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So around 8 years ago, I changed a tacho on a mates Eclat. I asked what he wanted to do with the old one and as it was going to go in the bin I asked to keep it . seemed a shame to bin it as it had the lotus logo On the face fast forward now and I came across it in my old toolbox, and , used a scrap piston from a compressor at work to upcycle piston was machined with a flat to stop it rolling and turned out to accommodate the clock. new bezel made to fit Clock assembly and now on the mantelpiece Clock assembly and now on the mantelpiece

After an eight week COVID-19 shut down, imagine my surprise when it started first time. What was supposed to be a quick round the block ended up a two hour drive in the countryside Photo to mark the occasion. Good car!

After 5 years of hard work and graft my Downton mini fired to life this morning and sounded absolutely amazing, everything has been rebuilt so big smiles. Just lots of loose ends to finish off now like air in brake system, new smiths dual oil/water gauge was defective and leaking from temp bulb preventing running for more than a few seconds. Fit windscreen washer pipes and await a couple bits of trim to be manufactured by newton commercial. A little electrical work to finish like horn and spots then off for a suspension set up and the running it in before rolling road tune Lost track of the places this cars been moved and stored, been to two paint shops before Thompson’s who painted both Fabians cars got the finish and shut lines right. Happy day Dave

Hi all, newbie here. Bought this car last year from Leven Edinburgh. Believe this was the Lotus demonstrator at Goodwood. Absolutely love the drive. Also have a Turbo which is very fast but clinical in comparison. When you get back in the Lotus, it is a sensory overload - fantastic! Can’t wait until we can get back out for some epic road trips!!!

hello lotus fans. here 2 photos from my little tour today. I took the photos on a street that was still closed of course with the permission of the local police and community

A little 410 inspiration for my 400 Love the Carbon work from prodrive, that is lovely. Ohh and 11.5 kg saved just with the lid.

An Obituary printed in the London Times.... Says it all. Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: - Knowing when to come in out of the rain; - Why the early bird gets the worm; - Life isn't always fair; - And maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, -by his parents, Truth and Trust, -by his wife, Discretion, -by his daughter, Responsibility, -and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his 5 stepbrothers; - I Know My Rights - I Want It Now - Someone Else Is To Blame - I'm A Victim - Pay me for Doing Nothing Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Yes nice trio. Mine is No 52, nearly finished after a 3 year resto. Will post some more pics of its restoration soon. (Rear hatch not closed)

Afternoon folks! I made this little film on the Esprit S1 for a virtual Facebook car show this weekend and thought some of you might be interested in seeing it too. I sent it to MJK before posting and he gave it his blessing, which was quite the honour! Hope you enjoy https://www.facebook.com/946762452108638/posts/2876797425771788/

All dressed up with no particular place to go

Picture for no other reason other than started it. Drove out the garage. Went for a spin (at least 2 maybe even 3 metres) cleaned and polished to within an inch of its life, back to garage, cover on, sleeping again.

Glad everyone enjoyed episode 1 and we appreciate all the positive comments. We have done a more in depth video on the new Evora GT410.

Plan B, the wife is going to help so tomorrow when the rain has stopped its going back in! Once its back in I’ll feel like I’m almost there about five months since it went bang!

It won't be easy but we've got to try

You can see two traces on the dyno chart. The black lines are from the full power run, which will be available in "Sport" and "Race" modes. The red lines are the reduce power setting in "Touring"/"Road" setting. This limits power to around 400hp and torque to around 450NM, which I figure is ample for most normal street driving and should hopefully improve fuel economy slightly. Switching to "Sport" mode gives me access to full power but still with full traction control. Going into "Race" mode retains full power but slackens off the traction control, which can be adjusted via the rotary dial and switched off entirely if required. Here are a few pictures of the installation. While it has taken an incredibly long time, Komotec has been brilliant and Daniel has kept me fully updated on progress. He is still working on ironing out the last few "bucks" (as he calls the "bugs") in the mapping but assures me that the car will be fully ready for collection by the bank holiday weekend. I really couldn't be more excited. The wait has been long, the process has not been without difficulty, but I hope ultimately it will all be worth it!

As we’re having a Bank Holiday Lotus love-in:

My custom E

Posted this little clip already at the restoration room. I was testing some new equipment and how to record Esprit engine sounds. Not there yet, but I have a plan...

Near 40 years of Lotus evolution.

GT430 on the Nordschleife

Finally picked up my new car today at the Lotus dealer who helped me with the import. One previous owner in Germany since new. 1994 S2 in Empire green with only 49,000 km on the meter(!). Drove it back home,, some 263 km. Seems to be a great car, although I noticed that the power steering is making some noice. Probably need an overhaul during the winter.

So I only went and did it, I've put a deposit down on an 09 N/A Evora LE , it's already on the list being formed on the LE thread. Ive either slightly over paid or got less than I'd of liked for the Elise but, the car has a file full of bills with it including recent clutch , gear cables and a gearbox rebuild with "heavy duty" bearings .. not sure what that's about . With the info I've go I think the previous owner is either on here or on NORLOG. As usual though a list is already forming of stuff to sort, some for now some for winter. So the next project begins.

UPDATE guys, after 3 attempts the beauty has started after 10 years of sleeping , first two attempts have been wrong as I have stupidly routed the dizzy cables 180°out.... but (thanks again Matt...) routed again in the right way the engine start immediately, what a sound! Perfect oil pressure, no water leaks from pump and pipes, no tappet sound, everything is just perfect, it's a Swiss watch! I have build engine temperature to see if the fans works and reached just below 90 they goes on immediately, I have not calibrated anything on the carbs but they are running very well and the idle is stable at about 900 rpm. What can I say?

Oil Pressure Test I rebuilt the pump to as new standard and checked the pressure relief valve. I connected my Makita drill to the aux pulley on low speed setting. I packed the pump with graphogen and didn’t do anything else except - put the turbo feed pipe into a measuring jug, block off the Oil pressure gauge hole, fill the oil filter with oil and screw it directly to the housing. I filled the engine with oil to its normal level. Then I started the stopwatch at the same time as running the drill. After 14 secs oil was pouring out of the Turbo feed pipe. In another 16 seconds it pumped 600 ml of oil into the measuring jug! If I did this again and the pump didn’t perform like this I would rebuild the pump and run the test again. If it still didn't work I would expect an air leak at the pick up pipe. Happy days! I wish I had this info before and maybe I could have avoided a rebuild! Still, on the bright side I now have a far superior engine!

Oil arrived today - I finished work mid afternoon. Came home had grub, a game of scrabble with the kids and then commenced in the garage. Coolant filled. Plugs pulled, crank sensor disconnected. Oil filled. Oil primed and checked - took two goes to get it going. 20l of fuel dropped in - plugs in - crank sensor back on - and she fired into life. Oil pressure sat in a good place. Plenty of smoke burning off here and there - run for five minutes and then off. Battery now on charge and I’ve retired to drink some beer and feel happy.

According to a friend - Gyles Brandreth @GylesB1 on twitter said I steer clear of all controversy (it's not good for the digestion) but I do love an anagram & via the Chief Crossword Compiler for The Times I hear that a Telegraph compiler has turned: STAY ALERT; CONTROL THE VIRUS; SAVE LIVES ... into: EASILY SURVIVES TRAVEL NORTH TO CASTLE ...

Got out with a group of awesome guys for a long drive this weekend.

Snap! I too, partly inspired by Harry' Garage video, but mainly for testing purposes, took the S1 for a 50 mile round trip yesterday evening.

Unleashed!

Okay worked now!

It's changed my life more than getting the car did. I can honestly say that. But truly, the Lotus was integral to the promise I made myself to get a bit fitter and more comfy in my own skin. I started on a proper dietary program the day I drove it off the lot and that was announced to my wife when I bought the thing. I reckoned her help and approval would be useful on both scores As for getting the carbon, I've been doing that to the extent possible! Rewards are justified with the money saved by not eating like an American.

Picture envy here, so lockdown special

How time fly’s I can’t believe it’s over a month since I posted progress on the car and a lot has happened… both on the car front, on the garage/workshop refurb, oh and I guess lock down! With finishing off on the interior, with the recent retrim and carbon internal sills, a few bits stuck out namely the passenger airbag cover. So, I decided to replace it with a carbon one. I couldn’t quite get the fitment right with tape as it seemed to add a gap due to the thickness of the tape. In the end I purchased the original clips from Lotus and it fits perfectly! It may be somewhat OCD but I’ve never been keen on the silver bolts that are dotted around the car, so gradually started the process of replacing them with anodised black ones from ProBolt. I first started with the petrol cap, then the internal door sills, before finishing with the door cards. I do love this shot, it really shows off the lines of the Exige V6 especially with the extended sills and mirrors I may have become somewhat impatient as some bolts weren’t available due to the pandemic so upgraded to titanium in some cases lol The last part of the interior work for 2019/2020 winter was the gear shift surround, as you know both @GFWilliams and I managed to get the Lotus OEM 350 Sport Shifter retro fitted into our cars via Dan at HPE Auto. To say the upgrade is one of the top five upgrades to the car is an understatement! However, the original V6S warning signal switch isn’t a straight fit as the later models have a different switch setup, so I have my warning switch in close proximity but tucked nicely to the side and out the way. However, it leaves this hole in the shifter surround. I think it was @2GOOD who made me aware that the 311 Lotus has the same shifter design but doesn't have a hazard switch and Lotus cover it with a bung. So a quick look up on Deroure and I was able to find it and order. It seems a small part but it actually sits in quite nicely and helped ease the process of my next plan of attack. With the surround smoothed out nicely the surround was lovingly covered in carbon fibre for final skinning. Im a very very happy chappy with the final results and I cant thank ProjectCarbonUK.com enough the guys did an awesome job and sent me updates all the way through the process. I'll try and post some pics of the whole interior now and some of the shifter fitted. I think the interior winter upgrade program is now finished. Phew!

Well well well. I'm sorry I havnt read all 1768 posts but I'm sure you are all correct!! Working in a specialist hospital in the northwest has given us challenges. I came back from leave mid march to all of this and then promptly caught the virus (no test but for gods sake, what else could it have been?) Off for a week but took a month to be anywhere normal. And thats a mild case. I have colleagues who were really sick. All of our elective work has stopped and we are doing the trauma for the local hospitals to give them some breathing space. learning how to fix hips, femurs and forearms after 5 years of not doing so a small challenge but fun actually. Hoping we might return to some sense of normality soon but how remains a problem. We are trying to modify our theatre breathing apparatus to include a 99.9% filter atm. Even if we succeed, it wont be CE marked etc etc so... whats the point? Satisfying ourselves I guess. I love the thursday clapping thing but I feel the thanks should go to the traditionally un-thanked - those who actually keep the country going yet aren't in obviously key-jobs. They have to continue to work yet seem forgotten. Farmers, shop workers, cleaners, transport, etc etc. My claps are for you. I'm hoping all of our friends on here remain well and I look forward to better times. Si

You know reading these comments just makes me smile. I think that this is one of the key areas of Lotus cars that the journalists, the driving public and probably the current Lotus leaders in the Boardroom just do not really get. Whether you buy an Elise, an Exige or an Evora, you are genuinely getting what I would, with huge respect, call old school mechanics - in other words a solidly engineered, well built (I'm talking about the important bits not the plastic - does not matter what quality it is, it is still plastic) and thought out "performance car". One that has been built to be tracked and enjoyed. One that has reliability built in these days. That can take punishment on the open road and track. That will, if not abused, out live most things that are built today (I reckon a V6 Exige at 10 years old will look, drive and feel better than an Alpine at 10 years old). The chassis of all three cars is exceptionally strong. The suspension is sublime and in all variants the engines are pushing our reasonable stats BUT NOT, or nowhere near, their mechanical limits. The solidness of todays Lotus cars is really under appreciated. You won't see Lotus engines, from the past 15 years eating themselves like Porsche did. You won't see suspension turrets cracking and popping the shock through the bonnet like a GT4 does. Yet the benchmark is always Porsche as they have slightly easier ingress, better quality "plastics", and a better "image". Go figure what the smart, thinking people buy.... @DrBru - worry about the stereo in a Lotus. The absence of cupholders. The plasticy bits here and there. But rest assured you don't need to worry about anything that is really important! All the best with your search. Happy hunting. Shoot to kill and nail that deal. High mileage = absolute fooking performance bargain = more smiles per miles than you are entitled too. Right, on to the next bottle of wine in this lockdown heaven after a day building drystone walls in the garden with not a cloud in the sky. Heaven - well, as close to I 'll get to it whilst I can't drive the Lotus.... :)

Hoisted the engine up, flywheel and clutch bolted on. The usual problems with lining up, but I finally got the gearbox mated to the engine, and lowered into position. The wife directed the pre and post-install garage clean up, supervised the engine lifting arrangements, and handed me the correct tools when required. By way of a thank you, I’ve put a bottle of cheap Asda Prosecco in the fridge. I know how to treat a girl.

Last Sunday evening I flew to Frankfurt. I stayed in an airport hotel for the night and early next morning I took a train to Hockenheim. Daniel and his Komotec team were at the track for the day with a bunch of customer cars, including a very racy Exige Cup R and Evora GT4. More importantly from my perspective, they also brought my car with them for the long overdue hand-over. I had toyed with the idea of having the car delivered back to me in England, but Daniel insisted that we did a hand-over in person. I made it to the track without any problems and found my car waiting for me in the pit lane. First impressions were that the installation looked superb. The engine bay was tidy, all the parts super high quality, the new supercharger unit filled the space nicely and looked like it meant serious business! The whole thing was at least OEM standard, if not better. Daniel told me to go take it for a drive and then we could discuss any questions. So I made my way down the pit lane, turned right away from the track, through the paddock and found a large empty piece of tarmac out the back of the circuit where a couple of cars were occasionally heading for some basic warm-up runs. I did a few runs back and forth, both at full throttle and at crawling speed, and a couple of doughnuts of course. Full throttle felt very strong but hard to get a full impression given space was limited so could only just about get into third gear. At low speed, there was still quite a bit of the jerky/rough idle that I had before, which was disappointing. So I went back to the garage to pick up Daniel, he plugged his laptop into the ECU and then we drove back out to the space of tarmac. I showed him the problem and he tweaked the ECU mapping. It certainly improved things, but it was clear that it was never going to be perfect. This remains the biggest drawback. The car is not happy at very low throttle openings, as you would be in crawling traffic for instance. It splutters and turns jerky and occasionally stalls. It is manageable, but annoying. I spent a good few hours at the track watching all the cars and chatting to loads of owners of both Lotus and others, which was great fun. Porsche GT3 RSs were by far the most popular weapon of choice, and looked and sounded fantastic on track, but there was a great mix of other machinery too, all of it pretty serious! Then it was time to hit the road for the drive up through Germany to Hook of Holland, where I was catching a ferry back to the UK over night. The drive went smoothly and as soon as the car was out on the open road it was clear that the kit ran superbly. It felt so linear and strong - very much OEM plus in nature. The sound was also terrific. Less supercharger whine than before, but still just the right amount on top of a deeper almost V8 rumble at times. As the revs rise though it really howls, even with the 2bular quiet track silencer I have fitted. The car absolutely rips through the gears now and still pulls like a train in 6th. Even the "Road" map with "only" 400hp feels such a leap forward because of the extra torque. The "Sport" map adds nearly 100hp further, although to be totally honest I couldn't feel as much of a difference between the two maps as I was expecting. That might be because it was hard to really push the limits on public roads with this much power, especially on my first drive, so I need more time to explore the difference between the maps properly. I was absolutely loving life until I was 50km away from the ferry, when I heard and felt a light bang and then a load of rattling from behind me. Initial thought was that something had fall off or got caught under the car. I immediately slowed right down, coasting in neutral until I found a spot to pull over. Fortunately there was a gap in the armco and I managed to back into a safe area. I popped open the rear deck fearing the worst, but fortunately there was no obvious catastrophe - no fire, no oil, no pieces everywhere. On closer inspection however, it was clear that the outer edge of the supercharger belt had frayed and a strip had ripped off and was lying at the bottom of the engine bay. I called Daniel, who was concerned and very helpful. He said that the car would still run as long as at least part of the belt was on but he couldn't guarantee how long it would last. I decided to continue to the ferry as I was starting to run out of time and make a decision when I got there. I limped the rest of the way, sticking to 55mph and avoiding putting any load through the belt as much as possible. It seemed to work, I made it to the ferry and called Daniel again. He said that he would come collect the car, take it back to Mendig and fix it first thing in the morning. He also said he would book me a local hotel for the night. I agreed to do that, rather than leaving the car there and getting the ferry home alone (I was on a tight schedule due to work but decided to juggle it as I had my laptop with me). So I re-booked the ferry for the following night, turned around and headed back the way I had come, still sticking to 55mph and trying to be as gentle as possible. I met Daniel at Eindhoven airport. By this stage it was gone midnight. We loaded the car onto his truck and drove the rest of the way to Mendig together, arriving around 2.30am. We parked up the truck and the Daniel dropped me at my hotel for the night before he headed home himself. The next day, I just left Komotec to fix the car, while I stayed in the hotel working. I got a message around 2pm that the car was ready so I packed up my stuff and walked round. Daniel immediately told me that they had made a small mistake in the fitting and the pulleys were fractionally out of alignment. This had caused the belt to rub and ultimately break. He was highly apologetic and said he had given my car a full geo reset as a token gesture. While it had certainly been a hassle for me and caused a bit of stress having to juggle work, I could not have been happier with how Komotec handled the problem. Daniel went way above and beyond to help get things sorted as efficiently as possible, which says a lot about the man. The set up they have in Mendig really is very impressive indeed and I am sure I will be back before too long! Problems happen, it's how you deal with them that matters, and I can't speak more highly of the service I received. So then it was back on the road again, and this time made it all the way to the ferry and then home without any incidents at all. I even managed to get in a couple more doughnuts for a bunch of kids with camera phones out at a drive-though McDonalds coffee stop where there was a big piece of waste tarmac round the back. The car felt amazing and absolutely ridiculously fast. You can blast past virtually any traffic (even fast moving German executive wagons) in a heartbeat with just a flick of the throttle. I am looking forward to testing it out further over the coming weekend (and in particular exploring the differences between the two maps more fully) and hopefully on a track day soon. Sadly the Evo Magazine day at Goodwood that my wife got me for my birthday on Wednesday has been postponed, but I am sure I'll find something else before long. Finally, in case helpful or of interest to anyone, below is a list of the current specs of my car: Charge cooled Harrop TVS1900 supercharger kit Komotec front mounted radiator and other hardware Larger 76mm throttle body Komotec EX500 larger carbon air intake 550cc fuel injectors 60l fuel tank Moroso Baffled Sump ECU Master EMU Black ecu Bespoke dual mapping by Komotec ECUMaster ADU7 dash Lotus OEM Traction Control Adjustment Dial 2bular EPK headers/down pipe/sports cat Zircotec Performance White coating for headers/down pipe 2bular track back-box/silencer with carbon tips Evora 400 clutch & flywheel Quaife LSD Komotec Gearbox Oil Cooler Ohlins TTX 2 way adjustable (800lb/1050lb road and 950lb/1250lb race springs) Seriously Lotus Forged rims Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres 215/45/17 (front) 285/35/18 (rear) Performance Friction 08 brake pads Alias 23 side sills, full length front splitter and carbon wing mirrors with alloy stems Lotus 430 Cup rear diffuser DJ Racecars carbon rear wing with painted end plates Schroth harnesses

Me too - like buses these white S1s

Update... oil pump housing and gears fully packed with vaseline jelly, oil cooler sandwich plate removed and voilà! After 15 seconds of cranking a smile appear on my face, I have pressure! Gauge are reading 50 just with the cranking speed so everything goes well this time, now I need to sort out a little leaking from fuel pump connector and than I will try to start it after 10 years of sleeping.

Have to say the full carpet set even though its extra weight is definitely worth its weight in improving the aesthetics and feel of the overall interior coming together with the alcantara and carbon fibre elements

21. The Missile Bay Progress was waylaid over the winter whilst filming in Spain for Kawasaki, and on return the UK coronavirus lockdown took its toll in many ways, leaving the rear luggage area half re-trimmed for a few months. Apart from the rear bulkhead carpet behind the engine cover having rotted the original rear luggage boards and carpet were in very good condition, with only a little wear. Though the nearside inner wheel arch cover and the rear quarterlight window ‘shelves’ were missing. Three years earlier the carpet covering the bulkhead was removed in clumps using a paint scraper with only the upper portions around the window being intact. Having considered buying a carpet set, I decided to see if I could obtain something more in keeping with what mine had. Over a couple of weeks I acquired 10 samples of corded and box weave carpet from various suppliers, with a couple of them extremely similar to that to the original. I settled on an anthracite cord with a grey fleck which was about the right thickness to offer both soundproofing, resilience to wear and also be malleable enough to cope with the tight corners around the boot boards. Paul Clapham allowed me to examine and photograph the rear quarterlight ‘shelves’ from his original S1, and a template made from which the plywood could be cut. New marine grade plywood was bought from my local builders merchant and the old boot boards used as templates. The carpet from the old boot boards was carefully peeled from underneath to expose the wooden edge, and used to draw a template on the plywood with a sharp pencil, then overwritten in dark ink, ready to be cut using a jigsaw. My local trimmer made the inner wheel arch covers, using the inner rear wheelarch cover on the offside was missing as a pattern to remake the opposite side. Also edging the window ‘shelf’ carpets and bulkhead window to the original style and specification, Whilst that was being done I test fitted the boards before spraying them in primer and given a coating of satin black to replicate the originals. Then cut the new carpet to fit, using strong trimmers glue and clamped in place using lengths of wood I’d used to make the storage box for the rear hatch glass a few years earlier. The trimmer delivered the edged carpet after making a supreme effort to measure the rear bulkhead and window aperture. The seat belt reels had to be removed to fit the bulkhead carpet, which took a few hours, but its addition has been welcome, after been driving the car around the previous 6 months without it my ears are certainly thankful! The rear quarterlight shelves were also completed with correctly shaped and edge carpet and glued down. Deciding to add a smear at the seat belt end to make sure it all remained flat. Originally the glue wasn’t applied to the wood around the seat belt retainer cut-out. The rear upright boards were fitted to cover the backs of the rear lights, and fixed in place to the refurbished angle brackets taken from the original boards. With the car being tucked away in the garage the whole job spanned the winter months, but the results matching the original boards perfectly. Finished off with the battery box top and stainless steel fixings completed the rear luggage compartment and the S1 was another stage further to completion.

Very cool looking tyre. Might be enough to keep me away from Pirelli a while longer I'm sure Cup2 R would be very popular with the GT3 trackday drivers too and there are many more of them. Also many more GT3 owners than GT2 and Pista owners! Just to get us back on topic:

My M100 Elan has got 281k miles on it. Just about run in.

I like both for different reasons. Can’t decide! I have been considering an Elise for years now and keep looking around... maybe it is decision time.