Please Introduce your self and welcome to LotusElan.net

PostPost by: lotocone » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:02 pm

Hi Louis,

So the car is back in the UK. That's very interesting. It's back home on the right side of the pond and the left side of the road. How did you even know it was for sale? Was it advertised on LotusElan.net?

I would also drive it this summer before new paint. Mine needs it too, but I know it will take a lot of time and money, so it probably won't be this year. I might try to learn about body preparation and do that part myself. Next week I will do an intro here and see if I can get some photos together.

I know Auto Europe well. I stop there every few months and know several of the guys there. Next week I'll ask about the engine work they did in 99. Maybe someone will remember some details. For the amount he paid, it seems like they would have done a thorough job. They are now a Lotus dealership. I don't know if they were in 1999, but the owners and several of the mechanics have been Lotus enthusiasts for many years before then.

Again, enjoy the car. I hope you have some good twisty Lotus roads nearby.
Bob
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PostPost by: SJ Lambert » Mon May 09, 2011 9:48 am

G'day everyone, James Lambert here. I joined LotusElan.net late last year despite no Elan and I'm loving it. I've got a very big soft spot for the Twin Cam motor, having a Twin Cam Escort and my Dad, Ron Lambert's involvement at Elfin Sports Cars in the sixties has led to a Twin Cam powered Elfin Mono making it to Dad's garage in recent times - I think it'll fall to me to be in charge of engine refurburshing during the restoration. So childhood memories of setting Cooper S rocker gear with Dad have been replaced by shim juggling and piston height, rod length and block height computations to feed the addiction! We also run a Holbay pushrod motor in another Elfin that shares the same Twin Cam block (ie rope seal Cortina block) -so from now on, I'll be putting Twinks back together on a fairly regular basis.

Here's a pic of the Mono back in around 1967 with Chuck Krueger at the wheel at Watkins Glen - it competed in Aussie events such as Warwick Farm Gold Star meeting in October 1966 in the hands of Phil Hotchkiss after being put together in Adelaide South Australia not long before that. Have yet to pull down the motor, but am pretty sure that it is a small bore Cosworth Mk XVI 1500cc variant.

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Ford Escort Mk1 Lotus Twin Cam
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Elfin Type 300 (Holbay S65 - 120E) mechanic

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PostPost by: elansprint71 » Mon May 09, 2011 9:25 pm

James,
Welcome aboard, lovely photo.
Check out some of the threads here:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showforum=10
Elfin crops up from time to time.
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PostPost by: SJ Lambert » Tue May 10, 2011 7:16 am

Thanks Pete,

I must admit to being responsible for a few of them. Here's one on the Monos. It's a healthy obsession as far as I'm concerned!!

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=133316

Cheers James
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Elfin Monocoque (Twin Cam)
Elfin Type 300 (Holbay S65 - 120E) mechanic

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PostPost by: SJ Lambert » Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:14 pm

SJ Lambert wrote:G'day everyone, James Lambert here. I joined LotusElan.net late last year despite no Elan and I'm loving it. I've got a very big soft spot for the Twin Cam motor, having a Twin Cam Escort and my Dad, Ron Lambert's involvement at Elfin Sports Cars in the sixties has led to a Twin Cam powered Elfin Mono making it to Dad's garage in recent times - I think it'll fall to me to be in charge of engine refurburshing during the restoration. So childhood memories of setting Cooper S rocker gear with Dad have been replaced by shim juggling and piston height, rod length and block height computations to feed the addiction! We also run a Holbay pushrod motor in another Elfin that shares the same Twin Cam block (ie rope seal Cortina block) -so from now on, I'll be putting Twinks back together on a fairly regular basis.

Here's a pic of the Mono back in around 1967 with Chuck Krueger at the wheel at Watkins Glen - it competed in Aussie events such as Warwick Farm Gold Star meeting in October 1966 in the hands of Phil Hotchkiss after being put together in Adelaide South Australia not long before that. Have yet to pull down the motor, but am pretty sure that it is a small bore Cosworth Mk XVI 1500cc variant.

Image


This Twin Cam Elfin modified engine was team principal, Garrie Cooper's personal engine - I wonder whether the throttle return spring anchor on the cam cover was originally cast into the cover, or whether it was an afterthought???

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Ford Escort Mk1 Lotus Twin Cam
Elfin Monocoque (Twin Cam)
Elfin Type 300 (Holbay S65 - 120E) mechanic

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PostPost by: dpo#4 » Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:18 am

Aloha(Greetings) to all, from the island state of Hawaii. My name is Ray, and I've followed this forum for years. I've gotten a lot from your contributions and it's time to add whatever I can in return. This site is a tremendously valuable resource, as you well know. I did too much work badly on my S2 back when there was no internet, few available books, and just one knowledgeable and trustworthy Lotus mechanic/ parts supplier/ friend between me and disaster. There were a few close ones, mechanically speaking, and since an Elan doesn't have many extra parts, any failure could be unfunny. Blow-by-blow accounts may follow. For now, many thanks to Jeff Cocking for this labor of love. The Elan is a 1966 s2, 26-5648, dhc. Owner #4 (at least) since 1978. Driven, taken apart- insert 3 years-put together, driven, crashed the left front into a lady who couldn't see me (always assume they don't see you) and turned across 2 lanes. Pleasant lady, she sang out as we parted "Sorry I hit your M.G.". The phrase reverberated for 3 more years. Many repairs well done, as I was working in a frame/body shop (as a mechanic) and the old school collision guys were highly skilled. I did the body and was considerably less skilled. It showed after a short time, but it came out of the paint booth absolutely perfect. Listen to Miles Wilkins. Drove it, moved back to my home town/island where I drove it a lot less. We're officially the rainiest city in the USA. 1990 (the previous year) totaled 211 inches, or 5.3 meters. It's the record, and they didn't turn it off after 12/31/90. S2 dhcs leak. The clutch stuck. The water pump died. Lizards moved in. I cleaned it up, rolled it indoors and covered it. Girlfriend called it "the mausoleum". Fast forward 20 years- and isn't that how it seems?- pumped up the tires, rolled it out, winched it up ramps that barely fit the narrow track, and carted it to my repair shop. It's time to fix it right and drive it while I've still got the nerve to conduct rolling inspections of monster truck universal joints. Last week a client saw it under wraps and asked about the Fiat...and that's life in LotusLand. Looking forward to many more intriguing posts from all of you, lighthearted or technical. And from you, too, Gary. Aloha (Goodbye), Ray
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PostPost by: John Larkin » Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:27 am

Welcome to the forum Ray!

John Larkin.
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PostPost by: garyeanderson » Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:05 pm

Ray

Welcome and as a guess you may be located on Maui. I was there for a day and it looked like paradise to me. I have a friend that moved to Kaneohe in 76 and I visited. Not many folks would invite me to visit and ask at the airport "how long are you here for?". So in 1985 I spent the month of February visiting. I didn't get invited back :)

Gary

Please post photos!
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PostPost by: UNCbigM » Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:55 pm

Morgan Mehler here, from Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.

I don't have nearly as much to say as many of my predecessors on this thread (but I'm sure I can find something useless to say), mostly because I don't have nearly the experience of owning a classic British sports car (read: lack of mechanical expertise) as many of you.

The short story is that I'm 32, I have a wife with no interest in cars, and I own 4, hopefully soon to be 5. Bad combo? Probably, but I make it work.

The longer story is that I have been a car guy since I was 7 and received my first Road and Track (already had a childhood love affair with Lamborghinis and Ferraris of course). I grew up in a time when the only Lotus I knew was the Esprit Turbo.

Fast forward to February 2007, where at the age of 27 I finally purchased my first manual equipped car (no thanks to Mom and Dad not allowing me to have one when I got my driver's license at 16). The car was a new 2006 Miata (Elan at heart, right?) and I soon thereafter began to autocross and have been an avid autocrosser ever since.

Through autocrossing and the SCCA I became good friends with a retired gentleman who had owned several British sports cars of the years from every make. When we met he owned and daily drove a 2005 Elise, had a Europa JPS somewhere in storage in South Carolina and had an old dilapidated '64 Elan in his shop/garage out back. Eventually I got to see the Elan in its sad state and never saw the JPS before it was sold. I was the only other person he let drive the Elise. Just over a year ago my friend passed away after a fairly short battle with cancer. I have officially owned the Elise since July (though it was in my garage ever since he became ill). I have loved the Elise since the S1 debuted in Europe and was delighted when they announced the S2 would be federalized. I knew I would own one at some point. Now I do, just not through the circumstances I would have liked.

This all brings me to the reason I am now a poster here and am introducing myself. I'm still trying to gather details on the history of the '64 Elan in the shop/garage, (even trying to determine if its a late S1 or S1/S2 (leaning toward S1)) but I believe it has been parked inside the shop/garage for approximately 26 years. My friend told me that he wanted to restore it and at some point he mostly stripped the car (all parts are believed to be present) and filled all of the small spider cracks on the body. He sanded down what he filled and this was the state upon my seeing the car a few years ago and it is the state it is in now.

So, THE POINT: I am giving very serious consideration to undertaking the restoration of the Elan. If I do so my goal will be to restore it to a good driver's condition and as original as possible. I know that was the plan my friend had, so even though I would likely change the color (red) and would even consider prepping it for vintage racing, most of the reason I want to restore the car is for him.

So hello. You will either hear very little from me if I come to my senses and sell the car, or you will get sick of me as I ask constant questions should I want to tempt the marriage gods and bring the car home with me like an abandoned puppy and start work on it.
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PostPost by: garyeanderson » Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:15 pm

UNCbigM wrote:Morgan Mehler here, from Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.

This all brings me to the reason I am now a poster here and am introducing myself. I'm still trying to gather details on the history of the '64 Elan in the shop/garage, (even trying to determine if its a late S1 or S1/S2 (leaning toward S1)) but I believe it has been parked inside the shop/garage for approximately 26 years. My friend told me that he wanted to restore it and at some point he mostly stripped the car (all parts are believed to be present) and filled all of the small spider cracks on the body. He sanded down what he filled and this was the state upon my seeing the car a few years ago and it is the state it is in now.

So, THE POINT: I am giving very serious consideration to undertaking the restoration of the Elan. If I do so my goal will be to restore it to a good driver's condition and as original as possible. I know that was the plan my friend had, so even though I would likely change the color (red) and would even consider prepping it for vintage racing, most of the reason I want to restore the car is for him.


Hi Morgan

Welcome and I think you are on the right forum. Start a topic on the car post some photos of it and get some details off of the VIN plate listed (a good photo will help) and we will likely be able to tell you about what you have gotten from your friend that you lost.

Gary
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PostPost by: CSICO » Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:58 am

I am one of this 'lurkers', but like to state, I did found most of the answers to my questions somewhere on this forums so I didn't see any reason for asking questions - henceforth no gears. However, I am a regular guest and now and then I feel the urge to give some - more or less - 'valuable' comments.
Born in Cheeseland (Switzerland/CH) I have to say, that - surprisingly, shocking to my mother - at the mature age of twelve I got caught by the friends with the funny suits and that blue, blinking lamp on top of their car whilst I was driving around with one of this 2stroke minibikes (Note: in CH you have to be 14 years of age to drive that thing and the max. speed allowed is 30km/h. Mine was going 58 km/h, police tested and verified). So it was nothing else then natural I ended up in the vehicle business. I did the four year apprenticeship as a car mechanic, finding my way through of learning all aspects of maintaining and repairing cars and all kind of weird and wonderful vehicles (lawn mowers, cars, dumpers, lorries, fork lifters, race cars etc) including the the skills need e.g.. welding, lathing, soldering, milling, forging etc. etc. (to my time I had to learn all this skills, today it's a different story) and even passing the final test above the average.
After a couple of years practical experience and tampering around mainly on motorbikes like BSA, Triumph, Harley-Davidson I had the opportunity to get involved in car racing, speak rallying. So I bought one of this cars, prepared it and went with some friends - one as a co-pilot, the rest as 'service team'.
The outcome was somewhat frightening if not of danger to life for everybody involved. I was bloody fast - but somehow I regularly run out of street with fatal consequences to the machinery involved. Thank god nobody became ever seriously injured. Running completely dry in terms of funds and realizing that I might be better under the car then in the car I put my overall and helmet away and got a job in the race department with one of the big car importers in CH. Mainly working for/with two asian manufacturers but also with cars from BL. I spent most of my time in the Rally business, highlights being participation in events like Paris - Dakar, European Championship and various national events across europe. Sadly, this department got closed and nothing is left of it.
Leaving racing I went back into 'normal' car business in a position called workshop manager. This turned out to be meant: you are responsible for everything except car sales and if I'm (Boss) not here you are doing this as well! Being the best paid handyman in the company I did this for about seven or eight years but eventually got fed up with it. In the same period I started scuba diving and got kind of hooked to this sport. Spending my money on fancy dive gear and traveling I decided to have a professional go at it, earned my instructor certification and started working in the diving/tourism industry. That's also where I met my wife and completely ruined my back. Working around the world we finally set up our own business on a small island in the med, got married and as a result we have a daughter, at present in her heavy puberty phase and nicknamed 'our Monster'. Due to political and a few personal circumstances we returned to CH about 15 years ago.
Restart wasn't that easy back 'home', but I think, we made it. As for my professional career I got back into the mechanical/vehicle sector (diving in CH isn't that fulfilling: in wintertime you go diving with a chainsaw, cutting the ice, in summer you can't see nothing because of algae and in general the water is f*????g cold, that's fun on occasions, but not on a regular base). I teached myself some basics about CAD/CAM/CNC as well as this OBD system on modern cars. My back started doing all kind of strange things and when I lost the sense of feeling down my arms I started of thinking about a visit by my doc. I've got a plate in my neck which is holding the vertebraes in the right position, they took some bone out of my hip, plastered it between the vertebraes and the problem was solved.
Being back in business I work with one of the top selling dealers of a korean manufacturer, doing quality control, practical training of apprentices, in house training, general leadership regarding workshop and some duties in the parts department.
That's when I came across my Elan, five years ago. Here in the region a guy is running his business restoring cars, mainly formula cars and mainly Lotus. So one day I walked in, we chatted and I did asked him whether he knows anybody who got a decent Elan. Just wanted to fulfill a boy's dream... He looked at me, said: yes, it's not original, but goes like hell. And the owner wants/has to sell it because his girlfriend isn't seating in this car anymore. I got a phone number, rang and on a foggy Sunday morning in November I drove to a garage somewhere near Zurich. An elder bloke turned up, opened the garage and it was love of the first sight. These hips from the back, this smile from the front and this voice. So we went for a drive, the deal was done as I got a bucket full of spares with it and I drove back home, confessing to my family.

And here I am, with my not so wonderful english and longwinded as usual. I hope it didn't got to boring, looking forward for some new posts!

See (read) you

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PostPost by: John Larkin » Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:19 am

Welcome to the forum Csico!

What an interesting history you have. Your English is excellent --- better than my Italian/German/French.

I'm planning a trip to continental Europe in my Elan in September 2012. I would love to meet you for a beer when I am in Switzerland. Send me a private message (PM) if you would like to meet up.

Regards,

John Larkin.
1967 S3SE FHC, 1974 Rover P6B, 1949 Lancia Aprilia
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PostPost by: UNCbigM » Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:43 am

piss-ant wrote:Hi Morgan

Welcome and I think you are on the right forum. Start a topic on the car post some photos of it and get some details off of the VIN plate listed (a good photo will help) and we will likely be able to tell you about what you have gotten from your friend that you lost.

Gary

Thanks Gary. Yeah, I suppose I'll start a thread. I think I've officially opened the can of worms.
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PostPost by: Henry VIIII » Sat Mar 10, 2012 3:20 pm

Hello.

My name is Henry and I live in the UK, not a long way from Cheshunt.

I've had an Elan s3 hardtop for ages, but I've only just joind this site.

I think it is a later or a special S3 because it has those slotty things on the top bit behind the doors.
Henry
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PostPost by: UAB807F » Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:05 pm

Welcome to the forum Henry, it sounds like you have one of the later S3 FHC's. Mine was a '68 fhc when I bought it and it also had the aeroflow (or whatever it's called) venting grilles behind the door frames. I can't remember when they were introduced, but someone is bound to know on here.

Brian
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