Lots of trouble usually serious - Lotus Elite Project

[Rwc13]

Join the Lotus Forums, very good friendly forum and there are members with the 70s 80s 90s stuff who are very knowledgeable. Run by a very nice guy that goes by the nickname Bibs

 

[zagatoes30]

Join the Lotus Forums, very good friendly forum and there are members with the 70s 80s 90s stuff who are very knowledgeable. Run by a very nice guy that goes by the nickname Bibs

Already there and Bibs has introduced himself already

 

[zagatoes30]

Decision day

 

[philw696]

Decision day

Good Luck.

 

[zagatoes30]

Deal done, looks like I have another plastic pig but this one's not Italian

 

[philw696]

Nice on Andy

 

[allandwf]

Excellent , nice buy. Still trying to track down TTC566H lots of fun with that back in the day.

 

[Andyk]

Great news Andy….I always loved those rear bucket type seats in the Elite but I remember struggling to get out of them in my 20’s now I recon I would end up being part of the car for ever if I tried to get out of them now.

 

[zagatoes30]

Great news Andy….I always loved those rear bucket type seats in the Elite but I remember struggling to get out of them in my 20’s now I recon I would end up being part of the car for ever if I tried to get out of them now.

Andy the trick is to never get in them give others that chance and then watch them struggle

 

[Andyk]

Andy the trick is to never get in them give others that chance and then watch them struggle

I meant to ask. Is the engine running Andy. From the pictures it looks like the seats are new as well.

 

[zagatoes30]

I meant to ask. Is the engine running Andy. From the pictures it looks like the seats are new as well.

Engine was running until water pump failed, it was stripped out and not completed. Dell'orto carbs were sent back to Italy for a complete refurb, last owner is Italian and at the same time he had the interior redone in Italian leather. Engine turns over so we have just ordered a new water pump, timing belt kit and tensioner so the first thing to do is refit the carbs and these bits and get it running. Then I wil put everything else back together to check what is missing and what needs doing and then create a to do list to work through over the summer.

Fortunately nearly every part is still available, other than the trim which is all here, and not silly money so it should be a case of strip, repair or replace as necessary.

 

[GeoffCapes]

I love these, very bread van-like. Buy it if you like it and keep us updated on here.

For those who know my mate Bill - he owned a late 70s Elite in white over 30 years ago, awesome car.

How is Bill? Not seen him post much on FB or Instagram for a while.
When you see him next, pass on my regards.

 

[Swedish Paul]

I’m sure Ferrari came up with the idea first…

 

[zagatoes30]

So might as well use this thread to keep track of progress but the initial plan is a follows

Step 1. Collect and take it to my local garage to get it up on the ramp and go through the underside in detail.
Step 2. Get the engine running, it's not run for 4 years but it turns over part as detailed above basically water pump and all the belts ordered, parts availability and price is so much easier and cheaper than Italian parts although shipping to Ireland is silly so a 2 stage delivery process will be put in place. Parts order shipped to UK address and then smaller items will be shipped on whereas larger items will be collected by friends and family as they visit (we have a lot of visits scheduled in already).
Step 3. Once car is running it will come to my garage where I will put all the parts that have been stripped from it back on, noting what needs replacing as I go. This will allow me to one learn the process of rebuilding and two tell me what is missing.
Step 4. Strip and recommission anything necessary, brakes, suspension and steering will be the main focus so that we can get it through an NCT (equivalent to Mot).

I would like to get to this stage by this time next year

Step 5, Use it, it won't be tidy but mechanically it should be drivable and this will give me the opportunity to identify and address any further issues that only come up when you drive them.
Step 6. Repaint, probably a winter 2023/24 job

I am sure this plan, especially the timescale will change over time but want to try and avoid it just getting put in the garage and left - already agreed with Mrs Z that I can have 4 weekend days a month as blocked out garage time and as the weather and light improves evenings become available.

So the plan is documented, the provisional timeline agreed so lets see how it goes

 

[mjheathcote]

Sounds good.
Such a practical car too.
Always thought it a shame when they introduced the Toyota Excel in the early 80's they didn't continue with the hatchback Elite.

 

[3leftovercrest]

And look what turned up in the post this morning in this months Classic Cars… driving Ronnie Peterson’s Elite. Lovely!!

 

[P5Nij]

Well done Andy, it looks like a great buy. Always liked '60s and '70s Lotus machinery and having been a passenger in a S2 Europa at the tail end of last year I want one more than ever now. Whenever I'm looking at the for sale ads my other half looks over my shoulder and says ''lots of trouble usually yellow'' as nearly all of the Europas that come up are that colour!

 

[zagatoes30]

More parts coming out of the woodwork

 

[philw696]

Really looking forward to seeing this one come together

 

[zagatoes30]

Really looking forward to seeing this one come together

I think there might be as much coming apart as coming together but hopefully parts will start arriving next week and we can get the spanners out, firstly I need to ge the roof on my car port so I can move other stuff undercover