Leigh Greenham

Hi Max, I've also just sent you a personal message with my details. Leigh

I agree with the idea of donating money or paying for prototype parts to be tested in-situ in a variety of different Elites, with no liabilities on the supplier. Leigh Oxford

Hi Max, I am really keen to buy one of these kits from you. I've got the Essex Elite S2.2, and the weakest point of the car is the clutch pulley assembly. I carry a spare clutch cable with me (two snaps in 30,000 miles despite lubrication), and I would love to have a permanent solution, which your kit should provide. In fact I am already planning to swap the entire pedal box this spring, as my existing pedal box has a deformed pulley mounting bracket where the forces have pulled the pulley's axle towards the pedal, if you see what I mean. So I bought a replacement pedal box, have strengthened the pulley mounting area, made a bushed axle for the pulley and was intending to fit the pedal box some time soon. But now I'll wait a bit longer and use your brilliant solution. Are you in the south of England? I'm near Oxford and would happily bring the pedal box over to you if that helped you finish the arrangement to make the kits available. Leigh

Hi Gerard, having seen your post last week I was amazed to walk past your Eclat in my local station car park as I took the train to London this morning, so I put a note on the windscreen when I returned in the afternoon and the car was still there. I only travel to London a couple of times a month, but I did use my Elite to get to the station once in the summer, it would have been amazing to have had our two cars there at the same time! In a further coincidence, I also use to own a Lancia Beta HPE 1600 Series 1, RLY 392R black with gold wheels, a classic 70s brown and beige interior with that fantastic rear seat arrangement complete with the wedge shaped scatter cushions. It was a great 5 seater sports car for me, and a load-lugger which once carried a complete raft on its roof rack to the Wallingford Raft Race in 1984, with all the paddles in the car. I particularly liked the 'cruise control' feature, a hand control which grabbed and held the throttle cable at your desired speed! Unfortunately a snapped cam belt mullered the engine in early 1985, so I sold the car to a Lancia specialist for a paltry sum. Leigh

I'll be there with three friends in the Elite. Leigh

Peter, me and my 1980 Elite S2.2 live only 3 miles from where you live, so I will be happy to show you it and talk to you about Elite ownership. In fact if you are free this Sunday morning (27 April) I can take you for a 50 mile round trip as it is 'Drive It Day' and our local council (SODC) has organised a charity car run from Crowmarsh to Thame and back. I'm signed up to do the run so call me on 01491 613005, or get down to Crowmarsh SODC car park for the 10am start. Leigh

If the Essex Elite is considered suitable, I'd be very happy to enter it. I could also give you a hand with the logistics. Leigh

1. Trevsked - Sport 350 2. Bazza - Essex Esprit 3. Hopo - Esprit S3 4. The Pits - Exige V6 5. TomE - Evora S 6. Justin Pressland - 340r 7. GT111 - S1 Elise 8. Mayesprit 9. Sizona - Evora or Esprit 10. kim.com (Seven S1, could change!) 11. Mike 6 - Esprit carb turbo. 12. obione - Esprit Carb Turbo (Very last one registered) 13. Daniel - Esprit S2 14. Mr Pig & Wilf - Esprit S4 15. internets - Esprit GT3 16. mdw- Esprit Stevens N/A 17. Choppa - Esprit S3 18. Sparky - Esprit GT3 19. ChrisJ - Turbo Esprit 20. Delands - Exige S 21. V39 Esprit S4S 22. [email protected] Evora 23. Mario308 - Exige S V6 Coupé 24 Andrewc Esprit V8 25 Jukka - Evora IPS or Esprit V8 26. Whirlybird - Esprit GT3 27. MDE - Esprit Stevens 28. Caulkhead68 - 1988 Esprit carb turbo 29. Esprit22 - 1986 Esprit turbo 30. theelanman - Elan M100 SE or Elan +2 31. exige1 - S1 Exige 32. Stubox Exige V6 33. Cor van Nistelrooij Audi exige or eleven or both? 34. trevorB - Elan M100 SE Turbo 35. Al. - Evora S (SR looks) 36. JohnB - ÉLAN M100 SE Turbo. 37. Duncellow Eclat S2 V8 - (other 2+2 wedges will be added shortly...) 38. Skiing - Esprit S3 39. Geoff - Elan M100 S2 40. Anthony_111 - Elise S1 41. Steve A - M100 42. Kevin W - Esprit S3 or Elise S2 43 alan e-M100 turbo 44 Jon B (Novacaine) - Elan M100 S2 45 ShaunM - Elan M100 S2 46 Dave & Ann Excell - Lotus Excell or V8 Esprit 47. Mattthesparks- Esprit stevens carb turbo 48. Punky - Esprit 49. Mr.oogieboogie S4 50. Sbfdave & Sharron - Evora 51. Andy Esprit SE - 1989 Esprit SE 52. Lansledj - Elan M100 53. Daveiow - Elan M100 54. Softlips - Evora 55. Leigh G - Essex Elite S2.2

Probably best on a side wall then, the British and European Standard is written for 'typical' domestic houses and suggests 3m as an appropriate distance for the CO alarm to be mounted from the appliance.

Because hot air rises, any CO that spills from the appliance is carried with the hot air up into the roof space. However, as the hot air up there starts to cool and becomes the same temperature as the rest of the room, the CO starts to spread in all directions, as it has the same density as air. Therefore, unless there are vents in the roof, the CO will start to fall into your living space. You can get a CO alarm with a real-time display of low concentrations (way lower than the alarm threshold) so if you were to mount one about seven feet high on a wall opposite the stove, you would get good peace of mind. I recommend the FireAngel CO-9D, which doubles as a room thermometer, cost around £25 in B&Q or cheaper online, 7-year life. Pets and children are the first affected by CO due to smaller blood volume than adults. The elderly and those with respiratory or heart issues are less able to cope with the inhalation of CO, as once it gets into their bloodstream they can't get rid of it like a healthy adult can. Unless the converted stove has been specifically designed as a 'warm air heater', those doors really need to be closed whenever the burner is lit. Check the flame colour - blue good, yellow/orange not so good.

The possible problem is carbon monoxide (CO). Make sure you've got a CO alarm (compliant with EN 50291) in the room, as whenever the appliance doors are open, there is a chance that the 'products of combustion' will find it easier to get into your room than go out of the flue system. For a balanced flue system to work properly, the appliance needs to be 'room-sealed', and it can't be if the doors are open! When you say "with the door open it pumps tonnes and tonnes of hot air into the room" I assume that this air contains all the products of combustion, carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapour, and possibly CO as well. One of my contracts is to run a CO helpline, and the winter months often generates calls from people whose CO alarms activate late in the evening, sometimes after they've gone to bed. Then, talking to them, they admit they have opened the doors on their stoves to get the last bit of heat out. As the heat starts to disappear, the flue stops working properly so the fumes just spill into the room. Embers produce more CO than fully flaming fuel. At least in your case the combustion will stop as soon as the LPG supply is turned off.

OK, so that's pics of Chris and Barrie receiving their prizes, but is there one of me getting the second place prize in the 80s category?

Hi Bauke, Yes please post the pictures from Holland, it will be good to see them. The Elite lived there from 1987 to 1997. Are you taking a ferry to Brands Hatch this month? It would be good to see you again. Leigh

Thanks guys, I am still waiting to see one of these in the flesh, so to speak, perhaps at Brands Hatch in a couple of weeks. There's a 360 degree spinning version at http://www.racingmodels.com/lotus-elite-s2-essex-1980-143-3385-p.asp . This was not commissioned, it came as much as a surprise to me as it has to you. By zooming in on the spinning model you can see the excellent detail, but for some reason they gave it a black interior rather than scarlet. The door mirrors are a bit weird. My customised Corgi version still has a lot going for it!

It was a brilliant trip, some low-res pictures at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jdftfk2qicllbel/3CiytphU5u/Paris%202013 The Elite behaved impeccably throughout the 600-mile trip using Eurotunnel. In Paris we met an Elise and a couple of Sevens, but name any other classic car of any make and there was probably one there. Veteran buses gave free rides to pedestrians, there were veteran bikes, a convoy of old tractors, and loads of support from the Parisiens. And at every junction there were old cars just going in every direction. The cobbled and hilly streets of Montmartre up to the Sacre Coeur reminded us of the car-chase scene in the original Pink Panther movie. As the day started before dawn, it was great to see so many amber headlights again! As well as visiting most of the classic sites of Paris on the official route (see the pics), the Lotus also took us under the Alma Tunnel (avoiding the tragic 13th pillar) and to Chantilly where the public roads take you right into the Chateau grounds. There was a last minute deviation to the city route, as roads were shut around Place Vendome where Nicole Kidman was filming her Grace Kelly biopic, a 1980 Lotus caught in the background might have spoilt the historical effect. We met two journalists from Classic Car Weekly magazine in a great barge of a Vauxhall, they featured the event in last week's edition. Leigh, Oxford