342 And why is he taking Jim’s picture? Stay tuned …..
Lotus Elan
I purchased my Elan because I wanted to restore a car. Why did I pick a Lotus and why did I pick an Elan Coupe’? I really don’t remember how I decided. At some point I wanted an Elan and the Pre-Airflow Coupe’ was the only one I wanted. I found the car via an internet search. A few phone calls and a drive down to Berkely and I had a car. Several years later I finally drove it.
Ownership History
- Chassis 36/5890 was delivered from the factory on August 8, 1966 to a Michel A. Marx.
- The car was transferred to Gil Denney (date unknown)
- On March 10, 2001 transferred to me, Jim Boone
Damage, Repair and Colors I’m not exactly sure of the order of events. I do know which colors came when and the sequence of the damage, although I am not sure if the driver’s door was damaged a second time or if it was never repaired after the second accident. It seems likely it was repaired at the time the car was repainted the second time and damaged again after that.
- Original color was British Racing Green.
- Torque rods pulled through chassis. A new piece of metal was welded in place to repair. Workmanship was OK.
- Differential ring gear was changed to 3.7:1.
- Original springs where changed to “Sprint” spec. At least that is what the sticker on the spring said.
- Stock fan was removed and an electric fan was installed using wire nuts
- Fire in the engine compartment which burned through the right inner fender damaging the outer fender. Flames also traveled through the air cleaner and scorched under the nose.
- Damage to nose, right front fender top and right rear fender.
- Repainted a lighter shade of green with the sills painted black. This may have been the result of the fire damage.
- Severe damage to left rear corner, left driver’s door and nose. Poorly repaired with a heavy cross textured fiberglass. Repainted with a very dark green.
- Driver’s door damaged again. Repair to driver’s door was thick fiberglass and 1/4″-1/2″ of body putty. Window glass replaced with Plexiglas.
- Wiring harness hacked and repaired with various bits of brown wire.
- A complete restoration was begun on May 5, 2001.
Restoration goals
- Stock Lotus Elan
- Street driven
- Upgrades for reliability
- Finish the development work Lotus didn’t finish
- Restoration was completed on April 7, 2004
First Place!
I won first place in the peoples choice awards at the ABFM. I kept telling people “If I don’t win then the contest is fixed!” I won so the contest must be legit. I’ve had lots of people, those who know Lotus and those who don’t, compliment me on the car during the summer, but I think I really wanted that hockey puck to say, “Great Job” It is nice to take the car...
Getting Ready for the All British Field Meet
Much of today has been spent getting both of the cars ready for the All British Field Meet this weekend. Most of the work on the Elan is cleaning and polishing. Since I have two cars entered this year, Nadya gets to drive the Elan to PIR for the meet. She has been rather nervous about driving the Elan since the R/C car incident of 1988 but I trust her.
87055 Miles
First oil change today with about 500 miles since the restoration. I must remember next time to check if my oil catch can is empty before staring to drain the oil. About half the oil was out and the pan was full. A bit of a mess. The engine is still smoking a bit more than I would like, especially after the oil change. I wonder of the valve guide clearance was too much?...
Carb Jets
Now that I’ve been driving a bit it is time to get the car all tuned up. The cams are a bit hotter than the Lotus Sprint spec and Dave Bean suggest to start with the Sprint spec carb jetting. This morning I orderd a set of jets from Pierce Manifolds Hopefully the jets will be here for the weekend.
Car Cover
I noticed the Elan was getting dirty(!) sitting in the garage and I didn’t like that. I decided a car cover was in order, but where do you find a car cover for a Lotus Elan? I dug through the garage and found the car cover from out first Miata, which we sold in 1999. I checked to be sure no critters were living in the cover and made sure it was clean, and...