Reversed into.

[theelanman]

these non Lotus mud flaps are very effective......
they keep the stones and mud from sill for the length of the car......
they are light and flexible and as such wont 'ping' off should you accidentally catch something
theyre just non standard Lotus parts that do a job..........

there was also this thread back in the day

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9822&p=118038&hilit=mud+flaps+fiesta#p118038

[dapinky]

As many of you know, I'm in favour of 'function over form' for most things on the car - cosmetic looks are well below the performance of an item when I come to choosing 'add-ons'.

At the time of the Group Buy I was (as many others) sceptical as to the possible effectiveness of a piece of rubber which, in places, is less than an inch wide.

I never really considered the Lotus ones as they were hard to source, but did look at various aftermarket items to find one to do the job.

Many (most?) of them were quite wide, but very little protruded beyond the outer edge of the wheelarch, and I even looked at making up a set from plastic sheet (same as I use on my rally cars) - but realised that all they would do is stop some water/mud/muck hitting the wheelarch liner, as well as splattering the sills. I decided that they could well become a trap for this muck between the flap and the bodywork, and whilst this wouldn't lead to rusting the bodywork (obviously!), it could easily lead to rusting the brackets/fittings.

When I actually got round to fitting the 'small' ones, I was surprised at how unobtrusive they were, whilst still being 98% effective (percentage is only an estimate!!!!) - obviously, nothing will be 100% effective, and my intention was to prevent stonechips along the sills and rear bumper, more than a bit of mud which will wash off during the bi-annual car wash.

Whilst i'd like to think that Lotus would have spent a long time and pleanty of cash developing an optimum item during the design/production of the Elan, the realist in me thinks that they simply grabbed something off the shelf which would do the job, and fettled them to fit - whereas the Group Buy ones were thought about and designed to specifically do the job required.

[theelanman]

[Saltire]

The (US-sourced) mudflaps have landed!

They have been sent to Coventry (Airport), where they're awaiting Customs clearance. As soon as I have a figure for duty and VAT, I'll post again and we can split it 5 ways.

More news soon.

[sheriff464]

Hello Kathryn. I was just looking through previous Spotted posts and saw that your Palacio S2 has the registration number N ??? VJH. Now, my 1995 S2 on 1/1195. (Lotus Racing Green) has reg.number N ??? VJH. The supplying dealership was SGT Lotus (We Sell Freedom). Was your S2 supplied by them I wonder? I hope that your (Reversed into) woes are now sorted out satisfactorily? Back in the mid eighties I had a Triumph TR7 (aagh B L's finest hour) and I was reversed into by a HGV at a fuel filling station. It left two precision gouges down the centre of the bonnet; luckily the headlamp area was not damaged,just a new bonnet with a respray in Bordeau Red. Cheers from Sheriff464.

[Kathryn]

Hello Kathryn. I was just looking through previous Spotted posts and saw that your Palacio S2 has the registration number N ??? VJH. Now, my 1995 S2 on 1/1195. (Lotus Racing Green) has reg.number N ??? VJH. The supplying dealership was SGT Lotus (We Sell Freedom). Was your S2 supplied by them I wonder? I hope that your (Reversed into) woes are now sorted out satisfactorily? Back in the mid eighties I had a Triumph TR7 (aagh B L's finest hour) and I was reversed into by a HGV at a fuel filling station. It left two precision gouges down the centre of the bonnet; luckily the headlamp area was not damaged,just a new bonnet with a respray in Bordeau Red. Cheers from Sheriff464.

Yes, mine was supplied by SGT on 13/10/95. - 22 years ago yesterday! I was aware someone else had a similar plate. Out of interest what is your special edition number, because I have a feeling mine was a little slow to sell?

Reversed into woes now all fixed thankfully and as I took the opportunity to have a partial respray she looks almost as good as when she left SGT!

[sheriff464]

Kathryn, my LRG metallic S2 is Special Edition Number 742,Registered on 01/11/1995. SGT. So by the look of it, your Palacio Purple (540) registered just 3 weeks prior to mine must have been delayed somewhere along the line since production and arriving at SGT. I don't really know how long, i.e.(days) it took to make one car;being hand built in those days i.e. no robot controlled production lines! With a gap of 202 cars (742-540) it could have been a considerable time lapse! Who knows. Cheers from Sheriff 464.

[Kathryn]

I think production had finished by then. I imagine they came off the production line in number order (apart from a few who's new owners requested particular numbers) but I may be wrong. Maybe no one wanted a purple one.

[Rambo]

I have a feeling mine was a little slow to sell?

Maybe no one wanted a purple one.

You might have hit the nail on the head Kathryn. It's known affectionately in LEC circles as a "Marmite" colour

[Kathryn]

I know.
Personally I think it's the best colour! I love marmite too!
Thankfully they didn't actually come in Marmite colour! I think that would be rather marmite too.

[Rambo]

Actually, we did really see a Marmite M100 at Donington many, many years ago. Someone turned up in one that had been resprayed brown Anyone remember that or have any photos ?

PS I'm not talking about Rob's collapso red that was caked from top to toe with thick mud

[Kathryn]

Actually, we did really see a Marmite M100 at Donington many, many years ago. Someone turned up in one that had been resprayed brown Anyone remember that or have any photos ?

PS I'm not talking about Rob's collapso red that was caked from top to toe with thick mud

Really? Why would you want a brown sports car?!

[MPx]

Everything has its time Kathryn... When the Porsche 928 was released in the mid '70s it could be had in various shades of brown ....and I kind of liked it at the time

[clemo]

Really? Why would you want a brown sports car?!

M100 TWO .

[dapinky]

Cranberry red is not brown (in the same way that Steel Blue is not grey......)

[Saltire]

For those interested, the mudflaps have now arrived in Gloucester, which is our local ParcelForce delivery office. Only Her Majesty's Royal Mail knows why the local delivery office for an address in North Wiltshire is 30 miles away in another county and postcode area, but there you go! What's more, they took longer to get from Coventry to Gloucester than from Charlotte NC to Coventry . . .

I will advise as soon as either a) they arrive or b) I receive notice of the charges to pay.

[Saltire]

I had notification from ParcelForce of the duty and VAT this morning, and all recipients will have PM shortly

[Saltire]

2017-10-23 13.20.32 (Small).jpg

Kathryn: Feel free to collect whenever's convenient
SimonB: Will aim to post yours tomorrow, but it might be Wednesday. Will advise of postage separately
Clemo: Still waiting to confirm Stafford plans; will take there if I can
B_Land: On holiday, awaiting instructions

By the way, they were beautifully packed by Brit-Car-Nut; not even ParcelForce had managed to dent the package in any way

[simonbuk]

Got my mudflaps thanks. Thanks to Brit-Car-Nut for the work his end !!

[Kathryn]

An update.

The car was back in the paintshop because some bubbles came up in one of the panels. Apparently it wasn't anything they'd done but was in a layer below. They have fixed it though. She's all serviced and MOTed ready for year 5 of Elan ownership! I can't wait to collect her on Sunday morning.

Insurance; I've just renewed with Adrian Flux and told them all about the incident. They asked for proof the claim has been settled and that I was not at fault, which is when I realised I didn't actually know - I've not even heard from them since last summer! I found out they'd paid up for the repair but still needed proof. Has anyone else ever tried to phone Hastings Direct? I don't think I've ever been on hold so long in my life! But once someone actually answered (and I ended up in the right department) it was all sorted in minutes with a simple email.

As I was not at fault my renewal price was not affected. If the claim hadn't been settled or I couldn't provide evidence of it they would have had to assume I was at fault and it'd cost me £180 more!! (Which would be refunded once I was found to be not at fault.) I don't know why they couldn't find out themselves, I thought It all went on a database. You can bet if I didn't tell them and tried to make a claim they'd soon find out!

I'm just relieved it's all sorted now!