Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

And so the puzzle begins. After taking ownership 11 years ago of a mice infested, walnut filled, paint peeled, oily, fire damaged, top cut off because the previous owner liked the sun, I have finally begun the re-assembly process. Bringing it home from the paint shop tomorrow night. A big thanks for several list members who have offered advice and encouragement off list. You know who you are! Motor and transmission should be in the restored chassis by this weekend. Body on the frame next week and then it is rummaging through crates trying to find all the bits and pieces. Yea Baby!!

Mike Summers
Nor California

Brilliant... Well done. Pics please... Keep us all posted....

It is soooo worth the effort..


AB ....

+1 to what Alex said, and can we have colour pics or is it shiny grey? Enjoy!!

I will be watching this thread closely. I bought my car in very poor condition about 10 years ago and am finally getting back to the restoration. Your project will be a great inspiration.

Nick

Mike, total kudos to you for putting back the top/hood. The way it should be, if it came that way.

Greg Z

Great, we can help you with your new game "where does this part fit?..."

Yup well worth it after 5 years ......now it's time for a painless wire harness as the wiring harness is not reliable ....enjoy the journey it never ends

Just some minor updates..........the chassis has been powder coated after getting re enforced in the most of the areas via this site archives. Rear end installed after being checked, painted and new seals. New u joints. All calipers rebuilt, new brake lines made and installed. All of the emergency parking brake rods, plated, lubed and installed with new cable. New motor and transmission mounts. New modern starter and alternator. I had the motor and transmission in but was having trouble getting to sleep at night wondering how long it would be before the original rope seal motor started leaking. I hate leaks, I really do. So after several months of agonizing, I sourced enough parts to convert the motor to a lip sea. The motor, minus head, and trans will back in the car this weekend. After reading Mini64's resto story, I just ordered the closed cell foam to mount on the chassis. Great blog BTW. The body comes home Friday on a flatbed, and the color is Cirrus White. Oh, twincamman, I have a new British Wiring harness. Also having a friend set up the bump steer before we mount the body. That was the first photo I have posted in a bit and not sure why the pic was so small?? I am using Image Shack, any suggestions on how to bump up the size? Whew, that is all for the moment.............

Exciting times Mike. Good to see it close to being on the road.

Where do you find a new harness????.

twincamman wrote:Where do you find a new harness????.

Ed, check with Mike to confirm, but I think he means these guys...

http://www.britishwiring.com/Lotus-s/11.htm

I think they were affiliated with an outfit in the UK called Autosparks, but might be somewhat separate now. Located in Bally, Pennsylvania, and ship products to the USA and Canada. There is some info on their 'About' page here...

http://www.britishwiring.com/aboutus.asp

I ordered a few small items from these guys and they are good. I ordered over the phone, but I see they have upgraded their web site now for interweb ordering. Might want to phone to confirm a few details to ensure the loom meets your specific needs and includes all loom sections?

Car looks great Mike. All the best with the project.

HTH

Thanks ...looks better than my plan ....I could not buy the wire for the prices there ...have to go back to bullet. Connectors ......Ed

Good day all
I did not buy a whole loom, but I did buy supplies from this place to repair my fire damaged wiring.

http://www.autosparks.co.uk

Also when they have not been able to supply items this company are another source.

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu

The web site is not as slick but the product range is outstanding.

Jon the Chief

So, made it home from the paint shop without damage............nicely tucked away in the garage. Tomorrow is painting and installing the oil pan, mating up with the gearbox and installing in the chassis. Also going to hunt down the parts to install a remote slave cylinder bleeder that will reduce the cursing and cramped hands. Anyone know the original color of the air plenum (spelling?) box under the dash?

Mike

Mike

Car looks really nice, well done!

The Plenum chambers as far as I know were always raw fibreglass colour (straight out of the mould) but look best if you spray some Matt black on the inside where you can see into it from the little chrome vent on the bulkhead. Most cars have the body colour on the inside but this is more to do with overspray when they were originally painted.
The Matt black gives a much better background to the chrome grille than the body colour or even the bare fibreglass and looks better(IMHO).

Hope that helps


Adam