Lola's trip home.

[Specky]

Have you seen these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lotus-Elan-SE-tur ... 7C294%3A50

I have no idea what size they are, but would they help...

TTFN

[Doc Fizzix]

Go for the 1.8 - if the only issue is the hood clearance, then do some fiberglass work on it - you'd have the only 1.8 liter Lotus Elan M100.... enticing...

I think there is someone who has done this already I remember reading a thread on this

[Doc Fizzix]

I have an extra of these if you want it

[CRAMBURY RS]

the clearance isn't really an issue. you can probably modify the motor mounts, engine or chassis to lower the block an inch. the issue with that is everything moves down (transmission, axles, wires, hoses, etc). before you exclude the 1.8 if you are serious about it, get some foam pad and chalk, lay some 1" cubes across the highest points of the engine with chalk on the tops and see where/if it touches. the metal support frame under the hoods upper sheet is molded to allow the engine to clear, might have more room than you think

i make more power and spool faster than a OEM spec 1.6t since i have higher compression and .050" overbore (1640cc vs 1588cc, 81.25mm piston vs 80mm, 9.45:1 vs 8.5:1 compression). i can only imagine the power and spool yielded by a 1.8T

[nitroman]

[] that would leave a 1.8L in the hood! Not one to want to disturb the M100's beautiful lines [] Yes, I know, I could just forsake the hood and have the world's only Abarth-like M100.

C'mon, it might look cool! Abarth informational point for all: it's pronounced ah-barth.

[CRAMBURY RS]

any news on the short block?

[max and andy]

We bought a black Punto HGT Abarth from an Irish chap in Ealing a few years ago. We thought at the time with his strong Southern Irish he was saying A bath but saying the th with his tongue out. M&A

[Ekapol]

I dropped off Lucy at the shop the other day. Lola was sitting there looking lonely so I walked up to say hi to her...

She looked a bit different. Can't really tell for sure





Lucy will keep her company for a few weeks at least.

[tigerdog]

What's the latest? Any luck sourcing an engine or short block? If you are considering Isuzu, there are several companies in So Cal that import complete "take out" Japanese Domestic Market engines and sell them quite cheaply. I could ask around for Isuzu blocks at the local one here in SD...

[Doc Fizzix]

Got the real thing sitting in Austin, TX but I guess no interest


I am also removing my Isuzu rebuild motor so that one with only 5,000 miles will be available (all parts replaced with Lotus parts and all work done to fully convert it over)

[Doug]

Jack, time for the next chapter/installment on the Lola adventure!!......

[Monty]

Jack, time for the next chapter/installment on the Lola adventure!!......

Come on Jack whats the latest

[lotusgirlmarie]

Jack stopped by with a running Elan a few days ago. He's off putterring around as we speak. Motor transplant completed by a friend of mine in the north bay.

[tigerdog]

Huzzah!!!

[lotos]

Great news!! Any pics of the operation?

[Fubar1764]

Ok. Here's a long overdue installment of my misadventures. . .

Sourced an Isuzu RS last September. After 3 months of looking for an engine, I killed the Isuzu in order to harvest the block. Shipped block to San Rafael, CA, where the shop and car is. (My mechanic here in Houston thinks I'm nuts, and he's right). Mt. Tam Motors (great folks and now where Ekapol takes his cars) does the transplant after ribbing me about being a slug. They then call and tell me everything's ready.

They test the car. Everything looks good. Paulie (owner) cranks the car, lets her idle until the Elan is at operating temps then runs her. WOOHOO! I book a flight to come bring her (Lola) home. Rock on! The day before my flight, Rob (Paulie's right hand) calls. Something's terribly f****d up. At start up, the motor hesitates when you give it gas then operates as normal. Rob searches high and low and figures out it's the boost sensor at the firewall. s**t. Can I source a boost sensor off the old Isuzu? Yeah, I find it and bring it with me.

Because I have car parts, I decide to check in my bags with said car parts. BIG MISTAKE. I miss my flight thanks to long security lines. Sidebar: I would have made my flight if we would just drop a couple of nukes in a Saudi desert to let the Islamo-fascists know we're going to f**k up the next country that messes with us. Sidebar on sidebar: Saudi Arabia? Aren't they our friends? Sure. They're the adult version of our imaginary friend. I digress. . .I miss one flight. Rebooked on another. Get bumped on that one too. Next flight makes it to Phoenix. Then to SFO about two hours later than expected. Hey, I'm there. I hop a bus that takes me to the San Rafael Transit Center. Paulie picks me up in the iconic Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, the vehicle that replaced the iconic Land Rover in the third world and Outback.

I meet up with Rob, and he tells the tale. Turns out the car's been grossly overboosted. Some previous owner (I'm guessing Jacob) tried to overboost the motor. He tried to do it, in part, by replacing the boost sensor thingee that's on the Elan's firewall. When Rob replaced the boost sensor with the one I brought, all was well. I don't know the particulars of the boost sensor to speak of anything at all, but the motor now pulled like I had come to expect from Rita.

Off to Premier Protective Films in Fremont CA to get Lola Saran Wrapped!

Let me tell you, I'm THRILLED! I'm back in an Elan again. She's pulling like she should. The 17" OZ are a bit odd, but hey, high heels always look sexy even if they can be ungainly - just need to get used to them. Part of the way, I smell. . .ah crap. What's that smell?! Did I just destroy something again?! I quickly call Premier and let them know I won't be able to make it. . .again! (Remember, I had to cancel my first appointment in July when the motor blew up!) I call Rob. He tells me to bring her back. I hump it back to San Rafael back into Mt. Tam Motors and Paulie and Rob's capable hands.

Rob reads the temp. Everything seems to be the right temp. The coolant tank is overflowing. Ah, air bubbles. Rob tells me something I finally get! Air pockets in the coolant system. Just keep an eye on it and add coolant as necessary. Cool. I'm smart enough to do that! Thank Rob. Again.

Off to Premier. . .again. By the time I get there, it's nearly dark. Holy crap. I finally meet Wilson, after talking with him (and canceling) about a dozen times. Fantastically nice guy. They end up working double time and late into the night/early the next morning to get Lola wrapped up by early afternoon. Wow. They do a fantastic job. Just keep her out of the rain? No problem. I'm just going to spend a night in SF and then off to Central and then SoCal; it doesn't rain in these places, right? A night in downtown SF then off to the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. Not only am I pleased as punch about how Lola's performing, I'm thrilled with the work Premier did. Seriously great work!

Pick up wifey. Check. Pull into Westin St. Francis in SF. Check. We pull up. Claudia (aka wifey) goes to pop the trunk while I deal with the valet. She starts to crack up. What? What's going on? I need to come look? Ok. . . .great. . .the bracket holding the locking mechanism onto the trunk lid has corroded and SNAPPED! Oh you're shitting me! With some Jerry-rigging, I'm able to open the trunk, and we unload. Ok, this isn't good, but it's not awful. We can live with this. Haha. Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious. Nothing we can't handle, right? Awesome!

We spend a lovely evening in SF.

The next day, we pack up and take Pacific Coast Highway down to San Simeon to tour Hearst Castle. Looking forward to THAT! As we approach Santa Cruz, it starts to drizzle. Yes, I remember Wilson's (of Premier) admonishments of "avoid rain." Well, not much I can do to stop the drizzle, and we're on a schedule. We push forward after a pit stop at Jamba Juice. We push forward to Monterrey.

By the time we make it into Monterrey, we realize we'll never make it to San Simeon and the Great Khan's. . .I mean Hearst's Xanadu. Well phooey. Eh, this aquarium's not gonna view itself, right? Great aquarium. Awesome! We now continue to San Luis Obispo and to the Madonna Inn. And then we're met with rain. Not drizzle, not showers. Rain. Oh damn. The film. . .**sigh** We have a schedule to keep.

We reach the Madonna Inn. If ya'll (remember, my chinky ass is from Texas! Dammit! And we're bigger than France! 1/3 the population and twice the per capita production! Take that Frenchies!) ever make it within 100mi of San Luis Obispo, stay at the Madonna Inn. Each room is different. Each room is hysterical. When I walked into the room, I immediately cracked up! As tired as Claudia was, she started cracking up when she stepped in as well! We stayed in the Yahoo Room. No, Jerry Yang was not our butler, though with Yahoo's fortunes. . . It's Yahoo as in cowboy. Our room was a cowboy theme. Hysterical. The king bed sat on top of a wagon. No, really. Wagon wheels were on the four corners of the bed. There's step ladder to get up. There's a leather bench seat for the driver at the foot of the bed. One light switch turned the wagon lamps on and off. Waaaaay too funny! Thoroughly worth the high price of admission!

Back to the crappy weather. . .It rains and drizzles ALL NIGHT. And in the morning, fog and drizzle. On the way down to SoCal the next day, it either rains or rains hard. I'm just hoping the paint protection film doesn't get botched up too badly. We arrive in Los Angeles just in time for Claudia to make her flight out of LAX. Our friend, a PhD candidate in piano at USC (that's University of Stupid Chinese for you non-chinky types. . .you know who you are!) met us at the airport to say hello/goodbye to Claudia. I crash at her place after parking under a tree to give Lola some semblence of cover.

And the rain continues.

The next day, it rains. And rains. And rains. Then in the late afternoon, there's a break in the rain. I take my opportunity when I get it and pack up and go. Good thing too. Apparently, it begins to thunderstorm a few hours after I leave. I'm lucky that way!

Uneventful trip back to Phoenix where I run into at my hotel a man who's in town because his son was shot in the face. . .lived. . .stabilized. . .gave him a thumbs up a day after surgery. Nice guy. Offer him a ride in Lola in the morning. Offer to buy him breakfast. Hey, the guy's kid got shot, the least I could do was be a nice random dude he runs into, right? And besides, I can give him advice on how to deal with cops since I do criminal defense in my law practice. We meet for breakfast the next day. We chat. Exchange cards. Hell of a nice guy. We stay in touch.

Phoenix to Tucson. Supposed to be uneventful, right? Wrong. It gets cold. I mean REALLY COLD. Blizzard warning cold. And guess who's right in front of it? Yup. I blaze past Tucson about 4 hours before the highway closes due to blizzard. But not before I drive Lola into Tombstone and snap off a couple of pictures. Ha! I'm SUCH a nerd!

Into El Paso late into the night visiting the in-laws. It's nice to sleep in a bed after a day of driving. Spend another night there. So nice. Leave at the crack of dawn the following morning to make it back into Houston at a reasonable hour.

Great trip home. I wash the car and notice all the paint protection film is intact. . .except for one tiny bend near the exhaust. With a highly uncooperative weather, I think I did pretty damn well. Kudos to Wilson and the other guys at Premier for such a fine job! Thank you!

Thanks everyone. In particular, thank you Marie. There's just no end to your generosity, is there? Thank you Rob and Paulie. It takes a special kind of stupid to deal with me. Thank you, Matt. Ever there. Thank you, Robie. You've been so patient with me while I try to figure out the best way to sort out the various Isuzu block issues - there's a pile of RS parts in Houston yours for the plucking!

It's 330am, and I need to go see my niece fly a kite tomorrow at her school. So, I gotta get some sleep. Thanks everyone!

Cheers!
Jack

[Monty]

Great write up Jack


Sounds like a great adventure


Don`t forget the Pic`s

[HJ2]

Ha! Great story and well put. I can almost feeel the rain pouring down on the car while reading the story. Some adventure!

[tigerdog]

finally and at long last, it's good to know Lola's come home to roost. Let's hope she worked out all her baddies in a big lump and will behave herself for many years to come. Enjoy your new toy!

[lotos]

Sheesh - Murphy's Law smacked you right in the butt ! But you got her home safe and sound