Busted radiator on Elise S1 ('98)

[Woolpit]

Help!
Looks like radiator has had it. Spoke to local dealer who says £600 to fix (parts & labour) ouch! - going to DIY it, any suggestions to upgrade/replace part as engine modifications ensuing.
Thanks Jon.

[subaqua]

600 quid is kind of the going rate... as the front clam has to come off IIRC.

I'd look at the upgraded radiator options from eliseparts (I think they stock the proalloy rads) they are more efficient than OEM, which isn't a becessity, but a good idea if you are serious about upgrades and dont have the plastic endcaps which tend to be a weakness in the original rad (tho I think mines an original and still there after ten years)

[NWTony]

Does the heater blower sit in a puddle on the S1 as it does in the S2 - if it does I'd take care of that whilst I had the front off. I'd also uprate the radiator fan as well, they're pretty prone to burning out without warning. And I'd replace all the clam nuts n bolts with A4 stainless . Maybe replace the towing mount if it's rusty and do the wiper conversion from Seloc.

Sod it, just buy a new car, it's too much effort!

Edited by NWTony on Wednesday 30th July 22:08

[piooly]

I had 2 radiators go on my S1, luckily covered by warrantee. If it ever goes again I will put one on with the alloys end caps instead of the weak plastic. Search around. A few companies make them for the elise and charge pretty cheap, around £150 I think... Look at demon tweaks,

[Mr_B]

Make sure you plan ahead and do any other jobs that are a front clam off while you are there. Towing eye, driving lights etc. Get a load of stainless bolts to replace the rusted crap etc.

[ADM 135S]

As the rest of the guys said, stainless bolts etc,just be careful fitting clam. When I replaced
my radiator and put the clam back, the final position wasn't the same, cause my headlights to be too high and fail MOT!

[Woolpit]

Thanks everyone. thinking about re-spraying front clam while off - any thoughts on how much I would expect to pay? Living in Surrey, anybody know any local people? Cheers. Jon

[subaqua]

For the respray... Steve Williams in Maidenhead or Specialised Paintwork in Reading are your best bets. I think most other will outsource to a specialist (RTA non-fibreglass specialist) paintshop

[delS1]

http://www.lakesideengineering.com/ for your repair work.
I can highly recomend the above.

delS1

[beez]

This happened to me, i didnt bother getting a new rad and just had a local read specialist retighten the end caps for £25. Though if i'd had the cash i would have gotten a nice alloy rad.

Also while i was at I got some new/louder air horns.

When you take the clam off dont forget to note how many/which washers are at each fixing point as thats how they adjust the clam to make it fit nicely... I didnt do this and had to mess around getting it fitted properly!!!

[Woolpit]

Just been trying for the last few hours and only 3 of the fixings are off, 3 seem to be just turning inside the chasis. The rest have lost there heads so I need to get them drilled out......


Because I cant get to the other side of the fixings I seem to have lost the battle any one got any suggestions? If I drill those out that are just turning how do i re-attach afterwards...


Jon........

[NWTony]

Do you have to seloc wiki guide to removing the clam or are you winging it?

http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Remove_S2_front_clamshell for an S2

There doesn't appear to be one for the S1 so I'm hoping it's a similar job!

[Woolpit]

winging it!