introduction and new elan owner

[acrocco]

hi, my name is Alvaro i'm from a little country in South America named URUGUAY, i'm a big fan of the Lotus Brand, own since 1994 a lotus seven build here in my country, a cortina gt that i've been building to Lotus-Cortina Spec and yesterday i'm the excited buyer of the elan published in cars for sale section New Jersey (S4 1970 S/E LHD)
hope in a couple of months she arrive at my door.
i'm thinking in a nut and bolt restoration but the guy that sold it to me told that he would refurbish to let them as an original "runner"
hope you guys could help me since the car it's been in a garage for 20 years
kind regards to all of you and sorry about my english spelling, not practice since high school....
ps. i have a lot of elan books and i've just ordered the workshop manual ...

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Wow! a new member in Uruguay; welcome indeed, you may be the first member there.
I hope your new Elan arrives soon & safely.
Have fun.

Cheers
John

[MickG]

Hi Alvaro and welcome to the forum.
I am sure you will get plenty of advice from the members on here.
There is plenty for you to be looking at in the archives section; the little search box on the top right.
Kind regards
Mick G
PS dont worry about your english it's far better than my Spanish

[Elanintheforest]

Hello Alvero and welcome.
I have a suspicion that you have bought a very special car, being very original, one owner and low miles. This is rare in most 40 plus year old cars, and VERY rare for a Lotus Elan!

I would agree with Ted that it should be refurbished rather than restored if at all possible. That is, restore the hydraulics (brakes and clutch), strip and re-build the engine, carbs etc (to replace the gaskets and seals if nothing else) together with all the bushes, shocks etc.

If you are doing a full mechanical overhaul, it is very easy to lift the bodyshell off the chassis, and then access to all the mechanical parts is very simple. This will also allow you to inspect the chassis, and if OK, give it a lick of paint.

If the paintwork, interior, dash instruments etc. are all good, they could be just cleaned / polished to retain the originality of the car

But I'm sure you will decide what to do and how to approach it once you have the car at home.

Two more books to buy to make your life easy. The first is the Lotus Elan Parts manual, and the next is the book 'The Rebuilding of a Lotus Elan' by Brian Buckland.

Having those, as well as the workshop manual, will make your life much easier!

Mark

[billwill]

Welcome Alvaro.

Ted Taylor's photos show that it will be a great car when you get it running properly.

[pharriso]

Alvaro, welcome, we are here to help you with your restoration.

[el-saturn]

hi alvaro and welcome to the club. i've had my s3 elan since 30 years so maybe i can also help - greetings from switzerland sandy johnson

[acrocco]

thank to all you guys for the support, pherhaps you could give advice of suspension parts (bushes, balljoints, etc.) brake parts (seals, and pistons) and engine parts (spares for the strombergs, gaskets, water pump overhaul) so i could start winning some time and buying. i've download the paul matty catalog and price list, what do you guys think about buying from him. ?

[pharriso]

i've download the paul matty catalog and price list, what do you guys think about buying from him. ?

Paul Matty is a great source for Europe (along with Sue Miller) but is shipping easier from the States than Europe? If so try Dave Bean & RD Enterprises.

[elanner]

Don't forget to register it at http://www.elanregistry.org, where it will apparently be the second Elan on the South American continent.

Unrelated, I think it would be great if there was a handy link from this site to the registry, perhaps in the navigation bar at the top of the page?

Nick

[Mazzini]

Dear Alvaro,

Welcome to the forum! Great looking Elan ? congratulations! It's a real collectors piece.

I'll be in Buenos Aires on business for a week between the 4th and 22nd of March, the dates haven't been fixed, but if you fancy taking the ferry over I'd be happy to buy you a beer or three or if it's a weekend perhaps I can come across.

I gather there are three Elan's in Colombia, one RHD one owner car and a couple of ex-US cars. I believe some Lotus 7's were built under license in Argentina, but I've not seen one.

All the best,

[pharriso]

Buy this:

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/parts-for-sale-f33/lotus-elan-servive-manuals-t27274.html

You will need it!

I have no connection to the seller!

[elansprint71]

Welcome to the forum.

Mark suggested that you buy the Brian Buckland book- I would suggest that is an absolute must-have, especially as there are not too many Elans to look at in South America!

It can be obtained from Club Lotus, 82GBP including shipping to Uruguay, well worth it:

http://shop.clublotus.co.uk/products/11-Books/