My Lotus dream has suddenly turned into my Lotus nightmare

jr02518

There was a trunk at some point!

That's exactly the kind of Elan that I've been looking for for the past twenty five years. I'd have bought that car in a heartbeat! Fear nothing and enjoy the challenge!

Tim: That Elan is the parts car for the one you'll actually end up restoring.

Margie: With all the things on this planet to worry about, we have to start worrying about "ass-snatchers" now too?

I found a new windshield already. The passenger window scare me. Also talked to a reader with a body and frame, but not sure I will need them. Need to get the car on the frame machine next.

Looks like you are moving fast. I assume that it will be a magazine build at some point?

So, which one will show up to the Vintage 24 at Daytona and/or the Rolex 24?

I won't have it done for the Rolex, but might display it anyway.

Here is a Grasroots build that might help. It's actually a Europa, but with the backbone chassis being kinda the same thing (turned around) it might have some good tips.

http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/lotus-europa-barn-find-restoration/#more-11467

Thanks Nohome. I will check that out.

Hi Tim, welcome to Lotus ownership! You can get just about anything for Elans, many of the original parts were from "donor" cars and there are several books on what is what. The body work is likely to be easy. A company called Fibreglass Services here in the UK bought the rights to make Elan spares. The guy who runs it is Myles Wilkins - check him out, he wrote several of the key books on Elans and the Twin cam engine. He is based in West Sussex in the UK (about 15 miles form my house), he has a web site, but don't try and email him! Just give him a call. He is a "character" so expect some cheek and banter, but he has the moulds and if anyone can make the panels you need it is Myles. If you need help getting the parts to the US, let me know, we ship a couple of 40 foot containers to the US each year.

Can I assume you have found the LotusElan.net forum?

Two books you NEED are the Lotus workshop manual and Brian Buckland's "Addendum to the workshop manual". Brian published his book about 7 or 8 years ago and it an encylopedia of all the detail you will be needing pretty soon. Myles Wilkins book on the Twin Cam is really useful as well, it was my bible as I rebuilt mine.

By the way, I bought my Elan S4 as a set of boxes of bits, but needed a full rebuild, mine took 2 years of my spare time in my home garage. Maybe that will give you an idea of the effort, but as a pro, I am sure you will do it MUCH more quickly, even if it is driven by the publishing deadlines that may apply.

Good luck and have fun,

Bruce

Bruce,

Thanks for the great info and welcome to our board. I am going to Goodwood in a few weeks and that is right near West Sussex. I will need to look this glass guy up.

Great, to hear you are going to the Revival. Fibreglass Services are in Yapton postcode BN18 0AS and phone 01243 554422. It is about 5 miles from the circuit. As I mentioned Miles is a "character" and his workshop has character too! Try not to be too surprised! If you want to see an Elan, I live about 5 miles from Goodwood, drop me a mail and we can maybe hook up. Having said that, Goodwood has a reserved car park for cars that are "in period with the circuit" so pre 1966, it will have a couple of thousand great classics each day. My guess is you will see at least six Elans on each day. Couple of years ago one of the first ever Elans (which was Jim Clark's company car) just happened to be parked up in the middle of the car park!

In reply to Tim Suddard:

You can buy just about every part for a Elan. If you are going to do a factory original restoration the hard part will be the rubber floor matting and the vacuum formed parts, all the rest can be got from about three or four UK suppliers.

In reply to Tim Suddard:

You guys should have done what my brother did at about the same time you guys started this - found a 65 Elan barn find California car as a bargain. Would have saved you a lot of time and money, but definitely a lot less interesting as a magazine story, especially if you have masochistic tendancies. Once you guys post the final project, I'll put up some photos of my bros car for a comparison.

I have always loved these cars but I'm too big to fit in them unmodified. Hats off to you, it looks like a lot of work. As an old employee used to say, "This looks like a Big Whippy Deal" When asked what he meant by "Big Whippy Deal", he responded; "A whole lot of fun, just before it gets out of hand." Also, I don't think any one has pointed out that Lotus stands for; Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious.

The project is coming quite nicely. Should have the front end all rebuilt this weekend. Body and chassis and drivetrain are all done. And yes, we should have started with a better one, but there is no challenge and story in that.