Considering a '78 Eclat as a project

[clku]

(I'm new to the forum, so if im doing anything wrong just tell me.
Also english is not my first langauge so if I worded anything strangely I apologize.)

So recently I came across a pretty low priced '78 Lotus Eclat that I'm considering to buy as a project, and I have some questions about it. I'm relatively new to cars and this would be my first project, but I'm willing to learn, have a lot of time and there is a workshop nearby in which I could work on the car.
 
The car currently has no engine or transmission, what would a replacement engine and transmission cost?
Are there cheaper (non-Lotus) engines that can be swapped in relatively easily?

Paint is decent, Interior is not in that good of a shape, but seems salvagable.
It Is missing some parts: the front bumper, windshield, chrome trim around the windshield and there are possibly more trim pieces missing at the rear. The owner stated that prices for replacement parts are "normal", but I'd still like to know what costs i'd be actually looking at.

What should I be especially aware of when looking at the car? Are there any big known problems?
I heard there are issues with the doors(?). On one of them there is rust where the mirror came off.

My budget for the project would be around 5.000€ (=4,400£), including 1.000€ (=900£) for buying the actual car. Does this seem reasonable to get the car roadworthy?
(I'm not looking for a perfect restoration, I'm okay with imperfections in interior and exterior.)
After all does this look like a project I could take on or am I more likely opening a can of worms with this?

Any help or suggestions are very much appreciated. A picture of the empty engine bay is attached.

[tim_marra]

Nothing wrong with your post or your English. It is all good, as is the choice of your car 

Your budget may be a little off the mark though.....

[silverfrost]

Hi Clemens.

The Eclat is a nicely designed car,  I am a massive fan of the Elite,  but have a place in my heart for the Eclat also as most of the design is the same also Jim Henderson the designer of Kermit the frog owned a green one also p.s  if you ever find that one give me a shout lol.

The picture of the project car is not the best of pics,  but going by what i can see in the picture it looks like a bare bones project,  no windscreen etc,  so it looks like a restoration strip down was started or in most cases it was stripped to sell as parts. 

The engine is not a cheap item to purchase,  used high mileage units are now fairly expesive to purchase,  and with all used engines they can often hide lots of potential problems or need full rebuilds anyway,  yet again expensive.  Gearboxs are not a drama as there are plenty about and can be found used or purchased off members off here if need be. 

The thing i love about the Elites,eclats,excels etc is the engine and gearbox layout,  plenty of cars to choose to take an engine and box from,  bmw, mazda mx5,  etc and can be purchased for little money.  You are in a good location for sourcing the engine and box 

Looking at the photo,  The thing that would be the budget eater with this car is all the little things like trim,windscreen, etc.  This is what will eat your project budget up the most imo,   Lotusbits.com can supply anything in relation to used parts for this car as they have plenty to break,  and they have also designed and produced many new off the shelf parts for these cars also,  plus many recon items also.  

You really need to get this car as cheap as possible,  but non the less another lotus will be saved even if not kept in original factory spec 

Main things to check is the Chassis as it was not galvanized like later models,  it can rust very badly.

The doors can rust also,  it is the actual door beams that rust,  they are used as impact protection and also hold the doors up,  These are a pain to replace,  you will notice large amounts of rust collected in the bottom of the door sitting on top of the fiberglass,  Also the doors not closing properly show a possible sign of this. 

And again, try and get the car as cheap as possible,  I would try to get it for less than 900 euro 

 

[tom kilner]

It looks a bit like all the valuable bits have been sold off this one - leaving the bits that don't rust or wear away, so aren't worth much.

To get all the parts to finish this car it would be easiest to buy another complete car... in which case this one might be an irrelevance.

There are plenty of bodies around as they are fibreglass - the other parts will cost much more than a complete car, so that's where I would day you should start if you want a lotus, not on this stripped down shell.

😓

 

[jep]

16 hours ago, clku said:

My budget for the project would be around 5.000€ (=4,400£), including 1.000€ (=900£) for buying the actual car. Does this seem reasonable to get the car roadworthy?

Clemens, welcome. I love the Eclat and Elite and good on you for wishing to save this one. BUT...…..this is going to cost a small fortune to even get it roadworthy; certainly a lot more than £3,400, as you say £1,000 is included in your budget to buy the car.  I don't think the car is worth that as it stands...….

I would strongly suggest you start with a good, running Excel and if you still have the appetite for an Eclat, having learnt by driving and running an Excel, then move on to an Eclat. Or find a clean, running Eclat but they are less plentiful than the Excel. Of course, you may not have the budget to do this but I would save up and buy a running car.

I fear if you start your Lotus journey with this one, it will be bumpy and may put you off cars altogether.

Justin

[clku]

First off, thanks for all the replies.

16 hours ago, tim_marra said:

Nothing wrong with your post or your English. It is all good, as is the choice of your car 

Your budget may be a little off the mark though.....

What do you think would  be a better estimate to get this car back on the road? And am I overlooking something, or is it just that all the small things that come up when working on it would add up to to pretty high costs?

 

10 hours ago, silverfrost said:

Jim Henderson the designer of Kermit the frog owned a green one also p.s  if you ever find that one give me a shout lol

Apparently his Lotus was stolen (https://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2014/05/5-1973/), so it'll probably never be found.😐 But who knows.

10 hours ago, silverfrost said:

The thing i love about the Elites,eclats,excels etc is the engine and gearbox layout,  plenty of cars to choose to take an engine and box from,  bmw, mazda mx5,  etc and can be purchased for little money.  You are in a good location for sourcing the engine and box 

What I was hoping for. A Lotus engine would be most likely way outside of my budget, so something else has to do. I like the idea of putting in a mx-5 engine, as they are rather cheap and still produce somewhat decendish power for such a light car.

12 hours ago, silverfrost said:

Looking at the photo,  The thing that would be the budget eater with this car is all the little things like trim,windscreen, etc.  This is what will eat your project budget up the most imo,   Lotusbits.com can supply anything in relation to used parts for this car as they have plenty to break,  and they have also designed and produced many new off the shelf parts for these cars also,  plus many recon items also.  

 

You really need to get this car as cheap as possible,  but non the less another lotus will be saved even if not kept in original factory spec 

Main things to check is the Chassis as it was not galvanized like later models,  it can rust very badly.

The doors can rust also,  it is the actual door beams that rust,  they are used as impact protection and also hold the doors up,  These are a pain to replace,  you will notice large amounts of rust collected in the bottom of the door sitting on top of the fiberglass,  Also the doors not closing properly show a possible sign of this. 

And again, try and get the car as cheap as possible,  I would try to get it for less than 900 euro

Lotusbits.com is a great place, they seem to have most of what I would need. Thanks for sharing. 😃

Also I'd need to defenitly check the doors and chassis , excessive rust would be a deal breaker for me.

Currently the car is at 1.250€ OBO, but I'll see how low he is willing to go. I wouldn't want to spend much more than 1000€ on the car but It would be pretty great if I could get it for less than 900€.

 

4 hours ago, tom kilner said:

It looks a bit like all the valuable bits have been sold off this one - leaving the bits that don't rust or wear away, so aren't worth much.

To get all the parts to finish this car it would be easiest to buy another complete car... in which case this one might be an irrelevance.

There are plenty of bodies around as they are fibreglass - the other parts will cost much more than a complete car, so that's where I would day you should start if you want a lotus, not on this stripped down shell.

Here in germany those cars are pretty rare, so importing a parts car would probably be more expensive than buying the parts seperatly.

But I'll defenitly consider importing one from the UK as an alternative to buying this one. ☺️

 

Also my description maybe makes it seem more stripped down than it actually is, so I attached another picture.

 

[tom kilner]

That first photo looked a lot like the parts that were missing would cost a lot more than the parts that were there. The second picture looks a lot better - if you planned to put in a different engine and gearbox it could be fun,  but a lot of very skilled work.

A good lotus engine could cost you more than a complete car with a working engine.

I'd suggest you look at what parts you'd need - the windscreen and trim for example- and check how hard that's going to be.

And check your country's legislation regarding road legality.

The things I deal in,  it's always the rare and expensive parts that are missing or broken. What looks like a bargain turns into a money pit.

This car could be a lot of fun, but it won't be quick, easy or cheap to fix.

[TonyPoll]

The main place to look for bad chassis rust is between the tops of the rear suspension. This is hard to see, but the horizontal section is often completely rusted through, so you'll need the body off and a new chassis.

I suspect it will cost you a lot more than Euro 4,000 get it running, and for a total cost of around Euro 5,000 you could find a running Excel - not the best example for Euro 5,000 but a quite usable example.

[Dunc]

A rover v8 and box fits quite nicely. Lots of other optionas are also possible, but be careful of weight and engine height.

The car in the pictures isnt worth £900. £450 would be closer. Windsheilds are expensive to replace. The missing chrome around the screen is also expensive to replace.

Go for it.