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I just wanted to introduce myself as the new owner of 520Y which I believe has graced these pages a couple of time. I have been looking for a project for a while now, and although originally after a late Eclat they seem to be few and far between, so moved on a year to get an early Excel. I bought the car from Mark at the start of March and drove it the 155 miles back home - which it coped with admirably. My intention is to gradually bring it up to a better standard, although in a time frame that wont annoy my wife too much! Things started this weekend with replacing the speedo drive cable - although I suspect the problem was just that the old one was not seated …

Greetings everyone! Hopefully you will have seen my recent introduction in the Intro section. Some background (It’s a bit long, hope it isn’t to boring) I recently rescued an S1 Elite, I have know about the car (down on a farm) for sometime, just sitting there, quietly, owner lost interest. Have to be honest an Elite is not my first choice Lotus. What I want is an Esprit S3, have done ever since they came out. But, every time I saw the Elite she grew on me a little more. Two weeks ago, whilst visiting a friend, he told me that the farmer was unhappy that the owner of the car wasn’t bothered with the car and in the next hr was going to remove it, and not in a sy…

These cars are so inexpensive. They look great out and about. .. But they have their weaknesses. But everything cam be fixed. Almost everything. Here's the replacement chassis - just need to fit it, and repair every little problem I find on the way.

Hi thought I had posted here but can’t find anything. So have just bought 1976 Elite that has had a lot of its mechanical parts overhauled probably 12 years ago. No interior fitted or glass. First night google reg number and it came up with this.....

Not to get too bogged down with backstory: I've been on an endurance racing team that runs a heavily modified Elite for about 9 years now. The Elite has grown near and dear to my heart, so I've had an eye out for a half-way decent, road-going one for years. Last March, I had a work trip to the North Carolina/Virginia area (to drive a Radical SR3 at Virginia International Raceway, but that's another story ). I have two brothers, one of whom lives in that area, so rather than a quick out-and-back trip, as my coworkers did, I scheduled my trip a few days early to spend time with family. Not even 48 hours before I was to start the trip, I saw this post on Facebook: …

Thought I'd start this thread to keep track of my progress with this car, and to have some discussion on it. Tech questions I'll probably keep on tech-specific threads but we'll just see how this evolves. So, after living in Japan for 10 years and building a few cars including a Mitsubishi Evo I, a Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) and most recently a 550+bhp Mitsubishi Evo III, I've made my way back to England and got hold of this little beauty. Quite a few of you out there know the history of this car (owned by Team Lotus for 5 years, driven by Nigel Mansell & Elio de Angelis etc etc). But my job is now making sure its future is successful. I've got a short list of things t…

Excel SE in Monaco White with Red leather and Grey cloth interior. Not been run for some time but complete and ripe for restoration. Excel/Eclat in Jubilee Red Metallic. Engine removed and stripped. Gearbox gone. Interior pretty good. Would make a good donor or restoration project 2.2lt engine. Lotus Eclat rolling shell in Yellow. No engine or gearbox. Running gear complete so rolls ok. Front seats missing. Dash mostly complete. What can it be used for. Your choice. Ping me if any interest.

Starting refurb on elite 503 1979. Still has power steering. I wish to re-install the air conditioning. Heater unit and pipes to installed dryer are already fitted. The compressor is ready to reinstall as is the a pipe from the dryer to compressor. I am missing and seeking the condensor and two pipes running back to I believe to the dryer and compressor. Unfortunately I only have a series 2 elite éclat workshop manual which is different to a series one. Do I need a pulley adjuster for the compressor belt. Is that it for the air con system as series two workshop show a dale valve and only one pipe in one out on the dryer , Mine has two pipes in one out . Anyo…

looking at a body swap between an excel SE and Elite (to form an Elite SE Both are "complete" cars, what needs to come off in order to lift the body off the chassis (engine out or just manifolds off?) pictures / advice welcome Looking to use excel loom and dashboard with elite body and seats

Hi al, I am restoring an Elite been off the road for 30 years - GEB193N - I am part searching and wish to fit the rear wiper arm and blade. Has anyone got a spare or advise where to find as SJ - Steve no longer has stock - Where are best places to get other than Lotusbits cheers Neil

Hello! After lurking here for ages it’s probably time I contributed something, so here’s a thread about my 76 Elite 503. I bought it unseen on eBay in August 2017, fighting off a total of zero other determined bidders. It somehow had an MOT and was a runner, but I collected it on a trailer because I’m foolish but not that foolish. I trailered it to storage with a friend for a while, and thence to Lotusbits who rebuilt the top end and the steering and the brakes and suspension and stuff. It was a long list and entirely transformed the car. For sone reason I then decided it was the ideal car to drive through the snow from home in south Wales to a work …

My 39th (ish) Lotus, a 1982 Eclat Riviera in Helleblau (light blue) paint code A15. Resprayed circa 1992, hence the lack of Riviera decals, engine rebuilt about the same time after catastrophic failure, then for some unknown reason parked in a garage in 1992, last tax disk displayed, and hasn’t turned a wheel under power since. Left with spark plugs removed and now engine seized. I purchased recently from a chap in Wakefield, he conveyed the sorry story to me but he had acquired it relatively recently so didn’t know the full story, I suspect it was kept near the coast as the amount of corrosion is frightening, I have never seen so much surface rust on a galvanis…

Hi, I've just got hold of an Eclat Riviera as my new project (first was a beach buggy), having read a lot of reviews/blogs and mail threads it's definitely not going to be dull! The car hadn't moved from a front garden in at least 9 years, it's more green than red at the moment and once the tyres were pumped up it was a relief to at least see the wheels turn once the car started to be winched. I'm after advice on where to start, I'm going to dismantle the whole car and start from the chassis up, any blog recommendations or other good resto threads to follow? I've not touched the engine yet, thinking about changing the oil, cambelt? and turning it over without fuel or…

Greetings fellow sufferers. For those of you who like to mix religion, science fiction and car restoration I've renounced Mercerism in favor of a JPS liveried Elite. Bought on a whim (of course!) and now the subject of a "restoration". Some of you will have seen the Elite in previous posts which was on e-bay earlier in the year and bought in good faith with 12 Months MOT and delivered to my door. The rational. There has to be one! Considering all the cars that spend there lives on axle stands I thought this would make a good project. One I could bomb around in and enjoy while doing some cosmetics. Sound good? Unfortunately the oil leak (I know ... Rea…

Hi, people will know this car from my previous posts up to 2018 when I felt it best not to drive car further due to water loss but this is the first time I`ve managed to post a picture . I bought the car in Aug 2011 . It had been standing for 7 years. Paint is fine (except for a scrape under front side bumper and weird orange spattered spots next to rear wheelarches ). Cream leather interior is very tidy but driver`s seat a bit worn. No aircon . The following restoration work has been carried out since : -New head gasket-new cambelt (x3) - New clutch-Replaced brake fluid reservoir-new radiator-new lumenition-cleaned carbs-new steering rack-new HT leads-repaired head…

Hi All Due to popular request and general interest I will add this story to the list of 70's wedges under reconstruction. Having spent the first half of last year looking at a classic car to do up, physically looking at 4 scimitars (hours on ebay car and classic etc.) nothing really fitted the bill so my second choice of Elite/Eclat got more attention.(third choice Interceptor BTW) This particular car was talking to me though!! and I quote "save me save me" A cheeky bid was submitted via the classified ad price and the car was mine. It came with a full Mot, engine gearbox rear brakes propshaft radiator rebuild all documented(7k spent recently by a member on h…

Hello Everyone, I thought I'd put my restoration blog up to record my progress restoring this unique and interesting vehicle. I found my car in a local junk yard around 2003 or so. I was there on a lunch break getting some parts with a co-worker for his VW. As we pulled into the junk yard I noticed the car right away. It was in a special side yard with some old Jaguars. It looked like a Ferrari 308 with the hood vent and flip up lights. So I went to check it out and found that it looked like a Gremlin had rear ended a Ferrari and they had become melded together! It was filled with junk and the wheels were inside the passenger compartment. The glass was…

My 36th or 37th Lotus, lost count around the 30 mark, could be nearer 40. A gold Elite S2.2, certainly in my top 5 of all Lotuses I have owned. Total restoration an incredible 30 years ago and still in superb condition having covered minimal mileage between many MOTs, all I have done is the usual re-commissioning process to ensure it can be used on a regular basis, which I intend to do in the coming months, just making a list of the shows I can attend, look out for it in the flesh. David

Hello all If anyone has or knows of a 912 engine that has below 100,000 miles on it and is for sale, please let me know. Many thanks. This is for an Eclat Series Two project.

Hi everyone, This is my 1976 504 after a bit of a polish, and also fresh from passing roadworthy after about 8 years of on and off work on the car, both physically and on its government record. The first owner let the registration lapse, and it hasn't been legally on the road since the early 1990s and was then passed around a bit as a bit of a basket case as it was very difficult to get registered again. I will be the 4th owner but I'm calling it the 2nd. It was a real battle to get the registration reinstated here in South Africa, and we had to track down the first owner now living in the US who was really great about helping getting things str…

Can anyone tell me the routing of the Fuel Tank Air Admittance Valve Pipe, the 5mm dia one that allows air into the tank when the engine runs, on a S2.2 Eclat. I read somewhere it exits the boot behind the bumper. There are a line of plastic clips halfway up the rear boot panel which look likely but I cannot see an exit hole to behind the bumper. TIA

Following on from my introduction to this forum on the general chat page I have created this thread to track the progress (or lack of) of my recommission / restoration of my recently acquired S1 503. The plan is very simple but is certain to encounter obstacles on the way but high level here goes Step 1 - Get the engine to run. The car was taken off the road due to failed water pump which has been removed, also all the ancillary belts were removed at the same time. Rather than get this job finished the previous owner decided to get the carbs rebuilt, being Italian he took them home and had them fully rebuilt and they are now ready for refitting. So first jo…

Just acquired this at the weekend off an old mate. Needs loads of work but chassis seems solid and body not bad but needs paint obviously. Planning a full restoration and if everything measures up then it will be getting a Lexus/Toyota 3UZ 4.3vvti V8 mated to a 6spd BMW diesel gearbox to help it get down the road 😎 A space that needs filling......

Thought I would join up and say Hi since I have just brought a part finished/started (depending on your point of view) elite restoration which was posted on this forum amongst other places! http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/59676-just-been-given-a-lotus-elite/ I have brought unfinished restorations in the past and almost invariably redid some of the work and was/am expecting to do the same here - on my bucket list would be a replacement chassis which, whilst swapping the mechanicals over would give me the chance to check out the work already done and get a 5 speed box in... but that may be some years off. So all the mechanical work has been done allegedly! W…

Hi, in your opinion, is it possible to place the latest Excel front wings (those like Porsche 944 or BMW M3) on an Elite body? From photos it seems that even the front should be changed. Bonnet: is it the same from Elite to Excel? Thanks