Exhaust Oddities

[LL]

Hello all,

Me again. This Elan of mine is very, very strange and wondering if you might offer any wisdom. It's puportedly a Sprint but has what appears to be toggle switches on the dash and now, it appears had a S3 silencer fitted to it. The Sprint silencer unfortunately doesn't fit the car and according to the mechanic it doesn't look like a S4 will either.

The Car has S4 rear end and tail lights and squared off rear arches etc. Full big valve running gear etc.

Can anyone think of a reason why a S4 would have a S3 boot floor? I'm going to have to resort to the S3 exhaust if I can't sort it out. Bizarre.

[types26/36]

Probably not what you want to hear but could it be built out of a couple of cars? do you know any of its history/prevous owners what are its eng/chassis numbers? I like these Lotus mysteries, tell us some more,you may well have one of Colins or Clarks secret projects
Brian

[twincamman]

mine looked different and it turned out to be a 26R s2 # 33 ---but-I didn't know it when i dragged it out of a barn ---so good luck - ed

[LL]

Pretty sure it's not a 26R... Pity..

I also find it difficult to believe it's made out of two cars when I have 20 years of history and also photo's of the body off restoration. It just doesn't make sense how the whole body shouts S4 except for the underneath where the exhaust mounts. Was anyone producing after market bodies perhaps?

As I'm totally new to Elans I wouldn't know what I'm looking at really. I will try and take some photo's and post them for comment.

[marcfuller]

It is difficult to imagine a Sprint having a S3 (1966-67) dash retrofitted. But perhaps a DPO had a toggle fetish. Other than the upper rear clip why do think it is an S4/Sprint? What are the build/order, engine and unit or VIN numbers?

[rgh0]

I know of one S2 in Australia that has had a S4 top rear graft on as a result of an accident. Perhaps your car has had a simialr repair many year ago. Have a close look inside the boot for signs of a join between the boot floor and rear body panel.

Rohan

[sk178ta]

What year was it first registered?

[LL]

Car was first registered in 70, chassis number indicates it's a 70. Car is a G reg.

Got bill of sale docs from a dealer indicating it's a Sprint but after earlier discussions on here I'm not sure if it's a genuine Sprint or a dealer assembled one.

I know it's weird, very weird. I am guessing it's had a ding on the underside rear at some point and perhaps had an S3 portion grafted on. I really don't know will get it checked out by the Lotus register to see if I can gather some further info.

At the end of the day, I went against originality (what is that on this car anyway?! ) and fitted a round glasspack/cherry bomb type silencer from a different car. Sounds wonderful, much better than the S3 type and better than the Sprint one I got from Paul Matty although not the same quality. Car actually sounds like it should now, well similar to the ones I've listened to at Goodwood etc so I'm a happy bunny.

Cheers,
Neil

[trw99]

Neil

It sounds like whatever you do have, it is not a Sprint.

The Sprint concept was announced in October 1970 at the Motor Show. The Sprint started to be manufactured in January 1971 for release in February 1971. Therefore only cars with unit numbers starting with 7101 are generally considered true Sprints.

However, the earliest Sprints, used for development and as press demonstrators, were manufactured in late 1970. I only know of one 1970 car, starting with 7012, indicating a December build date. Sprints therefore tend to have original registarion numbers on J, K, L or - a few - M. Your G registration is off a '68/69 car, but of course may not be the original number. If your unit number is 70???????? then it is an S4, which would mean the toggle switches are not original.

Of course, quite a few S4s have subsequently been converted to Sprint specification with the big valve engine, diff strengthening etc. If you can give us the full unit number, we may be able to pin this down further.

Tim

[sotul86]

My car had a S3 damper at first bought me a new S4 double silencer sounds wonderful... it fitted to my boot floor can?t see why You couldn?t do the same...

[LL]

Oops. My mistake. Being from down under I don't really understand British plates too well. The car is actually an 'H' reg, not G. I was thinking the first letter on the plate was the reg being used to newer cars forgetting it was the last in the older ones. Guess this agrees with the 1970 chassis number.

I'll enquire with the lotus register to see if they can help as the car has definitely been sold twice, by dealers (which could have serious implications if the goods are not as described) as a Sprint.

Anyway to be honest I'm not bothered, it's my wifes car and she loves it. If it was mine I guess I'd be more particular. As the car has had a body off resto at least once I would be suprised if the dash was changed at some point. It is weird though how the car can have a S3 dash and S3 exhaust aperture but the rest indicates S4.

[LL]

One thing I'd like to add, if any of you have pictures of the rear of an S3 and the rear of an S4/Sprint I'd appreciate a link. The exhaust aperture on mine is about 1/2 the size of the S4 pictures I've been shown and to the right of the exhaust aperture is another recess sort of triangular shaped. It appears to have no function whatsoever. It kind of looks like a location for a towing eye for track use but there is no hole in the body.

What's the best book to buy to show me all the variations? Is there an "Original Lotus Elan" style book ala Jag/MG etc?

[LL]

Hi all,

Please check out my gallery, I have uploaded some photo's of the rear of the Elan. Would appreciate comments. Also the chassis plaque. You can see that the car appears to be the 6th built in Jan 1970 and is a UK Export model. On the top of the plaque right hand side are the words "Type 45".

From the docs on this site it seems the number system was changed at pretty much exactly this point so might explain the Type 45. Appreciate comments. I gather it could also be a replacement plate, btdt on previous cars myself during restoration.

You can also see the dashboard. Sorry about the quality of the photo's - mobile phone.

Cheers,
Neil

[marcfuller]

Looked at your photos - from the lower rear valance, boot latch, dash, top dash vents, it looks to me more like a Series 3. Series 4 had the large boot latch handle, and with the unit number shown in the photo it would have had the two smaller dash top defroster vent grilles, not the large single grille covering the defroster vents and speaker.

I can't make it out in your photo, but does your car have the small round vents in the A pillar trims? Also does it use one or two bonnet release handles?

The best single book to cover all the detail changes is Robinshaw & Ross's "The Original Lotus Elan 1962-1973"

The triangular shaped recess you refer to in the rear lower valence locates, supports and fastens the fuel tank.

[LL]

Yes I see the S3 pointers, but how would the squared off wheel arches, tail lights and S4 chassis number fit with that? I'm coming to the conclusion the car has had a lot of work done on it over the years and not much of it sympathetic to the cars type!