What I did Last Summer and This Summer – A tale of my Elan Restoration

In the spring of 2001 I made a big mistake. Many others had made the same mistake before me. Everyone I talked to and consulted before the big mistake had done the same thing. I decided to buy a poor example of a Lotus Elan and restore it. A rare 1966 pre airflow Elan Coupe, originally delivered on August 8, 1966. This wasn’t my only mistake, oh no. Many were to follow and there are more to come. Based on my experience so far, I’ve compiled the following handy guide to making your own restoration mistakes.

Mistake #1:Don’t buy the best example of a Lotus you can afford

Lotus cars were manufactured in small numbers. Those little things that are missing on that “great deal” you got may actually turn out to cost you more in the long run. The most successful of the early Lotus cars, the Elan, had fewer than 9153 examples over 11 years. Lotus made fewer than 2650 series 3 cars, type 36 and type 45. Of these 2650 cars, a minority were the type 36 coupe which I am restoring . With such low production numbers, some parts can be scarce, with anything made of plastic being especially hard to find. Things like the A-pillar covers or the under dash trim have been re-manufactured but other items, like tail light lenses, are scarce. If the car has damaged or missing parts, find out ahead of time if they are available and how much they will set you back.

Mistake #2: Underestimate the damage

Any body damage that shows through the paint is 10 times worse that it appears. If there is any damage, take a good look at the opposite side of the car. If the car was hit hard, stress cracks can show up on the opposite corner – that’s what mine did. New parts are available but the quality does not compare to the original fiberglass. Think about this for a minute: the original Lotus, lightweight, cheapest to source part is better than the replacement you can buy today. What does that say about the parts you can buy? I bought and returned two sets of bumpers and a bonnet because the quality and fit were poor. The second bonnet fit and I ended up having the original bumpers repaired.

Mistake #3: Think the original chassis is a good thing

You might think the original chassis is still serviceable, but 35 year old metal is still 35 years old. Lotus chassis are notorious for developing rust. In the Elan the front uprights are usually the first to rust. Even if you find a car without rust, like mine, there will be cracks. As one Lotus expert wrote, “Colin Chapman with his racing background appeared to have subscribed to the old adage ‘don’t use 12 gauge when 18 will do.’ As a consequence, excellent though the Elan chassis is from a judgment of performance and as an exercise in value engineering, it is not a yardstick of longevity.” Even if you can’t see cracks in the chassis, trust me, they are there. There are several manufacturers for new chassis, but they are expensive. Not too expensive to purchase, but expensive to ship. Of course, when you do get that new chassis, be sure to use that as an opportunity to replace or repair thirty-eleven other parts. “Gee, since I have the flarty-flart out then I should rebuild it!”

Mistake #4: Don’t take adequate notes when disassembling the car

Where did that wire go? When doing the disassembly, remember your notes will not be good enough. No matter how many you take, you’ll wish you had more. Take copious notes, pictures and make diagrams of how everything was before you tampered with it. This is especially true of the wiring. If generations of “fixes” left the wiring butchered, as happened to my car, you may be tempted to skimp on the notes. I did and am now regretting it. So is my wife, who is now spending hours in the garage reading wiring diagrams to me and trying to find that green with blue wire.

Mistake #5: Underestimate the time things will take

To avoid this, make your best pessimistic estimate and double it. Parts will take longer to get, machine shop work will take longer than you think and the bodywork will go on forever. Allow plenty of time for reassembly. Not having a part can put you at a standstill for weeks while you wait for delivery or try to find a source for that rare part. Above all do not get discouraged. There is always something to work on and doing something moves the project along.

Mistake #6: Assume that it won’t get ugly and you won’t lose interest.

This is an easy mistake to make and, in my opinion, the hardest to avoid. You’ve seen the perfect car either in person or in your mind’s eye and you want that car. When you bought the project car, you were imagining the finished project. When it is all disassembled, strewn about your garage, and your checkbook is screaming the car no longer looks like a car. It is very difficult to look at the bare torn chassis, cracked fiberglass, rotted carpet, and tortuous wiring and see it as that perfect car you are restoring. To try and temper the feeling that I was turning a car into a pile of junk, I restored and reconditioned things as I took them off the car. Remove the heater core – restore it. Remove the dash – restore it. Remove the rear suspension – restore it. I now have a bunch of clean or new parts in the garage waiting for reassembly. This also tempers the urge to put it back together using the original, unrestored parts because they are “good enough.”

EpilogueThe restoration continues.

I am about a quarter done (see #6 above) with the rolling chassis, drive train and the major body work completed. All I have left is the final body work, paint, mate the body/chassis and reassemble. Simple! 

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