Glutton for punishment?

[andy111s]

Hi All,

I am looking to add a G plate Elan to my tiny plastic fleet of an S1 Elise (111S), and a '74 Elite (502).

I feel fairly OK looking round a car, but nothing can beat the intimate knowledge of an owner of where to poke and prod.

I have taken a look at the wiki, and every guide I can locate, but I am particularly concerned about rusty outriggers / inner 'sills' etc, and where best to look to spot them.

Any pointers, or anyone around Redditch this Sunday that fancies joining in?

I'm going looking at a 1990 car, metallic blue, with just over 50k on the clock.

Sorry to be asking for help on my first post, but hopefully looking forward to any replies.

(Andy, and based in Tyldesley, Manchester...)

[Steve A]

Hi All,

I am looking to add a G plate Elan to my tiny plastic fleet of an S1 Elise (111S), and a '74 Elite (502).

I feel fairly OK looking round a car, but nothing can beat the intimate knowledge of an owner of where to poke and prod.

I have taken a look at the wiki, and every guide I can locate, but I am particularly concerned about rusty outriggers / inner 'sills' etc, and where best to look to spot them.

Any pointers, or anyone around Redditch this Sunday that fancies joining in?

I'm going looking at a 1990 car, metallic blue, with just over 50k on the clock.

Sorry to be asking for help on my first post, but hopefully looking forward to any replies.

(Andy, and based in Tyldesley, Manchester...)

Can't help you look at a car, but if you find a good un it will make you wonder why you didn't before

[Rusty Wishbone]

That will make a nice Lotus collection. I've often looked longingly at Elites. Can I ask why you want a G plate car? Normally people buy on condition.

Do you want an Elan in good condition, or have you got time on your hands for a project, in spite of having two other Lotuses?

[andy111s]

I agree. Iwent to buy one 15 years ago, but the dealer did a number on me, and I ended up with my Elise! Never regretted it, but never stopped wanting an Elan either.

I don't particularly want a G plate car, it's just that the one I am traveling to look at is on a G. I do quite fancy an early example though. Don't know why considering that a later one is going to have a couple of revisions as they learnt allong the way.

The Elite is a very early one, and it's got a load of different bits and bobs compared to a later one. Just adds to the challenge of persuading it to keep going.

I want to run the Elan from day one. So no proper projects, and certainly no more chassis replacements just yet. Happy sorting out electrical gremlins, and anything involving a spanner. I expect to be sorting wheels and probably a full hit of paint early on.

My budget won't get me a show car, but I suspect it will get me something reasonably presentable.

The one at 50k miles that I have found has a convincing history and back story, but I would have expected it to be priced at a little higher, hence my concerns of a hidden deamon (hope the guy selling isn't on here cos I just destroyed my chances of haggling...)

Could just be the right time of year to buy a leaky soft top though!

[cliff]

Hi Andy, welcome to LEC.

I have 2 Alfas as well so maybe I am an even bigger glutton for punishment.

Lots of info on here - that is how I ended up buying mine.

Check out the buyers guide on the Wiki and some of the major project threads to see what is involved.

http://wikilec.9600.org/index.php/Buyers_guide

[Rusty Wishbone]

A few observations:

1. It will normally cost less to buy a good Elan than to buy an average Elan and then spend money to bring it up to the standard of a good Elan.
2. Whatever the condition, you will soon want to spend some money on an upgrade or improvement.
3. You will never stop it leaking (Dromong might disagree with his new seals)
4. Prices vary quite a lot. It is a small market, so you can often pick up a bargain. The Law of Small Numbers applies, so the car you have your eye on might be brilliant value.
5. The Elise is very difficult to get in and out of compared with an Elan.

[andy111s]

Thanks for the replies, all good points.

I have been keeping an eye on prices for a while now, and taken a brief look at a couple of local trade advertised cars, not wanting to mess private sellers about given that I wasn't ready to buy.

The Elise is my daily driver, and I am looking for something to run alongside it, as well as be a fraction more practical-ish.
The other two leak as well to various degrees, so that's something I'm used to...

Looking at the various posts, my main concern is about a couple of reported cases of rot around jacking points - inner 'sill' steel bit - and door hinge posts. All hard to see without knowing the hot spots, and where best to remove trim to identify.

Is this remotely common? Or could the two cases reported be all that has occurred.

I have spoken to a specialist since who has never heard of such issues.

Maybe it's nothing to worry about.

Going looking at two tomorrow. One from a specialist, who I trust when he says it has no issues, and a much lower mileage, better spec one whose 'mechanic' owner (I don't know from Adam) says has no issues.

We will see which, if either, comes back to Manchester...

[epipete]

There are various threads about rusty outriggers on here but the most comprehensive is this one:

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=17298&p=298066&hilit=Outriggers#p298066

I think that because of the leaky nature of the Elan all cars will have outriggers that have been exposed to water over their 1/4 century life; as to the damage this will have caused, it will vary from car to car depending on exposure to rain, winter salt, etc etc but I think it is safe to say that all cars will show some degradation of these areas, and where carpets have been pulled back this is found to be the case. I think the front is worse than the back. In respect of jacking points bare in mind the car jacks on the front points even for changing rear wheels. There is a drawing of the bracket if you needed to fabricate one.

Though when I first noticed my problem I was mortified, the actual repair is not all that difficult particularly if you can weld or know I someone who can. The process for repair is now well documented on this forum, Jeemy's thread covers his experiences (viewtopic.php?f=79&t=20848&hilit=Jeemy&start=40#p271337) page 4, whereas most others experience is detailed on the earlier link.

Management of the problem, when resolved is down to treatment of the area with paint, rust inhibitor/converter and replacement of the sponge underlay for closed cell foam.

But my message is, buy with minimal rust if you can but don't be overly concerned about the repair if it turns out bad!

[andy111s]

Well I've gone and done it.

Went for a blue '90 SE with just under 51k on the clock.

Beautiful thing, and as spotless underneath as it is on top. Not a trace of any problematic rust anywhere. A good find and a bargin I think...

Performed impeccably on the 110 mile run home, and as good to drive as their reputation.

Just one issue. The thermostat is either missing or stuck open as it won't get above 1/4 on the temp gauge.

Unless anyone has any other ideas. Should probably post this in technical though...

[dapinky]

Just one issue. The thermostat is either missing or stuck open as it won't get above 1/4 on the temp gauge.

Andy, congratulations on your purchase, but you have no issues with it......

...they all do that, sir!

(Well, the caveat being, in normal circumstances, they all do that whilst driving. When static, the temp will creep up to 3/4 on the guage which is where the fans cut in, dropping it to about half way on the guage until they turn off again).

[RayD]

As Dave says the reading on the gauge is perfectly normal Andy,

It appears to rise alarmingly when stood in traffic and benefits from having an overide switch fitted to the fans ... that way you can manually keep the temperature nearer to normal rather than it going from one extreme to the other.

Ray

[andy111s]

Finding out that a fault with your car is in fact a 'feature' is like finding a fiver down the back of the sofa!

Thanks for letting me know.

I put a fan override switch on the Elise, and use it quite a bit, so it would make sense putting one on the Elan as well.

'All' that is left is to either sort the leaks, or go mad trying...

The other two leak, I'm kind of used to it, but it would be nice to have one stay at least a bit dry.

I am sure you have all seen many blue Elans, but I will try to post a pic of it tomorrow.

[maz_r]

You need one of these.....(of course you don't actually *need* one...)

And we have indeed seen lots of bkue Elans, but we've never seen *your* blue one, so post up those piccies

[andy111s]

Fair call, on the list...

If I find myself with the car, in the daylight, I will take some pics.

I suppose 0.9-ish bar of boost, followed by brief power cut and a few seconds of engine light is overboost?

It has a 2.5 inch exhaust, and I believe that this can cause the above?

Or should it never get anywhere near 0.9 bar?

Lazy wastegate?

I love turbo noises. Reminds me of happy distant years charging (and destroying a lot of) A Series engines in a Mini I had...