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Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:00 am
by Carlos A
There is a new episode of JL's Garage on the Elan scheduled for Feb 2, 2009. Please watch it and leave your comments.

Best

Carlos

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:54 pm
by snowyelan
I'm not familiar with the show, which network is it on?

Scott

Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:14 pm
by cbguerrajr
it's not a show, "jay lenos garage" is one of the best internet sites.

cg

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:48 pm
by peterako

Video ready Jay Leno --

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:11 am
by Carlos A
The video is on. It is Great!

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/vid ... vid=984581

If you have time:

1. Watch it.
2. Vote for it with 5 stars, and
3. Leave a nice coment

Best

Carlos

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:29 am
by elancoupe
Well worth watching!

I especially like where Jay refers to the exhaust/engine --"Why would anyone listen to the radio when they could listen to this?" I have said that for years.

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:51 am
by garyeanderson
To bad Jay needs the income, I only got to watch the Jewery and makeup comercials before I gave up with dialup, I bet its a big money maker with the folks that watch this kind of thing.

Gary

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:59 am
by steveww
Great video 8)
Technically correct and entertaining. Good to hear him plugging the specialist suppliers, we all owe a great deal to them enabling us to keep our cars on the road.

I look forwards to the video on his white Elan.

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:39 pm
by gjz30075
Sounds like he's really going to hot rod the white one. 220hp, I think one of them said. I curious to know which engine transplant they plan to use for it. Hmmm, I wonder if Jim Hall has email?

Greg Z

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:09 pm
by GrUmPyBoDgEr
Thanks for posting that link Carlos.
I enjoyed watching it & have passed the link on.
My friends in GB have been having a chuckle at J.J's pronunciation of
"El aaan" :roll:

Cheers
John

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:20 pm
by peterako
A1!

And Jay's favourite daily driver :)

Where can I get a twin silencer like that for my +2??

I never tire of the twincam's sound 8)

Peter

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:20 pm
by ppnelan
8) Great :!:
An inspiration to any owner or prospective owner, and anyone who doesn't have weather or an Elan underside like that... :wink:

:arrow: Matthew

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:44 pm
by Barney
Great stuff even better with the volume turned right the way up!

Where do you get the 6-speed gearbox option mentioned in the piece?

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:50 pm
by Frank Howard
What a great video. Not to take anything away from it, but did anyone else spot these inconsistencies?

1. (HALL) ?Weber Carburetors that he mentioned over here; this is a European only option for this car?

When he says ?this car?, is he talking about Elans in general or is he talking about this particular Elan S4? As far as I know, the brand of carburetor was never a factory option that one could select when ordering a car. Plenty of US bound cars came equipped with Webers. The brand of carburetor was determined at the factory according to the emission requirements of the country of destination.

2. ?Here?s the key to the Lotus, also the Achilles heel some would say; is this steel frame. I mean, the only steel you have is here. Everything outward is just all fiberglass and everything kind of bolts to this. This is where all your electrical problems come from too because it?s hard to get a good ground out of these things.?

The steel frame is not the reason it?s hard to get a good ground. The steel frame is an excellent conductor of electricity. It?s the bad ground connections to the steel frame that promote grounding problems.

3. ?Now there are purists that say oh they love the rubber donuts because you?they slide and you feel when they?re going to let go??

When he says they slide, I can only guess he?s referring to the tires. The donuts have nothing to do with this or any part of the suspension. Owners who keep the donuts keep them because they covet originality and/or they?re avoiding the expense of converting to CV axles.

4. ?And it really is just rubber. You go around a corner, it?s just flexing in and out and like we said, some people liked it because you could feel when they?re about to let go. But they let go.?

Cornering will cause the donuts to flex in and out slightly with the camber changes associated with cornering however this flexing is not even perceptible. What is perceptible is the rubber band effect caused by the flexing of the donuts during acceleration. Nobody can ?feel? when the donuts are about to let go. A visual inspection is the only way to determine if they are nearing the end of their service life.

5. ?I?m not sure how many they built. Maybe 3,000 altogether.?

It?s my understanding that 12,224 were built.

6. ?0-60 in under 7 seconds.?

Jay?s own text claims 0-60 in 7.9 seconds for a factory stock car.

7. (HALL) ?They actually used the block as a test bed to develop their DFV race engine though which eventually became the DFX Indy motor so there?.you know, there?s a tie in.?

What? First of all, Lotus did not develop the DFV race engine. Cosworth Engineering developed it. Second, it is my understanding that Lotus? 1963 Indy motor had nothing to do with the 3 liter DFV or with Cosworth because it was a 4.2 liter pushrod design known as the Ford Falcon motor. For 1964 and 1965, twin cam heads were used on that same 4.2-liter block. I just find Hall?s claims difficult to believe. If someone knows anything else about this, please enlighten me.

8. ?Every option is available for these cars?plus they make 5-speed and 6-speed transmissions.?

A 6-speed transmission for an Elan? Where can I get one?

In addition to the upgrades that were mentioned, it appears that he purchased other upgrades from Bean. I noticed the Gustafson Super Starter, the oil cooler, and the cassette water pump. I also noticed some sort of chrome piece to the right of the glove box. Could that be a flexible map reading light? It appeared that the hazard switch was red and lighted and was displaced by a shift pattern plaque in front of the shifter. Anybody notice anything else?

Despite the 8 inconsistencies, I found the video to be quite enjoyable especially the sounds his car made on the road. And unlike many other celebrities, Jay is down to earth, willing to share his love for interesting cars with anyone who will listen. I think that more than anything; Jay would just like to be one of the guys. That may help explain his recent announcement that he will soon be leaving the Tonight Show.

Re: Jay Leno on the Elan FEB 2

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:03 pm
by RobL7/Elan
Excellent Video for sure! Just goes to show what you can do with an unlimited budget and a few professionals to assist. Lets see the White one.

Rob