New member

[White Elan Man]

Hi to all
I’ve just bought my first Elan, a 1990 turbo SE in white, The engine is sweet but everything else has been neglected, so plenty to do.
Looking forward to picking everyones brains
Cheers

[Steve A]

Hi to all
I’ve just bought my first Elan, a 1990 turbo SE in white, The engine is sweet but everything else has been neglected, so plenty to do.
Looking forward to picking everyones brains
Cheers

Hi "White Elan Man"welcome to the forum, I'm just across the water from you on Canvey Island,(when the tide is in) .
I've had my Elan for about 15 years now so I suppose I know a thing or two about them having done most of the jobs myself.
If you want to pop over at some point and kick my tyres or vice versa, your more than welcome.

[Jamie N]

Welcome to LEC White Elan Man .

Isn't there another member here from Benfleet Steve?, Baldyash I think.

[Steve A]

Isn't there another member here from Benfleet Steve?, Baldyash I think.

Yes that's right Jamie, nothing wrong with your memory

[White Elan Man]

Thanks for the welcome, seems there are 3 of us fairly close by

[Hector2021]

Welcome to LEC. Im quite new to the group myself but i can confirm the immense wealth of knowledge available. Ive taken advantage of it a few times myself already.

[Steve A]

Hi to all
I’ve just bought my first Elan, a 1990 turbo SE in white, The engine is sweet but everything else has been neglected, so plenty to do.

So tell us more was it a private buy ? is it on the road ? what's the mileage ? what are your plans ?

[Rusty Wishbone]

Welcome to LEC, White Elan Man. I hope that you enjoy your car, as well as the LEC community. Funnily enough, I've bought about half of the cars I've ever owned from within 5 miles of where you live, most recently a Ford Focus for my daughter over the New Year.

[White Elan Man]

Well, where do I start, It’s a private buy. The car hasn’t been mistreated, I think taken for granted is the right description. It has all the usual problems, windows, headlamps, lacquer peel and boost gauge/ rev counter, iffy gear cables and well dodgy brakes.
The cars is going in to Steve Williams at the end of April for the big service and a cam belt, possibly a rear wheel bearing as well.
He is going to give the car a good look over and assess if there is any major corrosion issues. Providing it’s not a terminal rot box I aim to get it in good mechanical order over the next 12 months. I am thinking along the lines of clutch, samco hose kit (in black) gear cables, clutch/throttle cable, check the cooling system thoroughly and repair as necessary.
I am not impressed with the brake performance, and will do some research over the summer with a view to rebuilding all the suspension linkages and either upgrading or restoring the brakes as a winter project.
It might sound to some of you that I have bought a train wreck, but I have to say, she drives straight and I get the feeling it’s a reliable car, fingers crossed she isn’t too rotten.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading on here rather than spamming the board up, and can see that all my problems have been someone else’s problems at one time or another.
Car has 51,000 miles and the engine is truly sweet.
I’m not too worried about paint at this time and in some ways I am looking forward to having a Lotus I can park anywhere and not worry about it
Hey Rusty….. small world, I once bought a Lotus from Tunbridge Wells

[White Elan Man]

Forgot to say, immediate jobs.
The glovebox latch is broken, and has been left in the open position for quite a few summers, which has resulted in the glovebox becoming deformed, looking at the price of a new glovebox, I decided to have a detachable panel made and is currently being upholstered in grey leather, lighter and cheaper, but was quite involved having the panel formed to meet the many lines of the dash, certainly not just a square hole.
Headlamp repair kit going in this week, along with new stainless steel fixing kit for the front wheel liners, once the drivers side liner is out I will get to grips with the suspected earthing fault on the boost gauge and hopefully it will clear the tacho fault (sitting at 4k on tickover.
Then it’s new door/window seals, the old ones are really perished and letting in water, also window running gear will be changed.
Luckily the hood and hood seals are in pretty good condition and believe it or not, it’s not letting water in.
Will also be looking at the stereo, I have a feeling not all speakers are working, I noticed there are four, so the two behind the seats can go, along with the spare wheel…. a bit less mass for the iffy brakes to stop

[Tuga2112]

Well, where do I start, It’s a private buy. The car hasn’t been mistreated, I think taken for granted is the right description. It has all the usual problems, windows, headlamps, lacquer peel and boost gauge/ rev counter, iffy gear cables and well dodgy brakes.
The cars is going in to Steve Williams at the end of April for the big service and a cam belt, possibly a rear wheel bearing as well.
He is going to give the car a good look over and assess if there is any major corrosion issues. Providing it’s not a terminal rot box I aim to get it in good mechanical order over the next 12 months. I am thinking along the lines of clutch, samco hose kit (in black) gear cables, clutch/throttle cable, check the cooling system thoroughly and repair as necessary.
I am not impressed with the brake performance, and will do some research over the summer with a view to rebuilding all the suspension linkages and either upgrading or restoring the brakes as a winter project.
It might sound to some of you that I have bought a train wreck, but I have to say, she drives straight and I get the feeling it’s a reliable car, fingers crossed she isn’t too rotten.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading on here rather than spamming the board up, and can see that all my problems have been someone else’s problems at one time or another.
Car has 51,000 miles and the engine is truly sweet.
I’m not too worried about paint at this time and in some ways I am looking forward to having a Lotus I can park anywhere and not worry about it
Hey Rusty….. small world, I once bought a Lotus from Tunbridge Wells

i dont know how familiar you are with projects and how efficiently you use your time when around a car (im certainly not very efficient).
but that list seems too big for 12 months plan.

[dapinky]

i dont know how familiar you are with projects and how efficiently you use your time when around a car (im certainly not very efficient).
but that list seems too big for 12 months plan.

Joao,

I was actually going the other way, and thinking that it should take months more so than years!!!!!

I suppose that it all depends on lots of things, really - if you work 40+ hours a week, and have a home life with serious commitments (kids who need attention, feeding, transport to activities etc etc) then trying to spend a whole day on a hobby can be a real stretch.....

.... but if you're an (old?) retired bloke with a dry garage and a reasonable set of tools (essential stuff like a kettle, fridge and radio in the garage), then spending a few hours a day isn't unreasonable (assuming that your health allows such activities).

Most people are somewhere in between, and with a car which is a 'rolling project' I can't see why it wouldn't get through a list like that in 12 months.

(my list is far bigger, and I hope to be driving it before the Summer runs out)

[Tuga2112]

Yes, certainly different people will have ranging degrees of spare time.
in my case. i could see myself taking more than a year in that list for a completely new car. considering how many times i end up stuck for a while with a single problem. and i try to find the cheaper solution to it.

Im using as an example my alternator. which was a "days job" because i had SImonP kit. it was a matter of taking out, refurbishing and reinstall... and then after reinstalling it was reading 16v
ordering a new diode rectifier.. waiting 2 weeks for that. then retry and finding the stator was broken.

then ordered a complete new alternator and fitted.

a single job there took 3 weeks instead of 1 day. this was just bad luck. not even project creep.

obviously i can do other jobs in those 3 weeks but you can only do that if you already received the parts.
after all, my car was meant to take 3 months to get fully painted. but the final piece was only sprayed 2 years after the car stopped in the garage. (admittedly by huge delays of the painter)

and there's also the fact that although both you and I have similar approaches to Elan maintenance. your background of many more years of faffing about with cars than me, is likely to make some issues "trivial" where to me would be a "head scratches" moment.

[dapinky]

You and I are both in the (very) fortunate position that we have some experience of just how these cars come apart, work, and go back together..... and it isn't always as per the Manual!

As such, with the latest project, i spent a bit of time actually looking at the parts I needed to prioritise, and creating a 'shopping list' of stuff I knew would be needed, I wanted to replace anyway, or would be needed in the future.

I am fairly happy that I either have (in my hand, or on order) 99% of things I will need, the rest can be got on short notice (a few days at worst)..... except........ I haven't ordered a set of hoses, as I don't expect to actually need them at the moment. I KNOW that there is a bit of a lead time, and if I develop a leak, I may be stuck for a while - except I have a set of rubber I took of my car when i fitted Samcos, so should be okay for an emergency..... except that will probably be a defective part after years in a box in the garage!

Whilst i can't plan for everything, i can plan enough to have a realistic expectation, and have all the bits I need...... but you can never plan for unexpected project creep.

[White Elan Man]

Like you both say….. lots to do. I have been reading the forum for over a week and it has helped in getting a plan together as in what order to do things in. I have got quite a few parts on order, some will take up to 6 weeks so I will be moving round the car as parts allow.
I ordered the usual stuff from Rockauto today and a nice big box of goodies coming from PNM. I ended up with blue hoses from Samco, please don’t judge, I really did want black but these were on offer and I would have had to wait till the end of May for a black set.
I also bought the Volvo plastic heater valve to replace the metal one.
I had the car mock MOT’ed yesterday and the underneath, including the wishbones was in extremely good condition,the guy said he would have no trouble passing the car providing I promise to bring the brakes with me next time. This was a weight off of my mind and justified the spending spree this morning.
Regarding the brakes, there are so many opinions on what is best, and it has taken hours to make my mind up.
I’m going with new standard rear discs with the calipers from Rockauto, it seemed to me that the general consensus is they are just about adequate if maintained properly, also had a nagging doubt that uprated rears would possibly lock up in certain circumstances, probably just in my head, but there you are. I am going to see how the rears end up before I decide on the fronts, but I am tempted by the PNM front upgrade.
The first major job will be at the end of April after the service, complete rear suspension and brake overhaul along with sorting out all the bare metal with POR 15 in grey.
I also bought a bottle of Hindsight to restore the rear window…..I may well wish I bought a bucket load of hindsight in the not to distant future

[dapinky]

.... I ended up with blue hoses from Samco, please don’t judge, I really did want black but these were on offer and I would have had to wait till the end of May for a black set.

I made the decision yesterday to stop putting off the inevitable, and ordered a set in black - they would be changed at some stage anyway, so why not just bite the bullet now - it will be a while anyway for them to be made (I couldn't find anyone who had a set in stock, and decided that the sooner I ordered them, the sooner they'd get here).

Next decision...... do I do the same for the exhaust and just grab a Piper one, or stick with what is fitted for now, knowing that I'll want to change it anyway......

[White Elan Man]

The trouble with us Lotus addicts is that we don’t know when to stop. Hoses today….exhaust tomorrow, then you will be wanting something else!!!

[Tuga2112]

The trouble with us Lotus addicts is that we don’t know when to stop. Hoses today….exhaust tomorrow, then you will be wanting something else!!!

actually. im pretty sure DAve is talkign about he's wife's project elan that he is working through at the moment.
i think that empire greeen elan will be feeling neglected for the next few months.

[dapinky]

i think that empire greeen elan will be feeling neglected for the next few months.

MOT is due at the end of April, so it'll have a bit of attention before then (annual brake service) - then it'll be all sorted for the rest of the year.....

[White Elan Man]

Well, I finally had a full day on the car, I set out to remove both wheel liners and repair both headlamp motors. It soon started going wrong. On removing the nearside headlamp motor I noticed a screw and gasket was missing from the motor plate so I decided to open her right up.
No springs behind the brushes, l soon found one, it was crushed between the motor casing and ball bearing, the other one is MIA.
I took the advice of the repair kit and cut down a pen spring, luckily the kit had a couple of spare screws and the gasket I needed.
I metered it out then tried it on a motorcylce battery and all was good, re- installed and no joy. Traced it back to the 15amp fuse below the access panel behind the clocks, I reckon the brush leads had shorted on the casing previously
So one side is done, and looking forward to the easier side tomorrow and hopefully get to the bottom of the problems with the boost and tacho gauge’s
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself