Mellow Yellow

[lotos]

Thanks! Once I hear back from the gods of the forum if these lug bolts will work, I will have new wheels and new pics up!

[DeeAitch]

Thanks! Once I hear back from the gods of the forum if these lug bolts will work, I will have new wheels and new pics up!

You need to check the taper angle is 60Deg as well.
Also be sure to check that the last few threads in the hubs are not corroded - mine needed chasing out when I changed the bolts last year.

[lotos]

You need to check the taper angle is 60Deg as well.

Yep, 60 degree angle. Think the lengths will work?

[lotos]

What fun are upgrades if you aren't familiar with the car beforehand? I was discussing the chip with Algirdas, I said that I found the car already quite fast when the turbo kicks in, and he shook his head, smiled and said, "Just wait 'til you have a chip." I think it'd be fun to get a GTECH to see some real-world numbers before and after, too.

Anyway, no other updates yet, other than my darned headlight is still fussy going up. I guess the rebuild is unavoidable.

[tweetdriver63]

Randy, I ditto Algirdas. My car had a Superchip and MBC when I got it. Recently, I tossed those in the spares box, in favor of an Everest chip. The car has the stock exhaust and intake (except for BOV), and it's a noticable difference. I was already running with extra boost (compared to stock) at about .75 bar, and with everything stock, the Everest smoothly gives me .9 bar, and I can defo tell the dif.

[lotos]

Went on a beautiful 2-hour group drive yesterday with the local Lotus group - included one other M100, an Elise, a Seven replica, a 60's Elan, three beautiful Elites, an Eclat, and a few Esprits. Roads up and down the foothills kept you at attention the whole time, your right hand never stopped shifting. It was a great time, but I know I can take corners faster than I felt comfortable doing in this first real drive in an M100. I need to trust the car a little more than I'm used to.

The stock brakes are certainly not ideal, but they're not the worst thing ever, either. I will probably get a nice set of pads in there and start saving up for the Wilwoods by bobbrown.

I've just ordeded the Rodney Dickman special (headlight repair kit) - I also picked up speakers last week, need to install them. A set of four 5.25" Alpines with an aimable tweeter, they were inexpensive and will hold me over until I redo the sound system down the road someday.


Not sure why the photos are showing up in the post... I'll try something here:

[nitroman]

You guys should switch cars every 5 miles just to have the experience. Of course there'd have to be agreement on how aggressively to drive, but how else is one ever to drive an Elite?

[lotos]

So... now my headlight goes up and down fine, except the motor runs for about ten seconds while the knob on top spins furiously. I have the repair kit in hand - can someone point me to directions on what to remove to gain access to the delrin bushings I need to replace?

[nitroman]

There are 3 small black screws on the side of each motor. The L & R are different (not interchangeable). One of the motors has the shaft coming out through the removable side panel, the other has the service panel on the "backside", the side opposite the shaft.

I've visually looked at dozens of similar motors, which obviously have the exact same internal gears, etc., but they all seem to vary slightly in subtle extensions of the motor body or in securing screw points; just enough so that the motors are not interchangeable with other cars.

[lotos]

Muchos Gracias - I should be able to get to it this weekend. So I don't need to contort myself or remove body panels to get these out of the car and work on them?

[Doug]

there's a write-up in the LEC site and prob on the WIki too, Randy.

[lotos]

sigh... my problem one is the passenger side - so that means I have to jack up the car and remove the wheel to access it? groan. Maybe I'll tackle this when I change wheels.

[nitroman]

sigh... my problem one is the passenger side - so that means I have to jack up the car and remove the wheel to access it? groan. Maybe I'll tackle this when I change wheels.

It's more involved than just swapping wheels. I wouldn't halt the job on that score.

[lotos]

I'm saying that I really don't have the means to do all that right now - I've got a jam-packed garage and hardly any tools (or skills ... ). I'll try to tackle a few of these looming projects with a buddy who's offered to help. He's an Infiniti technician who can get us into their shop off-hours. So... this will go on that list I guess. Unless one of you is flying to Colorado soon and wants to help

[lotusgirlmarie]

I was there two weeks ago....

[lotos]

The driver's seat rails have a wire connect nearby... one of them had either pulled out or broken off, I didn't inspect carefully. What's it for?

[Specky]

The wire is for the tel-tale light on your seat belt buckle...

No idea what the hole is for...(Just thought, where's your inertia switch?)

TTFN

[nitroman]

No idea what the hole is for...(Just thought, where's your inertia switch?)

Exactly.

When your car gets a good knock (accident, etc.) it'll shut off the fuel pump, and you'll have to press the button at the bottom of the hole you discovered to get the fuel flowing again.

To be successful at hit-n-run, you need that info.

PS, some peeps alarm systems also flip the inertia switch! My original red Elan was that way. You can create your own cheap anti-theft system by pulling up the plunger when you leave the car.

[esprit888]

Right on both counts. The seat belt wire is not connected to anything as at the time they were not mandatory in the U.S, and the hole is for what we all hope we will never have to stick our finger in there for

The wire is for the tel-tale light on your seat belt buckle...

No idea what the hole is for...(Just thought, where's your inertia switch?)

TTFN

[lotos]

FYI for those interested - Tire Rack has the BBS valve stems in stock, they're $4.50 a piece, $30 total including shipping for four.