Just purchased the car I coveted throughout my childhood, a Lotus Elite!

[Elitexxx]

Hi all, 

I've been lucky enough to be able to buy a 1975 Lotus Elite 501 PWR329P. 

Does anybody know anything about this car?

My plan is to have it either part or fully restored and to basically drive it and love it in general. 

I've owned various classics over the years, the closest I've got to own this car was a Jensen Healey which I sold a few years ago.

I plan to post some photos on here of the 'journey' but any info or advice would be greatly accepted.

It's being transported to RMS Romford for an initial inspection this Thursday, where I am looking forward to receiving a list longer than my arm.

Cameron

 

[Mark Blanchard]

Congrats on your purchase.  Elites are lovely looking cars.  They were the first Lotus I wanted when I was a kid too.

Good luck with the resto.

[ChrisJ]

Welcome Cameron, and as Mark said, congratulations on getting a car you have wanted.

While Elite's weren't my favourite Lotus back in the day, they have really grown on me over the past few years (thanks in main to the Red Panther - link below.)

Look forward to reading about your restoration. 

Are you located close to Romford? If so, we have a monthly meeting for Herts/Essex/Cambs you should come along to.

Chris

 

[Elitexxx]

1 hour ago, ChrisJ said:

Welcome Cameron, and as Mark said, congratulations on getting a car you have wanted.

While Elite's weren't my favourite Lotus back in the day, they have really grown on me over the past few years (thanks in main to the Red Panther - link below.)

Look forward to reading about your restoration. 

Are you located close to Romford? If so, we have a monthly meeting for Herts/Essex/Cambs you should come along to.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, I'm near Enfield so not too far away, yes I'll def try and get to one.

 

[ChrisJ]

That'll be great - I've added you to the monthly PM list. My guess the next one will be the week after next.

[ramjet]

Welcome to TLF @Elitexxx 

I love the shape of the Elite as well. I have never seen anything else that really looks like it.

You should duck over to the Introductions area and say hi in there as well.  

[Elitexxx]

Thanks very much, I'm pretty the Elite will be in the workshop then but we'll see!

[Elitexxx]

32 minutes ago, ramjet said:

Welcome to TLF @Elitexxx 

I love the shape of the Elite as well. I have never seen anything else that really looks like it.

You should duck over to the Introductions area and say hi in there as well.  

will do

[Escape]

Congratulations with getting your dream car Cameron! The Elite certainly is something special, I love the wedge design. And welcome to TLF! If you're planning to do some/all of the work yourself, you'll find a vast amount of info and help on here.

Hope you soon get to drive and enjoy her!

Filip

[Elitexxx]

39 minutes ago, Escape said:

Congratulations with getting your dream car Cameron! The Elite certainly is something special, I love the wedge design. And welcome to TLF! If you're planning to do some/all of the work yourself, you'll find a vast amount of info and help on here.

Hope you soon get to drive and enjoy her!

Filip

Hi Filip, thanks for the welcome. As much as I would love the idea of restoring a car myself, I have neither the space, time or skills. I do fortunately have some money to throw at it, so I'll be getting someone else to do the work for me. I will however get involved in sourcing parts so hopefully I might get some help from TLF with that. I'll get some more pics when I'm with ithe car this Thursday.

[Dion]

Congrats from me too. I just have bought an Elite as well so will follow your experiences with interest. 

Edited July 13, 2021 by Dion

[Elitexxx]

On 13/07/2021 at 16:41, Dion said:

Congrats from me too. I just have bought an Elite as well so will follow your experiences with interest. 

 

Was received by RMS Romford today. First convo with Trevor. I detected a stunned silence when I told him what I paid for it and those immortal words 'I hope you have deep pockets..'

IMG_3007.HEIC IMG_3008.HEIC IMG_3009.HEIC IMG_3010.HEIC IMG_3011.HEIC IMG_3012.HEIC

Edited July 15, 2021 by Elitexxx

[jerzybondov]

Let us know what that list ends up saying! However long it is, congrats!

[Elitexxx]

So had an initial conversation with Andy Booth at RMS Lotus Romford. Very helpful and friendly sounding guy.

The engine is running but they didn't want to run it hot, as the waterpump is not working. The first job would be to get the waterpump reconditioned or replaced in order to run the engine hot and check for compression etc. The waterpump can be sent away for recon at the cost of £900! Quite expensive sounding and I've seen a recon on eBay for £180 which I'll buy if it fits; just waiting to hear if it's for power steering car (this car has power steering).

Lots of of ancillary bits to do, to start with:

Electrics all over the shop, lots of peculiar wiring everywhere, meaning lights and wipers, cooling fan not working.

Needs 5 new tyres.

Rear drive shaft loose

Brake discs beyond repair

Calipers all need reconditioning

No exhaust rubbers fitted

NSF drive shaft needs attention

Electric window motors slow - need recon

Wheel bearings need changing/attention

I'm going to go and meet Andy next week who's offered to show me round the garage etc. 

I'd like to have this car fully restored to a high standard. I'm aware it's going to cost more than it's probably ever going to be worth but I'm hoping to simply drive it and enjoy it.

Part of the reason why I'm doing this is that my dear old Dad is gravely ill at the moment and this is a car that we always used to admire and talk about in the mid to late 1970's when I was young (we loved cars). He said to me when I was a boy 'I'm sure you'll buy one, one day'. It was great to be able to whisper in his ear recently 'I bought the Lotus'. It's a kind of tribute to him as the ultimate 1970's Dad that he was.

I had been looking for a long time and missed a few here and there. I wanted to buy a very nice example but soon realised that they never come up for sale so decided to buy one and have it restored. My chosen colour was always black with light interior and subtle JPS livery.

During lockdown, like many people my wife and I did a lot of walking and on one of those walks I spotted this car on a driveway looking in a sorry state. I knocked on the door and I ended up buying it. 

The other reason is that I was in the motor trade for many years (I'm a psychotherapist/lecturer now) and there's a part of me that misses breathing new life into old cars. I love watching a bit of 'Harry's Garage' on youtube.

I hope to use this thread as an update of progress, any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Elitexxx

[EXCEL V8]

£900 to do the water pump is taking the ****.  It only takes about an hour to replace the bearing/seal.  That must work out at over £200 per hour labour.  At that rate it will cost £250k to restore!!  There are lots of different water pump bodies - best to get the one off the car done if it's serviceable - corrosion sometimes makes the casting too poor to use.  Send it to Lotusbits/Gary Kemp to be serviced.

By NSF drive shaft does that mean the stub axle?  They are Triumph GT6 parts and are reasonably priced - you can also get a spacer kit that prevents the inner wheel bearing races rotating and spoiling the new stub axle.

Sounds like a great project!

Pete

[Elitexxx]

1 hour ago, EXCEL V8 said:

£900 to do the water pump is taking the ****.  It only takes about an hour to replace the bearing/seal.  That must work out at over £200 per hour labour.  At that rate it will cost £250k to restore!!  There are lots of different water pump bodies - best to get the one off the car done if it's serviceable - corrosion sometimes makes the casting too poor to use.  Send it to Lotusbits/Gary Kemp to be serviced.

By NSF drive shaft does that mean the stub axle?  They are Triumph GT6 parts and are reasonably priced - you can also get a spacer kit that prevents the inner wheel bearing races rotating and spoiling the new stub axle.

Sounds like a great project!

Pete

I agree, I don't know where that price comes from. They seem genuine on the phone but I'm due to pop in and meet them next week and talk about what I want I want done. I've got a healthy budget for the restoration and know that it's expensive to get someone else to do the work but there are limits. I will transport the car elsewhere if it looks like the fees may get out of hand! Thanks for the info on the drive shaft/stub axle.

[Uncle Al]

Hi Cameron, I recognised this car from eBay, did you manage to make a cheeky offer before the end date?  The restoration will be worthwhile and there’s a nice example on-line for £16k at the moment.  These are definitely on the rise and whatever you invest will be money we’ll spent long-term.  Children of the 70’s in a fortunate position are certainly looking at these with rose tinted glasses and quite rightly so!  Enjoy!😀

[jep]

Are RMS Romford Lotus Elite specialists? 

Take it from someone with 30 years Lotus experience (who does no spannering and pays to get work done), only let a specialist touch your car. 

Justin 

 

[Elitexxx]

Hi Matthew

On 31/07/2021 at 18:53, Uncle Al said:

Hi Cameron, I recognised this car from eBay, did you manage to make a cheeky offer before the end date?  The restoration will be worthwhile and there’s a nice example on-line for £16k at the moment.  These are definitely on the rise and whatever you invest will be money we’ll spent long-term.  Children of the 70’s in a fortunate position are certainly looking at these with rose tinted glasses and quite rightly so!  Enjoy!😀

Hi Matthew,

I bought it for £3500 which I think was the right price considering it's condition. It needs a full restoration and I'll probably end up spending £20k on it as I'd like to have an immaculate but original spec car. Yes I think it's a good investment, my all time favourite would be a mint 1990's Aston V8 Vantage X-pack but they're £350k so I think next to it, the Lotus Elite looks amazing value! Quite a crazy marketplace out there, although I'm looking to keep this car.

[Barrykearley]

On 31/07/2021 at 19:28, jep said:

Take it from someone with 30 years Lotus experience (who does no spannering and pays to get work done), only let a specialist touch your car.

I’ve seen some of the shocking work done by “specialist” on PRA - and the invoices in the file to back up said work. @RobinB5 has a folder thick full of them. Be very careful.

[Elitexxx]

On 31/07/2021 at 19:28, jep said:

Are RMS Romford Lotus Elite specialists? 

Take it from someone with 30 years Lotus experience (who does no spannering and pays to get work done), only let a specialist touch your car. 

Justin 

 

Hi Justin,

Yes they are a Lotus specialist though not specifically Elite's/Eclat's but they do have earlier cars in their workshop (I went there yesterday) I met Andy, a very friendly helpful guy, him and his partner having been working on Lotus's for over 50 years between them. It won't be economically viable for them to do a full restoration on it just because they have limited space and they need to make that space pay but they are (hopefully) going to workout a favourable rate to get the things done above, we're firstly waiting for the waterpump to return.

If the cost is too much, I will transport it in to storage and find someone who is willing to take it on. I've seen the car on eBay for £15k it looks a very nice car but I really wanted the series 1 and I'm not so keen on the two tone green interior. 

Yes long term I think the values will rise further.

If anyone can suggest someone who might want to take on the restoration, I'd be interested to hear.

[jep]

@ElitexxxI would suggest LotusBits - who have a ton of spares readily to hand - but they are usually super-busy and not always super-fast. Best chat to Mike, who I like very much but they do have their unique way of customer interaction.

LotusRescue on TLF? Max500 in Guildford but I doubt he will restore it, more day to day aspect.

I would strongly advise you take knowledge from those on TLF. 

It don't matter how nice and chatty a mechanic is - does he know your model of car inside out? Why pay someone to learn on your car? Get someone with the knowledge already.

I fear £20K is light for the cost of the restoration to get the car fully restored. Chat to LotusBits, they will know how much an Elite/Excel costs to restore. They have done a few. 

Good luck and I really wish you all the best with the project. 

Justin

23 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

I’ve seen some of the shocking work done by “specialist” on PRA - and the invoices in the file to back up said work. @RobinB5 has a folder thick full of them. Be very careful.

By specialist, I mean one recommended by others on TLF. 

Justin

[Uncle Al]

I suppose the question is do you want a fully restored car that is very precious and could potentially become a garage queen or something that you can use on high days/holidays but you wouldn't mind parking at Tesco while you pop in for some milk and a loaf of bread?  Something that is too nice, is just that and part of a cars character are the blemishes of wear and tear, something that has a story, a stone chipped front end that may suggest a cross continental blast from a LeMans Classic run - that sort of thing 🙂  With regards to 'who to trust' I'm sure you have owned other marques of cars and have built up some trust with these mechanics, maybe speak with these, you'd be surprised how many classic car specialists will be willing to have something new to extend their portfolio.  Personally I'm currently using a TVR specialist in Norfolk to complete a 'recommissioning'.  The main factor being that he knows how I want the car and how the car will be driven - which as above will be for high days/holidays but will also be used for trips to the office, the school run and parking at Tesco (or similar)....I'm just waiting for it to come back which is now likely for September and I can't wait.

[Elitexxx]

2 hours ago, jep said:

@ElitexxxI would suggest LotusBits - who have a ton of spares readily to hand - but they are usually super-busy and not always super-fast. Best chat to Mike, who I like very much but they do have their unique way of customer interaction.

LotusRescue on TLF? Max500 in Guildford but I doubt he will restore it, more day to day aspect.

I would strongly advise you take knowledge from those on TLF. 

It don't matter how nice and chatty a mechanic is - does he know your model of car inside out? Why pay someone to learn on your car? Get someone with the knowledge already.

I fear £20K is light for the cost of the restoration to get the car fully restored. Chat to LotusBits, they will know how much an Elite/Excel costs to restore. They have done a few. 

Good luck and I really wish you all the best with the project. 

Justin

By specialist, I mean one recommended by others on TLF. 

Justin

Thanks Justin, I will get in touch with LotusBits as I see their name coming up a lot on these forums. I'm not in a rush so happy to leave it with someone for as long as it takes. I guess I've used £20k as a ball park figure, I'm under no illusion that the cost will rise potentially well above that depending on how far I want to go!

[Elitexxx]

1 hour ago, Uncle Al said:

I suppose the question is do you want a fully restored car that is very precious and could potentially become a garage queen or something that you can use on high days/holidays but you wouldn't mind parking at Tesco while you pop in for some milk and a loaf of bread?  Something that is too nice, is just that and part of a cars character are the blemishes of wear and tear, something that has a story, a stone chipped front end that may suggest a cross continental blast from a LeMans Classic run - that sort of thing 🙂  With regards to 'who to trust' I'm sure you have owned other marques of cars and have built up some trust with these mechanics, maybe speak with these, you'd be surprised how many classic car specialists will be willing to have something new to extend their portfolio.  Personally I'm currently using a TVR specialist in Norfolk to complete a 'recommissioning'.  The main factor being that he knows how I want the car and how the car will be driven - which as above will be for high days/holidays but will also be used for trips to the office, the school run and parking at Tesco (or similar)....I'm just waiting for it to come back which is now likely for September and I can't wait.

You make a good point, I think I do want to create a car that might be considered a 'garage queen' but then I'm going to use it and put my own blemishes on it. I look after my cars but I'm not precious about them if that makes sense.

I like the sound of the Le Mans trip - I went a few years to the race itself and would like to go again.