Back in a Lotus - 2006 Exige S
Discussion
Hi All, after concluding my previous Readers' Car: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... I'm back again with a new purchase.
For anyone who hasn't read the above, the summary is that I bought a Laser Blue 2006 Lotus Elise 111R (190bhp NA Toyota 2zz) back in 2016. It was a great car, and I'd have loved for it to be a keeper but it was doomed from the day I collected it, I'd "invested" part of our new house deposit into it so it was always going to be fodder once we were ready to buy another house.
That time came in early 2018, so the car went onto a new owner after I'd had 2 great years out of it, plenty of track time and plenty of DIY servicing/fixing/improving including a suspension refurb, new radiator and front clam repair after hitting a bunny.
I'll always view that car as unfinished business, so hopefully I can continue where I left off with my new toy.
I did think about some non-Lotus choices, stepping up to Exige budget opened up some new doors including Zenos, Caterfields and even a chubby Porsche or two crossed my consideration... but ultimately it was always going to be another S2 Lotus. The S3 (V6) Exiges are creeping into S2 Exige territory nowadays so I could have stretched to one but ultimately I want a car that I'm comfortable working on, comfortable chucking round a track and the known low running costs of the S2 platform won out for me.
I'd kept my eye on the market and one particular car was loitering around at a popular Lotus trader, priced a bit too high for me initially after just moving house but as winter approached the price slowly came into a reachable range - so I went for a look... and well, the rest is pretty obvious!
From the ad alone it ticked my boxes, Laser Blue (again!), low mileage (just under 16k) and didn't look to be particularly hacked up or modified (that's my job).
Whilst sat with the trader it had a couple of changes:
- Black Vinyl front splitter, sidepods and rear spoiler
- Aftermarket "long scoop" roof
- 260bhp upgrade, offered by Lotus as a dealer upgrade but this one has been done with a Spitfire fuel pump and 550 injectors (rather than the Lotus 440cc ones) and it has a Lotus reflashed ECU.
Other details on the car are Avon ZZR tyres, it has the factory Sport and Touring option packs which I can never remember what included what but the general spec of the car is:
Electric Windows
Aircon (and it works!) *
Carpets
Probax seats with harness cutouts *
Harness Bar *
Traction Control *
Twin oil coolers *
"*" all stuff the Elise didn't have.
The oil coolers were subject to a Lotus recall in 2014 as the crimped connectors were failing and spraying oil everywhere (nicely positioned in front of front wheels too!) but I had the paperwork to show this had been done. The other paperwork was all in order, I can't find any record of this car on forums/clubs etc but it's generally only done a couple hundred miles per year for most of the last decade. The only notable item in the history is a new supercharger fitted in 2012, no idea if these are a weak point or what - but the car had 9k miles at the time, so seems strange.
I test drove the car on a pretty wet day, so not ideal but it was clear (if the stats weren't already obvious) that this was a big boy step up in performance from the Elise. Aside from the performance I noted a really slick gear change on the Exige compared to the rather vague one on my Elise, I guess this is just down to the low mileage but I'll keep my eye out for any obvious modifications which may have contributed.
The car needed a touch of paint before we completed the transaction, the rear clam had a bit of a crack in the gelcoat typical of a car that's had a little bumper brush in a carpark but that's now sorted and the car is settled in the garage at home! Happy days.
I learned a fair few lessons with the Elise, spending money where it probably wasn't needed being one big one so I hope to learn from that and get this project off to a strong start. I've already had the car jacked up for a poke around, mainly checking for any issues that a test drive may not have identified but also on the lookout for any sneaky modifications (none found yet, but I learned this lesson after buying a load of Whiteline goodies for my "stock" Impreza and then jacking it up to fit them, finding the car already had the entire Whiteline catalogue on it
)
Inspection suggests that the car is fitted with EBC red stuff pads - they're new to me, but so far don't seem to be squealing or dusting too much so that's 2/3 tests complete. If they can survive a few laps without fade then I'll keep hold of them till they die.
Whilst the wheels were off, they got a clean and seal (freshly powdercoated, so now the ideal time to do it)
... and that's about it so far. I have some plans already, two trackdays already booked one of which is a trip to France in May so I have some prep work to do:
- Give it a good going over with the DA and get it waxed up
- Change the toelinks to Spitfire jobbies - both a known failure point on the Elige platform with sticky tyres, but also an MOT advisory.
- Fit a baffled sump - known weakness of the 2ZZ with sticky tyres
- 4pt Harnesses, maybe
- New backbox, maybe - need to figure out if this Lotus Stage 2 one will indeed fail the trackday limits.
Some longer term stuff I'm expecting to need doing at some point:
- Front Clam off and replace radiator (plastic end caps are known for failing)
- Use this opportunity to fit braided brake hoses and replace any rotten steelworks under the nose.
- Monitor and address airflow to the intercooler, these cars are known for bad heatsoak and poor airflow to the intercooler - but there are a few options ranging from a bit of hosing through to a fill chargecooler setup.
Ultimately the C64 gearbox fitted to this car is very close to it's limits with a car running the 260bhp Lotus upgrade, so chasing power isn't going to be on the agenda and I really don't think it'll be needed. The car feels ballistic compared to all of my previous reference points (400bhp Impreza being my previous quickest car, and I think this Exige would have it beat). The Lotus factory update also has the 440cc injectors running close to maximum, so the fact my car has 550's gives a little headroom which may push the gearbox over the edge with the wrong supporting modifications! That said, if/when the gearbox does fail there are uprated options which may open the floodgates further... let's see how that goes though eh.
Hopefully I can get out for some better pictures in the next few days, but on a technical note I'm going to try image hosting on instagram this time around so this thread may have a bunch of broken links... sorry about that in advance, I'll figure it out. But for real time updates - feel free to follow @k.townend. It'll be all car stuff, no baby photos or pictures of my breakfast - promise.
For anyone who hasn't read the above, the summary is that I bought a Laser Blue 2006 Lotus Elise 111R (190bhp NA Toyota 2zz) back in 2016. It was a great car, and I'd have loved for it to be a keeper but it was doomed from the day I collected it, I'd "invested" part of our new house deposit into it so it was always going to be fodder once we were ready to buy another house.
That time came in early 2018, so the car went onto a new owner after I'd had 2 great years out of it, plenty of track time and plenty of DIY servicing/fixing/improving including a suspension refurb, new radiator and front clam repair after hitting a bunny.
I'll always view that car as unfinished business, so hopefully I can continue where I left off with my new toy.
I did think about some non-Lotus choices, stepping up to Exige budget opened up some new doors including Zenos, Caterfields and even a chubby Porsche or two crossed my consideration... but ultimately it was always going to be another S2 Lotus. The S3 (V6) Exiges are creeping into S2 Exige territory nowadays so I could have stretched to one but ultimately I want a car that I'm comfortable working on, comfortable chucking round a track and the known low running costs of the S2 platform won out for me.
I'd kept my eye on the market and one particular car was loitering around at a popular Lotus trader, priced a bit too high for me initially after just moving house but as winter approached the price slowly came into a reachable range - so I went for a look... and well, the rest is pretty obvious!
From the ad alone it ticked my boxes, Laser Blue (again!), low mileage (just under 16k) and didn't look to be particularly hacked up or modified (that's my job).
Whilst sat with the trader it had a couple of changes:
- Black Vinyl front splitter, sidepods and rear spoiler
- Aftermarket "long scoop" roof
- 260bhp upgrade, offered by Lotus as a dealer upgrade but this one has been done with a Spitfire fuel pump and 550 injectors (rather than the Lotus 440cc ones) and it has a Lotus reflashed ECU.
Other details on the car are Avon ZZR tyres, it has the factory Sport and Touring option packs which I can never remember what included what but the general spec of the car is:
Electric Windows
Aircon (and it works!) *
Carpets
Probax seats with harness cutouts *
Harness Bar *
Traction Control *
Twin oil coolers *
"*" all stuff the Elise didn't have.
The oil coolers were subject to a Lotus recall in 2014 as the crimped connectors were failing and spraying oil everywhere (nicely positioned in front of front wheels too!) but I had the paperwork to show this had been done. The other paperwork was all in order, I can't find any record of this car on forums/clubs etc but it's generally only done a couple hundred miles per year for most of the last decade. The only notable item in the history is a new supercharger fitted in 2012, no idea if these are a weak point or what - but the car had 9k miles at the time, so seems strange.
I test drove the car on a pretty wet day, so not ideal but it was clear (if the stats weren't already obvious) that this was a big boy step up in performance from the Elise. Aside from the performance I noted a really slick gear change on the Exige compared to the rather vague one on my Elise, I guess this is just down to the low mileage but I'll keep my eye out for any obvious modifications which may have contributed.
The car needed a touch of paint before we completed the transaction, the rear clam had a bit of a crack in the gelcoat typical of a car that's had a little bumper brush in a carpark but that's now sorted and the car is settled in the garage at home! Happy days.
I learned a fair few lessons with the Elise, spending money where it probably wasn't needed being one big one so I hope to learn from that and get this project off to a strong start. I've already had the car jacked up for a poke around, mainly checking for any issues that a test drive may not have identified but also on the lookout for any sneaky modifications (none found yet, but I learned this lesson after buying a load of Whiteline goodies for my "stock" Impreza and then jacking it up to fit them, finding the car already had the entire Whiteline catalogue on it
) Inspection suggests that the car is fitted with EBC red stuff pads - they're new to me, but so far don't seem to be squealing or dusting too much so that's 2/3 tests complete. If they can survive a few laps without fade then I'll keep hold of them till they die.
Whilst the wheels were off, they got a clean and seal (freshly powdercoated, so now the ideal time to do it)
... and that's about it so far. I have some plans already, two trackdays already booked one of which is a trip to France in May so I have some prep work to do:
- Give it a good going over with the DA and get it waxed up
- Change the toelinks to Spitfire jobbies - both a known failure point on the Elige platform with sticky tyres, but also an MOT advisory.
- Fit a baffled sump - known weakness of the 2ZZ with sticky tyres
- 4pt Harnesses, maybe
- New backbox, maybe - need to figure out if this Lotus Stage 2 one will indeed fail the trackday limits.
Some longer term stuff I'm expecting to need doing at some point:
- Front Clam off and replace radiator (plastic end caps are known for failing)
- Use this opportunity to fit braided brake hoses and replace any rotten steelworks under the nose.
- Monitor and address airflow to the intercooler, these cars are known for bad heatsoak and poor airflow to the intercooler - but there are a few options ranging from a bit of hosing through to a fill chargecooler setup.
Ultimately the C64 gearbox fitted to this car is very close to it's limits with a car running the 260bhp Lotus upgrade, so chasing power isn't going to be on the agenda and I really don't think it'll be needed. The car feels ballistic compared to all of my previous reference points (400bhp Impreza being my previous quickest car, and I think this Exige would have it beat). The Lotus factory update also has the 440cc injectors running close to maximum, so the fact my car has 550's gives a little headroom which may push the gearbox over the edge with the wrong supporting modifications! That said, if/when the gearbox does fail there are uprated options which may open the floodgates further... let's see how that goes though eh.
Hopefully I can get out for some better pictures in the next few days, but on a technical note I'm going to try image hosting on instagram this time around so this thread may have a bunch of broken links... sorry about that in advance, I'll figure it out. But for real time updates - feel free to follow @k.townend. It'll be all car stuff, no baby photos or pictures of my breakfast - promise.
Cheers guys for the nice comments.
I made that same comparison again and decided that if I didn't go for the Exige, that I'd probably regret it and the Exige would always be at the back of my mind so I figured I'd do it this way around, and if after a year or so I don't feel like I got value for money I can turn the car around (probably for minimal losses) and free up the cash for something else.
This really isn't £12k more of a car than my Elise is/was. The performance is a massive step up, but similar is achievable within an Elise for much less than the price difference suggests, but I had to do it at somepoint - with prices creeping up, this was the time to do it. Actually, scrub that - 8 years ago was the time to do it when these things were mid/low 20s
kiethton said:
Even now I look at the “S” models and lust but just couldn’t justify the additional cost at the time unfortunately. Think I’ll end up going the same way in time...
Even now sat with the car in my garage quite a big part of me thinks my money would have been better spent on another Elise. I made an Elise/Exige comparison when I bought the 111R and talked myself out of the Exige because with just some dampers and some wheels my Elise would effectively be an NA Exige, and I could SC it myself to still bring the total bill in at well less than an Exige S cost.I made that same comparison again and decided that if I didn't go for the Exige, that I'd probably regret it and the Exige would always be at the back of my mind so I figured I'd do it this way around, and if after a year or so I don't feel like I got value for money I can turn the car around (probably for minimal losses) and free up the cash for something else.
This really isn't £12k more of a car than my Elise is/was. The performance is a massive step up, but similar is achievable within an Elise for much less than the price difference suggests, but I had to do it at somepoint - with prices creeping up, this was the time to do it. Actually, scrub that - 8 years ago was the time to do it when these things were mid/low 20s
Y11 LTS said:
Of course no problem at all, d be happy to speak to you a dn Im sure my dad would too, Ive just phoned to tell him and his reaction was “Bugger I should of kept it” haha
He’s pleased it gone to an enhusiast, it really is a great example with the mileage etc.
My two young kids loved going in it too, my dad was never a track day kind of guy so its just been on sunny drives around Cheshire country roads.
DM me and ill send you my number, if you do ever sell let me know first though, would love to buy my dads car haha
Only spoke to Jon at Jon Seal yesterday to discuss purchasing a car, and we discussed my dads car and that its sold, small world!
Kind regards
Duncan
Thanks Duncan, appreciate that... I can't figure out whether Pistonheads actually has private messaging or not though He’s pleased it gone to an enhusiast, it really is a great example with the mileage etc.
My two young kids loved going in it too, my dad was never a track day kind of guy so its just been on sunny drives around Cheshire country roads.
DM me and ill send you my number, if you do ever sell let me know first though, would love to buy my dads car haha
Only spoke to Jon at Jon Seal yesterday to discuss purchasing a car, and we discussed my dads car and that its sold, small world!
Kind regards
Duncan
I'm reachable on SELOC (same username, I assume you're a member?!) or Instagram @k.townend though if you're on there. Let me know and I'm sure we can get in touch!Simon182 said:
I'll look forward to a day out at Blyton next year 
April 6th is booked, might be something sooner 
Number_Six said:
I think that's the best colour I've ever seen an Exige in, congratulations on the purchase and hope you enjoy it!
Thanks very much! Laser Blue is my favourite, I hunted an Elise down in this colour so had to get the same again. Ardent Red may have convinced me to try something different, but I'm not a huge fan of the zingy Orange/Green colours tbh.Well it wouldn't be a Lotus thread without a couple of problems
Nothing major, yet - but it's happily given me something to tinker with the last couple of nights.
First up, the bellows connecting the intercooler to the roof scoop kept popping off. Refitting was a nightmare, you'd get one side on and the other would pop off.
It looked like IC shroud had some 12 year old double sided tape on it, so I whipped the intercooler off and got the shroud cleaned out and re-applied some tape.
This allowed me to reinstall much easier, I'm not sure the tape is load bearing at all but it helps installation significantly. Got it all refitted and got the massive clip back on. Job done.
Next issue was identified on collection day, but required a part from Lotus. I feared the worst as part supplies from Lotus can be difficult at best, but luckily the trader got hold of one and it's on its way now.
The issue is the central locking, clicking the Cobra ball-bag arms/disarms the alarm as expected but it is not unlocking the doors. The prime suspect is the CDL unit behind the dash, apparently always failing and should be an easy fix - so I'll update either way once it arrives.
Aside from this bit of tinkering, I've been all round the car now (and under it) and I'm pretty happy with what I can see. Sump gasket (or lack of, sealant is used on these cars) is weeping a tiny bit but that'll be replaced with a baffled job before spring arrives. Oh, one of the exhaust heatshields appears to be missing too. It pretty much rotted off on my Elise so I replaced it at the time with DEI wrap, so I may do the same here.
I re-read my 111R thread last night and the condition of the suspension and brakes is a thousand times better on the Exige, I can't believe how rusty the undercarriage of my Elise was before I refurbed it all.
Nothing major, yet - but it's happily given me something to tinker with the last couple of nights.
First up, the bellows connecting the intercooler to the roof scoop kept popping off. Refitting was a nightmare, you'd get one side on and the other would pop off.
It looked like IC shroud had some 12 year old double sided tape on it, so I whipped the intercooler off and got the shroud cleaned out and re-applied some tape.
This allowed me to reinstall much easier, I'm not sure the tape is load bearing at all but it helps installation significantly. Got it all refitted and got the massive clip back on. Job done.
Next issue was identified on collection day, but required a part from Lotus. I feared the worst as part supplies from Lotus can be difficult at best, but luckily the trader got hold of one and it's on its way now.
The issue is the central locking, clicking the Cobra ball-bag arms/disarms the alarm as expected but it is not unlocking the doors. The prime suspect is the CDL unit behind the dash, apparently always failing and should be an easy fix - so I'll update either way once it arrives.
Aside from this bit of tinkering, I've been all round the car now (and under it) and I'm pretty happy with what I can see. Sump gasket (or lack of, sealant is used on these cars) is weeping a tiny bit but that'll be replaced with a baffled job before spring arrives. Oh, one of the exhaust heatshields appears to be missing too. It pretty much rotted off on my Elise so I replaced it at the time with DEI wrap, so I may do the same here.
I re-read my 111R thread last night and the condition of the suspension and brakes is a thousand times better on the Exige, I can't believe how rusty the undercarriage of my Elise was before I refurbed it all.
Yup it seems common as muck, I guess I got lucky with my Elise as it never cropped up.
It seems Lotus would charge a lot of labour for this as they consider it a "dash off" job, but many people can dice with danger and squeeze their hand past an airvent through razor sharp aluminium to unplug the old one, plug in the new one and just leave the two units side by side.
I had the dash top off my Elise and it wasn't too bad of a job, so I may just do the same here - I remember recovering loads of junk from my Elise dash from leaves and crud to loose bolts and fixing, so would be a good opportunity to get that done here too.
I'll see how I feel once I receive the CDL!
It seems Lotus would charge a lot of labour for this as they consider it a "dash off" job, but many people can dice with danger and squeeze their hand past an airvent through razor sharp aluminium to unplug the old one, plug in the new one and just leave the two units side by side.
I had the dash top off my Elise and it wasn't too bad of a job, so I may just do the same here - I remember recovering loads of junk from my Elise dash from leaves and crud to loose bolts and fixing, so would be a good opportunity to get that done here too.
I'll see how I feel once I receive the CDL!
TartanPaint said:
Love the car!
Dragged it outside for some lunch the other day for my first ever outdoor photo of it!
Also had the traction control kick in for the first time, not in a "oh crap you saved me" kind of way but more of a "this is a pretty wide T Junction, let's see what happens kind of way". It's pretty agricultural but it did the job, few nice pops and bangs as it cut fuel or spark or whatever it is it's doing, a quick flash of the dash light and I was on my way.
To be fair, on very cold/damp roads with ZZRs the car really seems like it has bags of grip. The Elise did too unless I was being silly but I always assumed the torque of the SC would make the car a little more eager to break traction but the chassis/tyres takes it all in its stride.
So far.
Track_Cit said:
Nice machine, very nice!
I just picked up a Cup 220. I was very close to buying an S2 Exige but for the money they are commanding it seemed logical to spend a little more and get a newer car. I'm enjoying it so far, first Lotus and it's like a gokart!
Cheers man. I did similar calculations, the S2 Exige makes the S3 Elises look like good value for money - I'm sure you'll love the cup, they're great cars.I just picked up a Cup 220. I was very close to buying an S2 Exige but for the money they are commanding it seemed logical to spend a little more and get a newer car. I'm enjoying it so far, first Lotus and it's like a gokart!
I opted to stay S2 ultimately because I'm a fan of the 2ZZ engine and I had easier routes for tuning up to 260bhp with this car (OK, I wasn't expecting the car I bought to come with it already, but it was nice to know the route was there!). As a trade-off you get some quite better build quality (from what I hear) and of course a much newer car.
Enjoy Lotus ownership, if you're considering track days then get signed up with Lotus on Track - the community is fantastic.
Whilst I'm here replying, I had some concerns after I moved house that my double garage would be a little awkward to work in because it has 2x single doors rather than a single double door. This means I couldn't park the car smack in the middle like I did at my previous house potentially limiting access to the side closest the wall.
I'd even posted on PH in the Home/DIY section about the viability of having my garage converted to a single door but I'm glad I held off - because I can actually manoeuvre the Exige almost into the middle of the garage - albeit on an angle.
I can get my jack into all corners here and have enough room to scurry around under both the rear and front of the car if needed. Result, that may have just saved me several thousand £ and a load of hassle. I do have a few jobs I'd like to do in the garage though, mainly flooring and lighting - and I could do with a nice workbench. Currently using the garden table which will be back outside come summer. (and the half-empty boxes of Christmas crap will also be gone!)
Whilst I was messing around tidying up I found some old stainless/anti-rattle fittings for the undertray that I guess I had surplus of from the Elise. These got fitted today
Hi Tickle, thanks for the comments and big thanks for the 111R Photo - great to see she's still looking fine. I've been speaking to the new owner on and off this year, I understand the car has given him a bit of grief but I'm glad to hear he pushed forwards and gave the car a fix it deserved. I legit put everything into that car in terms of effort, so was gutted to hear it had thrown up some issues but I'm pretty confident it would make a great keeper going forwards.
Hopefully in Summer I can make it down "your way" and we can explore some of your roads, you never fail to make them look spectacular in your thread. A cheeky laser blue reunion wouldn't go amiss either
Hopefully in Summer I can make it down "your way" and we can explore some of your roads, you never fail to make them look spectacular in your thread. A cheeky laser blue reunion wouldn't go amiss either
Tickle said:
Hey, after that particular run (photoed) I had HGF and the 111r had the engine issue you mention. Had a couple of runs out together after our engines were fixed with both cars running spot on. Your past thread showed what you put into that car, no doubt there mate.
Sound like a plan, always up for drive out
Any plans for this, how long before it gets the 260 upgrade then?
Doh, maybe it's you that's cursed and my old car just caught the curse by proxy?!Sound like a plan, always up for drive out
Any plans for this, how long before it gets the 260 upgrade then?
Plans? Plenty - but nothing too drastic, just addressing the inherent weaknesses of the car and getting it driven as much as possible. It already has the 260 upgrade on it
ECG1000 said:
Just read your Elise thread cover to cover and now this. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
I have a feeling we live quite close? - I'm in North Leeds, not too far from Harewood - Would be great to have a run out together if you're keen. Compare S2 to S3
Glad to hear the Elise thread is still getting mileage! I re-read it myself a couple of weeks ago, good times.I have a feeling we live quite close? - I'm in North Leeds, not too far from Harewood - Would be great to have a run out together if you're keen. Compare S2 to S3
Yes I guess we're not far away, I'm near Selby and once the weather get's good I'll certainly take you up on that. Do you ever make it to NYLOC?
MikeGoodwin said:
Really nice motor, they do look great with the roof scoop. Little envious too as its a car I wanted to get into this year (not interested in the S2 N/A) but prices in the low 30's are a little out of reach for me, especially a 2 seater. Elises were a consideration too but Id only want a K20 really, and low 20s for an S2 Elise doesnt make sense to me. Not sure any of the other Lotus offerings would be special enough.
I think a supercharged 111R Elise could be a bit of a sweet spot but they're so damn rare. Although they're great in their own right, I'm not a fan of the later engined SC Elises so it's such a narrow band you're looking for with a 2ZZ supercharged Elise - one of the reasons I went Exige was purely the availability compared to the SC Elise cars. I feel your pain, it was a problem I had to literally buy my way out of which I'm not sure I'll recover from mentally for quite some time!Back to the project, festivities aren't halting progress as I got a nice package from Christopher Neil Lotus t'other day containing a new CDL unit.
This is installed behind the dash binnacle under some foam under the dash surface. They're technically replaceable without moving the dash, you can stick a hand in through an air vent, unplug the old one (leaving it in situ) and plug a new one in and just ram it into the foam. I wanted an excuse to spend time in the garage so I had the dash top off anyway to do it "properly".
Cleared out a bit of muck and tidied some rough edges up (foam padding where panels had rubbed, maybe this reduces NVH a bit?!?! (it didn't) )
This is the hiding place of the original.
When I took the dash out of my Elise (can't remember why I removed it... rattle hunting I think?!) I took a load of bits off that didn't need removing, and I clearly didn't learn my lesson as I did it all again this time - so this is a message for future Fonzey for whatever it is you're dismantling next:
THE BLACK DASH TOP DOES NOT NEED TO COME OFF, YOU DON'T NEED TO FISH THOSE THREE CRAPPY SELF TAPPERS OUT OF EACH AIR VENT. IT'S A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.
I'm happy to report though that the central locking is now working as intended. Happy days!
I'll be posting a few more bits and pieces over the holidays as I've managed to sneak some bits and pieces into the Christmas post influx.
ECG1000 said:
Ah not too far away....ish. I’d imagine there are some decent roads round you?
Never been to NYLOC sadly. Would be keen to give one a go though.
Eh it's a bit flat and naff round here to be honest. Some scenic places for photographs but not really any driving roads until you start going into North-North Yorkshire int' Dales etc. Never been to NYLOC sadly. Would be keen to give one a go though.
Certainly make it to NYLOC, they meet at the Buckles Pub on A64 last tuesday of every month (except December). I've neglected it all year due to being Lotus-less but I'll be back next month onwards. There are some great turnouts in Summer, and they arrange a few runs out through the near not excluding some NYLOC only trackdays with Lotus on Track.
I finally managed to get the house emptied of family members today after Christmas so got myself busy in the garage to unwind a bit... I'd ordered a new aux belt just before Christmas in the SeriouslyLotus sale, and was amazed when the poor Fedex guy banged on my door at 07:30 Christmas Eve!
I decided to change the aux/supercharger belt as there's no record of it being done, and it's supposed to be a 2 year/20k service item. I guess there's a good chance it was changed back when the S/C was apparently changed in 2012... but that's still 6 years ago. I get the feeling some service items were skipped on this car due to the insanely low mileage.
I'd never done the aux belt on my 111R, so this was an opportunity to try something new! I was hoping I could get this done with the rear wheel off and arch liner out, but no chance. The rollbar and some environmentally friendly looking canister device were blocking my view and access - so floor was coming off, again. Once under the car I got the pulleys and belt route mapped out the best I could.
Next up was a challenge, this engine has an auto-tensioner with a very stiff shock absorber. The 19mm nut that I'm supposed to leverage was pretty badly positioned near the subframe so I could only get a shallow 3/4in socket onto it and a tiny little 6in breaker bar... No way I could shift it with that!
I had a scoot around the garage and found some metal curtain poles left by the previous house owner... so out came the dremel and a few mins later I had a brushed brass effect cheater bar with a fluer de lis decoration on the end.
Using my new tool I was able to slip off the old belt, I was keen to take it off properly rather than just cut it because I wanted to make sure I had the tools/strength to get the new one back on agan!
This is the first aux belt I've ever removed, so I'm not quite sure what to look out for but it seemed fairly cracked on the grooved side with a handful of full-width cracks on the smooth side too.
Comments welcome with regards to the state of this belt, was it a good time to change or is this fairly safe levels of wear?
Final observation was that my new belt was a tiny bit longer than the old one. If I read these numbers correctly, out by 3mm:
I'm sure that's well within tolerance of the tensioner but I double checked and everything I could find suggested the new belt was appropriate for my car. With the Lotus 2ZZ variations being quite... varied, there are a few belts floating around - but with AC and a Supercharger mine should be the longest one available, I guess.
While the car was in the air I whipped the front undertray off too, it's one of the few panels I'd not looked behind. I found that the oil hose connecting the front oil coolers was no longer fastened to the underside of the crash structure with the sticky pad/cable tie combos and instead was bouncing around on the undertray. I'd noticed a bit of NVH coming from the front of this car, nothing too concerning as it's a rattly old Lotus anyway but it certainly wasn't present on my old Elise. Perhaps this is the source of it, but I won't be test driving today - too dark and too tired.
The sound I'm hearing is quite hard to describe, it's not really a metal on metal rattle you'd get from a nut rolling around on an undertray or behind the dash or whatever - maybe closer to two pieces of material rubbing together occasionally. Big bumps don't really agitate it, but rough roads do. I initially thought it could be the fire extinguisher in the passenger footwell as that's the region it's coming from - but all seems secure down there, and is easily isolated when driving.
Hoping to get out this weekend, some clear days forecast so might be able to make a day of it and get some nice pictures somewhere
ECG1000 said:
Well, your photos certainly make the roads look good.
I drove from Leeds to Richmond in the summer, going right through the dales - Buttertubs pass etc. Didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I thought most of the roads were a bit tight and poorly sighted. If I remember rightly, it got quite good near Aysgarth otherwise I found it hard to really open up the taps for fear of meeting something round the next blind bend/crest.
The North York Moors still top it for me!
I'll try and make it to a NYLOC meet for sure! In the meantime, keep up the updates!
Yeah I make at least one trip per year to Buttertubs as there's a B&B we like to visit a few times per year up there and it's rarely actually a good driving event. I went out there early one morning though and shared the road with one guy in a Caterfield thing who kept going back and forth - he was rather quite brave and was having more fun than I was!I drove from Leeds to Richmond in the summer, going right through the dales - Buttertubs pass etc. Didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I thought most of the roads were a bit tight and poorly sighted. If I remember rightly, it got quite good near Aysgarth otherwise I found it hard to really open up the taps for fear of meeting something round the next blind bend/crest.
The North York Moors still top it for me!
I'll try and make it to a NYLOC meet for sure! In the meantime, keep up the updates!
There are some fantastic photo opportunities up there though regardless of traffic.
I went out on Saturday morning to meet a few NYLOC folk at the Buckles Inn as they were participating in a Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity rally. I couldn't participate on the day due to some other commitments but it was an excuse to get out.
I'd made a minor change to the car too, something I do to all cars that I buy - sorted out a number plate with legal font/spacing but with the minimum 11mm border around the letters which makes it fit the Exige plinth perfectly and sharpens up the front end a bit.
Obviously the run out got the car completely filthy so needed a clean on NYD - perfect hangover cure though and an opportunity to get the whole fleet clean at once (it'll be the last time it happens) for a photo.
Since then I got my first drive on a properly dry road and so attacked my first few corners. Can't believe how much grip the car has, which is worrying! Just when I started feeling comfortable with the straight line performance of it it took one humbling roundabout to get me back properly respecting it for a bit
Should have some more updates after this weekend. Going to go pick up some toe-links and see about addressing my missing heatshields whilst the back-end will be in pieces.
kiethton said:
Are you not tempted to put a 3/4 size plate on the front of the car at all?
I've done so on mine and find that it makes the front end look a lot less number plate dominated - never had any police issues either
I'm not a huge fan of 3/4 plates tbh, though they're particularly tempting on the 182 due to the plinth size almost as if they were built for 3/4 UK plates...I've done so on mine and find that it makes the front end look a lot less number plate dominated - never had any police issues either
As for the Lotus, the plinth is the exact right size for my standard 7 digit plate with legal spacing/sizing with the minimal legal border - so it all just fits in. I know it's absolute worst case and I've never heard of it happening... but I can also be doing without a £1000 maximum fine!
Onto this weekend, I managed to put a few miles on the car... a little over 500 to be a little less vague!
Saturday started off with a trip up to collect some Spitfire toe-links.
I had these fitted on my 111R too and for anybody not aware they address a known weak link on the Elise/Exige platform in that the factory toe links are sacrificial parts but unfortunately don't stand up to the test of time and/or sticky tyres and track work. There are many documented cases of failure (it's not just one of those internet myths) and you can find a fair few of them on Youtube... most of the time the failures are dramatic, scary and expensive!
In addition to the known weakness, the MOT my car had a few weeks ago threw up the standard ones as an advisory anyway... so any doubt or temptation to keep the low mileage originals on was wiped out.
These links are both much stronger in terms of materials, but also put the inboard link into double-sheer with the added brackets that will be mounted to the subframe. My Elise had single sheer inboards but the Exige in fairness was fitted to a brace-bar between the two in-board links to mitigate slightly. Still not enough though it seems.
I collected these from a few miles short of the North Yorkshire Dales, so spent the rest of the day racking up miles just driving about. It was dry but gloomy, so no real great photo opportunities, just time to put miles on the car and monitor for any unknown issues or gremlins.
I did actually manage to resolve a gremlin at the weekend - I think I mentioned before but I had some creaking/cracking sounds coming from the dash. I couldn't find anything amiss when the dash was off for the CDL replacement but I eventually tracked it down to the "subway shelf" just under the headunit. The subway shelf is a 12" cubby/glovebox replacement which holds a meatfeast nicely - and also when the blowers are on warm it keeps it nice and toasty too. From what I can gather this shelf is not attached "mechanically" anywhere but it is rather neatly clipped into the upper dash section through an slick tongue/groove type arrangement in the extrusions. Very neat, but allows for a bit of movement between the two pieces which was evidently creaking. I resolved by squirting some silicone lube stuff in there - and over the 500 miles it didn't return, happy days.
Sunday I had plans to go for an exiges.com meet in the Lake District but I was really having second thoughts after Saturday. It turns out my car is quite loud, or maybe not so much loud - but there's more drone than Gatwick when cruising along which rewarded me with a banging headache on Saturday night. I manned up eventually and stuck some earphones in which helped a bit with some spotify rather than the naff head unit in the car. The drive over was looking promising, dry and bright sun going up the A1 but then as I started the A66 crossing things got real grim, real quick... and it remained like that for the rest of the day
There was a great 8 mile stint on the run into the destination (Hawkshead) of very tight but in some cases well sighted 3rd gear type stuff which allowed a bit of fun even in the damp.
Weather aside, the meet was great - decent food and some good company before the boring route home down the M60/M61/M62 in pretty wet conditions.
Good collection of cars including a Europa, GTE Evora and "likesachange" S2 Exige: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The drive home was almost uneventful, I think I got a bit (very) tired and mashed the gas in 2nd gear coming out of a 30 into an NSL a few miles from home and the back of the car was having none of it - very squirmy and the TC was quite lethargic to come to my aid. I think I've started taking liberties with it as until that point it has felt pretty capable if not agricultural and old fashioned in its technique. It was very cold though, wet and I'd been driving a few hours so not at my most alert... but one to keep an eye on in future!
The car is likely going to come apart this week for the toe-links and I'll get these missing heatshields sorted. Oh, and for anybody interested tank to tank (over 265 miles and 35litres) the car did 33.5mpg.
Y11 LTS said:
Great thread Kyle,
I’ve finally news that I am buying an S2 Elise SC with sport pack, having a look tomorrow as it’s not my first choice colour (not loud enough)
If I do buy or when I buy one be good to meet up.. I’ve sent you a U2U with my phone number on to have a catch up over the exige!
Great news man, I look forward to seeing it - you know what's expected of a readers' cars thread so get cracking I’ve finally news that I am buying an S2 Elise SC with sport pack, having a look tomorrow as it’s not my first choice colour (not loud enough)
If I do buy or when I buy one be good to meet up.. I’ve sent you a U2U with my phone number on to have a catch up over the exige!
Rick101 said:
That red car looks out of place with the glorious blue ones. Takes forever to wash three. You should really get rid of it.
Our old colour scheme was a bit better:
Though the Honda is only doing about 6 miles per week at the moment, it's our only shot at travelling in remote comfort so it'll be staying for a while yet - plus it doesn't owe us anything, and it's a fair bit of fun when it wants to be!
Darryl H said:
Great work Kyle the car is looking lovely.
Cheers man! the car is looking lovely. Some updates from the last few nights:
I got the car rinsed down after the 500miles of crud and got it jacked up into position ready for work. I started off by removing the cat converter and backbox, although not mandatory for a toe-link change it does give better access and it would give me an opportunity to see about replacing the heatshields on the manifold.
20mins of productivity saw the exhaust off, another 10mins had the toe-links removed and I was left with this little pile of stuff.
That photo was actually taken after I'd wrapped the u-bend on the cat, this is to replace a heatshield that rots off of these cars pretty quickly. I did the same on my 111R and it just isn't worth replacing with standard heatshields because they don't last. I only wrap the u-bend because that sticks out from underneath the larger heatshield that lines the boot floor. The bend itself is pretty close to the nearside rear tyre and you can feel the rear clam get pretty warm after a run when it's missing.
I had a trial fit of the manifold heatshields, I could get them into position once the cat was removed but I was having trouble inserting bolts at the fixings closest to the engine, it seems like they'd just rusted over. There's no way I could get access with a tap, but I did note that the manifold bolts were in pretty accessible positions... so 10 minutes later:
The holes tapped out nicely, the manifold it seems had been fitted with the OEM gasket in addition to some gasket sealant. Not sure if this is standard Lotus procedure but I couldn't find any reference to it in the workshop manual - so figured it had been removed/reseated previously. I cleaned it all off and got hold of a new gasket for re-installation. I'll try without sealant and make sure it doesn't blow.
The replacement manifold shields were like new, really chuffed to get hold of them. I got the manifold re-installed and did the "cat-end" bolts up loosely before venturing up top to finish off.
To access the top bolts I needed to remove the boot catch mechanism with its own heatshield, this will be staying off the car - more on this later.
That gave just about access for my girly hands to get down and fit the final bolts.
That was rather satisfying and relieving. The heatshields are potentially a total non-issue, the car has been running without them after all for god knows how long but I'd concerned myself that it would be clam off to resolve. To get it done, and back to standard feels great.
Between all of this work, I've made a start on the toe-links too.
First off an inspection of the old ones, both in-board sides looked like this. Total separation of the boot and dry as a bone inside. It probably didn't help being so close to an unshielded exhaust manifold - but for 16k miles these look pretty rough tbh. Movement feels a little slack in the off-side one too.
Fitting process is basically offering up the new brackets that come with the Spitfire kit and marking out 4 holes on each side that need to be drilled into the subframe ready for rivnuts. This took a while, I tried with 3mm pilot holes first which went in fine but my next step up (5mm) HSS bits were a bit tired and just weren't making progress into the subframe. I ordered some cobalt bits in 6mm and 9mm to finish off and upon arrival they tore through. Nice and slow with plenty of lube, as I learned from my Elise.
Unfortunately I only got 4 rivnuts in before my Chinese eBay rivnut tool decided it had enough - stripped its thread and made a good mess of one of my rivnuts too... so job is on hold until reinforcements arrive. Doh!
Whilst waiting around for drill bits, rivnuts, gaskets, etc I addressed something else. My aftermarket hardtop didn't come with any edging trim fitted which I think looks pretty cool, however I've caught my belt/jeans on it a few times whilst getting in/out of the car and I'm a little nervous about chipping the paint or worse, the fibreglass.
I got supplied with some self-adhesive edging trim which I've now fitted but apparently forgot to photograph, and I can't be bothered going back into the garage tonight so more to follow on that! It looks very OEM and was cheap enough to re-do in the future if it doesn't survive too many pressure washer blasts or 100+ mph on track!
Hopefully by the weekend I'll be back on all four wheels. I've got some more bits arriving this week before I can complete. The toe-links btw seem to be preconfigured to factory toe settings so the car may be approximately driveable without a geo, but I will of course get that done before any significant mileage or track time.
Alright time for an update, been tinkering away an hour or so each night for the past few nights and finally dropped the car back on its wheels today.
I mentioned before that I'd fitted some edge trim on the roof, but had forgot to post a photo - so here we go:
I believe I left it where I'd stripped my rivnut tool and was waiting for a replacement, well that came - it wasn't much more expensive than the last one but it said "pro" on it so I was in safe hands. I got the remaining rivnuts in without drama, so was then just a case of bolting everything up.
I torqued them all up, with loctite on the inboards and nyloc nuts on the outboard.
It was then a case of bolting stuff back on the car, the catalytic converter and big bootfloor heatshield first:
The heatshield on my Elise was a little ropey around the toelinks and had rotted through so I couldn't fasten it down. This was still really strong, and a quick brush down and dusting of VHT paint had it looking bang on. The factory shaping of it fits around the spitfire brackets beautifully - so that's them tucked up nicely away from the exhaust.
Then it was backbox time, except mine would not be going back on the car - through some elaborate backbox-triangle of contacts I managed to get hold of a second hand one made (we think?!) by the popular 2bular which is listed as being a track safe/road option. I know it's boring, but I needed to quieten the car down a bit for my tastes - but I've found a new home for my old backbox, well when I say new home it's actually kind of it's old home as it's going back to Duncan who has been following this thread - the son of the previous owner of my Exige
Putting them side by side show identical dimensions, and raises suspicion that my old exhaust may be another offering from 2bular - or at least something close.
I had 10mins with the autosol and brought it up a treat, I would have done more (plus the old one) but I knelt on the tube and got autosol all over the place...
It bolted up a treat, and after a few adjustments to get it somewhere near central I got it nipped up properly. It's fairly common for this size backbox to catch on both the rear boot heatshield and the rear diffuser (both my removed exhaust and the new exhaust in its previous car did exactly this) but by rocking it back on its hangers before tightening up you can get just about enough clearance.
My final task over the last few days was related to the boot strut - I mentioned that the boot latch mechanism wouldn't be going back on the car and that's because I've bought a new one:
The 2006 Exiges came with a twin gas strut design to keep the boot lid up. Unfortunately the struts were slightly too long and/or strong which pushed up the corners of the boot lid giving a panel gap like this (yes, they came out the factory like this...)
From what I can gather back in 2006, some people rejected their cars so Lotus swapped them to the new design as a warranty change. The new design came in with the 2007 car and had just a single strut mounted to the boot latch mechanism. Luckily it's an easy retrofit if you can get hold of the parts - which thanks to community favourite Junks.. I did
Before:
After:
And the boot now looks like it's not half open...
... and that's about it for now. The car is currently sat in the garage with no floor or diffuser - just want to check for knocks/rattles or exhaust blows over a few miles when it dries up then I'll have one last torque check before screwing it all back on. That's a big chunk of my track-readiness dealt with now leaving just a baffled sump to come in a few months, as I'd like to get some mileage from my engine oil before dropping it all...!
I mentioned before that I'd fitted some edge trim on the roof, but had forgot to post a photo - so here we go:
I believe I left it where I'd stripped my rivnut tool and was waiting for a replacement, well that came - it wasn't much more expensive than the last one but it said "pro" on it so I was in safe hands. I got the remaining rivnuts in without drama, so was then just a case of bolting everything up.
I torqued them all up, with loctite on the inboards and nyloc nuts on the outboard.
It was then a case of bolting stuff back on the car, the catalytic converter and big bootfloor heatshield first:
The heatshield on my Elise was a little ropey around the toelinks and had rotted through so I couldn't fasten it down. This was still really strong, and a quick brush down and dusting of VHT paint had it looking bang on. The factory shaping of it fits around the spitfire brackets beautifully - so that's them tucked up nicely away from the exhaust.
Then it was backbox time, except mine would not be going back on the car - through some elaborate backbox-triangle of contacts I managed to get hold of a second hand one made (we think?!) by the popular 2bular which is listed as being a track safe/road option. I know it's boring, but I needed to quieten the car down a bit for my tastes - but I've found a new home for my old backbox, well when I say new home it's actually kind of it's old home as it's going back to Duncan who has been following this thread - the son of the previous owner of my Exige
Putting them side by side show identical dimensions, and raises suspicion that my old exhaust may be another offering from 2bular - or at least something close.
I had 10mins with the autosol and brought it up a treat, I would have done more (plus the old one) but I knelt on the tube and got autosol all over the place...
It bolted up a treat, and after a few adjustments to get it somewhere near central I got it nipped up properly. It's fairly common for this size backbox to catch on both the rear boot heatshield and the rear diffuser (both my removed exhaust and the new exhaust in its previous car did exactly this) but by rocking it back on its hangers before tightening up you can get just about enough clearance.
My final task over the last few days was related to the boot strut - I mentioned that the boot latch mechanism wouldn't be going back on the car and that's because I've bought a new one:
The 2006 Exiges came with a twin gas strut design to keep the boot lid up. Unfortunately the struts were slightly too long and/or strong which pushed up the corners of the boot lid giving a panel gap like this (yes, they came out the factory like this...)
From what I can gather back in 2006, some people rejected their cars so Lotus swapped them to the new design as a warranty change. The new design came in with the 2007 car and had just a single strut mounted to the boot latch mechanism. Luckily it's an easy retrofit if you can get hold of the parts - which thanks to community favourite Junks.. I did
Before:
After:
And the boot now looks like it's not half open...
... and that's about it for now. The car is currently sat in the garage with no floor or diffuser - just want to check for knocks/rattles or exhaust blows over a few miles when it dries up then I'll have one last torque check before screwing it all back on. That's a big chunk of my track-readiness dealt with now leaving just a baffled sump to come in a few months, as I'd like to get some mileage from my engine oil before dropping it all...!
justa1972 said:
Brilliant work on a stunning car - I've always wanted to own a Lotus.
I'm 46 and still haven't so really need to get a move on - unfortunately I'm not a DIYer so think this has always put me off slightly...
Thanks for the comments, but really I would disagree that these cars need to have the space/skills/tools for DIY. Please consider that I fiddle with these cars BECAUSE I want to tinker with them, and if you stick with this thread (or read my 111R thread) you'll realise that I spend a lot of time (and money!) remedying things that *might* one day break if the car was smashed around as a proper race car all day every day but is highly unlikely to cause me problems in reality.I'm 46 and still haven't so really need to get a move on - unfortunately I'm not a DIYer so think this has always put me off slightly...
Toe links I did over a week or so, but with a gun against my head with all the tools in front of me it's a 2 hour job which I'm pretty sure a specialist would knockout including alignment within an afternoon. With the amount I've spent on tools and materials over the last 5 years, I'm pretty sure I would have SAVED money by taking my cars to a workshop each time for the pros to do the work... but I want to learn and figure this stuff out, it's part of my hobby that I appreciate isn't for everyone.
Consumable parts are cheap, hardly exotic and are fairly easy to come by. I'd recommend finding and aligning yourself with a local specialist who at least knows the basics like how to lift the cars up properly and what to look for if the car is tracked fairly regularly but other than that I'd be much more afraid of something modern, or something with large capacity engines and/or fancy gearboxes because their bork factor is significant.
If you want one, get one - don't let anybody tell you they're some kind of super niche specialist vehicle that requires constant care.
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