How about:-
New brake discs for £12 each
New Hood fabric with all seals £500ish (plus you'll probably need 'A' pillar seals for £150 the pair from Lotus)
Engine (used) - i picked one up with a gearbox and all sensors/ancilliaries (except turbo and altenator) for under £400
Full turbo rebuild £30
That makes it as cheap as any other car out there!!!!!
Plus there are the numerous options to repair/improve any of the above parts - Hi Spec brake upgrade for under half of the price of the rotors you've seen (unsold!)
Hoods can usually be patched/repaired or sometimes come up second-hand
Engine can be rebuilt unless it is totally smashed up...... Pistons can be made up in whatever bore size you want for about $400, bearing shells are easily available in UK (standard size) or from USA for about $100 a set (big end and main).
Even the crank (currently a cast-iron item) can be made up in billet steel if you want to spend the money (likewise the con-rods).
I believe that the Isuzu 1.8 head will fit the lotus block (obviously, also an Isuzu item), so can be sourced at an appropriate price. Or alternative Isuzu engines have been looked at by various members on here, but discounted at this time as there are still enough original ones about to make it not worth the hassle.
In time, original parts will run out, and we will be left with fitting what we can get - but this is nothing new! When i had my Europa in the early '80s it was the same for the twin-cam engine (luckily, lots more of them out there in the UK) - many people were (and still are) fitting a non-Lotus block (Ford) with the twink head, or adapting other Ford engines to go into the cars....
Non of the 'modifications' really effect the use of the cars - but there was/is a larger number of them about to start with, which enabled companies like Spyder to develop kits of all the bits you would need to fit a Zetec engine to an +2 elan etc etc.
Remember too, Lotus's of that era used parts from all sorts of cars (Ford/Renault engines/gearboxes, Triumph front suspension/brakes/wheels, Morris door fittings etc etc) so it isn't really a case of finding 'something to fit' as there were plenty of 'original' options.
I agree that there is likely to be a period of cheaper cars being broken for parts (but that will help most of us out, anyway) - despite it being something i wouldn't want to see happening if it can be avoided - but ecomomics dictate that if a car will fetch £2k as a whole, or £4k as parts (unlikely, but possible) then it will be broken up by some owners.
Eventually (as with the earlier elans) we will be left with less cars, but of a higher standard of upkeep, owned by enthusiasts not speculators (or boy racers) and prices will reflect that.
As i say, it's not specific to the M100, but most 'small volume' cars go through it - grit your teeth and hang in there.
(and don't pay stupid money for parts without asking on here what the options currently are - It can save you a fortune - or cost you one if it ends up as a 'must get involved 'Group Buy'
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