New Sprint FHC Owner - Servicing Q's

[FritzPasadena]

Hi,

First post so here goes... I've just bought myself a '73 Sprint FHC that I'll be picking up this Tuesday morning (18th). It's my first Lotus (although my dad had a new Esprit Turbo SE back in the day) and I was wondering if anyone might be able to recommend a firm for servicing in the Hampshire/Dorset area-ish.

I'm in Bournemouth and whilst I'm yet to join any clubs (only bought the car yesterday - can anyone recommed the best clubs?), I've been unable to locate any true reasonably local specialists from searching the web. I know this is not the recommended way of going about buying a classic (join a club, chat to the members, go to see several cars etc.) but hey... The plan is to hopefully run the car for a few months during which time I can put together a comprehensive list of what needs doing for the spring.

Will post some pictures this week when I get an opportunity if anyone's interested.

Thanks in advance.

[rgh0]

Welcome to the joys of Elan ownership

cheers
Rohan

[elan_fan]

You're in luck, Fibreglass Services is just down the road from you at Walburton West Sussex. Miles Wilkins is the proprietor and if you buy a genuine Lotus part from any of the dealers it has come from Miles. I have used them for 10 years and never had a wrong of duff part.

regards
Mark

[MintSprint]

As Elan_fan says, Fibreglass Services is head and shoulders above any other option in your neck of the woods. Beware, though... the proprietor, Miles Wilkins, has a reputation of not suffering fools gladly!

The Elan needs regular basic (simple) maintenance and checks, though, so you'd be well advised to get a copy of the workshop manual and do the easy stuff yourself. It would help you to get to know the car and recognise when something is not quite right, too!

[FritzPasadena]

Thanks for info guys. Fibreglass Services looks exactly like the type of firm I was looking for (plus it's a great drive to West Sussex from here). Will definitely be getting the appropriate Maintenance Manual and doing as much as possible to keep the car running perfectly.

Which club do you think is best for Elan owners? I've come across Club Lotus, SELOC and the Lotus Drivers Club so far.

Could do with some of your Melbourne sunshine Rohan .

[MintSprint]

SELOC is very heavily biased towards the Elise generation cars, so it wouldn't be on my list. You can join the internet forum (which is where it began) free of charge, if you want a better picture of their member base and activities, though.

I'm not much of a club person, but I'd say that Club Lotus probably has the edge over the Lotus Drivers Club (I've been a member of both - they are both good clubs if you like that sort of thing; LDC is probably a wee bit friendlier, but Club Lotus is better established and gives you access to better tehcnical knowledge and support).

To be honest, unless you are looking for social events, you've already found probably the best source of shared knowledge on Elans that you are going to come across.

[FritzPasadena]

Thanks MintSprint,

I think the main Lotus Club sounds like the most appropriate. Like you, I'm not massively into the social meets but the big shows and circuit events (Castle Combe, Goodwood, Silverstone) appeal. I do also enjoy reading the club magazines.

Will post some photos of the new car tomorrow (hopefully not on the back of an AA recovery vehicle).

[hatman]

As Elan_fan says, Fibreglass Services ... the proprietor, Miles Wilkins, has a reputation of not suffering fools gladly!

For which read 'can be quite breathtakingly and gratuitously rude'...

[MintSprint]

Fritz... yep, Club Lotus sounds like your best bet, then. It's a couple of years since I was a member, but their club magazine certainly used to be the best for technical content and classified ads.

Hatman... I was trying to be discreet! I've only had limited contact with young Mr Wilkins and he's been fine with me, but he certainly has a fearsome reputation! Is he really that bad?! [/i]

[tdafforn]

My only experience with fibreglass services was bad then V good..
Supplied some pistons to me an I found one of the rings was cracked. rang him up. result: new complete set of rings for all 4 pistons by return of post!
Tim

[Elanintheforest]

Miles is one of the very few people in the country who really knows his stuff re Elans and Elites. I?ve had many dealings with him over the past 20 years or so, including maintenance of moderns, mechanical and bodywork restorations of oldies and supply of parts. He has a very dry, and funny, sense of humour, but I disagree with the comment above?he doesn?t suffer fools AT ALL!.

He is still hands-on, unlike many of the other ?knowledgables?, and as you can imagine, he?s heard it all before after nearly 40 years with these cars. For him, there is only one way to do things, and that?s properly, and as original. If you present to him your ideas on how to ?improve? the Elan, he will politely point out that he has no interest in such things. Persist in presenting your ideas, and you will not be doing business with Miles?his choice, no matter what you may think, not yours.

Many Elan owners suffer from the tinkering bug?just can?t leave things alone, and always want to ?improve? things. It?s these folks who will have a rather dim view of Miles, having been shown the door with a few choice Anglo Saxon words. You won?t change his view, or the work he does.

But if you have bought a car which has been the subject of such tinkering, Miles is your man to put it back exactly as it should be.

Mark

[FritzPasadena]

Thanks for all the great feedback, very much appreciated.

I like cars to be correct and original so hopefully no conflict there. I'm not planning any modifications, maybe just a set of black Minilite rims and possibly a fruity exhaust (depending on what the standard set up is like).
What I'll have to brush up on though is my mechanical aptitude (being something of a chequebook mechanic) but it seems the Elan is a good place to start for this.

Will be back on the south coast tomorrow lunchtime-ish so hopefully get some photos uploaded (at which point I'll no doubt find out what a dog I've bought )!

Thanks again.

[hatman]

Well, Elanintheforest, you've had much more invelvement with Mr Wilkins than have I and obviously know him pretty well as a result - all I can do is speak as I find, my experience being based on one meeting only.

A couple of years ago I needed to replace the chromed strip 'twixt the front bumper and bodywork and phoned Fibreglass Services to confirm that they had them in stock. Miles Wilkins, on the phone, could hardly have been more accommodating, confirming that he had the strips and giving details on how to locate his premises (I decided to drive down there to collect it in view of the difficulties of sending such weird items through the post).

Next day, having driven the fifty or so miles and found the place (which looked rather run down and deserted) I parked up and wandered inside to find someone. I stood in the main entrance to the garage workshop area where two blokes were standing talking. Not wishing to interrupt, I waited patiently for one or other to acknowledge my presence as they had clearly seen me arrive as I had been the subject of sidelong glances as they talked. They then separated, each wandering off to fiddle with bits of cars etc and thereafter, for the next few minutes (not seconds, minutes) they moved about the workshop , taking surreptitious glances towards me so as not to directly catch my eye.

By this time I was quite bemused as to what game they were playing (the remote, countryside location of the premises made it all feel a little like a scene from 'Deliverance' - I almost expected to hear a banjo playing somewhere) and I decided to just stay where I was and wait them out (had I been nearer home I would just have left and taken my business elsewhere).

After a while longer, one of them, Miles Wilkins (for he it was) walked in my general direction, still without looking at me directly or otherwise acknowledging my presence and, when he got within a few feet of me said 'Boo!' (Nice, professional approach to running your business and looking after your customers, that, I thought).

I said nothing about my bizarre treatment at his hands as it seemed more than likely that, had I done so, I would have been driving the fifty miles back home empty-handed, merely reminding him that I'd phoned him the day before about a trim strip, which he acknowledged cheerfully enough and took me through to his stockroom where the transaction was eventually completed. Never a word of explanation or apology. I shall not be troubling him again.

[MintSprint]

... I was quite bemused as to what game they were playing (the remote, countryside location of the premises made it all feel a little like a scene from 'Deliverance' - I almost expected to hear a banjo playing somewhere)

That might explain why Elanintheforest gets on so well with him!

(for those not familiar with with Gloucestershire, denizens of the Forest of Dean are referred to locally as 'Foresters' - usually accompanied by a rolling of the eyes - and have a reputation for banjo playing, pony-bothering, incest and other traditional rural pursuits that leave them slightly out of step with the rest of the civilised world! I live on the other side of the River Severn, where we have telephones, electricity and everything, obviously. ).

[Elanintheforest]

It?s not Ponies it?s sheep?and you missed out the ginger hair, conspicuous cider consumption and our liking for wobbly tin buildings!

When I moved here a few years ago, the Severn River really was the dividing line?to the east was the Range Rovers and horses, to the west was Land Rovers and cows. Count me in with the last lot, although posh is moving slowly west.

More importantly, to the west are fabulous, empty roads that were just built for Elans?hundreds of miles of playground. I used to live in Hampshire, not too far from Miles, and by comparison, his place and the surroundings are more like suburbia to me?.Banjos have long since been banned.

I?m sorry that your experience wasn?t more positive, Hatman. His hands-on nature means that sometimes the job in hand is probably more important than a new customer. But that?s what I like about him?if he had been the other way he may just be another suit that turns up for Donnington once a year?business is almost secondary to the Elite and Elan enthusiasm. And I?m sorry to say that your account of your meeting did make me laugh?I can just see the sod doing that.

Mark