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A sight for sore eyes and music to my ears!

Title: How to turn a 4 minute video into a 14 minute video.

5 guys, i did mine by myself

What a shame, over 100 lotus’, and only two first generation elans and no first generation elites.

A fascinating video, thanks. Minor quibble, though: those are in fact Macpherson struts, not Chapman struts.

Superb effort with fantastic results!

All the different colours made me go get the jelly bean jar. Haha

Prefer the classis lotus. Not many here

That's a lot of Lotus! Fun to see them all. I only saw two original Elans.

love it!

Fun day! We were the quiet one near the back 😉 I counted around 127 I think....

I've always been a fan of Lotus. I wanted an Elise but the wife said that she wouldn't be able to gratefully get in or out of it. 😂 However, she has agreed, with me, in getting an Emira 😊 I've got a Vivid red one coming in December 🎉

Modern doughnut are poor compared to the originals, I've had 3 sets fail, all from different suppliers, and all in less than 2000 miles each time. I have therefore fitted cv conversions. So much better and peace of mind regarding potential failure at speed. Good jackiing mod though.

I prefer my 1972 Buick Skylark 😊

I had an S3 S/E for 18 years. The doughnuts were one of the worst features. I believe they were originally used on the Hillman Imp. Later ones were stiffened up but they still affected the gearchange and the ride. I fitted a conversion with universal joints and a sliding splined intermediate joint. (CV conversions were not available at the time). The conversion worked well but some alternatives were not as good. Original rear calipers were from Fiat. Handbrake pads wore quiclly as they tended to rub all the time.

Great video - Thanks for that presentation. I have not seen one as good about the Lotus Elan chassis I wonder if it would not be wise to apply a type of silicon type sealant to that noise dampening fabric so the chassis does not get wet and cause rusting.

I’m sure there was a leak so the available vacuum was not enough to keep the lights up

I had a 1966 Lotus Elan. Loved it. However, every time I got on the throttle, the lights went down. Exciting to drive at night!

Best drivers cars, ever. Gonna miss the Norfolk factory and the skilled jobs.

What lotus replaced it

Is that an original Lotus chassis or Spyder ?

Is the Woolies part number ‘R399’? many thanks

Hi Paul. I have watched your video previously on re-upholstering but now having received my new seat cover kit I’ve watched a second time. I’m sure this will help me so thanks in advance. Regarding the use of the original foam - do you think the covers would fit better if you had used the new seat foam from Newton? I do believe reading that the old foams won’t work with the new seat covers (although you’ve proven this mostly wrong) ?

0:40. The bar is split to make it easier to fold when in storage but eventually, the split tends to damage the hood creating wear where the metal bars meet. My new hood came that way. That's why I replaced the split bar with a single continuous bar. Can't fold it, but I can still lay it flat in the boot. Just something you might want to consider before the damage begins. 1:13. I believe the zippers are there mainly if you have an S3, S4, or a Sprint as the window frames are fixed. You certainly did a nice job fitting both the tonneau and the hood.

Thanks for this video. I'm now about to remove my body from my Lotus Esprit, so this was a very helpful video. I have the quickjack system as well, so to find a video using this system is great. Looks like I just need to get some trolleys to move the chassis around. Thank you.

Really good video only one slight contention. It’s not a chassis it’s a sub frame. You can drive a chassis you cannot drive this. I won this argument with HMRC over an imported S2. DVLA consider it a sub frame because the vehicle details are attached to the body. But great vid.

Sounds like a diesel

Hello Paul, do you still have the crash pad repro? Do you think you can seek it to me? Thanks Valerio

Good job bro

Paul. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching your excellent restoration but I must say, I believe you made a mistake. You sold it!

The problem is people expect old cars to idle from cold like new ones, That's what chokes are for, in the 70s to get a fast enough idle on a cold engine you had to have the chock out just enough to be in contact with the fast idle ramp on the carb linkage, this didn't close the chock butterfly enough to richen the mixture but kept the engine running. Then after 4 miles you could push it in.

Great information, thanks for sharing. Would like an Elan project at some point

Excellent run through, provides some good pointers for anyone looking at a possible purchase. Ran a Lotus 20 for a while, flimsy construction is a understatement. The Elan chassis also looks flimsy but is a brick outhouse by comparison.

Paul, many thanks for publishing the video's they are brilliant. Any chance you could provide dimensions for the spring used in on the window channel lock please - I need to make some for my S2, please? Regs, Art

imagine a gr corolla inline 3 i this , maybe with a LimitedslipDiffrential, although i dont know if itd fi, i can imagine it sticking out of the back lol .

Thank you for the video . Just about to start fitting new covers to my early plus 2. Very helpful. 👍👍 John

Hi Paul. Hoping there will be some videos documenting your new car this summer!

I can't do what you can so I watch each video with great interest. Rest up go on a vacation then pick another lotus project because I'm gready for more. And thanks for sharing.

Just found your channel and I must say you do a great job providing an insight and explaining the simplicity of the Elan design

Two old boy racers

Fun watching you two play ‘Lotus leapfrog’. Good job! (My own S2 is deep in the resto shop… out by summer I hope)

Always fun making car videos and editing afterwards.... it might be an idea to place a "dead cat" (Fur muff) over the mic to eliminate that wind roar and flutter... and maybe place the remote mic closer to the exhaust... its all trial and error, but it all comes together eventually, and when it does, take your elan out on your fav twisty road and ring its neck, and keep that video camera recording .

Great video Paul I haven't driven my Elan since before covid that has inspired me to get it out again thanks

I was interested to see Elan S2 pop up on my IPA as MGY38D was assembled from a kit by myself in 1966! It looks as though it’s had a hard time in the mean time ,I sold it 1968 & built a S4SE at that time which proved to be a better car although it still had similar problems ie water pumps/rear wheel bearings rotor flex couplings but at least the rain did not keep coming through the doors & soaking the carpet (incurable!

I had missed this one! Good luck with your next project, I trust you will post progress here.

My experience suggests that the problem usually lies with the rubber seal in the slave cylinder; if you look at it, it is situated next to the exhaust pipe, and suffers a lot of thermal stress. That is the first bit I would replace. Cheap enough too!

The early units as fitted to my 1967 model had pistons with leather seals. Once the seals dried out the lights would slowly drop whenever you accelerated. They were eventually replaced by the diaphragm types.

If you are doing many miles you soon get fed up with working on the distributor. I fitted an electronic conversion but was unlucky as it came from a bad batch which failed quickly. The only time the RAC had to tow me home. The replacement worked fine, but i also had to fit silicone plug leads as there were sparks all over the place in the dark. Not nice on a glass fibre car.

I have not seen a mention of the dynamo. Original fitting was a 25 amp dynamo. I managed to get the genuine forged bracket to mount an alternator, which was normally 36 amps, but i was offered a rebuilt 48 amp which also fitted. It was a bit difficult to find the right fan belt to fit. With an alternator you could fit an electric cooling fan. I seem to remember that the polarity had to be changed when the alternator was fitted.