Hey everyone!

[awaken101]

Here in the US, I've only seen one Elan IRL and I instantly fell in love with these cars. I finally found one for sale last week! A gent the town over from me had a '91 M100 Elan FED for sale and luck was on my side that day, I was able to pick it up for $6K.

Engine is in good shape, body, roof & interior needs some TLC tho. Already sifting through all the informative forum posts for parts, tips & advice.

Little about myself. East Coast US native, late 40's, love taking on projects such as a car restoration. In the past, I've own 3 different Toyota MR-2's ('88, '91 & '92) but something about the look of the M100 is just ridiculously sexy! Can't wait to get started fixing her up would love to get out to some car meetups.

Here she in in all her glory:


My last car resto:


It's an honor to be here and looking forward to participating! Cheers!

[TorqueHorse]

Howdy! Glad to see a fellow FED Red owner here
Sounds like a good deal, especially if you are already familiar with the road to restoration on "modern classics."
Do you have your list yet of what you want to tackle?

And your purchase is just in time for the big North American Lotus Owners Group meetup "LOG" happening this year in Austin, TX over Sept. 27-30th.
https://lotusltd.com/log-43/
Some other M100 owner's will be there for sure (in addition to everything else Lotus)

Welcome
-Matt

[awaken101]

Do you have your list yet of what you want to tackle?

The guy I purchased it from had already put in some work on it; new clutch, front suspension and wishbones. Rear wishbones don't look all that bad but I'm seeing that they can become an issue.

Soft top really needs some work, few of the seals are in pretty bad shape so I'm trying to track down the parts I need. Will need to buy a new top as well since there are a few holes in the fabric & the back window had a huge tear. Just watched "The Lotus Elan M100 Restoration Series" YT video on the top replacement and looks like a good place to start, just need to make sure I have all the pieces before I tackle that.

Trying to schedule an appointment with the local Lotus dealer to get the fuel tank recall remedied, they confirmed it has not been done to mine yet. Also might need to fix the gaskets in the engine since there seems to be oil leaking right near the thermostat. Other minor things are interior piece clean up/replacement (need to find a stock rear view mirror!), radio is not working & needs new back speakers and horn replacement.

Lots to do!

Just missed the Northern Virginia Lotus bi-yearly meetup Texas would be a long haul for me and highly doubt my car would be ready by then. Something to think about next year! Thanks for the warm welcome Matt, appreciate it!

[RonR]

Welcome to the Forum Awaken,

Oil near the thermostat housing is usually down to a camshaft oil seal if you're lucky, available for pennies from the usual auction sites. I use a 23mm OD x 4mm Viton O-Ring, a tighter fit than the original but works a treat.

[dunnlor]

Welcome to LEC!

What part of Virginia are you?
I'm just outside the Washington beltway near Vienna. If you're nearby, we can post each other under 'Spotted'.

Tom

[awaken101]

Oil near the thermostat housing is usually down to a camshaft oil seal if you're lucky, available for pennies from the usual auction sites. I use a 23mm OD x 4mm Viton O-Ring, a tighter fit than the original but works a treat.

Great to know Ron! Thanks for the warm welcome.

Will definitely take a look at the 23mm one you are using, seems like it'd be a better fit than the standard. Cheers!

[TorqueHorse]

The guy I purchased it from had already put in some work on it; new clutch, front suspension and wishbones.

Nice! That's a great deal then.

Soft top really needs some work, few of the seals are in pretty bad shape so I'm trying to track down the parts I need. Will need to buy a new top as well ...

Seals are available at Lotus parts suppliers in the UK, like SJ Sportscars (or SJS). In addition, if you haven't seen already from other posts here, some of the usual suspects for parts are PNM, SWLC, Bell & Covil. In the US there are also some Lotus specialists that carry M100 parts too like Dave Bean, JAE sometimes, and John Callahan, previously known as BCN on this site.
For the convertible top, you can hunt around on the internet; they are offered at a variety of places. My experience is that they usually say it is for all years, but the S2 and the FED ('89-'91 years) are not exactly the same shape (I am still struggling to pull mine over the last 1/2" of the frame). You may be better served by getting yours from a US based place like KeeTops (I don't know for sure they have the FED cut, but I was told they do).

Trying to schedule an appointment with the local Lotus dealer to get the fuel tank recall remedied...

Good luck. I called head of USA Lotus parts and they said no bueno when I tried a couple years ago. They only needed to have the tanks on hand for 10 years after the recall, and then they were sold for cheap. The good news is that if you are able to top yours up without any fumes or leaks, then you are just as good as if you'd had the recall replacement (or near as).

Just missed the Northern Virginia Lotus bi-yearly meetup Texas would be a long haul for me and highly doubt my car would be ready by then. Something to think about next year! Thanks for the warm welcome Matt, appreciate it!

You just need a stretch goal ;P
No worries though, hopefully you can make it next year!
-m

[Tuga2112]

very curious to hear your thouht about comparing the m100 with the SW20
was your sw20 a turbo model or the NA model ?

I Have a rev2 turbo waiting for the day i will be restoring it. but never driven it to compare the 2

[FunElan]

Welcome! Greetings from Los Angeles. There are a few of us on this side of the pond.

[steve matthews]

Hello neighbor we definitely need to meet up.
Have a lot info gathered up over the years.
The Red ones are the fastest.

Steve

[awaken101]

Welcome to LEC!

What part of Virginia are you?
I'm just outside the Washington beltway near Vienna. If you're nearby, we can post each other under 'Spotted'.

Tom

I'm just past Leesburg, but I do make trips into NoVA a bit. Funny, the first time I saw a Elan IRL (Red) was at the Micro Center off Nutley about 4 years ago, that you??

[awaken101]

very curious to hear your thouht about comparing the m100 with the SW20
was your sw20 a turbo model or the NA model ?

I Have a rev2 turbo waiting for the day i will be restoring it. but never driven it to compare the 2

Mine were all N/A, my last SW20 got sold and the new owner immediately sent it out to get fitted with a Caldina ( fourth-generation 3S-GTE) engine. Still was an absolute hoot to drive, very responsive and loved the handling. My first SW20 I lowered... never again since it was such a rough ride. All those feelings of sitting so low came flooding back when I first sat in the Elan. A good alignment and new tires on the Elan has already given me back that riding on rails dopamine kick I've been missing.

Oil leaks were always an issue, clutch as well went bad in my AW11 & my 2nd SW20. T-top seals are a pain in the ass (Shin Etsu grease FTW) and I'm recently getting reminded that a good seal is worth it's weight in gold now that I have a soft top to source some parts for. SW20's take the advantage in access to finding parts since they were WAY more mass produced.

If you have any questions about your Two, lemme know! Always love chatting about those cars.

[awaken101]

Welcome! Greetings from Los Angeles. There are a few of us on this side of the pond.

Nice! Thanks for the welcome! Was actually talking with a guy who has 2 spare parts Elans out in LA. Looks like he has some good used parts.

Used to live in LA myself for 6 years. Man, do I miss a good Fatburger.

[awaken101]

Hello neighbor we definitely need to meet up.
Have a lot info gathered up over the years.
The Red ones are the fastest.

Steve

Howdy neighbor! Bob C. from over at NoVA Lotus wrote me the other day as well. Hate that I just missed the GYLO meetup, but Bob said that Katie's Cars & Coffee would be a good place to meet. Once the car is registered and inspected, I do plan to get out there. Do you attend by chance? Would love to meet some other local Lotus fanatics. Please let me know!

Also agree... red is the fastest!

[MPx]

... Steve James Sportscars (or SJS).

[anorak mode]

SJ Sportscars was actually Steve Roberts and Jayne Thirkill who originally set the company up together in 1998 but Jayne left the company in 2008 so now its all Steve's.

[/anorak mode]

[awaken101]

In the US there are also some Lotus specialists that carry M100 parts too like Dave Bean, JAE sometimes, and John Callahan, previously known as BCN on this site.

Called JAE and he directed me to Ken over @ Dave Bean. Seems like a super nice guy and he's going to help me track down some parts here in the US.

[FunElan]

Welcome! Greetings from Los Angeles. There are a few of us on this side of the pond.

Nice! Thanks for the welcome! Was actually talking with a guy who has 2 spare parts Elans out in LA. Looks like he has some good used parts.

Used to live in LA myself for 6 years. Man, do I miss a good Fatburger.

I know those cars well. One of them he cut in half. I have shipped parts from it to all over the US. LMK if you need anything!

[TorqueHorse]

[anorak mode]

SJ Sportscars was actually Steve Roberts and Jayne Thirkill who originally set the company up together in 1998 but Jayne left the company in 2008 so now its all Steve's.

[/anorak mode]

Ha! I guess my brain just made that up because "James" is the one that always emails me when I make an order. GTK