1970 Sprint Garage find.

[Grizzly]

I have put it off long enough i think the next job may well be the dash..........O joy..... Did think about fitting the hood but after weighing it up i think i'll leave that for a warmer time of year.

[Grizzly]

I was just going through the paperwork for the Elan and came across this which was interesting, it was the Last tax disk for the car when it came off the road in 1982 in the original Foley Motors holder (that still sticks after 43 ish years ) it seems crazy when you think about it that a Lotus Elan Sprint should be on the road less than ten years and only did 42000 miles, doesn't seem allot by today's standards, i know i would have used it a whole lot more but then the previous owners loss is my gain i supose.

[Grizzly]

Just seen this White Sprint for sale looks good with the stripes on. (wonder if Paul Matty changed the Bonnet and wheels??)

http://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/lot ... 971/263605

[Grizzly]

Not updated in quite a while, works been manic so not had much time to work on it....

Seem to be doing every thing three times at the moment thanks to the very small garage being a constant struggle, but that said it's not far of MOT time

The one thing that i'm most happy with is the lack of Bricks under the wheels our drive is quite steep and even so i can't move it on the handbrake which is a minor miracle in it's self, even more impressive is the pads don't bind so i stand a chance of the handbrake working for more than a week (Cough... +2)

So just have to remove and refit the front screen with some sealer round it (thought i'd get away with it as it's quite tight but i guess not, leaks quite badly), Fit Wipers/Sun visors, Fit side repeaters (last thing to go on), Fit the seats and it should be ready for it's MOT baring any disasters.

Then make up my mind if i'm putting the side decals back on or not and we're golden Don't think it's too bad considering i didn't spend anytime doing the door shuts (their more or less factory) and it was all done on the drive thanks to lack of space and a zero foreigner policy at work (foreigner job's not the people ) Far from perfect but if i go too far it won't get used as it should.

[davidc]

looking good

[Grizzly]

Thanks, feeling good at the moment..... first time in a while i've cleaned the dust off it, stood back and looked at it

[davidc]

it's great when you get a good run at them, mine was sat for a while but lately I've been doing evenings on it and it's coming along well

[dougweall]

Grizzly your Elan looks superb, but for me it's like having that bright red zit on the end of your nose when you were a teenager, if you put the side repeaters on.
I am sorry but I do not like them at all on any colour Elan, I specifically said no when I got my Elan sprayed years ago.

Doug.

[Grizzly]

it's great when you get a good run at them, mine was sat for a while but lately I've been doing evenings on it and it's coming along well

Exactly, i Restore other people's car for a living so it's hard for me to get any sort of quality time on my own car, last thing i want to do after work is start again.

Grizzly your Elan looks superb, but for me it's like having that bright red zit on the end of your nose when you were a teenager, if you put the side repeaters on.
I am sorry but I do not like them at all on any colour Elan, I specifically said no when I got my Elan sprayed years ago.

Doug.

I know where your coming from, i thought it looked so much better without the wing badges on and the wing repeaters are just Ugly in my opinion but in my ultimate wisdom i never filled the holes in so i'm not left with much choice. A real Doh moment, think even my subconscious is purist......

[Grizzly]

What is your opinion on the side decals, For or against? (My car is early so they where higher up and silver wheels but you get the idea)

[richardcox_lotus]

I'm not sold on the side strikes on a mono colour car. Just a personal opinion (!).

I also think the white is better set off by the wheels being black..... again a personal opinion !!

I think yours is looking great but I think the above decisions are much harder to make than decisions about what camshafts to use; what diff ratios are best, etc etc.

Enjoy the conundrum

Regards
Richard

[elansprint71]

Looking good!

[Grizzly]

Looking good!

Thanks, hopefully you will get a closer look soon

I'm not sold on the side strikes on a mono colour car. Just a personal opinion (!).

I also think the white is better set off by the wheels being black..... again a personal opinion !!

I think yours is looking great but I think the above decisions are much harder to make than decisions about what camshafts to use; what diff ratios are best, etc etc.

Enjoy the conundrum

Regards
Richard

Richard, I agree i'm not sold on the side decals either, the problem i have is if i fitted them they would be on for good (wouldn't want to risk damaging the paint removing them). Things like Drive shafts etc can all be reversed relatively painlessly but things that can't need more careful consideration. That said my Purist side is screaming FIT THEM!!!!

As for the wheels, my car is one of the 70odd S4 SE's that where factory retrofitted to Sprint spec, i could have removed all the things that make it different to the production line Sprints but frankly i like it's different, on top of that i like the idea of showing it Terry (the original owner from new i bought it from) who hasn't seen it since the body went on. Be nice to see it how he remembers it, corny i know.

[richardcox_lotus]

I totally get it. I had mine resprayed 4 years ago, and ended up staying with its original colour of blue over white, but I was so, so tempted for all blue or all white.

If I'd gone monotone then no stripes.

Yours still looks great, regardless.

Richard

[elanfan1]

Just a couple of things and all IMHO

The silver wheels whilst correct 'pop' and become more noticeable than black which I think takes away attention from the lovely lines of the body. The body will look sleeker with satin black on the bottom sill.

It's a no from me on the stripes on a light coloured mono car just looks odd to me.

Fit the Spartos cheaply parts originally but I think look great and are a safety feature too.

Last point - as your car was an S4SE it would have had the stainless steel trims under the doors on the sill so if you are into originality... Fitting those would make the Stripes redundant.

Just my opinion..