Lotus Elan Central

by **Hinch** » Thu 31.08.2006, 16:53

I have £1000 to spend on my Elan and would like some advice on the best way to spend it. My car is totally original and in excellent condition, inside and out, so there are no pressing repair or maintanence issues. I am thinking more in terms of upgrades. I know that lots of you guys have upgraded your Elans and wonder which upgrades you would consider most worthwhile given my budget.

I am thinking in terms of some of the following:

Front brake upgrade to groved disks and 4 piston caliper.
Hard top
Everest chip
Stainless steel exhaust
Speaker upgrade
Private number plate
Undersealing

I know that a grand is not really that much, but hopefully it will provide some real enhancements to my Elan. Will be very interested to hear your comments on how this amount of money would be best spent.

Cheers

Hinch

by **jimp357** » Thu 31.08.2006, 17:04

for what its worth...

Front brakes - Willwood upgrade

Everest chip

Stainless 2.5" exhaust

Should be able to do all of this for 1K...

by **John_W** » Thu 31.08.2006, 17:31

Jim has it right.

1) Brakes (get one of F1LOTUS's 15" Wilwood kits while they're available),
2) ESM chip (brilliant value for money),
3) and an exhaust without the squish (I reckon 2-1/4" is adequate, but others like 2-1/2").

You should have enough money left to get some decent speakers but not enough for the MP3/radio to go with them. The undersealing is almost free - you just have to do the scraping & painting yourself.

John

by **Monty** » Thu 31.08.2006, 17:32

by **Enright** » Thu 31.08.2006, 18:48

Consider AB cables, £245 minus resale of your old (currently) perfect ones.
If yours is totally original then you'll need gear cables sooner or later anyway, so this can be classed as an upgrade AND preventative maintenance.

by **jimp357** » Thu 31.08.2006, 18:52

With whats left (add some if necessary) upgrade to AB cables.

Once you start enjoying first three upgrades properly, you'll need the cables. :twisted:

by **Doug** » Thu 31.08.2006, 19:15

then go do some :burnout:

and with the money left over go :drunk:

by **clemo** » Thu 31.08.2006, 21:03

once apon a time a fellow elaner had some money to spend on his car...
the boot had a lake full of beer cans...
no roof canes.
the steering wheel was on the wrong side.
had no interior trim.
he chose not to do all of the above upgrades ohhh nooo

he spent it all under the bonnet ..
it was nice and shiney..
then a crazy dutch man bought it..

who am i talking about??

by **Rambo** » Fri 01.09.2006, 07:16

clemof1 wrote:once apon a time a fellow elaner had some money to spend on his car...
the boot had a lake full of beer cans...
no roof canes.
the steering wheel was on the wrong side.
had no interior trim.
he chose not to do all of the above upgrades ohhh nooo

he spent it all under the bonnet ..
it was nice and shiney..
then a crazy dutch man bought it..

who am i talking about??

That's an easy question Clemo.

It's the king of bling and wang himself. Gerome K Gerome. And the blingmobile went off to Denmark eventually. I think Delta still has it ?? Maybe one day he will take it to the NurburgBling !! :-D

Just for old time's sake and for all the newcomers to LEC who never got to feast their eyes on the Blingmobile, here it is in its resplendent golden glory.

A much tougher question would be to estimate just how much Gerome chucked down the drain !!

by **timmo** » Fri 01.09.2006, 07:40

RamboA wrote: much tougher question would be to estimate just how much Gerome chucked down the drain !!

clemof1 wrote:once apon a time a fellow elaner had some money to spend on his car...he spent it all under the bonnet ..

Hmmm I wonder how much he "stiffed" a certain independent dealer in the Berkshire area for?

by **ESM** » Fri 01.09.2006, 10:19

He did put in an Everest chip - he didn't buy it though that would have involved actually paying for it rather than making a production of phoning the bank to arrange a transfer but arsing it up.... :roll:

by **clemo** » Fri 01.09.2006, 10:51

from this picture we ca see that he saved some money by spraying it himself ...
its seamless.. or pointless .. one of the two..

by **Hinch** » Mon 04.09.2006, 11:31

Where can I lay my hands on the Wilwood kit please John? Are they straight forward to fit, or do I need a Pro?

Cant wait to get all of these shiney new bits on!!

Cheers Hinch

by **F1 LOTUS** » Mon 04.09.2006, 19:13

Hinch wrote:Where can I lay my hands on the Wilwood kit please John? Are they straight forward to fit, or do I need a Pro?

Cant wait to get all of these shiney new bits on!!

Cheers Hinch

Hinch, take a look through this thread, this should answer all your questions regarding the Wilwood brake upgrade? I already have 5 sets of caliper brackets finished for the 15" wheel installation which will be the only kit available certainly for the near future. The parts are suitable for cars with 16" wheels too

Once you've read through the thread simply post your interest there and I'll put your name on a set. I don't know exactly when I will make the hats to go along with these brackets but hopefully it wont be too far away?...

http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6634&start=100

by **F1 LOTUS** » Mon 04.09.2006, 19:16

Hinch wrote:Cant wait to get all of these shiney new bits on!!

Cheers Hinch

You may be interested in one these then?
http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6898&start=120

by **John_W** » Mon 04.09.2006, 20:15

Hinch wrote:Where can I lay my hands on the Wilwood kit please John?

Wot he said.

Hinch wrote:Are they straight forward to fit, or do I need a Pro?

I don't know your standard of mechanical skill, but they are straightforward to fit. The difficult bit is getting the old calipers and brake pipes off. If you're used to working with rusty bits of car without breaking them, you'll be OK.

The new bits are beautiful works of art and fit like a dream. And they're not rusty - not even a bit - so they're easy to fit. The main thing to watch with the fitting is to ensure the new hoses don't foul the wheels. Even if a mechanic fits them for you, you would have to check this for your own peace of mind as there have been some reports of mechanics fitting them in a less than perfect way. Full instructions on the thread F1LOTUS quotes.

Get them while they're available.

John

by **delta** » Mon 04.09.2006, 22:16

clemof1 wrote:once apon a time a fellow elaner had some money to spend on his car...
.........then a crazy dutch man bought it......

Maby crazy but I'm not dutch, ............Dane mate........... dane. :twisted:

Rambo wrote:And the blingmobile went off to Denmark eventually. I think Delta still has it ??

A much tougher question would be to estimate just how much Gerome chucked down the drain !!

Yes, the Blingmobile is still in Denmark, undergoing restoration to former glory, so You might see it at next years Donny, (if not sold before.)

I know he spend 5K on the engine, 2k on turbo upgrade, + 2½" SS exhaust +drilled/slotted rotors, + what ever he did pay for all that gold plating. My guess is a total of 8,5 - 9K., and I did'n pay him much more than he original did pay for the car. :roll:

jimp357 wrote:Front brakes - Willwood upgrade
Everest chip
Stainless 2.5" exhaust

Should be able to do all of this for 1K...

... and in that order. :!:

Delta
Edit.:
Oh.. and did forget the Fidenza flywheel, 6-puk clutch + the LSD, so add an other 700£ to the total. :shock:

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