i would be - it drove fantastically albeit on a rather wet day gently crawling through Surrey. Of course, i was somewhat sceptical given how low price wise the car sat in the market when these were for sale so i had perhaps a bit of an excessive examination of the car and did find one or two small bodywork issues that needed addressing. Overall however, i really couldn't find fault with the car so ended up, Happily, buying it!
I went back the next weekend to collect it, giving the chap selling chance to find the correct paperwork and hopefully let the weather clear up. He found the paperwork, but the weather was absolutely atrocious. So my first real drive owning the car was at 50 down the motorway for 45 minutes on the journey home which was a little disappointing but this was so quickly overcome when i had the car, at home, on the drive:
Having the week off work, i took the chance to give the car a bit more of an inspection. When i bought it, it was somewhat obvious the chap wasn't a 'car guy'. I was told the HG hadn't been done despite having nearly 80k on the clock and that he'd only ever used Vpower or the like in the car. It didn't come with a service history or anything and its all well and good only running it on Vpower but with the K not having a knock sensor the benefit is somewhat subjective and i'm of the opinion that - You wouldn't feed your race horse Mcdonalds at the end of the day.
When i drove to the garage, i put the fact that my feet were wet and the floor mats somewhat damp down to the weather and the fact that generally speaking you'll struggle to find a dry lotus. However, along with a small service this was my first port of investigation. What i found was frankly distressing:
You can actually see the water pouring off in that last picture!
A few more observations:
Missing rear light??
a very tired looking Alcantara.
And this is my favourite part to have discovered:
Now... I'm all for condition based replacement and getting the most from your parts but am I the only one that thinks this fuel filter might__, just __might be original? considering this car is 16 years old I was a little lost for words.
Needless to say, mats were binned, the fuel filter sent to longbridge as a museum piece and i drew up a list of things i'd like to get done to the car ASAP:
Having no idea, but a strong sense of ' This is a lotus, it would be on the hard shoulder of the M54 if it hadn't', The Head Gasket.
Thermostat - having worked on several K's i know its best as a service item. ( Especially drilled )
Replace Alcantara - It just looks so tired and its something i've got no problem doing myself
Carpet the car - A thin stretchy van liner for the majority, using a hard boot type carpet for the foot well mats
Get the alignment checked
A few jobs to consider for the longer term:
Remove aftermarket radio adaptor - seems to be a common theme in my cars??
Work through the interior replacing some of the cheaper looking parts
Tune engine a little
Upgrade cooling system
Suspension?
Brakes - Lines, pads and eventually disks.
Investigate why cooling fans aren't coming on - 50p ' 5p moment once or twice in heavy traffic!!
Remove air conditioning - i didn't buy an Elise to be comfortable.
Fix all body woes and get a respray
Investigate why the horn doesn't seem to work
Bat away any other crocodiles that might want to rear their heads.
Fast- forward to the weekend and a car club duty. Invited the Mrs to come down with me - ow i do know how to treat them. On the plus side i've got great company working through my jobs and an extra set of hands to help. First job of the weekend was to replace the Alcantara dash. It's worth mentioning that i was waiting on a rear light id sourced from a very helpful breaker -Douglas Valley - for a modest £50 to arrive and i'd also ordered the full HG kit from EP along with a few other goodies from eBay.
Removing the dash was quite easy - so in no time at all I was left with my first chance to make the car look great or b
ks it up:
After reinstalling it, i was really pleased with the results. It took me about 45 mins to finish it up, well worth the investment.
Carpet. Having removed the seats we got to work and with a few cans of spray adhesive the results were great:
Again, really pleased with the way it came out. This was about 3 hours of work all in all and a job im glad i wont have to do again.
All that was left was for the night was its final inspection and i'd crack on with the radio tomorrow:
Day 2 and it was time for the radio to face the music - not quite literally because these Elises' are notoriously crud at finding radio reception and i didn't have any CD's to hand to test the speakers. After all, this isn't 2003. I'd managed to catch a glimpse at what was to come when i was working on the dash but again, couldn't anticipate this:
(Spot the mini looking very sorry for itself)
Fortunately, having done this before and being somewhat of an electrician by trade, i got the snips out and sorted it out ^^ . My eventual plan is to rip the radio head unit out and replace the whole sound system with a tablet based set up, but i'll go into more detail about that when i come to do it.
As the weather had been somewhat intermittent at the start of the year i also took the opportunity to give the car a quick clean:
Fast forward a few days and the big shipment arrived:
'K' Series MLS Head Gasket Kit
1
82/88 Degree Thermostat
82 Degree
1
ECU Coolant Temperature Sender S2
Short Version
1
200Ltr/minute Water Pump
1 £
Cambelt Tensioner
Manual Tensioner
1
Gates Cambelt
VVC/VHPD Manual Tensioner Type Cambelt
1
Gaskets (Sold Individually)
01 - Cam Cover Gasket
1
Gaskets (Sold Individually)
03 - Inlet Manifold Gasket VVC & Throttle Bodies
1
Gaskets (Sold Individually)
09 - Steel Cylinder Head Dowels
1
Water Bottle Pressure Cap
1
Lotus Approved Engine Coolant
5 Litres
1
K Series Flywheel Locking Tool
K Series Alternator Belt
1
Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley
1
With the Mrs being away for the next weekend i decided this is the right time to get cracking. To save a complete commentary, i'll provide the next bit of explaining with pictures:
Much like i thought - The head gasket had been replaced. There really isn't any harm in replacing it again, and getting a good idea of the material state of the engine is always a winner. The thermostat was as i expected - i'd noticed when the car was doing different trips the radiator at the front was only heating up occasionally. With the way the k series operates in this car, it can be quite easy to thermally shock the engine and so i decided, in conjunction with my lower temperature stat to drill it. I put 2x0.2m holes 180 degrees apart and replaced it. This was the state if the old one:
Now - What i should have done here is removed the parts of the air conditioning whilst the rear clam shell was off. However - i ran out of time. So removing the compressor and pipework, relocating the alternator etc would have to wait for another day.
Its worth me mentioning here that as i've been going along on the car, i've been ordering hex head bolts to replace the mild steel ones. Not only do these look better, but being marine grade they aren't going to corrode:
These were probably the first ones i did, the easiest ones to take pictures of too:
Another weekend and another chance to work on the car. This time i decided to do the work i'd ran out of time for the previous weekend and also take the chance to replace the brake lines for braided hoses. The brake lines were really easy to do - the challenge came in bleeding them! i couldn't for the life of me get the air from the piston with the pressure bleeder having tried several times. So i recruited some help and with a few squeezes of the pedal and spanner on the nipple it was done. They look much better too!
One of the more interesting parts about being in the military is that you never know who's going to pop their head in the building and what they're going to bring with them. This week, it was turn of the General manager and his new plaything:
Back to work - I'd ordered a different tensioner for the alternator in its new home. I preferred the look but admittedly, i found it slightly more difficult to tension when in place:
I'd also ordered the non aircon alternator belt and the standard k series mounting bracket. To be honest, the job was a lot more difficult than i anticipated. Access was the main issue but about 4 hours later it was done. The compressor and the associated parts weighed a tonne!
After working on the car for a few weeks and although i was desperately trying to keep it clean, the car was starting to look a bit grubby. I didnt have any new parts to be fitting so i thought i'd use the old rotary polisher and go over the car properly. I was really pleased with the results and for the cars age it came up really well:
And follow subsequent spamming of my friends with lotus pictures, and a little bit of return fire:
Gradually i've been ordering different bits for the car and a few interior pieces arrived before i took the car to get the alignment done. I absolutely hated the indicators and metal work in the car. It seems that no two cars are the same either.. they picked up a few bits that were in their Norfolk shed and thought ' That'll do'. The reason i say this is because i ordered the hand brake replacement and most cars would have the screw type of adaptor for the button. However, mine did not. roll on driving to the garage to find a tap to bring the metal pin down to M6 to fit the button and complete the change:
Having put the touring gear stick on, i felt that the position was a little high and it made the gear movement feel un-natural. So without pictures i installed a short shifter kit too!
The day of reckoning!
After several recommendations from PH forums, i took the best to Nick at the Laser Alignment Centre in Southampton. Fantastic guy and really knowledgeable. Was in and out in about 25 minutes - the longest part being undoing the rear diffuser! :
Not as bad as i expected it was going to be, and eventually only a few small adjustments were needed. Having said that, it now feels like a brad new car going around the corners!
Another big thing i don't like about the car are the cheap plastic looking bits inside. A car like this really deserves better and so i started ordering a few carbon fibre bits. I'm slowly working my way through the car and all ready they look so much better:
This, unfortunately, is the only way to really remove the old ones
Having its routine inspection from QC pup:
My plan is to keep going with the carbon, replacing all the bits that i can. If you've followed my other thread you'll have seen i started hydro dipping last year - I felt with this i wanted to really invest in the best i can so will avoid hydrodipping any of the car. I will however be ordering my own kit to start crafting carbon fibre pieces with. I want to experiment with both epoxy and vaccum styles so no doubt ill be adding to this thread with those at some point.
I spent a few weeks unable to do much to the car but again found myself with a free weekend so decided to remove the front clamshell and see about figuring the stuck heater flap ( Both direction and temperature !! ) out , why the fans weren't coming on, why there was still no horn and finally remove the bits of the air con that i could from the front. The day of the races came and i went about taking the clamshell off:
It all came off fine and i think my only win of the day was discovering that the radiator had already been replaced with an EP tuning high flow one ( The black one ) and the hoses going to and from it.
I dug a little deeper to discover the driver side fan had seized. Water had got into the motor and it wasn't spinning. This was a bit concerning but gave me a goal. I got rid of the one fan and singularly mounted the one for the time being whilst the universal upgraded fans are on their way. I also decided as the aircon is coming out and there was a redundant switch in the cabin to make this a manual fan switch. I found a guide on SELOC on how to achieve this but the reality was quite different. Because the car was the air con model i had to try and bypass the module so i wouldn't get a fault code every time i used the button. in short, i had to attach and create a grounding wire running to the switch which turns the fan on as long as you hold down the switch. about 2 hours of testing and electrical work and the job was done!
After becoming side tracked, i decided to remove more of the aircon, the pipework, the drier and the heat exchange. What followed i have never seen in my 10+ years of working on cars:
Somehow i don't think ill be able to do much with this now... as soon as i'd tried to slide it out that happened.
Also, as i was digging around clearing out the inevitable collection of old leaves in the front of the car i found this, randomly floating around:
A bit of prodding around online and it turns out that its an ambient temperature sensor. I'm not entirely sure how its used in the car however its quite evident it hasnt been used in some time !
Again, i ran out of time and havent yet had the chance to get to the bottom of the heater situation. BUT am i in a great rush? no. I did also discover the reason the horn wasn't working was because it simply wasn't there. About an hour of searching and i couldn't find it. Until i came across two suspicious looking wires. Now, for any one that may have found an Elise horn, its not as if these are items that could easily be removed, and im not entirely sure as to why someone would have gone through the hassle of taking the front clam off, removing the horn and neglecting to replace it! Anyway, a universal horn fitted, Boom.
Being originally from the midlands but now being based on the south coast, i decided i wanted to go and show the car off to my mates back home. Portsmouth to Telford took about 6 hours - not wanting to really go too much over 60 because im yet to invest in ear muffs. Got the car home, showed it off a little bit and went to my favourite pizza place.
Not sure if this should be in the dirty takeaway thread, but my friend and i have a tradition of eating these 16' pizza's in every car we own. We've done it in several BMWs, Smart cars, rovers etc but by far the most challenging was the Lotus. I mean the cabin is tight without me + 6'4 friend +2 16' pizzas. But where there is a will there is a way:
As i mentioned at the start of the thread, i did agree to buy a sensible family car if i was going to have my toy. Had a hunt around and with the Husky racing my Mrs does and the logistical challenge of fitting us 2 plus our 2 fur kids in either a mini convertible or Lotus we found and bought this :
160k on the clock but for £1500 cant complain. Gets the seal of approval from the dogs too! Noticed a bit of tyre wear on the fronts and having been told he'd had both front lower arms done before we bought it, i thought best to take it to see Nick. Didnt take any photos but the passenger was 11m out! Having that adjusted really did make all the difference.
And that's all there was so far!
I've moved to Glasgow with work for a little while so don't get to invest as much time into the car as i'd like. That being said i have drawn some interesting conclusions from owning the Elise so far:
Don't let it get wet - you will have a very expensive foot spa
Expect the unexpected - i must say i've heard all sorts of very weird noises coming from that car
It can be a real pleasure to drive - as long as the council are st hot at laying roads and there isn't a pot hole within 200m
You will get the odd 'Nice ferrari bro' comments from teenagers when in traffic
I'll keep updating this as and when i get the chance and do something interesting, but for now thanks for reading!
R53 Police Auction
I've absolutely loved working on the mini, it's become such a labour of love. Because of different time constraints, i haven't got round to finishing it yet. That being said, im looking forward to getting it done. According to howmanyleft.com (Anybody know exactly how accurate this site is??) , there are only 18 of the '03 ilk left on the road - seems a little low but hey ho - surely i can claim i own a 'rare' mini now?
ANYWAY,
My dream car has always been a Lotus Elise. An S2 ticked all the badges growing up for me and Personally i think its such a better looker than the S1 - testament to this is how little the design has changed since first hitting the roads. The Head Gasket get issues with the K seem to be the biggest thing to look out for when buying amongst a few other tit bits that owners using the car as a daily driver point to.
A kin to those that think it's acceptable to wear branded clothing of cars they don't own, i knew pretty much everything there was to know about the car without ever having driven one. Regardless of the Head Gasket and small myriad of other issues if you've read my previous thread you'll know i like to get my hands dirty so with the blessing of the Mrs (on the condition i buy us a 'sensible family car' too) i went on the hunt.
After a few months of searching i found the '52 111S i wanted, only half an hour down the road and at somewhat of a very reasonable £12,500. It really was one of those moments you need to seize in life before it passes so i called the number and arranged to go and see the car the next day. I only saved the below picture from the listing but all looked well:
Went for a test drive and was as happy as i thought i would be - it drove fantastically albeit on a rather wet day gently crawling through Surrey. Of course, i was somewhat sceptical given how low price wise the car sat in the market when these were for sale so i had perhaps a bit of an excessive examination of the car and did find one or two small bodywork issues that needed addressing. Overall however, i really couldn't find fault with the car so ended up, Happily, buying it!
I went back the next weekend to collect it, giving the chap selling chance to find the correct paperwork and hopefully let the weather clear up. He found the paperwork, but the weather was absolutely atrocious. So my first real drive owning the car was at 50 down the motorway for 45 minutes on the journey home which was a little disappointing but this was so quickly overcome when i had the car, at home, on the drive:
Having the week off work, i took the chance to give the car a bit more of an inspection. When i bought it, it was somewhat obvious the chap wasn't a 'car guy'. I was told the HG hadn't been done despite having nearly 80k on the clock and that he'd only ever used Vpower or the like in the car. It didn't come with a service history or anything and its all well and good only running it on Vpower but with the K not having a knock sensor the benefit is somewhat subjective and i'm of the opinion that - You wouldn't feed your race horse Mcdonalds at the end of the day.
When i drove to the garage, i put the fact that my feet were wet and the floor mats somewhat damp down to the weather and the fact that generally speaking you'll struggle to find a dry lotus. However, along with a small service this was my first port of investigation. What i found was frankly distressing:
You can actually see the water pouring off in that last picture!
A few more observations:
Missing rear light??
a very tired looking Alcantara.
And this is my favourite part to have discovered:
Now... I'm all for condition based replacement and getting the most from your parts but am I the only one that thinks this fuel filter might__, just __might be original? considering this car is 16 years old I was a little lost for words.
Needless to say, mats were binned, the fuel filter sent to longbridge as a museum piece and i drew up a list of things i'd like to get done to the car ASAP:
Having no idea, but a strong sense of ' This is a lotus, it would be on the hard shoulder of the M54 if it hadn't', The Head Gasket.
Thermostat - having worked on several K's i know its best as a service item. ( Especially drilled )
Replace Alcantara - It just looks so tired and its something i've got no problem doing myself
Carpet the car - A thin stretchy van liner for the majority, using a hard boot type carpet for the foot well mats
Get the alignment checked
A few jobs to consider for the longer term:
Remove aftermarket radio adaptor - seems to be a common theme in my cars??
Work through the interior replacing some of the cheaper looking parts
Tune engine a little
Upgrade cooling system
Suspension?
Brakes - Lines, pads and eventually disks.
Investigate why cooling fans aren't coming on - 50p ' 5p moment once or twice in heavy traffic!!
Remove air conditioning - i didn't buy an Elise to be comfortable.
Fix all body woes and get a respray
Investigate why the horn doesn't seem to work
Bat away any other crocodiles that might want to rear their heads.
Fast- forward to the weekend and a car club duty. Invited the Mrs to come down with me - ow i do know how to treat them. On the plus side i've got great company working through my jobs and an extra set of hands to help. First job of the weekend was to replace the Alcantara dash. It's worth mentioning that i was waiting on a rear light id sourced from a very helpful breaker -Douglas Valley - for a modest £50 to arrive and i'd also ordered the full HG kit from EP along with a few other goodies from eBay.
Removing the dash was quite easy - so in no time at all I was left with my first chance to make the car look great or b
ks it up:After reinstalling it, i was really pleased with the results. It took me about 45 mins to finish it up, well worth the investment.
Carpet. Having removed the seats we got to work and with a few cans of spray adhesive the results were great:
Again, really pleased with the way it came out. This was about 3 hours of work all in all and a job im glad i wont have to do again.
All that was left was for the night was its final inspection and i'd crack on with the radio tomorrow:
Day 2 and it was time for the radio to face the music - not quite literally because these Elises' are notoriously crud at finding radio reception and i didn't have any CD's to hand to test the speakers. After all, this isn't 2003. I'd managed to catch a glimpse at what was to come when i was working on the dash but again, couldn't anticipate this:
(Spot the mini looking very sorry for itself)
Fortunately, having done this before and being somewhat of an electrician by trade, i got the snips out and sorted it out ^^ . My eventual plan is to rip the radio head unit out and replace the whole sound system with a tablet based set up, but i'll go into more detail about that when i come to do it.
As the weather had been somewhat intermittent at the start of the year i also took the opportunity to give the car a quick clean:
Fast forward a few days and the big shipment arrived:
'K' Series MLS Head Gasket Kit
1
82/88 Degree Thermostat
82 Degree
1
ECU Coolant Temperature Sender S2
Short Version
1
200Ltr/minute Water Pump
1 £
Cambelt Tensioner
Manual Tensioner
1
Gates Cambelt
VVC/VHPD Manual Tensioner Type Cambelt
1
Gaskets (Sold Individually)
01 - Cam Cover Gasket
1
Gaskets (Sold Individually)
03 - Inlet Manifold Gasket VVC & Throttle Bodies
1
Gaskets (Sold Individually)
09 - Steel Cylinder Head Dowels
1
Water Bottle Pressure Cap
1
Lotus Approved Engine Coolant
5 Litres
1
K Series Flywheel Locking Tool
K Series Alternator Belt
1
Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley
1
With the Mrs being away for the next weekend i decided this is the right time to get cracking. To save a complete commentary, i'll provide the next bit of explaining with pictures:
Much like i thought - The head gasket had been replaced. There really isn't any harm in replacing it again, and getting a good idea of the material state of the engine is always a winner. The thermostat was as i expected - i'd noticed when the car was doing different trips the radiator at the front was only heating up occasionally. With the way the k series operates in this car, it can be quite easy to thermally shock the engine and so i decided, in conjunction with my lower temperature stat to drill it. I put 2x0.2m holes 180 degrees apart and replaced it. This was the state if the old one:
Now - What i should have done here is removed the parts of the air conditioning whilst the rear clam shell was off. However - i ran out of time. So removing the compressor and pipework, relocating the alternator etc would have to wait for another day.
Its worth me mentioning here that as i've been going along on the car, i've been ordering hex head bolts to replace the mild steel ones. Not only do these look better, but being marine grade they aren't going to corrode:
These were probably the first ones i did, the easiest ones to take pictures of too:
Another weekend and another chance to work on the car. This time i decided to do the work i'd ran out of time for the previous weekend and also take the chance to replace the brake lines for braided hoses. The brake lines were really easy to do - the challenge came in bleeding them! i couldn't for the life of me get the air from the piston with the pressure bleeder having tried several times. So i recruited some help and with a few squeezes of the pedal and spanner on the nipple it was done. They look much better too!
One of the more interesting parts about being in the military is that you never know who's going to pop their head in the building and what they're going to bring with them. This week, it was turn of the General manager and his new plaything:
Back to work - I'd ordered a different tensioner for the alternator in its new home. I preferred the look but admittedly, i found it slightly more difficult to tension when in place:
I'd also ordered the non aircon alternator belt and the standard k series mounting bracket. To be honest, the job was a lot more difficult than i anticipated. Access was the main issue but about 4 hours later it was done. The compressor and the associated parts weighed a tonne!
After working on the car for a few weeks and although i was desperately trying to keep it clean, the car was starting to look a bit grubby. I didnt have any new parts to be fitting so i thought i'd use the old rotary polisher and go over the car properly. I was really pleased with the results and for the cars age it came up really well:
And follow subsequent spamming of my friends with lotus pictures, and a little bit of return fire:
Gradually i've been ordering different bits for the car and a few interior pieces arrived before i took the car to get the alignment done. I absolutely hated the indicators and metal work in the car. It seems that no two cars are the same either.. they picked up a few bits that were in their Norfolk shed and thought ' That'll do'. The reason i say this is because i ordered the hand brake replacement and most cars would have the screw type of adaptor for the button. However, mine did not. roll on driving to the garage to find a tap to bring the metal pin down to M6 to fit the button and complete the change:
Having put the touring gear stick on, i felt that the position was a little high and it made the gear movement feel un-natural. So without pictures i installed a short shifter kit too!
The day of reckoning!
After several recommendations from PH forums, i took the best to Nick at the Laser Alignment Centre in Southampton. Fantastic guy and really knowledgeable. Was in and out in about 25 minutes - the longest part being undoing the rear diffuser! :
Not as bad as i expected it was going to be, and eventually only a few small adjustments were needed. Having said that, it now feels like a brad new car going around the corners!
Another big thing i don't like about the car are the cheap plastic looking bits inside. A car like this really deserves better and so i started ordering a few carbon fibre bits. I'm slowly working my way through the car and all ready they look so much better:
This, unfortunately, is the only way to really remove the old ones
Having its routine inspection from QC pup:
My plan is to keep going with the carbon, replacing all the bits that i can. If you've followed my other thread you'll have seen i started hydro dipping last year - I felt with this i wanted to really invest in the best i can so will avoid hydrodipping any of the car. I will however be ordering my own kit to start crafting carbon fibre pieces with. I want to experiment with both epoxy and vaccum styles so no doubt ill be adding to this thread with those at some point.
I spent a few weeks unable to do much to the car but again found myself with a free weekend so decided to remove the front clamshell and see about figuring the stuck heater flap ( Both direction and temperature !! ) out , why the fans weren't coming on, why there was still no horn and finally remove the bits of the air con that i could from the front. The day of the races came and i went about taking the clamshell off:
It all came off fine and i think my only win of the day was discovering that the radiator had already been replaced with an EP tuning high flow one ( The black one ) and the hoses going to and from it.
I dug a little deeper to discover the driver side fan had seized. Water had got into the motor and it wasn't spinning. This was a bit concerning but gave me a goal. I got rid of the one fan and singularly mounted the one for the time being whilst the universal upgraded fans are on their way. I also decided as the aircon is coming out and there was a redundant switch in the cabin to make this a manual fan switch. I found a guide on SELOC on how to achieve this but the reality was quite different. Because the car was the air con model i had to try and bypass the module so i wouldn't get a fault code every time i used the button. in short, i had to attach and create a grounding wire running to the switch which turns the fan on as long as you hold down the switch. about 2 hours of testing and electrical work and the job was done!
After becoming side tracked, i decided to remove more of the aircon, the pipework, the drier and the heat exchange. What followed i have never seen in my 10+ years of working on cars:
Somehow i don't think ill be able to do much with this now... as soon as i'd tried to slide it out that happened.
Also, as i was digging around clearing out the inevitable collection of old leaves in the front of the car i found this, randomly floating around:
A bit of prodding around online and it turns out that its an ambient temperature sensor. I'm not entirely sure how its used in the car however its quite evident it hasnt been used in some time !
Again, i ran out of time and havent yet had the chance to get to the bottom of the heater situation. BUT am i in a great rush? no. I did also discover the reason the horn wasn't working was because it simply wasn't there. About an hour of searching and i couldn't find it. Until i came across two suspicious looking wires. Now, for any one that may have found an Elise horn, its not as if these are items that could easily be removed, and im not entirely sure as to why someone would have gone through the hassle of taking the front clam off, removing the horn and neglecting to replace it! Anyway, a universal horn fitted, Boom.
Being originally from the midlands but now being based on the south coast, i decided i wanted to go and show the car off to my mates back home. Portsmouth to Telford took about 6 hours - not wanting to really go too much over 60 because im yet to invest in ear muffs. Got the car home, showed it off a little bit and went to my favourite pizza place.
Not sure if this should be in the dirty takeaway thread, but my friend and i have a tradition of eating these 16' pizza's in every car we own. We've done it in several BMWs, Smart cars, rovers etc but by far the most challenging was the Lotus. I mean the cabin is tight without me + 6'4 friend +2 16' pizzas. But where there is a will there is a way:
As i mentioned at the start of the thread, i did agree to buy a sensible family car if i was going to have my toy. Had a hunt around and with the Husky racing my Mrs does and the logistical challenge of fitting us 2 plus our 2 fur kids in either a mini convertible or Lotus we found and bought this :
160k on the clock but for £1500 cant complain. Gets the seal of approval from the dogs too! Noticed a bit of tyre wear on the fronts and having been told he'd had both front lower arms done before we bought it, i thought best to take it to see Nick. Didnt take any photos but the passenger was 11m out! Having that adjusted really did make all the difference.
And that's all there was so far!
I've moved to Glasgow with work for a little while so don't get to invest as much time into the car as i'd like. That being said i have drawn some interesting conclusions from owning the Elise so far:
Don't let it get wet - you will have a very expensive foot spa
Expect the unexpected - i must say i've heard all sorts of very weird noises coming from that car
It can be a real pleasure to drive - as long as the council are s
t hot at laying roads and there isn't a pot hole within 200mYou will get the odd 'Nice ferrari bro' comments from teenagers when in traffic
I'll keep updating this as and when i get the chance and do something interesting, but for now thanks for reading!
Good read.
Adjust your side windows to ensure they’re a good fit against the roof. The two adjustment screws are low down on the door below the sill line.
Whilst the odd drop of water on the sill trims isn’t unusual in a heavy downpour, the car shouldn’t be filling with water as yours seems to be. I’ve never had a drop on the floor in 14 years.
Adjust your side windows to ensure they’re a good fit against the roof. The two adjustment screws are low down on the door below the sill line.
Whilst the odd drop of water on the sill trims isn’t unusual in a heavy downpour, the car shouldn’t be filling with water as yours seems to be. I’ve never had a drop on the floor in 14 years.
MJK 24 said:
Good read.
Adjust your side windows to ensure they’re a good fit against the roof. The two adjustment screws are low down on the door below the sill line.
Whilst the odd drop of water on the sill trims isn’t unusual in a heavy downpour, the car shouldn’t be filling with water as yours seems to be. I’ve never had a drop on the floor in 14 years.
Thanks for that,Adjust your side windows to ensure they’re a good fit against the roof. The two adjustment screws are low down on the door below the sill line.
Whilst the odd drop of water on the sill trims isn’t unusual in a heavy downpour, the car shouldn’t be filling with water as yours seems to be. I’ve never had a drop on the floor in 14 years.
I've adjusted that and the car lives under the garage. It tends to be when parked and it starts raining rather than driving. I have noticed when driving it in the rain that even a slight bit of window open and I can forego my morning shower.
Will watch with interest, though you're utterly and terribly incorrect when you say the S2 is better looking. Possibly an S1 owner here. 
This is a great thread in general, but if you're getting into carbon, then there's a wealth of info in there too: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
This is a great thread in general, but if you're getting into carbon, then there's a wealth of info in there too: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Smitters said:
Will watch with interest, though you're utterly and terribly incorrect when you say the S2 is better looking. Possibly an S1 owner here.
This is a great thread in general, but if you're getting into carbon, then there's a wealth of info in there too: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Thanks for the thread. I'll have a good look through that and see what I can pull out of it. This is a great thread in general, but if you're getting into carbon, then there's a wealth of info in there too: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Terribly and utterly? Best downgrade and settle for an S1 then!
-01SQ- said:
Terribly and utterly? Best downgrade and settle for an S1 then!
I may concede it's subjective.I did love your descriptions of the switch gear. Some in the S2 is much improved, whereas the lowly S1 makes do with awful plastic heater control stuff and Pug light switches, but the indicators are shared and I agree with you - they look bloody awful. Were your new ones just a case of a hacksaw to the stalk and an allen bolt to install?
Smitters said:
-01SQ- said:
Terribly and utterly? Best downgrade and settle for an S1 then!
I may concede it's subjective.I did love your descriptions of the switch gear. Some in the S2 is much improved, whereas the lowly S1 makes do with awful plastic heater control stuff and Pug light switches, but the indicators are shared and I agree with you - they look bloody awful. Were your new ones just a case of a hacksaw to the stalk and an allen bolt to install?
-01SQ- said:
Smitters said:
-01SQ- said:
Terribly and utterly? Best downgrade and settle for an S1 then!
I may concede it's subjective.I did love your descriptions of the switch gear. Some in the S2 is much improved, whereas the lowly S1 makes do with awful plastic heater control stuff and Pug light switches, but the indicators are shared and I agree with you - they look bloody awful. Were your new ones just a case of a hacksaw to the stalk and an allen bolt to install?
Smitters said:
-01SQ- said:
Smitters said:
-01SQ- said:
Terribly and utterly? Best downgrade and settle for an S1 then!
I may concede it's subjective.I did love your descriptions of the switch gear. Some in the S2 is much improved, whereas the lowly S1 makes do with awful plastic heater control stuff and Pug light switches, but the indicators are shared and I agree with you - they look bloody awful. Were your new ones just a case of a hacksaw to the stalk and an allen bolt to install?
Fantastic read and great progress so far. Although as an ex S1 owner we’ll have to agree to disagree on the shape thing 
If you’re so inclined in the future, I can thoroughly recommend LE Pro Corbeau seats, I had them in mine with Schroth harnesses and they were a superb upgrade over the standard seats.
If you’re so inclined in the future, I can thoroughly recommend LE Pro Corbeau seats, I had them in mine with Schroth harnesses and they were a superb upgrade over the standard seats.
Good job!
If you're concerned about HGF fit a PRRT stat as this limits thermal shock and gives stable running temps.
https://www.eliseparts.com/products/show/84/207/pr...
If you're concerned about HGF fit a PRRT stat as this limits thermal shock and gives stable running temps.
https://www.eliseparts.com/products/show/84/207/pr...
I really wouldn’t have glued those carpets down, it’s a well known issue that any trapped moisture under there will eat away at aluminium....https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=15&t=564574
Seeing how wet the carpets were you took out have you found the source of ingress?
Seeing how wet the carpets were you took out have you found the source of ingress?
ashgt4 said:
having just also joined the plastic car club, admittedly with the s2's dirtier-cheaper cousin (vx220) I would recommend changing the rear toe arms especially if you are planning on tracking it as these are known to snap.
Thanks! Fortunately, they were done just before i picked her up so they should last a few K AndrewGP said:
Fantastic read and great progress so far. Although as an ex S1 owner we’ll have to agree to disagree on the shape thing
If you’re so inclined in the future, I can thoroughly recommend LE Pro Corbeau seats, I had them in mine with Schroth harnesses and they were a superb upgrade over the standard seats.
Thanks for the advice, I've been looking for replacement seats amongst many other things. If you’re so inclined in the future, I can thoroughly recommend LE Pro Corbeau seats, I had them in mine with Schroth harnesses and they were a superb upgrade over the standard seats.
Did they require a different mounting rail? I'm really trying to find replacement seats without any branding on them, much prefer the plain un-branded look.
Mr E said:
Also, I’d not worry about tuning for extra power. These things are not about straight line performance.
A sporty exhaust for a bit of aural stimulation, and then just enjoy.
A straight 111s indeed. I'm all for a bit of creativity with engine swaps but even with its bad rap i'll have great fun with this one. A sporty exhaust for a bit of aural stimulation, and then just enjoy.
I seem to hear a lot of people talk about the Honda K20 but i like the originality of my K and like you say, they're not solely based on straight line performance so i don't plan on changing it.
Really trying to find a custom exhaust fabricator thatll work from the header down. I like to mess around with these things and wouldnt mind trying a 2x 2-1 exhaust set up. The acoustics with a nice bit of high lift will make for a really unique sound. Doesn't seem like anyone has tried it either.
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