New addition to the MLOC family

[richbk]

4 hours ago, Lithopsian said:

Looks good, but headlamp definitely wonky   The wheels look immaculate.  Have they been refurbished at some time during their 20-odd years?

Will get the lights checked on the Mot testing rig when it goes in for other jobs .
Alloys have been cleaned to within inch of their lives but few marks in corners and bolt holes suggest they might be original . 

[Jonathan E]

Looks fantastic Rich,a credit to you both. Brakes are a bugger to bleed, have you had them off and tapped when upside down and bled? apologies if I’ve missed that?

 

[richbk]

Well the Elise had its 1st shakedown run on the 6mile drive to the garage that is doing the final work listed above . 
1st impression. I really hope they fix the brakes !!.
2nd impression - what a lovely nimble , rorty , sublime, feelsome, fun car it is , and that was all pre geo / alignment check .
 The crashes , creaks , rattles and bangs of the old suspension , shocks , joints etc seem to all have disappeared for now and the engine pulls clean and linear , a different drive from my yota exige , but  all the better for those differences. 

Can’t wait to get it back after it’s final little jobs and checks and it’s little cam upgrade and try it out properly. 
On that topic I would like to add a couple of discreet 135 (with or without the vertical “sport” ) decals behind the door as per the original items . Other than the French ones I have spotted on line does anyone know of a supplier oem or copies they could point me towards ? 
thanks 

Richard and Ethan  

[Jonathan E]

Hi Rich,

Dan at Devine Handcraft can probably help with the decals, drop him an email: https://divinehandcraft.co.uk

 

[richbk]

7 hours ago, Jonathan E said:

Hi Rich,

Dan at Devine Handcraft can probably help with the decals, drop him an email: https://divinehandcraft.co.uk

 

Cheers Jon . I will drop him a message today , need new stone chip guards too , so hopefully he can accommodate both 👍🏻

[keo]

Nice to quickly meet you last week Ethan. How did you get on with the exhaust? MX5 looked good as well.

[ethbk]

On 22/05/2022 at 14:41, keo said:

Nice to quickly meet you last week Ethan. How did you get on with the exhaust? MX5 looked good as well.

THE MX5 has been a blast, for £3.5k it is a well sorted fun sports car,,,,,,and a little bit loud !. I have sorned it as i dont want to sell it just yet, but hope to have the lotus back from the garage shakedown tomorrow so fingers crossed for some good weather over the bank holiday week 

 

[richbk]

Slow progress on the Elise this week and I need some help .

garage has attempted to fit the 135 cams I purchased with the code listed as appropriate for the car . But the garage is suggesting that the ones I have supplied is for an engine with a coil pack , and ours has a distributor??

my engine knowledge is very low (non existent) Is this a thing I should have been aware of and something that others knew about ?

Any help  as ever greatly appreciated 

 

richard 

[Lithopsian]

If your cams don't have a spindle for the distributor, then you can fit one.  Either take the one off your existing inlet cam, or you can buy a new one.  Official Rover ones aren't cheap,  but you can get aftermarket ones.  ECU will likely need tweaking also.

[richbk]

So. At last the Elise is ready for the road .
We bought it on 1st Feb and serendipitously it’s had its 1st drive on 1st June 
it’s been an experience, it’s taken way longer than I imagined , it’s cost way more than I planned , and it’s been a lot more rewarding than I expected .
As novices the seemingly simple jobs seemed daunting and challenging and if it wasn’t for the support of the MLOC tribe I am sure we would have given up and called the garage .
However I am pleased we didn’t and after a final check over and a few jobs we couldn’t tackle ourselves , the car is running great .

For  posterity, and peace of mind, as to where my cash and time went::-

Below is a list of what we have done 

Clam off

Radiator

Hoses

Heater matrix

wishbones

bushes

Full suspension refresh

steering arms

battery

front structure refresh

all bolts and fixings

washer system, wipers , all tubing 

tow post and eye 

Head light  And driving light fittings / mounts 

brake discs and pads

caliper refresh 

braided hoses 

Full interior refresh 

short shifter , gear linkages 

via Garage

water pump

leads and plugs 

gaskets and head check

geometry and alignment

and lots of other little things I can’t remember!. 

 I have to say it feels awesome .
No squeaks , no rattles , direct steering , linear power , great ride and really nimble. A totally different experience from the s2 Exige . 

and all that from the 8 minutes Ethan actually let me drive it !!.  He of course loves it 

couple of pics , nice of see it off its axle stands 

 

 

 

 

[Elisemadray]

Looks Stunning well done guys  

[Jonathan E]

We’ll done, looks ace, did the 8 minute drive erase the memory of the £££’s spent Rich, It does tend to👍😂

[martenr1975]

Looks amazing, great effort.

[Phil S1]

Looks absolutely great, well done both of you 👍

[keo]

Looks stunning!