Tickles Lotus Elise S1 111s
Discussion
After eight years out of Lotus ownership the time had come to get another..... this time though as a second car, a promise I made to myself when I sold my S2.
A few things have happened since my last Lotus, growing up mainly. So a mortgage, a ring and most recently the birth of our beautiful baby girl; the time felt right to treat myself to another.
After using my last car for commuting, fun car and everyday for general duties I started to become more and more frustrated with leaving it anywhere, I was really reluctant leaving my pride and joy somewhere always expecting to come back to it to with some sort of ding or scratch. I know 'it's only a car' but it bugged me. Sorry for a bit of a rant!
A bit of well balanced man maths and I made the decision to run two cars. My little Aygo for a short trip to work and general stuff, leaving the Elise for weekends, road trips and summers evenings. The OH runs the family car.
So after a faultless couple of years the Clio 200 went to a new home (Clio thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
It took eight months to find the right Elise, but in January the near perfect spec for me turned up. Keen to buy I contacted the seller, a few emails and numerous phone calls later and it seemed to be as good as I thought. The seller was a genuinely nice guy who knew Elises inside out and had been a serial Lotus owner over the years. We agreed on a price and I made a 350 mile round trip to pick the car up. Most of the journey home was boring motorway but the A and B road sections with a few bends made me remember how different an Elise is to anything else. The feel of the steering and brakes seemed even more direct than I could remember.
Right, about the car. It is a low mileage year 2000 111s in storm titanium. The car is pretty standard apart from a coupe of things, but are more upgrades than mods.
The original 15 year old konis have been replaced with S2 bilsteins, this seems the standard replacement for konis and a job I would of had done anyway. The geo is S160 and the wheels are S160 victories.
Regarding engine mods it has only had an induction kit (ITG). The ITG has recently had a full clean at the cars last service, again a job that I would of done if not already.
The condition and upkeep of the car really is a credit to the last owner.
A Lotus being a Lotus there is a small list of jobs that I want to do, not essential but things I want to tackle. No doubt once these are done a new list will of grown anyway, part of the charm I guess!
The first job was to get the wheels changed from satin black to metallic silver. I love the look of the victories but I think black hides them in the arches, its a shame to have them blend in and IMHO they are the prettiest S1 wheel......albeit the heaviest. People familiar to SELOC will know Bob who supplied me with the new 'LOTUS' decals for the wheels too. Cheers Bob!
Before:
After:
Whilst the wheels were off I treated the exposed suspension components to a clean, red rubber grease and a coating of ACF-50. The suspension is tight and play free but I intend to get a full referb done by Pheonix next year as a bit of future proofing.
As always with low cars the front number plate takes a hiding, so I had some new ones made up. The plates now have the Lotus factory address on the bottom, I just thought it a nice touch to have a reference to Hethel on them.
Once the weather gets a bit better I will take the hardtop off and put the soft-top on. When the roofs off I will remove the seats so I can give the tub, seats and floor a freshen-up. Being a later S1 the carpets are not fixed so no signs of any corrosion to the floor. However I will still give it a coating of ACF-50 whilst the seats are out.
I haven't had chance to give it a proper detail yet, maybe the Easter bank holidays will be dry enough to give it a full going over. I am a fan of cleaning my car, partly because it looks good partly because I find it relaxing. The OH thinks I'm weird but I can genuinely lose myself for an afternoon with an empty head cleaning the car.
Apart from doing the few jobs I have actually had chance to drive it too! Plenty of good B-roads where I live so a few early morning blasts out have been nice to reacquaint myself with an Elise. We have a trip to to North Wales planned in the next couple of weeks and a few local pre-breakfast blasts. I'm Also intending to get out on some NORLOG meets and a run out with some guys from the North West section on PH.
Sorry for waffling so much......
So for now that's about it, thanks for reading and more updates will follow.
Cheers Tickle
A few things have happened since my last Lotus, growing up mainly. So a mortgage, a ring and most recently the birth of our beautiful baby girl; the time felt right to treat myself to another.
After using my last car for commuting, fun car and everyday for general duties I started to become more and more frustrated with leaving it anywhere, I was really reluctant leaving my pride and joy somewhere always expecting to come back to it to with some sort of ding or scratch. I know 'it's only a car' but it bugged me. Sorry for a bit of a rant!
A bit of well balanced man maths and I made the decision to run two cars. My little Aygo for a short trip to work and general stuff, leaving the Elise for weekends, road trips and summers evenings. The OH runs the family car.
So after a faultless couple of years the Clio 200 went to a new home (Clio thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
It took eight months to find the right Elise, but in January the near perfect spec for me turned up. Keen to buy I contacted the seller, a few emails and numerous phone calls later and it seemed to be as good as I thought. The seller was a genuinely nice guy who knew Elises inside out and had been a serial Lotus owner over the years. We agreed on a price and I made a 350 mile round trip to pick the car up. Most of the journey home was boring motorway but the A and B road sections with a few bends made me remember how different an Elise is to anything else. The feel of the steering and brakes seemed even more direct than I could remember.
Right, about the car. It is a low mileage year 2000 111s in storm titanium. The car is pretty standard apart from a coupe of things, but are more upgrades than mods.
The original 15 year old konis have been replaced with S2 bilsteins, this seems the standard replacement for konis and a job I would of had done anyway. The geo is S160 and the wheels are S160 victories.
Regarding engine mods it has only had an induction kit (ITG). The ITG has recently had a full clean at the cars last service, again a job that I would of done if not already.
The condition and upkeep of the car really is a credit to the last owner.
A Lotus being a Lotus there is a small list of jobs that I want to do, not essential but things I want to tackle. No doubt once these are done a new list will of grown anyway, part of the charm I guess!
The first job was to get the wheels changed from satin black to metallic silver. I love the look of the victories but I think black hides them in the arches, its a shame to have them blend in and IMHO they are the prettiest S1 wheel......albeit the heaviest. People familiar to SELOC will know Bob who supplied me with the new 'LOTUS' decals for the wheels too. Cheers Bob!
Before:
After:
Whilst the wheels were off I treated the exposed suspension components to a clean, red rubber grease and a coating of ACF-50. The suspension is tight and play free but I intend to get a full referb done by Pheonix next year as a bit of future proofing.
As always with low cars the front number plate takes a hiding, so I had some new ones made up. The plates now have the Lotus factory address on the bottom, I just thought it a nice touch to have a reference to Hethel on them.
Once the weather gets a bit better I will take the hardtop off and put the soft-top on. When the roofs off I will remove the seats so I can give the tub, seats and floor a freshen-up. Being a later S1 the carpets are not fixed so no signs of any corrosion to the floor. However I will still give it a coating of ACF-50 whilst the seats are out.
I haven't had chance to give it a proper detail yet, maybe the Easter bank holidays will be dry enough to give it a full going over. I am a fan of cleaning my car, partly because it looks good partly because I find it relaxing. The OH thinks I'm weird but I can genuinely lose myself for an afternoon with an empty head cleaning the car.
Apart from doing the few jobs I have actually had chance to drive it too! Plenty of good B-roads where I live so a few early morning blasts out have been nice to reacquaint myself with an Elise. We have a trip to to North Wales planned in the next couple of weeks and a few local pre-breakfast blasts. I'm Also intending to get out on some NORLOG meets and a run out with some guys from the North West section on PH.
Sorry for waffling so much......
So for now that's about it, thanks for reading and more updates will follow.
Cheers Tickle
Edited by Tickle on Sunday 15th February 18:41
lukefreeman said:
160's are deffo the best s1 wheels.......Got worried you painted them black for a minute, but then realised they came black and you went back to standard, phew!
Any engine mods?
Only engine mods is the ITG carbon box and filter. No mods for the engine planned really. Any engine mods?
Ha, no Silver for me. I am pleased with the wheels back in silver, I picked them up from the powder coaters yesterday after it being on stands for a week.
itcaptainslow said:
I love silver 111S' but I may be biased... 
your's looks superb on Victory wheels. What's the difference with the S160 geo?
Thought you maybe a bit biased to the silver cars your's looks superb on Victory wheels. What's the difference with the S160 geo?
I believe it has more camber at the front and some other subtle castor/toe adjustments. The ride height is also lower. I've not had any issues with the height but my the short drive I need to do to get to open NSL roads involves no speed humps..... thankfully!
I have never driven another S1 111s so I don’t know how much of a difference there is. From how I remember my S2 (early K-series) it seems more planted and sharper to turn in.
Edited by Tickle on Monday 9th February 12:23
melvster said:
Hi Mark, the Elise looks lovely, perfect driving tool. Glad to see you've got an Elise as i remember you mentioning them. I approve of the number plates
Still got the Clio, loving it. Just picked up a set of used Cup Speedline's in anthracite which will be fitted at the end of March.
Hey Adam,Still got the Clio, loving it. Just picked up a set of used Cup Speedline's in anthracite which will be fitted at the end of March.
Thanks, yes I always intended to get another Elise as a second car.
Glad you are still enjoying the Clio, the Speedlines are a nice wheel too.
Oh and the plates, I thought I would continue the tradition on
Major modifications for the Elise this month, a key set refresh! The rubber key holder thingy on cobra alarms are crap, so an ebay Cobra copy for £2 and a new Lotus key fob and my keys looks a little more presentable.
This morning I had the first run out of the year to the Evo triangle also my first time out there in an Elise. Fantastic roads, the places safe to stop to take any pics don't do the roads justice.... plus you don't really want to stop!
Still bit damp but all in all a good run out.
Oh,
to the guy in the red Elan who was out there too.
This morning I had the first run out of the year to the Evo triangle also my first time out there in an Elise. Fantastic roads, the places safe to stop to take any pics don't do the roads justice.... plus you don't really want to stop!
Still bit damp but all in all a good run out.
Oh,
to the guy in the red Elan who was out there too.
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.
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.
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