GrandThriftAuto’s blue 1976 Elite 503

[GrandThriftAuto]

Hello! After lurking here for ages it’s probably time I contributed something, so here’s a thread about my 76 Elite 503. 

I bought it unseen on eBay in August 2017, fighting off a total of zero other determined bidders. It somehow had an MOT and was a runner, but I collected it on a trailer because I’m foolish but not that foolish.

I trailered it to storage with a friend for a while, and thence to Lotusbits who rebuilt the top end and the steering and the brakes and suspension and stuff. It was a long list and entirely transformed the car.

For sone reason I then decided it was the ideal car to drive through the snow from home in south Wales to a work meeting in the New Forest via London, which went fine apart from when the headlights failed in a biblical rainstorm in the dark on the M3 (the switch broke). The heater even worked for some of the trip.

Other than that it’s had the great courtesy only to break down as I’m backing it into my shed, so a quick push home has been enough to recover it. The first time was when the main earth lead fell off, because some genius (not me) had attached the connector to the cable with a dab of solder instead of a BFO crimping tool, and the second proved to be the fuel pump being eaten by ethanol.

The fuel pump rebuild features in my YouTube channel. I have a modest collection of 1970s and 80s cars and the Elite is definitely a favourite; I have also done a brief general review of the Elite to try and enthuse others about these brilliant and hugely entertaining  if slightly quirky devices - link below in case of interest.

So mechanically it’s quite good but cosmetically it’s a bit grim. There’s still lots to do. More on that to follow.

[EXCEL V8]

Excellent - looking forward to following your work with on car.

Pete

[GrandThriftAuto]

I’m at something of a crossroads with this car now. It runs fine for the most part but has a pretty significant coolant leak. The radiator is well past its best, but it also seems to be leaking quite profusely from the join between the block and the main bearing panel, which is interesting. (Video on that coming up, probably next week.)

It also needs repainting. Aside from being an unappealing colour, the paint finish is atrocious: it not only flakes off, it washes off.  

I really want to put it back to the original Lagoon Blue metallic, which is just lovely:

(Photo shamelessly stolen from the internet — if it’s yours then I apologise unreservedly, and btw your car is stunning.)

The interior is mostly not bad. It seems pretty original apart from some slightly eccentric modifications in the form of odd switches and a randomly relocated (and broken) choke knob. It was specced in vinyl throughout, which has a rather horrid texture, especially on the seats. I’m more of a velour man myself when it comes to seats, and the driver’s one needs re-stuffing.

So what to do next? Dave at Lotusbits wisely said that before doing any serious restoration I should drive it around and make sure I like it: I have and I do.

I have some money (not unlimited) and potentially some time; I can make indoor working space; I have an engine crane, a tilter and assorted tools. I don’t have a paint booth. I also have a queue of other cars needing my attention.

I think my options are:

1. Send it off to Lotusbits (when they have a slot), say ‘send me the bill when it’s all done’, then bite on a towel;

2. Take the engine out and take it somewhere to have the bottom end sorted out (assuming it doesn’t just need the bolts torqued up a bit), and while I’m about it strip the car down for painting and rewiring;

3. As 1 or 2 but without the strip down, and live with the shonky look. It’s not as if it’s going to get rusty (the chassis is a good galvanised one, by the way).

I’m open-minded and mulling it over.

Any opinions welcome.

[EXCEL V8]

Is there coolant in the oil?

Pete

[GrandThriftAuto]

40 minutes ago, EXCEL V8 said:

Is there coolant in the oil?

Pete

Nope, oil is nice and clean, thankfully.

It’s just about possible that the coolant is escaping from a hose somewhere and just dripping on to that part of the engine - needs further investigation to be 100% sure of the source of the leak.

[Tony D]

Great car. I've got a 74 Lagoon Blue car that's been off road for far too long. 

If LB have done some of the chassis work already, I'd be tempted to get the engine / cooling issues sorted then enjoy the car for a while. 

Interior looks tidy and let's face it, you can't see the paint when your driving 😜. 

Once it's mechanically reliable, there are a few options to tidy the paint / body work as a rolling improvement without spending the earth on a professional respray. 

I'd just warn about doing a home based "engine out / rewire" unless your very disciplined with your time management. Many have started this sort of work, but just keep finding "one more job " and a month becomes 6 months, then a year and - we'll you can guess the rest. Ask me how I know. - then the good work you've already invested in goes backwards 😩😭,. 

These cars just need to be used with some regularity. 

Tony 

 

[GrandThriftAuto]

Thanks Tony, that’s extremely wise advice.

10 hours ago, Tony D said:

 

I'd just warn about doing a home based "engine out / rewire" unless your very disciplined with your time management. Many have started this sort of work, but just keep finding "one more job " and a month becomes 6 months, then a year and - we'll you can guess the rest. Ask me how I know. - then the good work you've already invested in goes backwards 😩😭. 

I am very badly disciplined indeed with my time management, it’s almost certainly my greatest weakness.

In fact, have we met? Were we married once?

[jep]

A very enjoyable TLF thread.

I would definitely be looking at getting the car running well before spending dosh on paint. The interior looks very tidy all things considered.

I made an early mistake in the 1980's of doing the bodywork and trim on a XK120 FHC. The car looked a million dollars but drove poorly. 

LotusBits are a great outfit and would do a wonderful job. The bill however would be quite large at the end of play - it will be fair but, as Charlie Crocker said, B I G. You cannot restore a car properly without getting in to 5 figure sums. Grand thrift it would not be.

I always now spend the money on the mechanicals. I don't even bother with PPF or ceramic coatings on my more modern stuff. Cars are not sculptures, they are for driving and that means the paint will get wear and tear. If you start to obsess about stone chips, it leads to a reluctance to use the vehicle.  I refuse to repaint my '73 XJ6 - I know it would add a level of 'stress' when using the car and I would end up using it less. Pointless.

Justin

 

[Tony D]

2 hours ago, GrandThriftAuto said:

In fact, have we met? Were we married once?

😀😀. 

By this logic there's a complex Web of bigamy on the forum, - and I'm guessing most other classic car forums. 

No shortage of members to this club 😜😜. 

Tony 

[GerardJPC]

I have driven this car and it is very fine!

Sadly my Eclat has been in a barn as an untouched project for three years now, and each time it gets to the top of the queue I buy another old Italian or BL car and the poor Eclat has to wait again, but I will get there eventually.

[GrandThriftAuto]

10 hours ago, GerardJPC said:

I have driven this car and it is very fine!

Sadly my Eclat has been in a barn as an untouched project for three years now, and each time it gets to the top of the queue I buy another old Italian or BL car and the poor Eclat has to wait again, but I will get there eventually.

Well, at least the bodywork isn’t rusting 😊

Your Eclat is a very fine thing. One day we’ll get the two together, both shiny and working. One day.

[GrandThriftAuto]

By way of an update on this, I’m still trying to work out whether it’s really leaking coolant or if I just forced some out using the pressure tester.

The hose from the pressure cap on the header tank isn’t connected to anything - it just drains out somewhere around the front of the engine.

On a normal - sorry, lesser - car, it would drain to an expansion tank and then drain back when the system pressure drops again. But my Elite doesn’t have an expansion tank - is this normal? ‘Added lightness’ at work?

I’ll do some more driving over the next few days and throw up another video soon. So far all the footage is of me scratching my head, which makes for rubbish telly.

Here’s a photo in the meantime.

 

[Tony D]

Loving those peeping headlights 😀. 

Need to take photos very quickly (or keep the engine running). 

Later Excels have an expansion tank build into the main tank (2 connected compartments). Early cars managed without. 

Tony 

[GerardJPC]

Sleepy eyes!

I agree that being obsessive about paint finish is daft, and GTA isn't daft (save insofar as anyone who owns a shed full of assorted shonky vehicles from the 60s to the 90s might be considered daft, which is to say, not at all), but having seen the bonkers blue brush paint on this particular Elite, even I would want to paint it. 

The interior is groovetastic, and way better than the grey and black tweed interior on my Series Two Eclat, which look like it was assembled by lemurs in an experiment at the University of Stupid (who stopped for a careless smoke half way through).

[GrandThriftAuto]

I mentioned last time that there was a mystery coolant leak. Since then, as promised, I’ve been braving successively longer trips — including one out on to a tidal salt marsh, as you do, to take pictures.

Here’s my latest video that tells that story. Spoiler alert: I won’t be asking for my TLF subscription to be refunded 😉

 

[GerardJPC]

Another fine video, thanks.

[BrianK]

From the video, when you start the car in the marsh area (at around 7:40), I hear what I *think* is a faulty brake booster check valve. A bad check valve makes a ticking sound that appears to come from behind the binnacle. Personally, I found that sound to be incredibly annoying, so it was a high priority, for me, to find and fix. 

It's a very inexpensive and quick fix - the old one pulls out and the new one pushes in. A little silicone grease helps matters. 

check valve: https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/A075J6081F.htm

grommet for the check valve (incorrect picture on this page, but the part is correct): https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/SJ050J0007.htm

 

Side note: Excellent drone work. I'm always surprised by how many drone videos have jerky turns & poor framing.  Yours look great.

[GrandThriftAuto]

Thanks very much @BrianK - I’ll look into that.

There certainly is a ticking from the binnacle, which I’d put down to a snapped speedo cable (the car eats speedo cables for breakfast and really needs a new speedo) - but it could easily be the brake booster check valve.

Or both, of course 😊

Also - you know how I said the coolant leak was fixed?

It had another little accident today.

Sigh. Maybe I need to let it out last thing at night. That works with Keith the dog.

[GrandThriftAuto]

Time for a rather overdue update on this - there's good news and bad news (which is a slice of 70s Lotus life right there).

Good news: I've traced the coolant leak problem, and it's an easy fix: a poor seal on the hose that runs from the thermostat to (I think) the heater matrix.  I'm just waiting for some 45mm ID flexible coolant hose to be delivered and it should be a straightforward fix, as long as the metal hasn't corroded too much underneath.

Bad news: A couple of days after my last trip out in late June (see the video above), it wouldn't start.  Well it sort of did at first, but kept stalling and dying and then stopped altogether.  It seemed to be getting fuel (and I've just replaced the fuel pump, apparently successfully), so I'm blaming the ignition.

A video about that story, and my frustrations with it, is here.  Don't worry, I didn't really hit it with that plank.  I did nearly blow it up, but.. well, it's all in the video.

 

The update since is that I have a set of plugs, a distributor cap and a rotor arm here ready for fitting and am just waiting for that hose.  We'll see if those help, and if not I'll do some more methodical diagnostics. 

Or just buy a new coil. 

Or hit it with a plank.

[GrandThriftAuto]

Happily I managed to fix the ignition problem last week, which I have tentatively put down to a combination of things leading to not enough spark, which in turn sooted up the plugs and caused the non-running.  The rotor arm was a bit carbon-y as well, so I cleaned that up and all seems well. 

It's still possible that it's overfuelling as well - if I'm feeling brave I might try and work out how to lean off the carbs a little, but there's a loud voice in my head telling me not to mess with them as they seem pretty well balanced and it's running fine at the moment.

I also traced the coolant leak while I had the airbox off, but actually fixing it will be a bigger job.  There are two leaks, one in the short hose that goes aft from the thermostat and one at the solid pipe that runs across the top of the radiator just forward of the leading edge of the bonnet.  These require removal of the inlet manifold and the bonnet respectively to replace the hoses and clean up the joins, so that job is taking its place somewhere on the to-do list that isn't the top.  (I have a couple of non-Lotus cars that need more urgent pre-winter jobs first.)

I made a video about fixing it and then a short trip to the seaside - link below in case anyone is interested. 

To be quite honest I've been rather surprised at the strongly negative reaction I've had online to these videos from some quarters.  To summarise, I'm an attention-seeking idiot who should be ashamed of how badly I've neglected it, in spite of me having spent several thousand pounds getting LotusBits to make it driveable since I bought it as a barely-running project.

I'm actually a lifelong enthusiast for these cars and the Lotus ethos, but the fanboy trolls have rather taken the shine off.  As a result I don't currently plan to make any more videos about my Elite but I will post occasional updates on here if that's ok with people, and try to encourage others as they work on theirs.

 

[Painterdave]

Well I think the videos are good it's good to see you enjoy your lotus 👍

[Angus553]

Just to say I've really enjoyed all of your videos and had many of the same jobs to fix. 

[dmottram]

I enjoy your approach to your Lotus, please continue the videos. Tell the trolls to "F  k Off". Alternatively ask them if they have a Lotus and if so, can they contribute positively to the collective Lotus community rather than being negative and critical. They do not have to read your posts or watch your videos, they choose to do so. If they do not have a Lotus or wish to contribute then back to the start of my note....."FO". Like all trolls they would not have the gumption to say it to your face, preferring to hide behind the veil of anonymity.

[jep]

That's showbiz. 

Imagine how all those folk at the Lotus factory have felt over the years, as their hard work and innovation has been trashed by clowns who have never even owned one.

Justin

 

[Bibs]

Another thumbs up for your videos from me