New Owner in Scotland

[marcoos_1]

Just wanted to say a quick hello and introduce myself. My name is Mark and Ive just purchased a yellow Elan SE. I took a bit of a punt on this car and bought it blind over the internet. It just arrived at the weekend and I'm well pleased with what I have seen so far. Its all been redone underneath (wishbones fully refurbed, new ball joints and bushes, new discs and calipers all round etc) and a new hood. It needed a good clean inside and out but has come up really well.

Not driven it yet as it needs a full wheel alignment, which is getting done today. Then it's an MOT hopefully tomorrow.

My brother Scott is on here with his green car (scooter49), so it will be nice to see 2 on the road together up here (hopefully).

Tried to post a couple of pics but file size too large. Will go now and check on how to do it!

Mark.

[Jamie N]

Good to hear another member of Clan Elan Mark, welcome aboard.

[HJ2]

Welcome aboard, and let us know how the first ride was!
A car from Internet... you brave man!

[marcoos_1]

Cheers guys and thanks for the welcome.

I've had the wheel alignment done now and its all pointing in the right direction, plus it passed an MOT this morning without issue - so far so good.

After sorting tax and insurance this afternoon I managed my first drive for about an hour and the wee car drove brilliantly. I'm well pleased. This is my first turbo car and it is quite different to my other stuff. It poured with rain most of the way, so when I got back I fitted a new pair of A Pillar seals that I had bought (it leaked like a sieve even on this short run!). Hopefully these will improve the leaks to a "manageable level" until I do a bit more digging on what clever ideas have been used by members on here. This wee car will be getting well used....so being in Scotland this is an essential.

I have to say the brakes don't feel the greatest (but they did work OK) - but from what I understand that's pretty much par for the course. Again....I'll do a bit more digging to see what you guys have done with your cars. It does have new calipers, discs and flexis all round. Sorting and upgrading these things is all part of the fun though for long term ownership.

Love the way the car drove.....chuffed to bits with my purchase. Looking forward to the weekend as I plan to get it out again.

Are there many other owners in Scotland? I see you are Fife Jamie........do folks ever meet up to kick tyres?

[par]

Welcome aboard Mark!

You will find plenty of guidance and advice on here along with loads of suggestions on how to spend your money

The closest thing to a meet up these days are likely to be in Jamies back yard where you might see 2 or 3 Elans together. Not so much tyre kicking more seal massaging

[Kipperozzy]

Hello Mark , welcome to the LEC , you will find lots of great information here from knowledgable and enthusiastic owners .
I live in Greenock and like to drive down the coast and around Kilbirnie circle .

[scotlan]

Hello Mark

I am in Perth and have an Elan, There is also another owner, who lives about 3miles away. I am sure we will meet up if there are any events or if you venture down here.
There have been no shows this year but as you will be aware LEGS have events and there's Glamis. Please post pictures of your new car. This how I do it but there must be other methods . Hope it helps!

https://postimg.cc/zLCQdwkT/6854743e

look for a box on the upper left which says “Upload image” or “upload another image”

You then select your picture by browsing

Click on ”Choose images” you get taken back to the original page

Look for the option
“Thumbnail for forums:”



At the end of the line there is a small graphic of a picture and you click this


You should then get a flash message “copied”

Then copy and paste the whole line starting and finishing with
[url……url]

Paste it into the text on your post. With a bit of luck your picture should appear here when you click "preview."

[marcoos_1]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys......good to see there are a few cars local too. I'm sure there will be a wealth of information on here that will be of great use. Ive been digging through already and found some really useful stuff.

Now.....here goes with my first attempt at pics. Thanks for the detailed instructions (I would have given up without these!)

This should be as the car arrived.....



I've given it a good clean and made up some graphics for the side. Im sure not to everyone's taste......but I think they break the car up. The great thing about vinyl.......it can always come off.





Managed another 100miles or so in the car today - tapps aff. Running great and getting more used to all these turbo noises.

[TorqueHorse]

Welcome! Love the vinyl additions. They make it seem even more like a little matchbox car that screams pick me up and race me . Did you get it from one of the sites that does work for elise's and evora's, or custom?

[scooter49]

Welcome to the forum bruv! I too would be up for a meet. That would be great.

He did my car a year ago and I love it. Transforms it from a thing of beauty to something I want to marry







.

[HJ2]

Interesting striping!

I agree to the ‘matchbox’ look it represents.
I like it!

[marcoos_1]

Thanks all,

We made the graphics up ourselves. Played around with a few different ideas and designs and some different material. It took a while to get the dimenrsions right but we are happy with what we have now.

We ended up doing both cars in satin material as it wears better than gloss, and doesnt show stains like a full matt surface. My friend has a vinyl cutter, so once we had finished the design work we were able to get them done.

If anyone fancies a set I'm sure we could get some more made for members on here. Loads of colour choices available. The material we used is non-airlock vinyl. A bit more expensive then alternatives, but this means it is really easy to put on without bubbles as the material releases the air as it goes on. If any of you have ever tried fitting stickers/graphics to a car with the cheap material that "crinkles" and traps all the air then you will know what a nightmare it can be. You end up pulling it back off to get to the bubbles, (or you go around sticking pins in the bubbles to get them down!), then it stretches, then the lines go all over the place, then you throw it in the bin whilst swearing loudly.

I'm no expert but Scott and I managed to do these ones ourselves first time, just taking a bit of time to get the alignment right. I like the wing emblem too.....looks like there was meant to be something there.

As Scott said, his graphics have been on for a year and done many hard road trips and jet-washes. No issues so far.

[scooter49]

You are being too modest. There is no "we" in this. It is Mark that is the guru and had the foresight but i'm super happy driving around in the end result.

.

[sheriff464]

marcoos_1 and scooter 49, Hello both, I really like the graphics you have on your Elans.., particularly the Colin Chapman emblem on the front wing! I have a Lotus Racing Green S2 (742) and often thought of adding some decals, maybe gold in colour! Perhaps a Group Buy is in the offing? Cheers from Sheriff 464.

[marcoos_1]

Hi Sheriff, thanks for the comment. I agree, the badges on the wing look great on the car. I'm sure if you fancy something then I can organise a set for you. The time and effort has already gone into the design work now (assuming you want the same thing), so I don't see any issue getting you a set made. No need to organise or commit to a group buy as I'm sure if anyone else wanted a set then it will probably be different colours anyway to suit individual tastes and car colours.

If you want something then drop me a PM with your details and I will see if we can sort something out for you.

Mark.

[M100_DMM]

Are there many other owners in Scotland?

A hearty Ayrshire welcome to LEC.

There are a few M100s in Ayrshire. Apart from you and your brother, there's a white SE near Hurlford, a very nice yellow SE in Prestwick, another one in Alloway and there may still be one (a Pacific Blue SE) in Kilwinning. I might even be buying another one in the not too distant future.

In addition, Mark (Rambo) keeps a couple of nice SEs at his castle in the borders, Kipperozzy and his green SE can be found in Greenock, Graeme from Glasgow has a normally aspirated M100, there are at least a couple in Fife (Jamie's already introduced himself), Scotlan's in Perth, and Aberdeenshire is home to Archie and John and their respective SEs.

I know of a couple of others whose owners (shame on them) aren't on LEC and I dare say there are a few more kicking about up here.

[marcoos_1]

That's great to know there's so many around - and hard to believe that neither Scott or myself have seen one around here on our travels. That is way more than I thought and some are very close indeed!

I appreciate I'm the newbie on here and you guys have been at this for a long time, but it would be great to get a meet organised to see some more cars! Would anyone be up for it or are all the cars tucked away now for the winter?

Safe to say Scott and I would be up for it and we don't mind travelling (in fact we'd be disappointed if we didnt get a drive out of it!)

Just a thought....

[scotlan]

Here is a pic of mine and Sandy's. I also didn't realise there were so many Elans in Scotland.
Look forward to some sort of meet, which can be arranged. I am "SORNing" mine on Saturday til April. Then there's COVID restrictions. Hopefully, someone can arrange something somewhere in mid-Scotland, even Perth, early 2021.

[marcoos_1]

Nice looking cars......will hopefully get the chance to see them in the flesh and meet up in the future.

With any luck we might still get a couple of good days to do some more miles. I think Scott and I will hang on to the bitter end. After all.......we have some new A pillar seals to test.....

[Rambo]

Hi Mark. Welcome to LEC from Rambo Mark at Castle Anthrax.

You keep driving to the bitter end. I drive mine all year round. They're a bit soft up in Perthshire. I don't think Sandy takes his S2 out unless the weather is >20C. Haven't seen it for over 3 years

Just back from a lovely 50 mile thrash round Border Reiver territory