New to me Elan finally arrived!!!!

PostPost by: GreekS1 » Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:34 pm

Hi!
Well I am officially very excited! My elan has finally arrived in Greece! I purchased it over a month ago from the UK. Had some work done to it by the dealer from which I bought it, then had it shipped to Athens, Greece. Last Friday the call came that the container had landed!!!

Importing a car to Greece is quite a long and laborious (and costly) process. Today was the first time I saw it as I had to be present in the opening of the container? What can I say, I was overwhelmed. After 2 years of searching and gathering the funds I finally had her!

Sadly no photos where allowed as the car is still in customs and will remain there for about a week!!!! You can understand my anxiety as the car is now in an open car park with nothing but a cover to protect it from weather and bad eyes!!!!!

She is a 1967 cirrus white S3 FHC SE. She has been totally restored and is in great condition.
I had an s1 elise until 3 months ago which I had to sell in order to get the elan. This made sense since it was the elan that I really wanted from the beginning!!

Well, a problem did occur when we attempted to start her after a month of inactivity and she couldn?t turn over. The battery is done so I am asking if anyone can recommend an uprated modern one for replacement. I think I can only find modern ie non specialised batteries here.. Is there anything I should look out for or is it just a case of finding one in the right size?

I am also looking for an s3 hanbook and toolkit by the way!

Thats it for now.. Ill post pics as soon as I get them?

Thanks for a great site and source of info!

I think I should change my name to GreekS3 now!!

Cheers

Vassilis
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PostPost by: frearther » Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:24 pm

Congratulations, Vassilis. You are a man of rare patience to work that hard. Regarding the battery, I simply find a good quality modern battery of the right size. I once had mine mounted it in the trunk (boot), but it has now found its proper home behind the right hand seat.

You will enjoy this forum - the people are friendly, although some of us occasionally indulge in a bit of ribaldry :lol:
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PostPost by: johnsimister » Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:03 pm

The S3's battery is meant to be in the boot...

Is this the lovely white S3 fhc that Sussex Sports Cars had for sale? If so, you have a very nice car.

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PostPost by: mac5777 » Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:07 am

Congratulations, GreekS3
My 66 S3 coupe was originally white and had a lawn tractor battery. I had a problem finding a small 12 volt battery. I finally found that Miata has one that is a stock item and is available here in the US and probably over there also. I stuck on a lotus badge for fun.
It fit in the boot and fit the original attachments points.
Enjoy,,, Sarto
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PostPost by: GreekS1 » Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:52 pm

Thanks alot for your answers guys!!

Yes its the one from sussex sportscars :D ! After seeing 4-5 cars this one felt right!

Thanks for the battery suggestions as well. Sarto, just to clarify, you mean that a stock Mazda Miata battery will fit just right? Nice touch with the badge btw :wink:

a questions regarding the forum:
how do I change my name to GreekS3?
:lol:

Vassilis
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2000 Elise S1 - Sold

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PostPost by: mac5777 » Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:32 pm

GreekS1, a Miata dealership in the San Francisco bay area sold me the pictured battery and said that it fits some of the Miatas but not all of the years. It may have been the earlier models. But they did carry them in the parts department.
As added protection, I padded the fender wall behind the battery and made sure the battery was secured and did not move or bump up against the fiberglass fender on hard turns.
It has been in for 5 years with no problems.

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PostPost by: Leo Leentvaar » Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:32 pm

Greek s1/3 congratulations on the arrival of your new baby. I hope you enjoy it.
I am no expert here, but to the best of my knowlegde it is important that the battery that sits in the Boot(UK)/Trunk(US) is not too large and can't move. If it knocks about it can damage the rear panel from the inside(it will start to show crazing of the paint on the outside and finally will damage the glassfibre reinforced polyester shell).
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PostPost by: GreekS1 » Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:11 pm

Thank you for your answers and nice words!
I am still waiting for the car to clear customs... :evil:
Hope I will have it for the weekend... I will update as well as post photographs!
I've already booked a regularity event for next weekend on the mountains...
Should be fun! :D
Cant seem to be able to change my name yet....
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PostPost by: GreekS1 » Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:09 pm

Hi all!

well after 2 weeks delay at customs (which I have to pay storage fee for :?: ) it seems that I am going to pick up my car tommorow....
I mus say am nervous as I have booked a regularity event for this weekend on the montains.. the start is about 3 hours drive from where I live in a picturesque village of Karpenissi. Hopefully all will go well but It will be the first time I'm driving the rhd car in Greece and in a (mildly) competetive event!! I will post pics when I get back...

Any last minute checks besides the obvious fluids electrics anyone can think of would be much appreciated!

I aslo bought a battery to fit to the elan... L21cm x W14cm but the height is about 21cm and Im not sure it will fit... :roll: here's hoping..

Wish me luck! (aka no 'incidents')!

thanks

Vassilis
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PostPost by: peterako » Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:38 pm

:)

Good luck!

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PostPost by: Elanintheforest » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:43 pm

Hi Vassilis
I?ve had my ?67 S3 S/E Coupe for quite a while?just thought I?d put some pictures up so you can compare!

I have a story concerning my Plus 2 with a BDA, and a Greek gentleman. Back in 1971, the owner of my Plus 2 ran a Lotus tuning shop in North London?Dave Smith Engineering. He was contacted one day by a chap from Athens who had a Twincam Escort, and he wanted a competitive engine to enter a number of rallies in England and around Europe. And he was going to drive the Escort over to London, but leave the original engine in Athens?.something to do with very expensive import duty on parts. He was going to be in London in 3 days, and the first rally started in 5 days?.could Dave Smith Engineering help?

An agreement was made, and the engine was pulled from what is now my Plus 2, as a new engine couldn?t be obtained in time. It was built to race spec over the 3 days, and sure enough, the Escort twincam turned up, belching smoke and dripping oil and sounding very unwell. The guy from Athens had installed an old, and very tired sidevalve engine from a 100E Prefect in order to get his car, and himself, the 2400 kms over to England in 3 days! Apparently it took a day to clean the oil from the engine bay before they could install the engine.

I don?t know what happened to the Escort, but I?ll bet it ended up back home in Athens. If you come across a twincam Escort in the area, ask if it had a ?new? engine installed in England in 1971?.if it did, tell him I?d like it back now!

Good luck with your new purchase, I?m sure you?ll have a lot of fun with the car.

Mark
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PostPost by: GreekS1 » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:57 pm

Mark:
Interesting story!! Ill keep an eye out for that. There are some tc escorts beiing raced over here, ill see if I can find out more, maybe its in the same ownership...

Your elan looks great! :D :D (great colour :D )


Peter: Efxaristo!

:D
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PostPost by: Leo Leentvaar » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:18 pm

Kalispera Greek S1/3, can't wait to see pictures of your new car in Greece and hope you have much fun with it. :wink:
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PostPost by: GreekS1 » Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:18 am

Latest update?
Got back from the regularity rally this weekend!
Car is great! This was the longest I?ve ever driven an elan and I loved it! In total we did about 600 miles.
Before the off we had some problems?
1. Webbers need tuning as they are running rich, this results in constant banging from the exhaust when I lift the throttle. This will be cured today at a specialist.
2. I changed the battery but as the car has a generator it does not charge well. Is that correct? Should I change to an alternator instead?
3. Water temp gauche doesn?t work.
4. Ignition key lock isn?t stable (turns round and round) and when the car is on I can easily take it out without the car turning off. Same for the glove box lock
5. The front LH sidelight (clear) lens fell off somewhere.
During the rally:
1. The exhaust was always scarping the ground on rough surfaces :cry:
2. LH window stuck closed and later worked its way half open
3. Finally, my own stupid fault, in pressing the boot lid down to make it lock I made a hairline crack across the ?T? of the LOTUS logo!!!!!! :cry: :cry: :cry:
4. It consumed very little oil.
All in all though I LOVE the car!!!! It is my first proper classic and I am amazed by its drivability, handling, and compactness!

and finally... some pictures! :lol:

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PostPost by: peterako » Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:50 am

The car looks great!

And now....you've been bitten by the Lotus Elan Bug!

I've driven a LOT of different cars and my Lotus is still up there as my favourite :) Warts and all!

An attempt at some 'answers' embedded in your post below...

GreekS1 wrote:Before the off we had some problems?
1. Webbers need tuning as they are running rich, this results in constant banging from the exhaust when I lift the throttle. This will be cured today at a specialist.
2. I changed the battery but as the car has a generator it does not charge well. Is that correct? Should I change to an alternator instead?

Peter - I have an alternator and have never (yet) had electrical problems other than ones related to bad earths.

3. Water temp gauche doesn?t work.

Peter - Is it connected to the sender (at the thermostat housing on the passenger side of the engine)?

4. Ignition key lock isn?t stable (turns round and round) and when the car is on I can easily take it out without the car turning off. Same for the glove box lock

Peter - Hmm. I know that my iginition lock only loosly holds on to the ignition barrel. When I have the panelling under teh steering wheel off It is VERY easy to disconnect one from the other....

5. The front LH sidelight (clear) lens fell off somewhere.

Peter - If you know the route......:)

During the rally:
1. The exhaust was always scarping the ground on rough surfaces :cry:

Peter - I had this problem all teh time, even when changing to Protech Adjustable front shocks and springs. BUT...I had to change my shocks recently and got some Tony Thompsons Fast Road shocks with springs from Sue Miller. The rates and damping is specifically for the Elan (and +2) and now teh car very rarely bottoms out....same height settings etc. :)
And....our roads in Ireland are a good match for poor condition to some of yours if not worse :cry:

On top of that I live near a town called Athlone.....-> Athleon?

2. LH window stuck closed and later worked its way half open

Peter - On my list of things to do is a lazy driver's side window. It may be worth looking at the earthing. I'll probably put relays in to bring cleaner power to the window motor.

3. Finally, my own stupid fault, in pressing the boot lid down to make it lock I made a hairline crack across the ?T? of the LOTUS logo!!!!!! :cry: :cry: :cry:

Peter - You should see my car :D

4. It consumed very little oil.

Peter - Same here.....and what oil it does consume is from the breather pipe....becuase STUPID me pushed pushed out the gauze from the breather pipe when rebuilding the engine 10,000 milea ago....must rectify this.... :roll:

All in all though I LOVE the car!!!! It is my first proper classic and I am amazed by its drivability, handling, and compactness!

Peter - I feel your joy :D

and finally... some pictures! :lol:


Peter
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