Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all my name is Nick I am based near stansted airport.
Recently bought a 1967 series 3 coupe from the USA which was exported out there in 1980 it was in CA and the hot weather has taken its toll on the rubber stuff etc ,the car needs a full restoration but wanted to try and start her .
The car wasn't used for many years but turns over and seems to have compression,oil looks clean.
The cables in the boot have been cut as have the wires going to the regulator .etc.
I've rigged up a temp battery with clamps and the starter turns but the bendix isn't strong enough , taken webers off fuel pump cleaned out as well blown fuel line out .
I was going to buy a high torque starter motor but the problem I have is I have no ignition lights so is it possible to by pass the ignition and try to start up the car up once everything is cleaned up and replaced.
Sorry about the long post .
Nick

Welcome Nick!

Hello Nick!

Many thanks for the nice welcome ,I will be asking a lot of questions but will use the search facility first.
Nick

Welcome Nick,
You could bridge the ignition by putting a 12v live wire straight to the coil, this will put the ignition on.
Just make sure you put it on the correct terminal, find out if your car is positive or negative ground (earth) ??..the distributor side of the coil is always the ground of the car so you want the 12v power on the other terminial.
Some people don?t like to start a car after a long sleep but prefer to do things like checking the valve springs, pump up oil pressure, drop the sump etc. but what I would advise you to do at least is remove the cam caps one at a time, oil the bearings and refit.
I have seen an engine that had not been started for many years and because there was no oil in the cam bearings it scored the bearings and camshafts very badly.

Thank you will sort that first.
N

Always a good idea to remove the spark plugs and give the engine a good spin on the starter to get oil round the engine when starting after a long time standing.
I'd also second the manual lubrication of cams beforehand if many years stood.

Don't start the engine with the old oil in the sump. Drain it first. How it drains and it's condition is sometimes a good indication of other issues. Change the oil filter too before starting. Make sure you fill the filter or filter canister with oil before refitting to the pump. This will prevent a delay in pressurized oil supply that will occur otherwise. Don't forget the coolant too of course!

Once the engine is up and running bring it to normal temperature and change the oil again whilst it's still hot.