lil503

Hi Graham,thanks for your coments,looking i back started from the clutch lever (bell housing)fit the cable on the lever then threaded other end through the bulk head and checked how much of the cable had come through,as long as the cable end wouldnt reach the pulley when clutch pedal was pressed down fully its all good,replaced old pulley with cog using original fitting cut a length of chain to suit,drilled each yoke and fixed to chain with a small nut and bolt then fitted as you would a normal clutch cable,sounds long winded mate but its no more awkward than fitting a normal cable,this set up will only work with a bedford cf cable because the elite/eclat cable is designed to go around the pulley and fix to the pedal,hope this helps graham

Hi all,finally plucked up courage to lay upside down in the footwell and take a few photos of the clutch cable set up,ive had my Elite 14 years or so and never had a cable last this long,6000 miles after fitting the bedford cf cable its as good as new,hope the photos are clear enough,last one is my Elite at my favourite fishing lake two weeks ago,regards Phil

Seasons greetings all,just a quick update on the Bedford cf clutch cable /chain and sprocket set up,its still going strong,no signs of fraying at either end,will have a go at a bit of the old upside down footwell photography over the next week or so and all been well I'll post a couple of pictures 🤞🙄

Thanks Dave,all still good in the clutch department,😀 pity same cant be said about the diff though,😫

Hi all,Just a quick update on the clutch cable set up.Done around 2500-3000 miles over last 6 month mainly stop start town centre stuff with the occasional country lane blast,anyhow checked the cable last weekend (using the cheap Bedford cf jobbie) cable and cog showed no sign of wear ie snapped or frayed strands at both ends,so fingers crossed it will be fine for at least another 6 months,if anything happens inbetween i will let you know.

Thanks for your comment Paul,i put a little grease on the pin and chain before fitting and once adjusted at gearbox end for the last 3 weeks or so it does seem smooth and lighter to use when going through the gears,i know its early days yet and i do carry a spare cable and pulley in the boot just incase,only time will tell mate

Hi Tony,the fittings are the standard for our cars,one is already on your clutch pedal connecting it to the cable,i had another in my parts bin,the cog i used fit so well onto the pulley pin i thought it might be a fluke so tried another off my grandkids old bike and the fit was exactly the same,hope this helps,Phil

Hi all,having changed my Elite to a ford type 5 gearbox the one thing that still worried me was the clutch cable,ive had them all,from best parts of 80 quid from sj sportscars to the 15 quid bedford cf jobbies off ebay and to be honest i cant really tell the difference,they all snap,last one gave way after 9 month and although i use the car quite alot,come on 9 month !! Anyhow when my latest new cable arrived i thought id try a new way,as the photo shows its quite a simple bit of kit really, a standard push bike chain,a bottom cog off a shimano gear change again off a push bike,and believe it or believe it not the cog fits the original pulley pin perfectly.The new cable was a bedford cf one so stripping back a bit of the outer armouring was needed after that it was about as straight forward as fitting a new cable could be.its been on the car for 3 weeks now with no problems at all,the photo shows overall length but i did have to shorten the chain by 3 inch later on.next time your cable snaps and it will,give it a try you never know this might be the answer !

Go for a getrag or ford type 5 gearbox Brian,the lotus box is fragile to say the least,ive had my elite 12 years now,use it most days weather permiting and done four gearboxes all of them gave no prior warning ie rattles or whining just went bang locking the back wheels i put in a type 5 4 speed in 3 years ago mated to a 912 engine although a 5th gear would be nice the box has proved to be strong and reliable

hi,my elite has a 912 2.2 engine,after chewing up my 3rd lotus 5speed box i went for a ford type 5 4 speed,fit straight in but beware,you need correct tail housing,bell housing and prop shaft, the cost soon adds up,having said that i use the car most days and over the last 18 months had no problems at all,a 5th gear would be nice though

Nice one Mike,downloaded from your link without any problems,every page is clear as a bell,seeing the price second hand workshop manuals are going for nowadays this is going to be a very popular posting

hi pete,yes mine was factory fitted,but after 40 odd years it had seen better days,i removed mine sanded down the roof and sprayed it matt black in the end,looks good but in my opinion the vinyl looks much better ,well worth doing mate

On my 76 503 elite the vinyl at the rear was fixed by a thin half inch strip of metal running the full width of the roof,best way I can describe it is to turn your piece of vinyl upside down and lay it over the rear window leaving just enough on the roof so the metal strip can then sit on top,on my car rivets then clamped it down, these are hidden on the inside of the car by the rear seat roof trim, pull the vinyl back over from rear window covering the metal strip and glue to roof finishing at the front under the anodised trim.hope this is a help

hi,i think 3.7:1 was the standard diff for the manual elite,the 4.1:1 diff was an optional extra for £46 back in the day and was introduced to improve acceleration.Fitted a 4.1 to my elite 503 mated to lotus 5 speed box and 912 2.2 lc engine the result is quite dramatic and a little easier on the gearbox internals.harder to find but worth it in the long run in my opinion.lil