Elite Riviera

[Loose Cannon]

Henry, why did the guy you bought it from have a spare shell when the white one seemed complete?

BTW if you need an original steering wheel to replace the awful aftermarket unit I have one if you need it.

[Emmerg]

Good news from Lakeside Henry - looks a bit sad in the bushes eh ?

Guy

[Henry8601]

It definitely looks better now it is out of the bushes. I must have walked past it hundreds of times before I finally managed to convince the owner to part with it. If only I could get it back to its former glory (but I don't think my pockets are that deep!!)

It came with a complete set of brand new and unused spares which is pretty useful. I have things like a brand new engine with all ancillaries, gearbox, chassis, diff, suspension etc. etc. The only thing I had to get rid of was the spare shell as it was taking up far too much room.

I do have an original steering wheel, but I actually really like the one that's on there, so it's staying for now!

Edited June 15, 2012 by Henry8601

[Henry8601]

Just paid the bill which worked out at just over £2000 (gulp) for a pretty long list of work. I'm picking up the Elite on Saturday morning and I can't wait. Things done:

New cambelt, tensioners

Carbs rebuilt

Rear brakes rebuilt

New ignition barrel

New speedo drive

Handbrake recabled

Full service including plugs and fluids

Loads of electrical work

The next step is to put on some serious miles to see if anything else goes pop, and then concentrate on the cosmetic stuff. The 100 mile drive home will be a good start!

[Loose Cannon]

Some nasty jobs in there (handbrake?), not surprised at the bill. Really pleased to hear of progress

[Emmerg]

Great news Henry, let us know how the journey home went !

[Guest saraphee]

Encouraged by the recommendations for Connolly Hide Care I bought a pot via ebay and my wife brought it back after a trip to UK to see her mother.

My interior is a mixture of old and new leather. The seats were in what I thought was pretty good condition but I needed to recover the Dash etc as I changed from LH to RHD and made a few other changes. When everything had been put back inside I realised that the seats were not as good as I thought - although not so bad that I felt they should come out and be re-upholstered.

Now I've treated the front seats - I'm amazed at the difference. Following Chris' advice I left it on to soak in and now the creases have plumped up, the few scratches have virtually disappeared, the hardness has gone and it's difficult to spot the difference between old & new.

Thanks for the tip - I'll swear the whole car smells like a new interior (but I know that's hallucination)

[pete]

http://www.leathercaredirect.com/shop_product.php?product_id=24&category_id=24

anyone tried this

[Henry8601]

The journey home went pretty well, but as it started to pour with rain I suddenly discovered that the windscreen wiper doesn't do much beyond smearing water across the screen, which was utterly terrifying...

Here are the pics from when I had just got back:

On the drive back a few things started to play up:

• Horrible clicking noise (possibly from the odometer) when driving
  
• Odometer doesn't work
  
• Left headlamp stopped popping up (again!)
  
• Indicator stalk doesn't properly click into place
  
• Headlining is badly sagging (How on earth do I fix this?)
  
• Windscreen wiper does nothing to help (What is the correct part from Halfords?)
  
• Sunvisors need re covering - how do I remove them?
  

It runs like a bag of nails when cold, but when warm it runs beautifully, although there is always hesitation when you first put your foot down. I assume that the carbs just need a tune after the rebuild. The speedo was also very temperamental and was under-reading by a good 20mph when I set off, but it got more accurate (against the GPS) as the drive went on. There was also initially horrific wheel judder, but a few blasts at higher speed seemed to sort it out.

I was also surprised at how good the brakes are, and the ride is really, really good.

.

.

.

Also, pop up headlights are seriously cool (or at least they are when they work!)

[Emmerg]

Don't know how to help with any of the problems but just thought I would say it is looking cool !

I seem to remember it having a veneer central dash but I guess I am wrong !

[Loose Cannon]

1. Horrible clicking noise (possibly from the odometer) when driving
   
2. Odometer doesn't work
   
3. Indicator stalk doesn't properly click into place
   
4. Headlining is badly sagging (How on earth do I fix this?)
   
5. Windscreen wiper does nothing to help (What is the correct part from Halfords?)
   
6. Sunvisors need re covering - how do I remove them?
   
7. It runs like a bag of nails when cold, but when warm it runs beautifully, although there is always hesitation when you first put your foot down. I assume that the carbs just need a tune after the rebuild.
   
8. There was also initially horrific wheel judder, but a few blasts at higher speed seemed to sort it out.
   

1/2. The clicking sound was on my old Elite, I bought a new speedo cable to cure it but never got around to changing, actually after a while started to wonder if it wasn't the ticking of the tappets permeating the cabin. However if the speedo doesn't work SJ do a cable for about 30 quid

3. The Mini stalks aren't the best and surprisingly expensive to replace. I glued some rubber tape aroundthe cylinder to better catch the plastic "finger" that clicks on/off

4. If you fancy doing it yourself use the old cloth as a pattern, this is for an Excel, not too different http://www.benani.co.uk/articles/headlining.html

5. Just swap the blade with a universal one cut to the correct length

6. See 4. Quite a tricky job for an amateur I reckon, one of those things a pro makes look easy

7. Both mine really appreciated warming through to give their best, but wouldn't describe them as a bag of nails. I would have hoped a carb tune was in the service price

8. Had this too, never seemed to sort it, new bushes/trunnions?

[Henry8601]

1/2. The clicking sound was on my old Elite, I bought a new speedo cable to cure it but never got around to changing, actually after a while started to wonder if it wasn't the ticking of the tappets permeating the cabin. However if the speedo doesn't work SJ do a cable for about 30 quid

3. The Mini stalks aren't the best and surprisingly expensive to replace. I glued some rubber tape aroundthe cylinder to better catch the plastic "finger" that clicks on/off

4. If you fancy doing it yourself use the old cloth as a pattern, this is for an Excel, not too different http://www.benani.co...headlining.html

5. Just swap the blade with a universal one cut to the correct length

6. See 4. Quite a tricky job for an amateur I reckon, one of those things a pro makes look easy

7. Both mine really appreciated warming through to give their best, but wouldn't describe them as a bag of nails. I would have hoped a carb tune was in the service price

8. Had this too, never seemed to sort it, new bushes/trunnions?

1/2. It has just had a new speedo cable... The actual speedo works, but the mileage reading doesn't rotate. Any ideas why one works and not the other?

3. I will have a play

4/6 Thanks for the guide, that's really helpful.

5. Universal blade it is then.

7. Maybe I am being a little unkind, they said they didn't do it as there was so much bad fuel in there that it really needs some good running to clean things up first.

8. It seems to have gone for now. Out of sight out of mind

[Loose Cannon]

RE the bad fuel make sure you get that crap out of there ASAP or your nice rebuilt carbs will be gunged solid very soon. There really is no alternative, it won't dilute/wear off etc, the waxes and varnishes are nails, and there is probably water in there too

I refurb'ed my tanks with the Frost system which was excellent, then renewed the pipes front to back. Not cheap but peace of mind, and it WILL start next time every time.

[Henry8601]

Part of the fuelling issue is caused by a vacuum air leak somewhere on the heater box - I need to sort that first.

I have made some progress. I found out why the indicators were not working. Old:

vs new:

I also found out why the speedo is not working. It's really stiff which could break yet another cable, but this is the main culprit:

Does anyone have a spare speedometer?? I also need a new drivers side electric mirror, and a new chrome finishing strip:

All the gauges need a strip and refurb as everything behind the dash is really badly rusted - water must have been coming in through the front air vent.

[Dunc]

there is a speedo on ebay for an S2. It doesn't say which ratio it is for however. (it could be one of 2 ratios).

He is breaking an eclat S2.

(he might also have a mirror - they are like gold dust).

Chrome astrips are common with S1's - should be easy to get - Lotus bits should be able to help.

D

Edited July 24, 2012 by Dunc

[eclat22]

I have got an s2 speedo, and also mirrors.

Regards Dan

[Henry8601]

As I'm working on the dash at the moment I want to replace every light bulb behind the dash. Does anyone know the part numbers for the replacement bulbs?

[Loose Cannon]

\\I think the S2 should have a fibre optic system with one light source - have never had the dash apart so don't know where it lives or how connected to the various switches, but a few of mine are "off". SJ sportscars sell new light units

[pbharcourt]

Yes the S2 has fibre optic's for most of the switch lights, it has a single bulb holder screwed to the heater box about half way up on the left hand side (well mine did !). and a jumble of optic fibres going to the switches. A right old mess, and the fibres can pull out of the switch leaving you with no light showing.

I think you may be able to change the bulb by removing the trim panel in the passenger side foot well.

[Henry8601]

It's mainly for the smiths instruments and the light cluster actually on the dashboard that has individual bulbs. I need to order the parts so they arrive before I am next with the car, so if anyone has any photos of the bulbs that would be great!

I think they might be 501 or 509?

[Henry8601]

Been doing some more work this week. Just for reference for anyone else who needs to know, the full list of bulbs is in the front of the manual - I never thought of looking there!

First thing to tackle was the hissing noise from under the dash, so out it came:

This revealed problem number 1:

And problem 2:

Luckily I had spares of both!

While I was there I thought I might as well tackle the non-functional heater fans. It turns out you have to take the whole heater unit out to get to the one on the drivers side:

On inspecting the heater unit the whole thing was knackered. Water had clearly been pouring through it for a few years. The only problem is that the old one looked like this:

And my spare looked like this:

So I had to spend a while changing it all over to leave me with an as new S2 heater unit:

This is now back in, and I am just reattaching the refurbed dials, and it looks a million times better. Starting it up shows that the hissing from the vacuum leak has now gone, and the new heater fans work perfectly. The clicking has also gone with the new speedo and shortened speedo cable (the new one was too long??)

I am now in the process of removing the headlining and all the leather so it can be properly re coloured. A messy job, and it is scary seeing the car so stripped down! I also discovered that the driver seat diaphragm has snapped which is an extra expense to replace it.

[Emmerg]

you are a braver man than me ! if i took anything apart - and i mean anything - it would not go back together, let alone work.

glad to hear you are making progress

[rizla603104]

What a great story - I have really enjoyed reading your trials and tribulations!!

[Loose Cannon]

Wow, heater units the stuff of nightmares. My fans are stuck, possibly with residue from paint prep, not looking forward to it.

Might be a good time to check/replace the notoriously unreliable wiper motor assembly and arm stub?

[Emmerg]

Any more progress to report Henry ?

Hope all is well

Guy