Rusty's Project

[Rusty Wishbone]

It has been 3 weeks since I put my Elan on the road, and here are my views so far:

Interior:
The Elan is a pretty nice place to be. I find the seat comfortable and supportive, and the steering wheel feels nice although I find the steering heavy. The dasboard is attractive and vast as a result of a very steeply raked screen. I don't know how I will reach the bottom half with a demister cloth when it steams up, it is so far away! Orange dials are not to my taste. Ergonomics are pretty suspect. I expected more elbow room for such a wide car. My right elbow is constrained by the door, and my left one bangs the cubby when I change gear. I can't reach the gearknob while the handbrake is engaged, and aparently there is a digital clock, but I can't see it while I am driving. The indicator and light switches work well, although the wiper controls are upside down compared with modern cars. I had thought that the temperature gauge was faulty, but it turns out to be operating normally - the car has to be quite hot before any temperature is registered. Another bonus is that the heater works OK, although I get some fumes coming in when not set to recirculating the air.The fuel gauge works, as do the low fuel and low washer bottle lights.

I have fitted a hardtop, and am having some difficulty sealing it. The seals don't reach the window glass, so it gets a bit draughty. It creaks quite badly from various positions, so more work is needed there. It also generates quite a lot of wind noise above 50 MPH.

Driving:
I was initially disappointed with the ride of the car, having replaced the rear springs (SJS's own ones) and dampers (Gazmatic). The dampers have about 45 individual settings. I started at 15 clicks from the softest setting, and the car seemed bouncy. So, I wound on a couple of clicks every day. By the time I reached 30 clicks, the ride was awful, so I decided that there was too much damping and wound them back to 8. Immediately it was so much better. It now rides very well, and the hardtop creaking has reduced.

Brakes are good - not quite as good as a modern car, but not far off. I am using standard brake calipers, but with a grooved front disc. Ferodo DS2500 [Edit] pads at the front, and, I think, EBC Ultimax at the rear. The master cylinder is a PMF172 as suggested by Johanvanboven

I find the steering heavy, but accurate.

The engine seems strong, causing the front wheels to slip in 2nd gear (3rd in the wet), so I might replace the 12 year old tyres to see if this improves. No turbo lag, and the turbo seems to boost to 0.5 bar. I think it would benefit from an Everest chip. The dump valve is a pain, so I shall remove that.

Gearchange is good, although a slightly long fore-aft throw. I find the exhaust intrusively noisy.

Things to do:
Replace brake fluid level sensor;
Engine oil change;
Improve fit of hardtop;
Replace A pilar seals
Install Everest chip
Remove dump valve
Replace all hoses with Samco ones
Central locking from the plipper has stopped working
New front tyres

And to get hoops made up.

[Rusty Wishbone]

A few more points of interest.

I have achieved a fuel economy of 22 mpg. I don't know if that is good or bad!

Something else I didn't mention was the fact that, on the overrun, I do get lots of popping and banging from the engine. I'm not sure if this is a good sign. It sounds good, though.

When starting the car, it is often reluctant to start, but when it does burst into life , tickover seems high at about 1000 rpm.

[novacaine]

Nice to here you got her on the road Rusty

the digital clock is just obsolete in my opinion, I haven't even changed the time form when the clocks changed nearly 6 months ago. I was thinking of popping it out and maybe adding a keyless start. There is a company called Lockwood I think, they make replacement dial faces in a range of colours.

I find I get between 30 and 33 mpg roughly and a tick over of roughly 1000 rpm or sometimes a little more when first starting the car in the morning.

If you need extra room you need and S2. I'm only a short guy but I used to hit my elbow on the storage box in my Dads SE and in my S2 the folding handbrake level and lower tunnel eliminate that annoyance.

Once you get used to the steering it isn't too bad. I drive mine daily and the only time I notice the heavier steering is when I drive my partners car and feel like I could steer with my little finger.

I'm thinking of grabbing myself a Everest chip too, but as a daily driver I'm not sure I'd want to pay the extra fuel costs.

Is there any advantage to the Samco hoses? The boy racer colour options really put me off.

What sort of problem is the dump valve causing? I was thinking about adding one to reduce over pressure, one of my pipes blew off the inlet and scared me a little. I think I's want a recirculating valve, as I'm not a fan of the constant pffttt noise they make.

Just bought myself a HiSpec brake package with PNM mortorsport written on them, can't wait till they are delivered and I can fit them. I find the standard calipers with green stuff pads to be a little crap compared to modern cars and I don't know about anyone else but I seem to get pulled out on a lot, so they get used regularly.

[cliff]

Well done Rusty, good to hear you are getting there.

My Elan had horrible fuel consumption when I first got it, worse than my 4.7 V8 Jeep. Turned out to be bad wiring to the throttle position sensor, maybe you want to run Elanscan and make sure everything is running correctly.

If you are going to fit an Everest chip, go closed loop.

http://wikilec.9600.org/index.php/Conve ... d_loop_ECU

You will get slightly better fuel economy but most of all more boost & lower emissions - very useful at MoT time.

I disliked the orange dials as well and bought myself a set of Lockwood dial faces. I didn't fit them as I found this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=11457&hilit=metal+monkey

More expensive but great quality and you can have them how you want.

I still have the Lockwoods if anyone wants them - available for a donation to LEC.

Samco's are also highly recommended.

[rip]

Am I the only SE owner who has no problem with the storage box? When I learned to drive, I was taught to change gear using the palm of my hand on the side of the gearknob. Like most new drivers, I did not get on with this & grabbed the gearknob from above. Later I re-taught myself what I was taught by my instructor. This gives me more feel when changing gear, allows me to change gear more gently, makes gear changes more comfortable & enjoyable (yes, really) & I find it lifts my elbow a little higher.

Digital clock is poorly placed. I think mine has a bad earth so only sometimes works...but I don't care because I can't see it anyway.

I agree with Cliff about the dials. I fitted a set of Lockwoods to my Mk3 Cavalier. They discoloured after a couple of years leaving white marks where the pointers parked. My Cav lived outdoors though. IMO, the Lockwoods looked cheap compared to my Calibra's OEM white dials.

Where does your temp gauge stabilise? It should warm fairly quickly to 1/4. The stat should keep it here as long as there is sufficient air flow.

Dump valve whoosh - A novelty which I soon tired of. I was able to fit a hose & filter to mine to silence it.

If the exhaust popping is excessive, this may be caused by your timing being a little out. Our engines are very sensitive to timing so you may be noticeably losing out on performance & economy. 22mpg is very low too. Low 30's is more typical unless you have a heavy right foot.

Ergonomics are a bit suspect? It's a Lotus! Most of the development money goes into performance & handling then they run out of budget
Both the hard top & car are hand-built no so 2 of each are identical. You may therefore find it difficult to get a perfect fit.

12 year old tyres..I would change these due to age alone & hopefully they will make a big difference.

It sounds like you're enjoying the car though. If you've not met many others from here, the best is yet to come.

[inkitin]

Is there any advantage to the Samco hoses?

There's no significant advantage to fitting Samco hoses, so long as the original ones continue to hold out. In my case they didn't (Mine blew a hose on the Isle of Man and the state of that hose, as well as other hoses, was assessed as pretty bad. Many thanks to all the other members who cobbled together a temporary repair!). My assessment at the time was 20 year old hoses? probably time to replace. A new set of Samcos were on the car a couple of weeks later.

The boy racer colour options really put me off.

Same for me, so I bought a set of black ones. Slightly cheaper as well.

Am I the only SE owner who has no problem with the storage box?

No, you're not the only one.

[Rusty Wishbone]

I have neglected this thread somewhat.

The reason that I want to replace the hoses is simply because they are now 23 years old and have endured over 70,000 miles. Since I'm using the car on a daily basis, it seemss sensible to replace a component which inevitably deteriorates with age before it fails. It also has the advantage of allowing me to unplumb the dump valve.

In spite of a hardtop, I still have some water ingress issues. Others mention the hazard of driving with a damp right knee. Where does the water drip from? In mine, water drips from the very top of the as pillar seal. At the moment, when I drive in the rain, and brake, water runs forward along the seal above the door, and drips through onto my leg. Clearly, I am trying to avoid use of the brakes, but there is only so much you can do. Still, driving about today in very wet weather enabled me to experience wheelspin when accelerating in third gear, something most cars would not be able to produce.

[epipete]

I rarely drive in the rain but have found the problem is rather less when at speed but increases as speed drops, I have also noted that releasing the handles for the soft top, (whilst ensuring the safety catches are still holding), allowed the water to drain elsewhere (I know not where, but at least it's not on my knee). Similarly, when parked (with the catches off) I don't return to a wet seat after it rains.

Pete

[Rambo]

Am I the only SE owner who has no problem with the storage box?

No, you're not the only one.

Nor me

[Rusty Wishbone]

Rip has asked about the temperature gauge. Normally, the pointer doesn't move off the pin, but when travelling uphill or more slowly, it rises to the zero line. In very slow traffic, I have seen it rise to the 1/8th position.

I thought it would be a good idea to test the electric fans, and let the car run on the drive. The fans cut in at 5/8ths and quickly lowered the temperature to 1/2.

Once you understand that the gauge only begins to deflect when the engine is up to temperature, it all seems very natural.

[rip]

It sounds like your thermostat is not closing properly. It should get up to 1/4 with normal driving then climb to 3/4-5/8 before the fans cut in.
I trust you were a bit nervous when you saw the gauge rise to here for the first time. Most of us were!

Changing the stat is fairly easy & you will not lose too much coolant.

[nicowalker1]

I'd def change the stat, quick cheap and easy to do. I've had to change mine twice in five years.

[novacaine]

I have the same problem with mine. I went to buy a replacement from halfords a couple of weeks ago, but they don't sell them anymore. Not sure we're else to get one quickly

[inkitin]

I have the same problem with mine. I went to buy a replacement from halfords a couple of weeks ago, but they don't sell them anymore. Not sure we're else to get one quickly

Are you anywhere near a gsf car parts branch? They have branches in Sittingbourne, Canterbury and Hastings?

Thermostat (Mini 1000cc as per Wiki)

[nicowalker1]

I have the same problem with mine. I went to buy a replacement from halfords a couple of weeks ago, but they don't sell them anymore. Not sure we're else to get one quickly

Are you anywhere near a gsf car parts branch? They have branches in Sittingbourne, Canterbury and Hastings?

Thermostat (Mini 1000cc as per Wiki)

They fit but arnt the same.....

[inkitin]

They fit but arnt the same.....

Not doubting you Nick but what's the problem with them?

[nicowalker1]

Might be pointless but the lotus part has a bleed hole at the top. In my experience the mini part lasted two years max, the lotus one longer and still going strong... Guess a lot could be down to brAnd aswell.

[epipete]

SJ Sportscars list/sell the following:

THERMOSTAT. A100E6176S EACH 15.53

Or

Steve's alternative. SJ100E0021 ONLY 13.56

Plus vat & delivery

I had one a few months back with a bleed hole seems identical to me.

[rip]

I'm with Nick on this. My Halfords one did not have the bleed hole & only lasted a couple of years.

[Rambo]

Might be aswell going for the pukka Lotus one for the sake of a couple of quid extra ?

Have you changed the boots for a new set of quality rubbers yet ? You should notice a huge difference compared to the 12 year old ones