67 Elan

[Chuck Nukem]

Hello everyone,

Several weeks ago I acquired my Elan from another forum member. I would have posted sooner, but I have been having far too much fun driving this little thing! After discussing the car with Roger over the phone made the trip down and drove the car back to the Dallas area from its former residence in Houston.

I have done some minor work including changing the shocks & springs, front TTR, rear Koni yellow. I changed the rear tubes to the TTR adjustable units. I picked up a CV conversion to replace my donuts of which one was starting to show some fatigue. I had the car on the dyno yesterday and managed 109hp to the rear wheels.

I have a collection of Europas which are all in various states of disrepair, so this is actually my first running Lotus! 8 years later I finally learned my lesson and bought a working car at the recommendation of a friend...In addition to putting about 1500 miles on it the car since the purchase, it has also been used on the farm for livestock herding in Jim Clark fashion.

I'm looking forward to the adventure!

[SENC]

Excellent, and welcome!

[Bombay Racing Green]

Hi Chuck,

Great to see you over here! Always enjoy your posts on the Europa forum (Bodzer).

Regards,

[Chuck Nukem]

CV joints are in and they certainly make a difference. The car seems tighter and has less vibration. When it was sitting on the jack stands the wheels turn over more easily - though I wonder how much of that feeling is due to the extreme angle on the donuts. The peace of mind is worth the price...

Time to enjoy the car for a while!!! My goodness it's nice to have at least one running Lotus that is not a forever project!

[mbell]

Time to enjoy the car for a while!!! My goodness it's nice to have at least one running Lotus that is not a forever project!

Time to use all that positive running lotus energy to get the others going or maybe the pickup together and gone. Think of the parts you can buy with the money from the truck....

[The Veg]

Welcome Chuck! Sounds like much fun for sure! +1 For showing your Europae some love too.

[Chuck Nukem]

Welcome Chuck! Sounds like much fun for sure! +1 For showing your Europae some love too.

Thanks! I can't wait to explore the differences between these two cars. The Elan is so delightful. It has suddenly caused the Europa to seem like a wide car...

I recently ordered the high torque starter from RD to solve the noisy and intermittent starting that seems to be a common issue from the factory unit. I am gradually working up confidence in the car to take a long road trip in the coming months.

[Chuck Nukem]

Tonight I changed my original starter out with the RD high torque unit. I highly recommend the unit as it transformed starting my car in to a reliable non event! It had gotten to the point that the starter would stick when hot and I would have to rock the car back and forth in gear to unstick it every time.

[Famous Frank]

Chuck,

Many Congratulations! Elan, ........... Europa, ............. it doesn't matter. They are both fantastic cars and even better when you can drive them.

Enjoy and keep telling us the good news!
Frank

[Chuck Nukem]

Thank you Frank!

[gjz30075]

Hope you checked your ring gear, too.

And Welcome! I love your progress.

[SENC]

Tonight I changed my original starter out with the RD high torque unit. I highly recommend the unit as it transformed starting my car in to a reliable non event! It had gotten to the point that the starter would stick when hot and I would have to rock the car back and forth in gear to unstick it every time.

It's easy to see why with those teeth!

[Chuck Nukem]

Hope you checked your ring gear, too.

And Welcome! I love your progress.

The ring gear looked ok from my vantage, but I probably should have tried to inspect the back face with a mirror... It seems to crank over just fine, but if I quickly end up with another trashed starter gear I will change it out next time....

[Frankster1955]

Chuck,
Beautiful canary Elan. Well done.
Thank you for input MBELL.
Me? Delayed by Christmas. Ordered TTR front and rear for fast road with new tubes and springs and bolts. 800 USD plus VAT and shipping. These are yet to arrive.
What torque do you recommend to tighten shocks down?
I did not think to order spring top caps. Should I?
Its time to get an impact wrench. Is there anything on the car that requires more than 160 ft pounds? Thinking of buying an electric vs pneumatic. Saves space.
Frankster1955

[The Veg]

They shouldn't charge you VAT being outside the UK.

Caps- yes if the new springs are a different diametre to the old ones.

I put the TTR setup on my Plus 2 a couple of years ago and haven't done many miles but have been pleased with it so far. Only gripe is that no instruction-sheet for installation came with it!