Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I'm pretty sure no S1's came with K/O wheels but I have seen a '64 26R in Miles Wilkin's Twin Cam book with K/O wheels. What is the concensus if I put K/O wheels on a '64 S1 because I have a spare set available and I like the look? Is this a period correct mod? Will it hurt the value of the car? Should I keep it 100% original?
All comments welcome.
Regards,
Ray

Its bolt on stuff. Just bolt other stuff on if prospective buyer mentions it..

KO's came out in '65.

But as the car you mention is a 26R it would have knock on wheels-just not the same wheels, hubs or knock-offs that you have.

Going from bolt on to knock on wheels you will have to change the hub, spindle, bearings etc., spindles and bearings for knock on wheels are larger.

I just did this on my S3 SS Coupe which was built with bolt on wheels, all bits removed are saved.

I have a full set of Series 3 K/O hubs/suspension and wheels which I could put on the S1 but I will definately keep all the original parts if I decide to go this way. Thanks for all the comments so far.
Regards,
Ray

KO wheels for road cars appeared as a Special Equipment (S/E) option with the S3 FHC and the later S2 cars, as mentioned already in 1965. 26Rs had K/O wheels and hubs available from the start but I think they were a different pattern from the road car type. There will be others who can confirm this, no doubt. The advantage of fitting them to a series 1 car, apart from the ease of changing wheels (how often do you do that?) is the availability of larger brake calipers. Technically the K/O wheels for the road cars was always an S/E option rather than standard, however I have only ever seen a few S4 cars with bolt-on wheels, many more S3s though.

Nigel F.