New Owner

[RobertCrooks]

Yesterday, I became the proud owner of a 1966 S3 Coupe. It's been off the road for 20 years, but has recently had an engine rebuild by QED and brake and suspension overhaul. It shouldn't take a lot mechanically to get it back on the road. It needs an interior refit, but came supplied with a complete carpet set, and will need a complete respray. It is currently blue, but was originally lime green I believe. I am thinking of BRG as a future colour, but don't know wherther this was an original Lotus colour for that year.

I will post some pictures over the next few days.

Robert

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Hi Robert,

congratulations & good luck!
Most importantly when the carpets etc. are out of the way, go through the Electrics with a fine tooth Comb, front to back, top to bottom.
Make sure everything is perfect & you're on your way to some fun Elan ownership.

Often overlooked but fundamental
Cheers
John

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Robert and welcome. An early S3 Coupe is certainly worth resurrecting as they are fast becoming one of the more desirable Elans. Do post some pictures up when you can.

You?ll find the original colour when you start to scrape around in the nooks and crannies. It?s unlikely to have been Lime Green originally as that wasn?t introduced until the Elan Sprint in 1971 as a standard colour, and wasn?t a colour seen much at all on any car before the late 60s / early 70s. But you never know, as an Elan could be ordered in any colour you like.

I like the BRG on an Elan, and it was a standard colour. However, it does make what is already a hard-to-see car nearly invisible on today?s roads. It may be worth considering something a bit brighter if you?re going to use the car a lot in traffic. The yellow, red, white and French blue colours were all standard and make the car stand out a little better.

You?ll find a wide variety of experience on this forum, whether you want to restore the car to standard specification or modify it. Don?t be afraid to ask! There are also several excellent books on the Elan that provide maintenance, restoration and historical information.

Good luck with the project.

Mark

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Very sound advice from Mark (as usual)
I struggled with the choice of colour for my Elan during it's rebuild.
It was the longest decision that I had to make in the whole project.
(Me being quite Colourblind doesn't help of course )
I do like the darker colours, I think they bring out the shape of the Car better than the lighter ones but!
Safety has to be uppermost in your mind in such a small Car in today's traffic & you must make yourself seen & heard.
I settled for a medium metallic Blue, about as dark as I dared, considering the above.
The S3 is my favourite Elan

Cheers
John

[RobertCrooks]

Here are a few pics. I'll post some more in the gallery whe the resporation gets underway.

Robert

[adigra]

Lovely! S3 coupe is my favourite Elan as well, and I must say the pre-airflow has real purity that suits the shape really well. I quite like the colour it is now, but having myself gone for a period blue I can entirely understand wanting an originally offered colour.

Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Adi

[stugilmour]

Very nice Robert and welcome aboard.

Here is a link that shows a lot of the original colours.

http://www.lotus-europa.com/colors.html

This link is to a column by Peter Egan, a well known US auto and bike writer. Might get a kick out of where he got his BRG paint code for his Elan.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/column/the- ... f-the-body

[Old English White]

Very nice car, Robert.
And welcome on this forum .
I hope you ll stuck on original color , if you are able to discover it , under the previouses paint coats or by asking the Lotus work , as they may have some infos . I am not sure about lime green on pre-aiflow (but old english white on mine wasn't standard too !)
About Minilite's , they are still produced . Just click :
http://www.minilitewheels.com/applicati ... make=LOTUS
Christian.

[Elan45]

Congrats on your new toy Robert. The pre-airflow FHCs are the prettiest of all Elans. I was lucky that the original color on mine was red, so I have no quandary in deciding what color I will paint it. My plans include real leather in the interior and a fine wool headliner. Look at the Sports Car Graphic period road test that's available on this web site. That's what made me want an Elan 45 years ago.

Roger