S4 SE

[Kieran]

Hello there i have owned a 1970 elan s4 se for the last 28 years 26 of which jave been sitting in a garage. Now is the time i want to restore her to her former glory.
How do i go about contacting the dvla to resister her as i take it the original plate will be invalid now??? VKD 280H
Second question how easy is it to take the shell off the engine and chassis???

Thanks and i hope you all can help, Im probably going to be a regular on here now

Kieran

[MintSprint]

Unless you have actually declared the car scrapped, in theory it should still be registered. If you have the old type registration document, you will need to send off for a new one. Contact the DVLA for advice.

If you have lost the registration document, or the DVLA has lost its records, you will need to establish the car's identity from its chassis and engine number and convince the DVLA to issue an age related number plate. The Lotus factory will be able to help you with this, by supplying details of the car's original build records. See the 'How to obtain history on an individual car' link on the LotusElan.net homepage.

Taking the body off the engine and chassis is straightforward, provided you have a few strong mates to help you lift it off. Get a copy of the workshop manual for the procedure. Only problem is that the job tends to snowball - it is false economy not to replace a lot of components while you have easy access to them (suspension bushes, water pump etc.), so budget ?2.5-?3K to do a proper job of it.

[Kieran]

its going to be a full engine rebuild and chassis change pos anyway so yeah i know its going to be a full restoration , just want to lift the shell of this weekend. to see the damage.

Still got the registration document so ill contact the dvla this week, The start of big things

The cars in the metalic browny/bronze colour

Kieran

[MintSprint]

Whatever you do, don't tell the DVLA if you change the chassis - they may award you with a Q-registration.

It's not a chassis, it's a subframe, so there's no obligation to tell them, anyway.

[riverkeeper]

Hi Kieran,

If your Elan wasn't road registered after 1984 it's most likely it won't be on the DVLA records. Apparently they went computerised that year and any car not taxed dropped off their records ! had the same thing with my elan which hadn't been taxed from the mid 70's onwards. Sent off my old style log book and got back the 'not on our records' reply

If they don't have it on record then you'll need to get in touch with Club Lotus who are DVLA approved to vouch for a Lotus authenticity. As you've still got the original log book, that with a few photo's and a form from the club should get it registered ! I'd hold fire stripping the car until you have it registered, else register it one you've completed the restoration - just in case the powers that be want to see the car as they'll be expecting a complete car and not a collection of bits in boxes !!.

A quick check you can do yourself is to enter the reg no. via one of these websites that checks against the DVLA database. Think it can be done via RAC or DVLA website, it'll show up then as registered or not.

Wayne.

[RotoFlexible]

Kieran,

Perhaps your first purchase should be the new Brian Buckland book, Restoration of a Lotus Elan, reviewed elsewhere in this forum. While I haven't used it for a full restoration, my guess is that it will save you a lot of time, grief and money and give you a great deal of insight into how things fit together. You have a nearly virgin car, from the sound of it, and a great opportunity to do a beautiful restoration.

[MintSprint]

If your Elan wasn't road registered after 1984 it's most likely it won't be on the DVLA records. Apparently they went computerised that year and any car not taxed dropped off their records!

...quick check you can do yourself is to enter the reg no. via one of these websites that checks against the DVLA database. Think it can be done via RAC or DVLA website, it'll show up then as registered or not.

I've already checked Kieran's registration against the DVLA website, and it isn't on their computerised records.

However, they keep paper records as well and if you send off the original registration document they should be able to provide you with a new style, computerised V5.

It does depend on how helpful and competent the individual is on whose desk it lands, however.

I recently sent a vehicle enquiry for my car and was provided with a full set of photocopies of the paper registration documents for all the cars owners and all transfers/changes of address back to the car's first registration in 1972, but equally you can come across plenty of typical Government 'jobsworths' who will give the 'if it aint on the computer, it does't exist' response!

Still, as previously stated, the worst that can happen is that you'll need to contact Lotus for proof of the car's identity and date of manufacture, after which the DVLA should issue new documents with either the original number or (in the unlikely event that it has been allocated to a different car) an age-related plate with the same suffix