Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Bump of Thread to remind UK viewers that its on tonight, Discovery RT (Real Time) Channel, 9:00pm. I know its avaiable to VirginMedia subscribers, can't speak for Sky/Freeview/Freesat.

Rgds
R

Watching it now... Scary, a bit of a botch job on the crack filling in the bodywork. Nice to see Sue Miller getting some publicity.

Car looks like a S3 with S4 badges?

Carl

I think this show is very much what you see is what you get. It is a bit of a gloss over. What it does illustrate quite well is how easy it is to be sold something that superficially looks great (?) ... I have watched a few of these shows. (I had the time recovering from a big op!) There are various times I have been cringing watching what I call bodges. Filler on top of rust-buster and a coat of paint. Lots of times... The difference here is the Lotus Elan 'restoration' is being discussed by, and do excuse this description but we are to a high extent, experts! We are bound to criticise & I too am worried about the paint job. It will not last. Even the very expensive top end jobs are liable to not last indefinitely.. It just won't happen.

I thought it was a ser'3 car. S4 badged. The rear did not look to right to me in some way but I could not put my finger on it. And by the way, there are a few bodgers around. I know one! Lives not too far from me. He set valve clearances with very thin shims and ground lumps of the valve tops also. NOT good work! But cheap!!

Good job he did not televise that eh!

Any Idea who bought it?... Poor soul!

AB....

Seemed like a lost opportunity when it would have been so simple to get rid of the S4 badges, paint it one colour and then have a nice looking S3 dhc. It would have cost less and have been worth more!

Mark

Alex,

I think the car had the wrong rear lights for an S3, they should be the larger ones as fitted to the Sprint.

Many years ago, my Elan had a cheap repaint with any cracks being covered with filler, it looked great for about two weeks until the filler started to shrink and I had little craters everywhere. It cost the body shop a fortune to put right...

Since then I have had the body completely stripped and done the job properly. One thing about the Elan body is that there are no quick (or cheap) ways to repair stress cracks...

Entertaining program all the same, I wonder what it will do to Elan values?

Carl

( How sad we are...)

I was thinking - were S4 bodyshells on an 'F' plate ? I'm wondering if its an original S3 that's been reshelled. It's got an S3 dash although an S4 body with stromberg bonnet but Weber cabs - although the bonnet pull seemed to work from the Headlamp switch (?)

I think I would classify it as a "bitsa". But it seemed to go well enough, & if the buyer is happy with it - who are we too complain ?

Regards
Richard

S4s did come out on an F plate (March 68) but that was a S3 shell (rear arches are different) with the wrong bonnet. It also had the S3 SS internal door handles....a bit sad that I noticed that.

The car was all S3 apart from the badge and the bonnet. It looked worse because of the 'Sprint' colours I think.

I'm thinking that the light switch was just another continuity problem.

Mark

Elanintheforest wrote:S4s did come out on an F plate (March 68) but that was a S3 shell (rear arches are different) with the wrong bonnet. It also had the S3 SS internal door handles....a bit sad that I noticed that.

The car was all S3 apart from the badge and the bonnet. It looked worse because of the 'Sprint' colours I think.

I'm thinking that the light switch was just another continuity problem.

Mark

I think you are right Mark.. No way on god's earth did the headlamp switch open the bonnet. Maybe the pull was goosed and they used something else for the pic's...

I also thought the rear panel of the car looked weird. Poss' just me but I thought it was wrong looking.. It is a bitsa methinks. It looked fine though. I think you are right also that It would have made a better ser'3 and been worth a bit more..

Hey ho..




AL'

Have to say i was cringing as he ground away then slapped in the filler hope sue miller was not watching him do that the hours she has spent preparing cars with mick. He made a whopping profit & the poor soul who bought it we need it done again in six months time.
Ian

elansprint wrote:He made a whopping profit

I doubt he did in reality, as they never take into account the labour involved.

Entertaining & enough to make us cringe but still fun cant help thinking that a lotus breaker might have supplied most of the parts jumble at some point. But hey the new owner can allways correct to its true format. Curly 1964 26Rr

Spin-off from the series - Wheeler Dealers Revisited, where they go back and see some of the cars they've done in the past, starts on Tuesday..

Robbie

I thought the praise given to the elan and its pedigree was second to none. I really enjoyed the program despite realising that there was a lot more work to getting that car turned around than they owned up to, and that the bodywork repairs they showed were superficial. The ease with which the trim was stripped seemed very different to my experiences on my own car, where everything was corroded in place and came away in pieces.

Regards.

Sean.

alaric wrote:I thought the praise given to the elan and its pedigree was second to none. I really enjoyed the program despite realising that there was a lot more work to getting that car turned around than they owned up to, and that the bodywork repairs they showed were superficial....
Regards.
Sean.

I entirely agree.

It was interesting.

The car appeared to be a S3 with S4 badges and front arches. Rear half of the shell and doors were certainly S3.

I appreciate it's only a TV programme but it annoys me the way so called car "restoration" is portrayed. The bodywork was basically a tart up and I'll be amazed if it lasts very long.

If that was worth ?17,000 it makes me wonder what a good one's worth?

Best bit .....the lovely Susan Miller, I always knew she was a star but now she's a TV star