elite 503 type-75

[james125]

ill start at the beginning,

2000- my uncle gave my granda his 1976 lotus elite(manual,power steering,air con) 503 type 75 this was the first production car with a 16 v engine. it had done a genuine 45450 miles. on its joruney from braintree essex it blew a head gasket so was brought up on the back of a tow truck. the problems were dully fixed and the car was mobile.

2001-uhho, water pump burst back to square one anyway this was fixed and held until in late 2001 there was fuelling issues and was put into a damp shed to be stored until we could get it fixed. a family friend was meant to do it in spare time but it never happened.

2007- yes it lay for 5 years in a damp shed, but never the less it was pulled out to find that a cute little mouse thought it would be fun to sleep in the air box. anyway lakeside classics in kingussie got given the task of re-commissioning it. it arrived back on the 18/9 having had all this done:

new head lining, new brakes,new hand-brake mechanism,all new brake lines,top end strip,new water pump,timing belt,plugs,points,all filters,new fuel pump,oil change,new brake fluid,MOT

it is now running well only some cosmetic things to sort.

some pics:

the pics were only taken quickly today.

things to do:

wash and polish(cant wash until leak is fixed)

fix leak

full new carpet set

update stereo

fix heater

new set of tyres

full retrim(when cash allows)

respray(when cash allows)

paint rocker covers and paint bay

i have been given the car along with a tidy sum of money hehe as a gift from my grandfather.

the car is fibreglass so no rust, i have tax disks from 76 until 92 when the car was of the road and form 2000-2002, and recipts including the car and the reservation certificate from 76.

in 89 it had a full respray in the jps colours.

ill update when more things happen.

james

Edited December 23, 2007 by james125

[Mark Blanchard]

Nice to see an Elite being restored. They're getting rare these days. Good luck with the rest of the jobs.

[fmxa]

Looks great!

[Kimbers]

I echo Marks feelings. great to see a restored Elite! I suspect this will be my next car, or an Excel.

[mangel]

looking good but think the wheels will look better in silver.

Bibs is going to say that golddd is the new black but on a car that looks this classic I reckon silver is the way forward!!

Someone is now also going to tell me those are the orginal wheels and that I am a heathen!!

[Malc Holmes]

I had an Elite as my first (and second) Lotus. Never got them completely sorted, but love them all the same and one day, I will get my third (they are THE Lotus bargain of all time at the moment).

You probably know Lotusbits (www.lotusbits.com) already, but never hesitate in my recomendation. Nobody in the world has a better knowledge of the Elite, their restoration and how to get the best from them than Mike Taylor. He has all the bits you could ever need and plenty of sensible suggestions on how to avoid the everday probelms that gave this car an unfair reputation for poor reliability.

The very best of Luck with the project.

Malc Holmes

[Gasman GT3]

I love the Elite too and have been cosidering one as a second Lotus. The Essex Blue one in the Club Lotus 50th DVD is gorgeous, with full red leather interior. I believe these were used as transport by the F1 team in the late 70's and early 80's. I wonder where those cars are now?

Keep us updated on your progress.

[james125]

cheers guys, yeh i love it sooo much.

the gold wheels, what can i say. they are more bronze and are looking tired i also think silver looks sooo much better but... the car has taken opn the jps colours and with a gold pinstripe to paint the wheels silver or even chrome(i did consider)wouldnt look right. so im afraid there staying but when i get new tyres i will probably get them powder coated to freshen them up.

tbh finding parts can be interesting so that website will come in handy cheers mate.

i cant wait its going into a garage hopefully soon for a few wee niggles that i dont really want to take on, then ill be slaving away on it over the winter. doing as much as i can.

first job get the carpets in.

James

[Jeanvm]

Hi James,

Its a wonderful car wanted one but never dare, instead I have an Excel.

You should keep the JPS color combination black & gold (or bronce). It is very effective the 70tys

Cheers,

Jean

[james125]

super chuffed, my uncle has a 3500 acre shooting estate with a large tarmac drive which is twisty but straight for bout a mile before you reach the house. dad let me give it some up there, was changing just before the limiter in first and second and when lifting off for corners she was popping and spitting. it

[M Blur]

Has anyone tried to use a 910 turbo install in some of the front engine drivers.>??

very nice btw..

[andydclements]

There was at least one Excel turbo, not a production car, but a development car. I'm thinking that way, I aquired one of the turbo manifolds somebody had cast that put the turbo vear No1 cylinder, but I'm also considering supercharing it by belt drive rather than turbo dive , it would require some work to mount the super charger, but there seems to be enough space in the engine bay.

Andy

[silverfrost]

Looks great, very classic lines, are you going to use it as a daily driver

regards danny

[james125]

probably not, i have 1 year before i can drive even then ill be in uni. and i wouldnt leave it outside but i will use it as much as possible. for the simple reasone mr chapman built it to be driven and thats what ill do.

[james125]

small update, not the best of updates though.

had a few problems, the leak as of now is fixed and i have given her a polish. unfortunatly the rad gave up the ghost and she overheated so it is away getting fixed. the center consol electrics are a nightmare the twat the put it back together after its respray and a fetish for scotchlocks i belive so thats getting fixed. hopefully in the new year itll be back fighting. ialso may have got my hands on a donor car

[USAndretti42]

I must admit the worst thing to sort out on a used car is often what previous owners have done to the electrics. There is never any record of what they have done and the wires just disappear into the loom and behind the dash and so on. My car has some wires jumpered into the loom behind the radio and I have no idea what they are for or where they go.

If they've used scotchlocks at least the extra wiring is easy to remove. If you want to keep the wiring you are certainly doing the right thing in removing the scotchlocks.

[Clark]

My first car was a '74 Elite, and it was a heck of a car! I had to sell it about a year ago to afford the Esprit.

It was my uncle's in college, then was neglected and sat in his garage for 10 years. My parents bought it for $1000 as a car for me to work on before I got my license.

They thought it would never run, but a few months later after redoing the fuel lines, replacing fluids and rebuilding the carbs it roared (er, sputtered) to life. After a few more parts it was on the road.

Of course, it never stayed on the road for too long. Important things would break, like the alternator and clutch cable, and the exhaust system rotted through and was sagging. And the fans were faulty and the car would overheat almost on a daily basis.

That said, it was my daily driver and it acquired quite a following at my high school.

In the 3 years I had it, it had to be towed 5 times, I spent $5000 in repairs/resto and all-in-all it spent a year and a half off the road awating/undergoing repairs. Yep, literally half the time I owned it.

Despite the fact that it was a basket case and I could barely keep it running on my shoestring budget, it got me into cars, helped spread Lotus awareness around town and I sure miss him.

[Guest Troy Halliday]

I know that MJK has special place in his heart for these cars. I am sure Kimbers will fill in the blanks but from what I understand it was developed in a very short time on a very limited budjet and they were very pleased with the resulting product.