New member (& new car)

[ill_will]

Hi everyone,

Great forum: from reading through some of the postings there seem to be a lot of knowledgable people on here.

Thought I'd take a second to introduce myself as I imagine I'll be spending a lot of time on here over the next year (years?)

I just bought a S3 S/E. It's in need of a lot of work. That last sentence might just have been the biggest understatement I've ever made. However, there is a fair amount of history (thousands spent in the 80s/90s), and it's done only 45k (reckoned to be genuine by Brian at BeeBee Racing.)

It's my first Lotus, and I'm looking forward to a long labour of love restoring it to its former glory. I'm planning on doing the vast majority (if not all) of the work myself, having access to a good university engineering department (where I work.) I'm running a '72 Alfa 1750 GTV as my day to day car while it's done.

Well, that's the intro. I'll post some photos after I've collected it!

Will

(Cambridge, UK)

[alaric]

Welcome to the forum Will.

I bought my +2 in boxes a few years ago and am now relatively close to getting it on the road. It was a steep learning curve and I keep finding that there's more than meets the eye to thesse cars. Hope you find the forum as useful as I have.

All the best.

Sean.

[FritzPasadena]

Hi Will,

Congratulations on your acquisition - I guess at least when the car's done you'll know it's been done properly. I know loads of collectors that have purchased supposedly mint cars at full prices only to find the vehicles in question are anything but excellent.

I've only been on the forum a few months but have found it to be among the very best on the web for advice etc. etc. Look forward to seeing some shots!

Best.

[Jason1]

Hi Will

Welcome, I also bought a car that had a lot of money spent in the 80's. What's sad is that I still think of the 80's as a short while ago My car had a chassis change in the early 80's which when you think about it is 20 years ago , how many cars from the early 80's are still worth buying?

Good luck with the car, they are a lot of fun

Jason

[mikealdren]

Hi Will,
I'm in a slighhtly different position. I stopped using my +2 in the early 80s and I'm now rebuilding another +2 (a long story) and I find most of the parts on my mothballed +2 are in MUCH better condition than the car I am restoring even though it had done 90k miles). Luckily I can use the best parts from the two cars.

Mike

[ill_will]

thanks for the encouragement!

can anyone advise on good books - firstly, which is the best (most comprehensive) workshop manual (I've seen two, or possibly three(?) on amazon and ebay) and secondly, what do people advise for referring to for original spec/colours/etc (if there is such a thing: i glanced through a book about ausin healey 3000s which gave original colours, materials, etc.) Again, I've seen a couple of books.

Should s3 S/E cars have the big valve engine with the text facing rearwards, or is it a later addition? apparently it's had a replacement chassis at some point to, but it looked shot from what I could see. sadly, i'm sure a lot will need to be replaced...

will

[Elanintheforest]

An S3 S/E eh? Probably the finest development of the 2 seater Elan?.shouldn?t think that will raise any issues!. Not that I am biased because I bought mine 30 odd years ago you understand.

There are a few excellent books you may need:

The factory workshop manual?big thick green plastic cover ring binder

The factory parts manual?slightly smaller green plastic?etc.

Brian Bucklands book?The Bible. An amazing work on ?how-to? that?s not covered in the factory books, combined with originality stuff?down to the last bracket.

The Original Lotus Elan by Ross / Robinshaw. Historical reference / data.

Is the car you bought the blue one on eBay with the red leather interior by any chance?

You?ll have a lot of fun restoring the car, and armed with those four books and this forum, you'll have all the information you need.

My S3 is totally original, so just shout if there are any detail pics you need.

Welcome

Mark

[rgh0]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I would add the Wilkins Lotus Twin Cam engine book to the 4 that Mark listed as the essential 5 references. Lots of other books but if you have those 5 you have almost everyting you will ever need covered unless getting into mods such as hot engines or 5 speed boxes or uprated suspensions in which case this forum is probably the best resource.

cheers
Rohan