My Latest Elan S3 Hillclimb Car

[elans3]

See photos, my "new" Elan Hillclimb / Sprint car.
Very trick suspension, very quick engine.
Finally managed to learn how to re-size the photos after a week !
elans3

[peterako]

Mad jealous.....pics like this should be banned!!!

Peter 1973 +2S 130/5 .... pretty but rough!

[garyeanderson]

The Elan looks great, white is such a suttle color it looks great anywhere and looks even better on a Coupe at night. I guess I am a little partial to white though. Did the Elan have a 63, 65 world champ badge on it, and Indy badge too?

Gary

[Elanintheforest]

The S3 coupe must be the prettiest of the Elans...but then I am a little biased
Elan3, your car only needs one thing doing to achieve cosmetic perfection. Paint the bit of floor sticking out below the sill a satin black to make it disappear....it's what the factory did originally.
Mark

[Old English White]

The S3 coupe must be the prettiest of the Elans...but then I am a little biased
Elan3, your car only needs one thing doing to achieve cosmetic perfection. Paint the bit of floor sticking out below the sill a satin black to make it disappear....it's what the factory did originally.
Mark

... ElanS3 , he is dam right !
I was just thinking about this only comment ... "OEW" has this on her sills , since factory .
Your baby is superb , and I will be back to ask you about details on wheels dimensions and suspension settings ...
As you will discover , "Old English White" is an pre-airflow aswell and I made many of the same mods on it ...
Christian.
http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12923

[elans3]

Gary, Mark, Peter, Christian,
Yes I wasn't sure about the white, but now I love it. I'm seriously considering a central Lotus Green stripe centrally across the bonnet, roof and boot, as I love the white and green together too.
I am doing the black sill this weekend, I agree it does look better.
It didn't have the badges when I bought it, but I do have them from a previous restoration.
I also have a great authentic period rear window sticker bought off Ebay at XXX%%&?* silly money because I'd never seen one since the sixties, I'll post a photo of it. It is paper and has gummed edges ! Remember those ?

I must add that very little of this baby is down to me this time, I bought it from a very clever guy with some terrific ideas on suspension.
After looking for a replacement S3 for four months, and looking for a mild competition car in particular, I was very pleased and lucky to find this car, which had the owners love and attention and not inconsiderable funds lavished on it over the past 6 years.
It was clear from the first glance at it that he shared my taste and standards.
I'm just tweaking it now to suit my needs, driving style and personal bits, like steering wheel, and all the little things that we all like.
Christian, you're welcome to ask away, I have all the full spec, including corner weight report, suspension heights and settings, etc.
If any of you are running a big bore twincam with 45DCOE's I'd be pleased to know what chokes/mains and air correctors you're using, as this one is still on 40's, and shows 136bhp at the wheels.
I was very sceptical of this at first, and know from my rallying days that there can be "optimistic" figures from r/roads, but I've had this verified by my own trusted man's r/road last weekend, in fact it showed 138bhp, after a tweak to weaken the mixture slightly as it was running just a tad rich.
Many thanks for your kind comments
Steve
elans3

[archigator]

My Sprint coupe was white for the first 18 years I owned it. I repainted it in the Gold Leaf scheme two years ago, but I am still always partial to white coupes. This shot is from a Lotus Poker Run in 2003.

Gary
'71 Elan Sprint
Miami, Florida

[mac5777]

Elans3, that was a great find!! My S3 coupe was very original and white, which I liked. In 1966 bought a Spitfire in BRG and really had great times with it. So I painted the Elan BRG after the damage and that was a hard choice. Seeing the white coupes above reminds me how much I liked the them. Here is a before and after picture. If you go to Golden Gate Lotus Club and hit meet GGLC members you will see a white coupe with a green stripe. www.gglotus.org
Sarto

[twincamman]

HOT HOT HOT very impressive job -shows a lot of love and dedication- twincamman

[elandoc]

G'day fellas,
Steve, I know what you mean about trying to get the damn image files to post.. only just figured it out. I've rallied (tarmac) an S3, but DHC with hard top, for the last ten years. Lots of trick bits in my car, but the bastard always leaks, and some of the stages have been through snow, sleet, and torrential rain, so I've been thinking about a coupe, but I'm always pulled up short by the weight factor. Mine's too heavy at 700 kg in rally trim (nearly 750 with spares), and I'm thinking of building a super dooper lightweight, which means and S1 or S2, and damn the leaks. The coupe sure looks nice and dry inside though - if only there was a light wieght body shell for them.
I've got all the specs on mine somewhere, too, if anybody wants to know, but I still get vicious snap off over steer sometimes, which I'm finding hard to engineer out. Here are some pics..

[twincamman]

4 dzus fasteners should hold the hood [bonnet on] love the brake stand -----ed

[pamitchell]

Someone mention they like Elans in white?
This is a Mazda white with green stripe courtesy of the PO.
The stripe helps other drivers notice me.
I installed the Dave Bean SS bonnet latches which are in recessed cups with a Dzus fastener.
Safe at any speed.
Phil

[twincamman]

like these --ed

[elans3]

Phil, I like the stripe on the white S4. I've just last weekend painted the wheelcentres on the Minilites Lotus Green, (left the rim silver), and I think it looks great. It was just too stark with the silver and white. I'll try and post another pic and you can see the difference comparing it with the first pic.
Centre stripe to follow if I'm brave enough.....
Steve
elans3

[pamitchell]

Thanks Steve;

The stripe is 10" wide and runs below front and rear bumpers.