The Elan M100 "Doer Upper"

[CallMeLegend]

Originally posted in the Lotus section, but this is probably a better place for it.

In a fit of madness I recently purchsed a pretty well know Elan M100, basically blind, known by the previous owner as "Missy", she's running 240bhp at the moment & some monter brskes, hence the 90's tastic 17" rims





She is by no means a garage queen, quite the opposite in fact, she a bit rough around the edges, the paint really needs some love, the interior could be called "well worn", various bits of trim are damaged, not fitted properly or missing.

There's a reasonable list of issues to sort.

Fix sticky rear left caliper (probably do a full rebuild on both)
Sort out the occasional overboost - needs wastegate porting a bit more be as a result of a 2.5" exhaust
Check ignition system to find out why it won't switch off with key (probably a sticky relay)
Sort the slight battery drian, idicated by the battery light on the dash staying on, probably the alternator voltage regulator
Fix the erroneous readings from the fuel gauge
Fixi RH headlight no illuminating
Fix the intermittent speedometer
Sort the hood seals - they are shot
Strip, lube & reassemble the side window mechanism as they are slow.
Restore & refit door cards
Re-upholster seats
Source a glove box
Source some front arch liners
Fix/replace stereo
Sort orange peely paint

So I made a positive start this weekend.

Car not switching off would appear to be a sticky relay, as if you take it out & give it a sharp tap the problem goes away for a while, £2.52 for a new relay, nice cheap, easy fix.

The headlight not working was loose connection.

Door cards, wow, they were grotty, the inlays were broken, some of the skrivet holes had been damaged.







I set to work with G101 & tardis to clean the cards & remove dirt, adhesive etc, along with repairing the oversized scrivet holes with thins stainless washers & some DP460, the repaired areas are covered with carpet when finished.





The seats are being replaced with Mercedes SLK items, a well known replacement seat that fits, to hell with the originality, this car is way past that, picked these up for £60, arrived today. Besides the height adjustment will be essential of SWMBO, all 4'11" of her is to drive it.





That's it for now...

[minky monkey]

Love the colour!

[trails]

Door cards looked like they needed to be exorcised as well as cleaned, great save!

What are your plans for the wheels?

[swampy442]

How do these drive? I know the standard PH powerfully built directors will bemoan its lack of rwd but I've read various reports saying it's one of the finest fwd chassis out there, never actually 'met' anyone whos owned one

[rdodger]

Good find!

We had an S2 for about 4 years. Great car to drive. Hated working on it as there is just no room to do anything. Cam belt and alternator were the worst jobs ever!

For the rear brakes have a look at PNM for their Golf conversion. Much better than the originals.
http://www.pnmengineering.com/lotus-elanm100-brake...

[CallMeLegend]

Only a tiny bit of progress this week, youngest daughter is doing textiles at GCSE, and she's pretty handy at it so she's going to make new door card insert upholstery. Going with the same style as OEM, but in black & orange (where the old Red stripe is).

Knackered one unstitched for use as a template.



Need to reinforce the plastic door liners though now they are bonded back into a single piece.



The bond area is too small to be structural.



I'll be using a little woven 175g 25mm wide GRP tape wrapped around the edges to tie the sections back together wetted with Epoxy resin.

[RazerSauber]

Saw the colour and immediately wanted it. Absolutely stunning! The wheels do suit quite well though, despite being full on 90's. I'd half expect BBS knock offs with the black middle and "diamond cut" outer ring.

[HustleRussell]

Congrats OP, M100s deserve love

What is the parts supply situation on these? I know that major assemblies in classic Lotus style are repurposed from bigger manufacturers but I am imagining that Lotus-specific bits are a world of pain- am I wrong?

[CallMeLegend]

HustleRussell said:

Congrats OP, M100s deserve love

What is the parts supply situation on these? I know that major assemblies in classic Lotus style are repurposed from bigger manufacturers but I am imagining that Lotus-specific bits are a world of pain- am I wrong?

Pretty accurate there. Can be tricky, mostly as they didn't sell in huge numbers, so used & NOS parts are quite scarce. Thee may be much "make do & mend" needed.

[Galsia]

HustleRussell said:

Congrats OP, M100s deserve love

What is the parts supply situation on these? I know that major assemblies in classic Lotus style are repurposed from bigger manufacturers but I am imagining that Lotus-specific bits are a world of pain- am I wrong?

I had one about 10 years ago and the biggest problem was mechanics not wanting to touch it.

[gregs656]

Love the colour, will be following this one.

[Stick Legs]

Love it.

Its nice sometimes not to have a original mint car as you can put your own stamp on it.

On the leather on the door cards I do hope one panel will be orange!

[CallMeLegend]

Stick Legs said:

Love it.

Its nice sometimes not to have a original mint car as you can put your own stamp on it.

On the leather on the door cards I do hope one panel will be orange!

Yes, where the original Red was

[CallMeLegend]

The reason the original door card inserts get broken is that they have hidden fir tree fasteners, they can be tricky to get behind & pull off with damaging the plastic inner (as seen above). Door card removal is impossible with taking these inserts out.

So with one eye on serviceability I have decided that the door card inserts will be held on with M4 CSK Back screws & black, large diameter CSK fairing washers. Then to accept the M4 screws I've bonded in some M4 rivnuts, the knurl on the outside gives the DP460 adhesive something to grab hold of.

[Kenich]

I will enjoy watching these updates. I had a blue S1 Elan for a few years, that was 200bhp! It had switcher maps to up the boost, hard boost pipes and enclosed induction. Never went for the larger exhaust bore though as like you said requires wastegate porting. Made one hell of a noise on boost I tell you!

I fitted S2k seats in mine, were subtle and fit very well! Those Merc seats look classy.

I always loved those original OZ wheels to, suited the Elan well. Will look good, mine had AP racing 4 pots behind those- Fitted to.

[CallMeLegend]

I need to find a tool to "dimple" some small stainless washers to bond into some damaged areas where CSK screws would normally fit in the door card but have pulled through.

[CallMeLegend]

CallMeLegend said:

I need to find a tool to "dimple" some small stainless washers to bond into some damaged areas where CSK screws would normally fit in the door card but have pulled through.

Made one, had a brainwave & had to test if it would work without delay!!!

Had some old upholstery eyelets in the garage which have a raised head.



If only I could find a way of inverting the head form by drawing it into something soft....like the back of a large Nylok by wedging a smaller nut into the front face & pulling against the soft Nylon with a CSK bolt







Changed the head form perfectly.



6 perfectly formed repair sleeves





That when bonded into this mess



Should transform it. The insert will be pulled up tight when boneded in.

[CallMeLegend]

Turns out the relay was not at fault, this was a bizzare coincidence.

I tried applying inwards pressure to the ignition key when switching off (pressing firmly on end of ket when turning) worked every time. Stop applying pressure, wouldn't switch off.

Took ignition switch off steering column & noticed the hole for the key was a little worn. Used a screwdriverin the hole at this point an again switchedon & off on demand.

New switch ordered from SJ Sportscars.

Now to find the reason the battery light stays on at all time. No voltage registering on dash guage so small drain, hopefully alternator regulator.

[Spinakerr]

Fantastic thread, thanks for posting - those captive nuts and interior fasteners always drive me to distraction!

I did chuckle when you said 'slight orange peely paint' - probably no more suitable colour to suffer it I suppose.

Hope the seats are an easy fit.

[rdodger]

Good luck with the alternator. Mine failed after the CV boot split and filled it with grease. Replaced the alternator with a new one from SJ. That is a job I never want to repeat!