Tickles Lotus Elise S1 111s
Discussion
itcaptainslow said:
Will do-I need to rediscover the love for mine (again). Off to the 'Ring hopefully in a few weeks for a long weekend, hopefully that'll do the trick. May try and get over to the Triangle beforehand if a nice day presents itself.
A trip to the ring and two or three days spent in the Elise should re-kindle the love!
I had a little time to myself last week to get a few jobs done on the Elise, mainly to the interior.
Out went the seats and with the help of some Surfex and magic sponges.
I got the tub quite clean. From this:
To this:
I gave the floor pan a coating of ACF-50 and the seat bolts a blob of red rubber grease.
The gear knob was looking a bit worse for wear, most likely from being removed in the past. By all accounts they can be a PITA to get off. It got a spin on the lathe with some emery then wet and dry, cleaned up well.
A bit of attention to the the wheels, eventually getting around to adding the 'LOTUS' decal to the victories after the refurb.
Finally managed a blast out with the roof off this week on some local roads, so much better to have the roof off. Looking forward to the warmer months now and ideally a run out with NORLOG in the not too distant future.
Quick scrub and back tucked up.
Next up are some new AD08-R's and mats. A B-service kit has arrived from Elise Parts so that will be getting sorted after Easter.
Loving this car!
Out went the seats and with the help of some Surfex and magic sponges.
I got the tub quite clean. From this:
To this:
I gave the floor pan a coating of ACF-50 and the seat bolts a blob of red rubber grease.
The gear knob was looking a bit worse for wear, most likely from being removed in the past. By all accounts they can be a PITA to get off. It got a spin on the lathe with some emery then wet and dry, cleaned up well.
A bit of attention to the the wheels, eventually getting around to adding the 'LOTUS' decal to the victories after the refurb.
Finally managed a blast out with the roof off this week on some local roads, so much better to have the roof off. Looking forward to the warmer months now and ideally a run out with NORLOG in the not too distant future.
Quick scrub and back tucked up.
Next up are some new AD08-R's and mats. A B-service kit has arrived from Elise Parts so that will be getting sorted after Easter.
Loving this car!
Edited by Tickle on Saturday 21st March 21:28
No driving planned for the Elise this weekend seeing as it seems to of turned back into winter 
I did however get some new mats to accompany the cleaned up tub and floor.
I managed to punch a clean hole for the fixings through the mats. I ground a taper on to the end of an old socket, worked well.
I did however get some new mats to accompany the cleaned up tub and floor.
I managed to punch a clean hole for the fixings through the mats. I ground a taper on to the end of an old socket, worked well.
itcaptainslow said:
RatLad said:
Tub has come up a treat. Definitely will need to do the same on mine.
Ditto-I had the seats out and gave it a clean when I first got mine, but will do the same again now I've seen the effects of a magic sponge!As for the magic sponges.....best 2 quid I have spent in a while!
melvster said:
Nice update Mark, what a perfect car for those roads. Heading out to the Evo Triangle on Sunday, the Cup wheels will be fitted by then as well.
Cheers Adam 
I may be going for an early morning drive out to North Wales myself.....providing the weather sorts itself out for the bank holiday.
Tickle said:
melvster said:
Nice update Mark, what a perfect car for those roads. Heading out to the Evo Triangle on Sunday, the Cup wheels will be fitted by then as well.
Cheers Adam I may be going for an early morning drive out to North Wales myself.....providing the weather sorts itself out for the bank holiday.
was hoping to get mine out the garage this week as I'm off, but it hasn't got off to a good start with constant rain!
A few more jobs ticked off the list in the last couple of weeks.
New carpets are in after the tub and gear knob freshen up, so for now I am done with the interior. I was thinking about a new head unit with an I-pod lead. Although it is probably better using the I-pod with ear phones. They aren't the quietest and the 111S short gearing doesn't help noise on the motorway. Thinking about it if I can't hear anything as it is, I may as well get a Larini!
Next up was a B-service at Pheonix Motorsport, a real top quality Lotus specialist as I'm sure anyone who has been will vouch for. Ollie is a great bloke and is a wealth of information on Lotus and any other cars to be honest. I also had a new spark plug cover put on, my old one had sun bleached to an off pink! Oh and a new oil cap.
Pheonix is not too far away from the Forest of Bowland, so I had a lunchtime blast around there. Some very nice roads. I will have to plan a proper route passing through to Hawes and Buttertubs in the near future.
The engine bay needed a bit of attention so some Surfex and Meguiars engine dressing later and it looked better. I thought it deserved a clean to match the new plug cover and oil cap.
Finally, I sunburned my forehead driving round this afternoon... ba
rd!
New carpets are in after the tub and gear knob freshen up, so for now I am done with the interior. I was thinking about a new head unit with an I-pod lead. Although it is probably better using the I-pod with ear phones. They aren't the quietest and the 111S short gearing doesn't help noise on the motorway. Thinking about it if I can't hear anything as it is, I may as well get a Larini!
Next up was a B-service at Pheonix Motorsport, a real top quality Lotus specialist as I'm sure anyone who has been will vouch for. Ollie is a great bloke and is a wealth of information on Lotus and any other cars to be honest. I also had a new spark plug cover put on, my old one had sun bleached to an off pink! Oh and a new oil cap.
Pheonix is not too far away from the Forest of Bowland, so I had a lunchtime blast around there. Some very nice roads. I will have to plan a proper route passing through to Hawes and Buttertubs in the near future.
The engine bay needed a bit of attention so some Surfex and Meguiars engine dressing later and it looked better. I thought it deserved a clean to match the new plug cover and oil cap.
Finally, I sunburned my forehead driving round this afternoon... ba
rd!Edited by Tickle on Monday 20th April 20:31
mr shoddy said:
Where did you get those floor mats from?
They are a bit of a bodge up really. I got some mats made up from Car Mats UK, then bought a couple of Lotus iron-on patches off ebay. They have turned out ok to be honest. The badges sit well on the mat and ironed on flush.I fancied something different from the 'Elise' ones and I couldn't find the '111s' mats anywhere on-line. So I had a go myself.
Bebee said:
Tickle said:
I really like the above pic, worthy of a Seloc calender.
I will post it up on there when they are asking for calender pics.
Another job done, the rear grills. An easy job to do... if Lotus had used something that didn't rust resulting in the screw spinning!
With plenty of coolant to stop the surrounding paint scorching I drilled the old screw heads off, not as much swearing as I thought either as they drilled off easily.
Off, clean and seal
New rawl-nuts
Grills fresh from coating
Finally, blasted and powder coated grills back on.
I think I will get the engine cover and radiator grills done too, they aren't corroded like the rear ones but they are a bit satin in finish and I prefer the gloss black look.
After reading some of the Lotus threads this week in General Gassing, how can anyone not like a Lotus? If they do make the SUV, my little Elise wont drive any less superb!
Edited to add: Picture of shot-blasted and coated grills prior to putting them back on.
With plenty of coolant to stop the surrounding paint scorching I drilled the old screw heads off, not as much swearing as I thought either as they drilled off easily.
Off, clean and seal
New rawl-nuts
Grills fresh from coating
Finally, blasted and powder coated grills back on.
I think I will get the engine cover and radiator grills done too, they aren't corroded like the rear ones but they are a bit satin in finish and I prefer the gloss black look.
After reading some of the Lotus threads this week in General Gassing, how can anyone not like a Lotus? If they do make the SUV, my little Elise wont drive any less superb!
Edited to add: Picture of shot-blasted and coated grills prior to putting them back on.
Edited by Tickle on Saturday 9th May 14:15
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