[chickenstock10k]

After a bit of looking, I just took ownership of a new Elan Plus 2. Its been a blast to play with but with a bought of very cold weather on the east coast I noticed that it won’t really come up to temperature and is running a bit rough when its cold. After a little troubleshooting, I realized that it will come up to temperature if I just let it sit and idle long enough but will go from 75 to sub 50c (can hold the radiator) after a quick blast down the highway. It seems that the thermostat must be stuck open...

I went to go look around to figure out where to buy a replacement thermostat and I realized that 1) I wasn’t sure where to go and 2) I wasn’t sure to look up which generic would fit my new Lotus. Does anyone have a primer on how / where to source replacement parts?

[Chrispy]

When looking for one for mine in a hurry, I bought one for a x-flow cortina which appeared to be identical and worked fine

[SENC]

Where on the east coast are you, chickenstock? I am in southeastern NC. At any rate, RD Enterprises (rdent.com) in Pennsylvania is the best resource on the east coast, Dave Bean on the west coast. Call RD and ask for Ray or George. They are both very knowledgeable and can get most anything you need.

Henry

[mbell]

I've only ever got them from lotus part suppliers but I suspect they a standard for part used by wide range of (UK) vehicles. Googling "mgb thermostat" return results that look very similar to the one fitted to the lotus.

So it wouldn't surprise me if you could pick one up at your local parts store. Personally I'd start with O'Reilly's as they seem to have better stock as UK car parts.

[prezoom]

I just took the old one to a parts house, and compared the depth and diameter. Stant makes lots of thermostats of different styles. Find one that fits, and pick your temperature. For your part of the country, I'd pick something like 192f for this time of year. One with a little less temperature when the weather warms up. It helps to drill a small hole in the base to allow air to get past the thermostat when adding cooling fluid and bleeding the system.

[chickenstock10k]

I just spoke with the folks at RD Enterprises and they said they would have one out to me in 2 days. Super nice guys.

That said, they buy them from england for the lotus and its not clear who would have made them for the Elans. I guess I am just starting my Lotus journey, with a fair amount of confusion to follow!

[Bud English]

Not mentioned here, is a reference to Golden Gate Lotus Club site (here http://www.gglotus.org/) . They have a section labeled "Parts" with a cross reference to the manufacturers' part numbers for some common parts. No thermostat number is listed, but for future needs it's worth a look.

[derek uk]

https://www.burtonpower.com/thermostat- ... th107.html
88º also listed on the same page along with a list of all the Fords it fits, which is pretty well all of them. You know Ford, the same part for all models is very common. Very cheap too.

[billmoore42]

In my 67 Elan FHC, I used an MGB thermostat rated at 180 degrees F. It works fine!

[chickenstock10k]

So, for everyone’s benifit.

I rang up the guys at rdent and they had a thermostat out to me two days later. Easy peasy.

When I went to replace the old thermostat I found out that whoever had the car before me had left the body of the thermostat in place but had cut out the actual inner workings of the thermostat!! Who does that?

Now that it has been replace it runs like a dream.

[billwill]

Sounds like it was an emergency procedure on a thermostat that had stuck closed.

[chickenstock10k]

Why even put the the remains of the thermostat back in at all?

[nmauduit]

Why even put the the remains of the thermostat back in at all?

to act as a gasket ?

[chickenstock10k]

There was a gasket there too.

[Craven]

Flow control, pretty big hole without it.