Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Enjoying the winter months to work on my Elan, I was planning to do some woodwork and replace the dashboard. Quite a few surprises lurked underneath.







Another surprise is the headlamp relays and microswicthes are nowhere to be found, and the starter solenoid was hidden behind the firewall. Go figure.

No surprise the feed wire to the ignition switch almost melted to disaster.

Some of the hackwork was done to install a TR3 ammeter; the car had a known history of electrical problems draining the battery. Perhaps setting things right would have been a smarter solution.

The part of the harness that hasn't been tampered with is in good shape. It will be worth replacing the incorrect wires. www.britshwiring.com can supply the required wires, terminals and whatnots needed for this surgery, and I have plenty of time until Spring. The car is fitted with a 4 position fuse box; I plan to integrate the 4 fuses in the circuit (one position is free) and relieve the ignition switch from unnecessary loads.

I do need some information.

Is it typical for a S4 to be fitted with a RB106 regulator? Can somebody supply a photo of a factory installed RB106 on a LHD car?

Also, can somebody supply a photo of the headlamp relays and microswitches installation?

Moral of the story: know what is hidden behind your dashboard.

Can't say I'm surprised. I found all kinds of bad wiring in my father's Elan. I'm now in the process of replacing it all with a Painless wiring harness (reliability is preferred over authenticity in this case).

I don't think I can help with your current questions, but if I'm able to in the future, I'd be happy to help... I'm also closer to you geographically than a lot of people on here.

yvesmontreal wrote:Is it typical for a S4 to be fitted with a RB106 regulator? Can somebody supply a photo of a factory installed RB106 on a LHD car?

A 1969 car should have an RB340...

yvesmontreal wrote:Also, can somebody supply a photo of the headlamp relays and microswitches installation?

Does your car have a single vacuum actuator (i.e. failsafe) or 2?

Here's s photo of the relays:


Micro-switch position depends on if it's a failsafe car or not

My car is non-failsafe, two actuators; having been sold in Canada it is essentially a UK spec car with LHD.

Thanks for the photo.

Yvres,

Like car fixer, I was horrified by what I found behind th dash. I am more concerned with avoiding a fire than originality. I have rewired and installed more fuses and earths (grounds)

Richard Hawkins

I would say Lotus is one of the few makes where a totally original car is not desirable.

It's going to have more fuses all right. I'll keep the Lucas 4 fuse box but I will add more fuses near relays.

This is the fuse box going into my father's car. Granted it's more than is needed, but there's only 1 fuse that won't be used.