Full S4 Restoration

[rickf]

I'm always amused when it's suggested that the Elan can be made quite servicable by replacing the chassis, body shell, drivetrain and wiring harness. It reminds me of the story of the museum that claimed to have the original hatchet that George Washington used to cut down his father's cherry tree (Yank mythology). Of course, it's had the handle replaced three times and the head twice, but it's the very one, nonetheless.

Seriously, a Plus2 goes for a little over the cost of a good paint job in the US. The 2 seaters seem to bring a few thousand more. It's a fine thing to restore a Lotus that might otherwise be lost, but it's more economical to buy one for half what someone's got it it. You'll need the money saved, if you intend to drive it. You have to look at it on a fun per dollar or pound basis.

[NCK381J]

Well, I must admit that I have looked at elan prices and concluded that it might be easier and cheaper to buy a car that has been done by someone else and repair as I enjoy a runner. Problem is that my plan is not just to own an Elan, it is to learn about how to restore one, own one - and finally one day take it on a classic journey abroad somewhere.

I have bought a hobby and I would like to think that the journey through the restoration will be entertainment in its own right, before I even get to drive the car. I do hope I like the drive when I get to it!

So, you could say that the whole plan is hand on heart first, wallet second (only up to a point mind).

Interested to see that you can convert to a big valve specification, is this a raft of complicated changes or a short simple list ? "johnmo" been there and done that - was it tricky ?

Brian Buckland and the "Lotus Bible", any timing on the availbility of this as I am keen to read a copy - any thoughts on the publisher / web site where it might be made available. Brian are you out there and reading this forum ?

Oh, and a simple question for the experienced, the car battery is flat as a pancake the locks won't turn, so how do you get in? Taking the windscreen out seems a bit laborious .... :rolleyes:

Finally, is there an easy way to post/add pics - if at all ?

Cheers,

George (NCK381J - one day a roadgoing S4 FHC owner)

[steveww]

If you are having the cylinder head reworked anyway then may as well go for the bigger valves but the Sprint valve sizes are only worh about 1bhp so no point doing it just for that. If you want a bit more power while rebuilding the engine find someone (or learn yourself) that can do a good flow job on the head there is plenty of power available in there. Unless you want to go racing just stick with the standard Sprint/SE cam, to make use of other cams available the engine needs to rev over 6500 and for this it will need a steel bottom end, very expensive.