1991 Pacific Blue SE - Nottm area (SOLD)

[mosmax]

Hello all. I have been a long time user of this forum but this is my first post. Sadly, my first post is to advertise the car for sale. There is quite extensive history with the car which I have summarised below, after describing the problems with it.

I have posted some photographs of the bad points here.

The Basics
1991 Pacific blue Elan SE with 122k on the clock. Currently SORN (since August 2013), located near the A3 in SW15. The bodywork is in bad condition and there is a coolant leak from (I think) the water pump. It starts and drives with no other major problem that I know of. £1000 ono.

Bodywork
The car is in bad condition cosmetically. It has been the victim of 2 impacts while it was parked (on street, in Central London – practically asking for it I suppose, but still very annoying). The first to the front n/s, the second to the rear o/s. The front n/s damage has cracked a large part of the front wing, damaged the bumper and badly scratched the wheel. However, I have not noticed any change to the driving characteristics so I do not think that it damaged the drivetrain. This happened in about 2010 and it has been serviced by Morland Jones and MOT’d since without problem. The rear offside damage has cracked the rear bumper and scraped the rear wheel arch.
The Paint on the rear part of the car is badly peeling. All of the paintwork is in poor condition.
The hood is just about ok. The webbing on the inside is in decent condition, but the colour is faded and it has the normal small tears behind the top corners of the windows where the frame fouls the material. These have been patched on the inside, but too late to stop the damage. On one side it is all the way through, on the other it is not, but the area is threadbare. The rear window is practically opaque. It leaks at the top of the A pillars, but not elsewhere that I have noticed. It rubs on the rear deck on one side so there is a line where all the paint has been rubbed off.

The n/s mirror wobbles noticeably when driving, has been previously broken off and refixed with a couple of screws through the housing – See history 24/10/2002. I bought (but never fitted) a replacement LH unit that will be included with the car. There is a small crack in the bodywork where the mirror must have been knocked into the body when this damage happened, and an area of lightly scratched paint beneath it where the mirror would have rubbed against the body when loose.
The number plate plinth is missing and has (I think) been missing for a very long time – see history 6/7/2000
One of the rear light clusters is cracked. The radio aerial has been bent.

Engine.
The engine itself is, as far as I know, reasonably good. It starts first time, seems to run well, HOWEVER: the reason it is SORN (in addition to the seatbelt, below) is that there is a coolant leak from (I think) the water pump. The cam belts were replaced about 1,500 miles ago. I now wish I’d had the pump done too...

Drivetrain etc.
The power steering is a little heavy until the car has warmed up, but is fine once it is warm. The brakes are not great, but I understand that is normal. I don’t know of any other problems.

Interior
The seats are in fair condition, as are the carpets, but they are damp (as it is kept outside) and loose in places. There is a hole in the dashboard above the glove compartment.
The drivers seatbelt mechanism won’t release or retract (so MOT failure is inevitable until that is fixed). I have removed the trim to access it but in my attempts to fix it have probably made it worse.
The door handle escutcheons are both broken. One B post cap (N/s) is missing. There is no radio.
The boot is also a damp so is obviously not completely watertight. I have disconnected the boot interior light.

Electrics
There are 2 problems, otherwise these are not too bad – all the lights work, as do the windows and the electric mirrors (but the heater on the n/s mirror does not work – it does not seem to be connected).
The problems are: 1) one of the headlight motors does not activate – it is not a problem with the headlight motor because I can run some wires to the connector for the other headlamp motor and the usually non-responsive one works fine, and I can wind it up and down manually and it stays put. I think it is a problem with the headlight control module on the bulkhead.
A Cobra alarm with remote central locking is currently fitted (there is a record of an alarm being fitted on 2 August 1991, but I’m not sure that it is this alarm). The remote locking used to work but has not since the battery in the fob died. I have replaced that but it still does not work. It might just need to be reset, which I will try if I have the time. The immobiliser was temperamental so has been bypassed (I will explain how to anyone who comes to see the car, but not on this public forum for obvious reasons. It was scarily simple).

Wheels and tires. Reconditioned wheels (but 2 damaged when car hit, as above), Toyo T1Rs with 3-4k miles and good tread depth.

History
Currently: Mileage 122000 (not exact).
9-2012: Service and MOT – refurbished alternator and new battery – Albany Garage (non-specialist) Mileage 121000
18 May 2011: Full B + C service and cam belt replacement and MOT – Morland Jones Milage 119314
28/10/2010: 4x refurbished 15” wheels fitted
19/3/2010: B service carried out by Morland Jones (Lotus Specialist), new coolant fan, front brakes overhauled with reconditioned callipers, new pads and discs. Mileage 115805
8/3/2009: bought by me from UK Sports Cars.
29/10/2008: door seals replaced (not A pillar seals) MOT, mileage 113715
Prior to 16/05/2008: in care of/sold to UK Sports Cars
28/11/2007: oil leak via pipe to oil cooler repaired by Chris Bailey motors. Mileage not recorded.
18/9/2007: estimate for 16 hours work to repair rear bumper and rear panel, including replacing rear bumper.
26/7/2007: MOT and service by Chris Bailey Motors – Mileage 112107
30/05/2007: service by Chris Bailey Motors – Mileage 108162
28/09/2006: MOT with mileage at 100482
11/7/2006: “full service” by Chris Bailey Motors – Mileage 98361
28/09/2005: MOT and “full service” by Chris Bailey Motors – Mileage 88,918
Undated: “full service” by Chris Bailey Motors – Mileage 80,500
10/3/2005: Gear problem fixed by Chris Bailey Motors – Mileage not recorded.
Undated: Car sold to a Mr Bo_ through UK Sports Cars, mileage 73481. Advert listed at £9,995
12/10/2004: MOT with mileage 73434
22/3/2003: Front brakes overhauled by SGT. Mileage 71197
24/10/2002: LH window regulator replaced, and LH door mirror “resecured as best as possible”. Mileage 68831.
10/08/2002: “A” service by SGT. Mileage 67389
25/03/2002: New silencer fitted by Morland Jones. Mileage 64605
07/01/2002: B service and cam belt changed by SGT. Mileage 64062
2001: No documents
06/07/2000: “A” service carried out by SGT. There is also a record of an insurance excess being paid, so presumably some bodywork repair was undertaken, but no details are given. There is a work item of “remove number plate plinth”. Mileage 58808
1999: No documents
7/3/98: B service by SGT. Mileage 48798
5/7/97: exhaust centre section replaced by SGT. Mileage 42943
26/9/96: “60,000 mile service” (B+C plus cam belts and fuel filter) carried out by SGT. Mileage 37228
22/7/95: B service carried out by SGT. Mileage of 24197. Some unspecified bodywork repairs were also carried out, requiring £98.00 labour, and £40.00 paint.
Undated: Sold to a Mr Ba_, Current GB Registration H509 NTF applied in place of previous Northern Irish plate.
08/06/94: “36000 mile” service (B service) by SGT. Mileage of 14483
24/11/93: A+C service by SGT. Mileage of 10145
Sold to a Mr B_
16/10/92: “18000 mile” service (A service) by SGT. Exact Mileage not recorded but around 7100
13/4/92: “12000 mile” service (B service) by SGT. Exact Mileage not recorded
12/3/92: Checked over for an extended warranty
23 10 1991: “6000” mile service (an A service, according to the schedule) by SGT. Exact Mileage not recorded
2 August 1991: Alarm fitted by SGT. Mileage not recorded.
11 July 1991: 1st service by SGT Services of Maidenhead. Mileage not recorded.
28-3-1991: Originally sold to a Mr G_ of Windsor by Malcolm Templeton of Belfast (this is recorded in the corrosion warranty papers). Original registration was Northern Irish JDZ 4611. Because of this (I think) the V5 says that the car was first registered overseas.

Please PM if you have any questions, and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks for your interest.

[Jamie N]

That is a very cheap car!, I imagine it will be sold but if not, don't drop the price!, its for nothing at that.

[mosmax]

Thanks for your message. The car is still available for anyone interested. I have posted some more photographs of it (now showing the whole car!) to the same place as the first post:

http://s1329.photobucket.com/user/tcs200/library/?sort=3&page=1

[mosmax]

Car now sold to a good home. Thanks for all your enquiries.

[Enright]

Edit: Thread renamed from "1991 Pacific Blue Elan SE; 122k; SORN; £1000 ono" to "1991 Pacific Blue Elan SE; 122k; SORN; £1000 ono - SOLD"

It might have been sold to a good home, but it didn't half take some getting back to it!

Firstly the low nose made the car an absolute pain to get up the ramps and onto my towing dolly.
Fortunately Tom’s Dad had some bricks in his garden which we were able to use to raise the car in stages in order to get it on. But there were still a couple of occasions when I nearly dropped it! And the stress of the loading operation made me forget about the leaking water pump, and the car nearly overheated while sitting there ticking over. Hopefully I haven’t caused any more damage, but that’s still to be investigated. Apologies again to Tom’s folks for delaying their Sunday roast – I hope the nice big empty front garden that I’ve now left them is some compensation for it.

Then to the actual journey itself. The first problem occurred during a bit of braking when the Elan shifted forwards and a wheel popped out of its rest. That was fun to get back in and secured. At around the same time I noticed that the tyre pressures were low on the dolly, so had to find a garage ASAP. I pumped them up to 42psi but the wheels were still getting hot. On the M25 one of the tyres let go (quite spectacularly), and I was forced to change it on the hard shoulder. It’s a good job it was the near-side one, but it’s still no fun trying to jack up a trailer with a heavy-nosed car on it when you’ve got lorries roaring past just a few feet away!
I was convinced that at any moment a “helpful” traffic officer would stop by to tell me that he was going to remove both the car AND my driving license!

It was a massive relief when I managed to get moving again (having pumped up the spare trailer wheel with a bicycle pump!), and then it was a case of stopping at every service station to cool the tyres with water. My original estimate of it being a 3 hour journey back home was almost doubled.

Finally I had to get the car back down off the trailer in the dark and on my own – preferably without causing any more damage than the cracked number-plate from the earlier load-shift. That bit went surprisingly well.

So now I have 2. Next job, to get them BOTH working properly and looking as good as they deserve to. Watch this space…

[tb10]

Hi Neil,

I'm glad that someone from this forum has bought it rather than going to DVB.

Good luck with the project and keep us posted.

Kind regards


John

[Enright]

Right, it's a while since I last posted any pics, so here are a few from last weekend:

[Enright]

Thread renamed from "1991 Pacific Blue Elan SE; 122k; SORN; £1000 ono - SOLD" to "1991 Pacific Blue Elan SE - journey back to former glory", and moved from “UK Elans - For Sale” to “Projects - Car (Major)”.

It's just coming up to 2 weeks since I took this car under my wing, and I'm getting to know it a lot better.

I have a standard spreadsheet that I’ve developed for my car projects, which I find really useful.
It stops me from forgetting jobs, helps me to prioritise them, allows me to predict and keep track of time and costs spent on the project, and is a future reference of work carried out. If anyone would like a copy of this to use for themselves, drop me a PM with your email address and I’ll send it on to you.

It works like this:
As I find (or remember) a job that needs doing I add it to the “To Do List” section. Anything that is either a legal requirement, a safety issue or could imminently cause the car to fail gets colour coded red and given an asterisk. All jobs get given an initial estimate of cost and time, for comparison later. In theory, with more experience the estimates should get more accurate and the times should drop.
From here jobs get escalated to either the “Shopping List”, or straight up to the top into the “Priority Jobs” section (although I try to keep this part of the list down to between 5 & 10 issues at any one time to save getting overwhelmed).
As time is spent on the car, it gets divided out between the jobs tackled. No cheating – if a job takes longer or costs more, just learn from it and use the info to make a more accurate estimate next time!
Once done, jobs get moved to the “Completed Jobs” section. The list regularly gets printed off for posterity, and the old copies kept for comparison.

For this project, the relative parts of the list look as follows. I’m not including the costs and time spent columns – dirty laundry, public etc… but I will say that I’ve got nearly 9 hours already invested in jobs still to be completed in the “Priority” section, so a lot is happening. Also, for the first time ever I've created a "Nice To Haves" section, because if I were to go mad on it, I could spend almost 10 times as much as just doing what is needed to simply get the car decent, legal and roadworthy. Anyway it looks like this:

Priority Jobs:
* Repair Seatbelt Retract & Latch Mechanism (O/S)
Refurbish Headlamp Mechanisms
Clean Bodywork & Hood & Rain-X Windows
* Check Engine rattle
Replace Number Plate Plinth
Fit Wind-deflector
Replace Mirror (N/S) & Check Mirror Heating Element
Clean Wheels (Wonder Wheels), Check & Re-paint Brakes
Clean Screenwash Bottle
Repair Alarm & Immobiliser

To Do List:
* Check/Clear Fault Codes (after startup)
* Check/Adjust Headlamp Beam Alignment (after headlamp module & startup)
* Check/Adjust Alternator Belt
* Check Bulbs
* Check Coolant Pump & Fans
* Check/Adjust Timing
* Check Wishbones
* Replace Antifreeze (after water pump & startup)
Check/Adjust Gear Cables
Port Wastegate
Re-paint Radiator Grilles
Re-paint Windscreen Surround
Replace Carpet (inside boot)
Replace Fusebox Cover (in passenger footwell)
Replace Light Covers (inside boot)
Replace Oil & Filter

Shopping List:
* Water Pump
* Number Plate (Front)
* Seatbelt webbing to repair roof
* Driver's Seatbelt Assembly
Dashboard/Fascia
* MoT Test
Accelerator Cable
B-Post Cap (N/S)
Door Handle Escutcheons
Radio Aerial
Wheel Arch Liner Fasteners
Wheel Centre Caps
Wheel Nut Covers

Nice To Haves:
Respray
Refurbish Wheels
K&N Filter
O2 Sensor
ESM V5 Switcher System
Stereo & Speakers
Toolkit
Aircon System

Completed Jobs:
* Check Air Filter
* Check CAS bearing
* Check Oil Pressure & Level
* Check Windscreen Wipers
Clean Engine Bay (WD40), Interior (Cockpit Shine) & Boot
Repair Centre Console Latch
Repair & Refurbish Seats
Replace Cigarette Lighter
* Replace Headlamp Control Module
* Replace Indicator Repeater
Replace Speaker Grille

I’m really feeling enthusiastic about this (and Elans in general) at the moment – it’s nice to have my mojo back! Underneath the initial appearance, there’s a good car here. When I first bought it I thought I could potentially simply use it as a Blue Peter type “here’s one that was made earlier” example to get mine back together properly again, before swapping over any bits that were better than ones I already had, and then selling it on. But now I’m seriously thinking of fully reconditioning it, so that I can let my son have it when he grows up.
Mind you, we are talking about 15 or more years in the future, and who knows - by then petrol and classic cars may be a thing of the past. Decisions, decisions.

I’ve taken a few pics, and will add some in a little while…

[cliff]

I think I would have put the first 8 items on the To Do list on the Priority list and some of the priority stuff on the to do list, but we all do it differently.

Seriously though, congratulations on saving an Elan from the lets break it and scam people merchants. I really wish I had the room and time for another project, there are so many cars out there that could be saved with a bit of time and effort.

Guess you added the pics while I was typing, she looks great!

[Enright]

Cliff, you're right about the assessment of priorities.
However sometimes certain jobs rely on other jobs having already been done.
And not only do you have to weigh up what you can do given enough time and effort, but (IMHO) you need a few "quick hits" in there to keep the job satisfaction and motivation up.

[Rambo]

Hope you're grooming Ben for organising the Melbourne curry night

[Jamie N]

It looks like a straight enough car from the pics Neil, I'm sure you will have it minted in no time!, best of luck with the project.
Jamie.

[Enright]

Wow, I've just realised that it's been 2 weeks since I last posted anything in this thread, and lots has been happening in the meantime.
Last Sunday I took a trip down to Buckinghamshire to see Phil (Surfboardfiller), and came home with a car full of valuable parts.
Since then I've been busy ripping the interior out (again!), oh and today my replacement water pump arrived from Rockauto, via LGM - thanks Marie.
So now the work REALLY starts.

The job list has changed massively. Lots of "quick hits" have been completed, and bearing in mind the jobs waiting for other stuff to be done, I have started putting the dependancies in brackets. As of earlier today it now looks like this:

Priority Jobs:
* Check/Clear Fault Codes (after startup)
Replace Dashboard/Fascia
* Check Coolant Pump & Fans (after water pump)
* Check Turbo
* Replace CV Boot (O/S)
* Replace Water Pump
Swap B-Post Cap (N/S)
Replace Door Trim Fasteners
Clean & Re-paint Brakes
Clean & Re-paint Wishbones

To Do List:
* Check/Adjust Headlamp Beam Alignment (after headlamp module & startup)
* Check/Adjust Alternator Belt (after water pump)
* Check Engine rattle (after water pump)
* Check/Adjust Timing (after water pump)
Check/Adjust Gear Cables
Port Wastegate (after water pump)
Re-paint Radiator Grilles
Repair Alarm & Immobiliser (after replace dash/fascia)
Repair Radio Aerial
Replace Fusebox Cover (in passenger footwell, after repair alarm/immob)
Replace Oil & Filter (after water pump)

Shopping List:
* Number Plate (Front)
* MoT Test
Accelerator Cable
Car Cover
Sikaflex to repair roof
Wheel Arch Liner Fasteners

Nice To Haves:
Repair Clamshell N/S & Wheelarch O/S/R & Full Respray
Refurbish Wheels
O2 Sensor
ESM V5 Switcher System
Stereo & Speakers
Toolkit
Aircon System

Completed Jobs:
* Check Air Filter
* Check Bulbs
* Check CAS bearing
* Check Oil Pressure & Level
Clean Bodywork & Hood & Rain-X Windows
Clean Engine Bay (WD40), Interior (Cockpit Shine) & Boot
* Clean Screenwash Bottle & Check Windscreen Wash/Wipe
Clean Wheels (Cleaner), Replace Centre Caps, Fit Wheel Nut Covers
Fit K&N Air Filter
Fit Wind-deflector
Re-paint Windscreen Surround
Repair Centre Console Latch
Repair Door Handle Escutcheon (N/S)
Repair Door Trim (O/S)
Repair & Refurbish Headlamp Mechanisms
Repair Light Outer Cover (N/S/R)
Repair Mirror (N/S)
Repair & Refurbish Seats
* Repair Seatbelt Retract & Latch Mechanism (O/S)
Replace Carpet (inside boot)
* Replace Headlamp Module
* Replace Indicator Repeater
Replace Light Covers (inside boot)
Replace Number Plate Plinth
Replace Speaker Grille

I've managed to get a few decent pics too. Some you may have already seen in the Centre Caps thread, but the fascia out pics were only taken this evening.

[Jamie N]

Nice one Neil!, its amazing the Rats nest that some alarms systems can cause eh, I hate aftermarket car alarm systems, always problematical I usually rip them out and just fit a well hidden kill switch alongside whatever manufacturer system it has.
Look forward to seeing the progress reports.

Jamie.

[Enright]

What I find annoying is the butchery that original wiring looms are subjected to (and therefore compromised by), from a variety of Scotchloks, bullet connectors, chocolate blocks, hacking and soldering, dried-out (or super-gunky) electrical tape, cable ties, rant rant rant…!

The thing is, people are so quick to start with old stuck record of “Lotus Of Trouble Usually Serious” when they see one of our cars dead at the side of the road, but it’s hardly the car’s fault when it’s had its central nervous system mullered, is it?

Unfortunately insurers have a nasty habit of insisting on Thatcham approved alarms being fitted, which unfortunately the original system didn’t conform to – and in any case it’s long since gone.

The previous owner always had problems with the alarm and immobiliser so basically bypassed them, and looking at how they were installed, I’m not surprised.
I’d like to do a proper re-installation to my own standards, but would need to try to obtain copies of the original instructions.
At the moment I’m just hoping that in cutting out all of this extra rubbish I’m not removing bridges between important wires and preventing it from ever starting again!
At least I have access to the Lotus electrical manuals though, and the systems are modern enough to be useful, without being over-complicated by multiplexing, CAN-BUS networks and the like.

If I can get everything back to how it is supposed to be under the skin, and get it through its MoT without being faced with hideous expenses (like for example it failing on wishbones), then it will be worth treating to a respray.
After that, I can see it making a really good car for someone.
But before then I’ll be using it as a Blue Peter style “here’s one I made earlier” example for getting my “proper” Elan, properly sorted!

[epipete]

Lovely, I've played Hokey Cokey with my dashboard many times over the years and would like to redo the alarm system, currently it's a TOAD that was installed a decade or so ago; I understand that it needs to be installed by an accredited technician to fully cover insurance requirements and if this is true then is it best to have them come to your car with the dash out or dash in?

Whilst you have all this out it may be worth accessing the outriggers to see how they are faring up

Good luck

Pete

[Fredjohn]

Lots of work going on well done Neil!

When I got my car it not only had a non standard alarm, but also a separate immobiliser. The alarm didn't work, the immobiliser did. I decided to have a Scorpion alarm fitted by a Coventry installer, who had worked on an M100 before. He carefully removed both the old items and wiring, completely re-wired the new combined Scorpion alarm/immobiliser and fitted it very expertly. Didn't remove the dash, just contorted around it! Car locks/unlocks with the remote and he also left a wire for my remote boot release. It all works perfectly.

However, it is not a Thatcham 1 approved alarm: after speaking to my insurers it was apparent that a level 1 approval was not required and would make no difference to the premium. Cost me about £200 all in.

Keep up the good work!!

[Enright]

It’s just a week since my last progress report, but lots has happened:

IT LIVES!

The fascia is all in - just a few blown bulbs, fuses and dodgy connections left to sort out. The key thing is it looks much better, and is tidier underneath as well (which is important to me).

On Sunday, after the success of that particular job, I moved on to tackle the water pump.
They are so difficult to get to ordinarily, but this one had been leaking for so long that inside the timing belt cover it was brown, and the further down you went the worse it got. Of course all that hot water had then rusted all the bolts. I ended up undoing 4 of them, then crowbarring out the pump until its housing snapped, which finally gave me access to the 5th.
As you can imagine, that meant the job took much longer than expected.
I ran out of day and had to leave the car up on jacks and stranded in front of a neighbour's garage until Monday evening - Mr. Popular!

As a matter of priority on Monday evening I completed the water pump job, and while I had the offside wheel off I de-crudded all of the offside wheelarch liner, suspension, and re-painted the calliper and disc (I hate the sight of rusty middle disc centres and edges).
The car still ran awfully, and I was worried that I'd mis-timed it, but ran out of time again and didn't have time to look at it on Tuesday.

So last night it got seriously tackled. The first thing I did was pop off the spark plug cover so that I could pull Number 1 plug to check if my Tipp-ex'ed TDC mark was correct.
As the car was running at the time I wondered what would happen if I pulled off a couple of spark plug leads – and surprisingly the answer was: nothing!
If I pulled leads 1 or 4 the car continued running (although only on 1 cylinder), but on 2 & 3 it made no difference at all.
Bingo - faulty coil pack!
I swapped a known good one from the other car, and with it fitted it ran as sweet as a nut.
That saved a load of time and misery, but what are the chances that a coil pack would choose that exact moment to expire?!?

Anyway after that I left it running, earthed the rad fan thermal switch to check that the fans and the coolant pump worked (they did - bonus), then let it heat up until they started cycling on their own.

Ultimately I was so chuffed with the result that I popped-off the nearside wheel, and did the same de-crudding, jetwashing and painting job that I’d already done on the other side. I now know I’ve got decent wishbones up front, and they are ready for a bit of Hammeriting over the weekend.

I’m really starting to see progress now – in fact all it needs is a CV boot and the horn fixing and I think it will be MoT-able!

[Steve A]

Good posting Neil, keep up the good work, another Elan saved from the scrap yard

[muley]

Neil

Great job, thanks for taking the time to take pics and tell us about it.

Certainly makes my Elan jobs look very tame!

Regards


Jim