Elise S1 Millennium Edition, 1 owner from new...
Discussion
Well a busy weekend working on the car ... hopefully soon I'll be spending some time driving the damn thing 
First job on Saturday was to try and remove the rear grills and repaint them. No joy removing the screws, they're rusted solid to the rawl nuts. My drill was too puny to drill them out and I was worried it was going to get hot enough to set fire to the rubber nut. Back to the drawing board for this job. I might get a body shop or similar to grind off the screws. If I attempt it I'm more likely to grind holes in the paint...
Next job was to clean the worst of the rust off the front towing bracket and paint it. Unfortunately the wire brush revealed that the lower mount has rusted clean through
Hopefully I won't break down before I get the chance to replace this. It'll need the front clam to come off too 
Bugger!
At least I had more success replacing the tatty front numberplate.
Bouyed by this, I then steeled myself to remove the front mats (thanks to num2uk, wevster & pthelazyjourno for the heads-up ). The corrosion revealed underneath was pretty ugly. Scraped off big piles of oxide which left loads of quite severe pitting but no actual holes. The alloy was perfect under the tape strips so I left most of those in place.
Nice Hanger111 carpets in place now so I can forget all about the horrors below
Last job was to paint over the rust on the front bonnet grill with some rust inhibitor paint. Supposed to be a satin finish but it looks a bit too glossy to my eyes.
While doing this found the bonnet hinge had broken one of it's rivets. Damn! Another job!
Sunday started with a trip to Halfords for a new stereo and bits to repair the hinge.
Once home then off came the front bonnet. I had to drill out what was left of the rivets and clean off the mastic. The hinge was almost seized and the steel part was pretty rusty so I cleaned it up and repainted it.
While the paint dried I fitted the new stereo. No matter what I did with its settings the original Kenwood unit has only ever worked intermittently. I've replaced it with a £63 Philips iPod/usb/bluetooth head unit which seems a really good deal (online here). The new unit plugged straight into the ISO connectors which the Kenwood adaptor cable was attached to.
Finally I reassembled the hinge (with plenty of grease) and bolted it back on to the clam. Had a lot of fun getting the bonnet lined up again. I managed to get the catch stuck twice before getting it aligned properly. I was very lucky that I could open it both times with just some enthusiastic wiggling and without having to remove a wheel and arch liner like some people!
That's it for now until the new towing bracket arrives.
First job on Saturday was to try and remove the rear grills and repaint them. No joy removing the screws, they're rusted solid to the rawl nuts. My drill was too puny to drill them out and I was worried it was going to get hot enough to set fire to the rubber nut. Back to the drawing board for this job. I might get a body shop or similar to grind off the screws. If I attempt it I'm more likely to grind holes in the paint...
Next job was to clean the worst of the rust off the front towing bracket and paint it. Unfortunately the wire brush revealed that the lower mount has rusted clean through
Hopefully I won't break down before I get the chance to replace this. It'll need the front clam to come off too Bugger!At least I had more success replacing the tatty front numberplate.
Bouyed by this, I then steeled myself to remove the front mats (thanks to num2uk, wevster & pthelazyjourno for the heads-up ). The corrosion revealed underneath was pretty ugly. Scraped off big piles of oxide which left loads of quite severe pitting but no actual holes. The alloy was perfect under the tape strips so I left most of those in place.
Nice Hanger111 carpets in place now so I can forget all about the horrors below
Last job was to paint over the rust on the front bonnet grill with some rust inhibitor paint. Supposed to be a satin finish but it looks a bit too glossy to my eyes.
While doing this found the bonnet hinge had broken one of it's rivets. Damn! Another job!
Sunday started with a trip to Halfords for a new stereo and bits to repair the hinge.
Once home then off came the front bonnet. I had to drill out what was left of the rivets and clean off the mastic. The hinge was almost seized and the steel part was pretty rusty so I cleaned it up and repainted it.
While the paint dried I fitted the new stereo. No matter what I did with its settings the original Kenwood unit has only ever worked intermittently. I've replaced it with a £63 Philips iPod/usb/bluetooth head unit which seems a really good deal (online here). The new unit plugged straight into the ISO connectors which the Kenwood adaptor cable was attached to.
Finally I reassembled the hinge (with plenty of grease) and bolted it back on to the clam. Had a lot of fun getting the bonnet lined up again. I managed to get the catch stuck twice before getting it aligned properly. I was very lucky that I could open it both times with just some enthusiastic wiggling and without having to remove a wheel and arch liner like some people!
That's it for now until the new towing bracket arrives.
Edited by moribund on Monday 27th May 00:40
wevster said:
I used a Dremel to remove the heads of the screws in the rear grills. I think I got the replacement screws etc from either Elise Parts or Elise Shop, I tried a few different types and those were the best. I will sort out a link later when I'm at home.
Cheers! By Dremel do you mean a grinding stone on a drill?A little update. Over the weekend I jacked the car up (a bit of an adventure in itself!) and removed the front wheels to see if I could get the clam off and replace the knackered towing bracket with the nice powdercoated stainless steel one I've bought.
No chance is the answer, at least without drilling/grinding out a whole load of rusted fasteners. That's going a bit too far for my personal skills/enthusiasm/tools so it's off to Pure Lotus next week so they can attempt the same. Will report back once it's done....it's not going to be a cheap fix but I dare not drive it to Le Mans if I can't get it winched on to a flatbed if I need to!
No chance is the answer, at least without drilling/grinding out a whole load of rusted fasteners. That's going a bit too far for my personal skills/enthusiasm/tools so it's off to Pure Lotus next week so they can attempt the same. Will report back once it's done....it's not going to be a cheap fix but I dare not drive it to Le Mans if I can't get it winched on to a flatbed if I need to!
Right, so today I got the car back. Thanks again to Pure Lotus I now have screws I can actually undo on the rear grills and number plate lights.
I also have my nice powder coated stainless steel towing bracket fitted
Which makes it a real shame that halfway home my exhaust started to blow!! Damn this car and it's niggly little faults.
The exhaust is a Janspeed stainless one (at least I hope it's stainless) so hopefully it's just a joint coming loose. Will find out tomorrow...
I also have my nice powder coated stainless steel towing bracket fitted
Which makes it a real shame that halfway home my exhaust started to blow!! Damn this car and it's niggly little faults.
The exhaust is a Janspeed stainless one (at least I hope it's stainless) so hopefully it's just a joint coming loose. Will find out tomorrow...
Edited by giveitfish on Tuesday 10th April 23:18
chevronb37 said:
My experience of S1 ownership is that they will always remain an ongoing project. As soon as you fix one thing, something else rears its head. If you can live in that mindset then you'll find it much easier to tolerate.
I know, I know, but I just want to get the thing good enough to make it to Le Mans and back!The blowing exhaust is a ruptured flexi pipe - another expense due tomorrow when it's replaced.
Got the downpipe replaced last Monday only to discover another odd noise with the engine under load. From reading on Seloc and other places it sounds like I've now got a leaky exhaust manifold gasket. Not that surprising given the struggle they had getting the down pipe off I suppose.
I had a wobble before going to Le Mans - was the car ready for the trip? No time to fix the gasket, and my MG would be a much more civilised ride.
Decided to risk the Elise anyway, and over 1200 miles later I'm glad I did. It didn't miss a beat, was pretty economical (over 40mpg for one tank) and surprisingly comfortable once I had earplugs in and got used to the heat...
Packed to the gills for the trip:
Le Mans 24, June 2013 by giveitfish, on Flickr
Shown into the Great British Welcome display area despite being filthy:
Le Mans 24, June 2013 by giveitfish, on Flickr
More pics here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/giveitfish/sets/72157...
I had a wobble before going to Le Mans - was the car ready for the trip? No time to fix the gasket, and my MG would be a much more civilised ride.
Decided to risk the Elise anyway, and over 1200 miles later I'm glad I did. It didn't miss a beat, was pretty economical (over 40mpg for one tank) and surprisingly comfortable once I had earplugs in and got used to the heat...
Packed to the gills for the trip:
Le Mans 24, June 2013 by giveitfish, on Flickr
Shown into the Great British Welcome display area despite being filthy:
Le Mans 24, June 2013 by giveitfish, on Flickr
More pics here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/giveitfish/sets/72157...
Cheers, glad you liked the pics
Went along on a Pistonheads hoon today. There were some amazing motors along and my Elise was easily the oldest and slowest car there. Mine was the only car with under 200bhp and most had over 400 - some over 600.
No surprise I didn't keep up as soon as the road was straight but a lot of fun all the same!
Spanner had to come out when I parked up, the door lock wotsit had come loose and the door was rattling about.
Off to the garage again tomorrow, exhaust gasket this time...hopefully the last visit for a while?
Went along on a Pistonheads hoon today. There were some amazing motors along and my Elise was easily the oldest and slowest car there. Mine was the only car with under 200bhp and most had over 400 - some over 600.
No surprise I didn't keep up as soon as the road was straight but a lot of fun all the same!
Spanner had to come out when I parked up, the door lock wotsit had come loose and the door was rattling about.
Off to the garage again tomorrow, exhaust gasket this time...hopefully the last visit for a while?
Nothing has needed fixing for a while, so it's all good when the sun comes out on a lovely evening like today
IMG_2438 by giveitfish, on Flickr
IMG_2458 by giveitfish, on Flickr
IMG_2438 by giveitfish, on Flickr
IMG_2458 by giveitfish, on Flickr
Wow, really 7 months since the last update? Since then it's had a new Eliseparts roof (which is very nice but although better is still not 100% waterproof in heavy rain).
Then nothing until the last week when a nail in a rear tyre resulted in me having to buy a pair of Toyo T1-R's to keep the matching set, plus a new battery to replace the old one as it was only keeping charge for a week at a time.
I've not used it much over the winter, but plan on changing all that soon! Still a complete event to get in and drive. Not lost it's charm in the year I've had it now
Then nothing until the last week when a nail in a rear tyre resulted in me having to buy a pair of Toyo T1-R's to keep the matching set, plus a new battery to replace the old one as it was only keeping charge for a week at a time.
I've not used it much over the winter, but plan on changing all that soon! Still a complete event to get in and drive. Not lost it's charm in the year I've had it now
Cheers, glad you found it interesting
Red Firecracker said:
I put one of thes ein last time I changed the battery;
http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/
and it has been fantastic. Mine doesn't get used as often as it should and it was killing the battery. The batterybrain has solved that, very happy customer.
That's interesting. Does it mess with the alarm though?http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/
and it has been fantastic. Mine doesn't get used as often as it should and it was killing the battery. The batterybrain has solved that, very happy customer.
Quick report from last weekend. On Saturday I took part in the Knowldale Mini Miglia. This was over 160 miles of tiny roads, navigating by tulip road book. It included a couple of fords, a *very* narrow bridge and some excellent country roads, even a road which ran right up the middle of the central reservation on the M6. I had no idea that even existed.
There was also a timed "test" round some cones in a farm yard, hence my car was covered in manure pretty much from the start!
It was a demanding, tiring but excellent day out with some great company too.
Knowldale Mini Miglia, March 2014 by giveitfish, on Flickr
(Copyright http://www.dsdigital.co.uk)
Then on Sunday I competed in the Bolton-Le-Moors Autotest held at Makro in Preston. Managed a 2nd in class but should have done a bit better. The Elise really is great at these especially now I'm starting to get the hang of using the handbrake. Can't compete with the Caterhams though.
(Copyright Bolton-le-Moors CC)
There was also a timed "test" round some cones in a farm yard, hence my car was covered in manure pretty much from the start!
It was a demanding, tiring but excellent day out with some great company too.
Knowldale Mini Miglia, March 2014 by giveitfish, on Flickr
(Copyright http://www.dsdigital.co.uk)
Then on Sunday I competed in the Bolton-Le-Moors Autotest held at Makro in Preston. Managed a 2nd in class but should have done a bit better. The Elise really is great at these especially now I'm starting to get the hang of using the handbrake. Can't compete with the Caterhams though.
(Copyright Bolton-le-Moors CC)
Edited by moribund on Friday 21st March 00:38
So, my exhaust was leaking a bit due to crappy flex pipe fitted last year, plus it feels like the geo is out after the potholes of the Mini Miglia...
Option 1: new flex pipe and a readjust geo, couple of hundred quid
Option 2: new Larini 4-2-1 manifold and flexi, full suspension refresh, ££££
Oooops, I seem to have chosen option 2! Car off to Pheonix Motorsport next week.
Looks like the bodywork will have to wait until next year (or the year after, at this rate)
Option 1: new flex pipe and a readjust geo, couple of hundred quid
Option 2: new Larini 4-2-1 manifold and flexi, full suspension refresh, ££££
Oooops, I seem to have chosen option 2! Car off to Pheonix Motorsport next week.
Looks like the bodywork will have to wait until next year (or the year after, at this rate)
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