The birth of LotusRescue

[johnpwalsh]

After a long drawn out affair with my own S3 Turbo, due to the trimmer contracting long Covid, then another ailment which meant he could no longer walk. This evening I get some surprise photographs with my interior. Well chuffed, and the material that I found in Spain certainly matches perfectly with the colour of the leather.   

Seat frames blasted and powder coated. Cloth material has had 3mm of foam plus scrim to back it up as has the leather to give it strength and help prevent stretching. Apparently something they do with auto grade leather. Considering the state it was in when I removed it from the car. I am a happy bunny.

 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Looking good John, this will transform your turbo 😉

[johnpwalsh]

What a fantastic event to se the new Eletre being unveiled, especially consider the stunning Lotus Eclat now owned by Dave Webb, was the very 1st Lotus I rescued. Dave has owned her now for the past 7 or 8 years and is a great custodian. This more fantastic history to add to her outstanding life story.

On another note. That's another 3 LotusRescue cars leaving, 1 last week and 2 this week to new home's and continued improvement. The Yellow Elan M100 SE goes off to Market Drayton and the 2nd Elite is off to Lichfield. Some of you may have been lucky enough to see our 1st Eclat 504 on display at NEC Birmingham last month. Her new owner has great plans to continue her restoration.

Busy time's. The S3 N/A that I mentioned a couple of months ago was collected by your's truly and taken back to the workshop where work will start on her in a couple of weeks to get her back up and running and sort out a few gremlins.

One of our first client who purchased an Elan M100 N'A from me about 6 years ago has just bought a rather nice Excel SE. W get the call, can you go collect her (900 mile round trip and at todays fuel prices. Euch) and do the work to get her back in the road. This will be the 1st time since 2010. The car looks to be in very good condition  other than door beams and window frames. I set up a dummy fuel tank and pump just to see if she will turn over and bloody hell, did the thing not unexpectedly start. A good sign for sure. Shut her down after about a minute due to the age of the belts etc. 

The next one due home for some work is an old Elan of 1967. Been parked up for something like 20 years in the deepest darkest Narfok shed and not got a clue what she will need yet. Oddly, she is parked in the shed alongside a very, very nice early Elite type 75 which I also have to spend a couple of hours trying to get started while I'm down there. I have seen this car before and know her condition. One I would love to get hold of.

So in the next week to 10 days the LotusRescue trailer will be flying about up and down and across the country. So if you see a rather tired looking Grey haired guy hanging onto the steering wheel of an old VW Touareg towing a White Brian James Race Shuttle trailer, give the poor old beggar a wave. It may keep me awake. Lol

Once that little lots done it will be back to the Belfast S4 car and start to reassemble her for the next part of the project.

[johnpwalsh]

Update on the S3 from yesterday. She lives, starts and drives. Not very well, but it's a start.

[johnpwalsh]

And another LotusRescue off to her new home overnight. Destination Market Drayton. Little cracker, went through a new MOT today and passed with no advisories. Not bad for her 1st MOT in 11 year's. Straight back home, then load up another rescue to go the South. This time an Elite type 75 to Linchfield.

Looking at doing just over 2,000 miles over the next 4 day's. Two cars South and one coming back North.

If we pass on on route, gives us a toot and keep me awake lol.

 

[Kimbers]

Have you been to Norfolk and not told me?

I will never forgive you if you do!!

[Sparky]

You never say that about me.

[johnpwalsh]

5 hours ago, Kimbers said:

Have you been to Norfolk and not told me?

I will never forgive you if you do!!

Leaving home at 1am. 1st stop Lichfield and drop off a type 75 Elite complete with a replacement roof skin to get rid of a stupid sunroof chop job, then over to Edingthorpe, arriving late tomorrow afternoon . Working on an old Elite tomorrow evening which has been started in may years, then loading an early Elan (full restoration project) Sunday morning  from the same location. Next.  Head North to Houghton Le Spring and drop off a set of early Esprit wheels, then keep heading North back to bonny Scotland. Otherwise known as Gods country. The land of great roads designed with Lotus in mind.

Have diesel, will travel.

 LotusBits got nothing on me lol

[oneshot]

If you see this - we are just outside Lichfield if you want to pop in for a cuppa.

[johnpwalsh]

Thanks for the kind offer. But we spent so much time searching for diesel around the Norfolk area, we didn't have time to stop or hang about. Do you guys drink diesel instead of T or water. Where the hell does it all go too in Norfolk. 9 service/filling stations with no fuel. Unless of course you want to pay crazy motorway prices, and at £1.99.9 per Lt, that's not for me when doing  a round trip of 1471 miles at 22 MPG in the truck. Count that out at roughly 20 p per Lt extra. It expensive enough as it is. On average we were paying £1.77 per Lt, instead of the norm of about £1.70 at home which makes it bad enough. Profiteering me thinks.

Must admit though. The little 3.5 Canter did herself proud again. Never missed a beat both down and back with the Elite going South and the Elan 130 coming home.

Dragged this out sideways after something like a 20 year slumber.

[johnpwalsh]

Well a busy couple of  days on the little Elan that came home only on Sunday past.

Day one. As the car was on the ramp yesterday I thought I may as well spend some time on it before moving it to the store to await her turn for work. I gave her a good look over and started a list of parts she will need so far. Worst part was the engine was partially seized which could lead to an expensive rebuild. So, I made up some ATF fluid mixed with some WD 40, removed the spark plugs and filled the engine with the plan to leave it to soak overnight. Got a spanner on it today and its moving, taking it nice and easy to start with, and with the plugs out started to turn her over with the plugs out on her own power. Result. I don't think she will require an engine rebuild. Refitted the plugs and leads, checked the distributor etc and fitted up the external tank and pump. Attempted to start her, but by this point my spare battery had lost power. So a very good result. Tomorrow I will have a fully charged battery, and I suspect she will be starting on her own by the end of tomorrow.

So, day two. Compression checked and all good. Carbs removed and flushed of old fuel and debris, petrol tank cleaned and flushed, mechanical fuel pump cleaned and flushed and fuel line from the pump to the carbs disconnected for now, plugs removed, cleaned and correctly gaped, external tank which is fitted with an SU fuel pump connected to the carbs. Push the button, and hey presto. She lives. Obviously a little smoky to start with, but settled down nicely after a few minutes. Even the thermostat worked and the fans came on. Happy bunny.

So, 20 Lt fresh fuel into the tank, all fuel lines and filter refitted. Connected my spare battery and she now start off the key. One carb off balance so carried out basic balancing as they will have to be done again once new gaskets, diaphragms etc are fitted, car now idling much better and should be able to drive under her own power once clutch function is checked and be able to move about the yard until she comes in for the full works, which is too include a back to original colour.

[johnpwalsh]

Well that's been a busy couple of weeks. 4 project cars up and running and gone to new enthusiasts for further improvement/restoration.

Only a couple left in stock, so I guess I need to look for some more. Also time to get cracking on with client restoration jobs. Ah well time o get the hands dirty again.

[johnpwalsh]

Another gruelling trip just completed by Wendy and I. 29 hrs none stop on the road. 1 Excel SE delivered to a new member down in Norwich and a 1600 twin cam engine and 5 as new MK1 Lotus Cortina wheels delivered to the well known company of Tiger Racing. We had a fantastic time with Jim at his works yesterday evening which meant we were well behind schedule for heading home. Was it worth it. Bloody right it was. We were given a full tour of the works, the fab shop where new chassis were being constructed, the fitting out shop and the mechanics workshop which had a rather nice customers MK1 Lotus Cortina and a very nice MK2 Cortina with a newly built Zetec engine matched to a type 9 gearbox. Along with many other nice motor's. Jim explained that the car came in as total rot box and was basically rebuilt to a high standard from scratch. Jim has also just imported another MK1 from the states which looks like a very, very good shell with no obvious corrosion. Looks like we made a great new contact who has a wealth of knowledge on old Lotus and has a private collection of MK1 Lotus Cortina's. Jim, the company owner presented us with a couple of copies of the company biography, some advertising material and I was presented with a rather nice embroidered shirt. Mind you, the boss, otherwise known as Wendy Walsh did tell Jim I was a size medium and not a large. I recon she has a plan on stealing it away for herself. What do you guy's recon.

Look up tigerracing.com fantastic little company who carryout some 1st class restoration work as well as building there own brand of cars to almost any spec.

https://tigerracing.com/...

[johnpwalsh]

Nice short drive yesterday for a change to collect an old friend. A nice S4 turbo which is coming back for some minor works after sorting out her botched clutch etc last year. So we stop for a coffee at Kinross services and spy these real nice looking Mercedes trucks from Germany. Had a chat with the drivers who were very nice guys and petrolheads. Turns out they are carrying 17 supercars to Scotland from Munich with the plan that they meet up with their owners today, who will then do a 6 day tour of Scotland. During the tour, the truck drivers will sit in an hotel waiting for their return. They will then load the cars and head back to Munich. There instructions. Wait and we will tell you where we are going next. Great to have that kind of money. The trucks were load with Lamborghini's McLarens, Porsche GT3's Ferraris etc. Obviously a lot of money involved. One of the drivers opened a door to give us a glimpse of the contents and it was jaw dropping. All new cars.

If you see any of these on the road, give them a flash or a toot. Real nice guys and open for a chat anytime they are stopped.

The tour is officially named Circle Tour and the cars all have the small decal on them as shown on one pic.

Kind of dwarfs my Shuttle trailer and tow car just a little bit lol.

 

[Bling]

More info about them here: https://circle-tour.com/en/

 

Latest news re Scotland: https://www.facebook.com/circletour.events/

[johnpwalsh]

Today,  I found and managed to purchase what will be a very nice Eclat Celebration in Silk Red metallic. The car had been found sitting in a container some time ago. The finder obviously purchased it then decided it wasn't a job for him. Hey presto. Another 23 hour round trip and enter LotusRescue to snag her. Currently the engine is out and in parts, nobody knows why this was done, but I have a good spare which will be inserted into the space soonish. Paintwork is pretty good considering her time in storage, as is the interior which will come up well with a good clean. She has had an aircon delete, or will have by the time I've done with her.

The downside to the trip was a crazy £400 quid to go collect and bring it home. How in bloody hell can they justify 2.09.9 p per Lt for diesel. Bloody theft. I probably spent in all about 1.5hrs leaving motorways and going into towns for fuel at anything from 1.86.9 to 1.94.9. Maybe doesn't seem much of a difference, but when your filling a 100Lt tank 3 of 4 times it soon mounts up. 

And now the punt. Anyone interested in what will be a nice Eclat Celebration in Metallic Silk Red with Beige cloth interior. I will have to double check, but as far as I can tell she has been in storage since 2004.

Comes with original documents and Lotus manual.

[C8RKH]

Why the automatic aircon delete John?

[exeterjeep]

2 hours ago, johnpwalsh said:

Anyone interested in what will be a nice Eclat Celebration in Metallic Silk Red with Beige cloth interior

Wot no pics of this road trip. How is the N/A M100.

My Elite S2 had the air con  removed, had the car 21 years was not bothered to think about replacing it. 

[johnpwalsh]

Sorry, no pics this time until I get her offloaded from the trailer tomorrow. 

Wot no pics of this road trip. How is the N/A M100.

Still trying to trace a TPS, one on offer at £199.00 and no way I'm paying rip off prices, I was offered another in exchange for my old one, but lost the guys details. Another member did offer to lend me one, but not too sure on doing that in case it gets damaged, lost or whatever.

Anyone know of one or an alternative. PLEASE.

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

Why the automatic aircon delete John?

Mainly because hoses and pump are us and not much requirement for AC in the UK. Make lightness, make speed lol.

[C8RKH]

Understood John. I suppose less weight, less power consumption etc.

Sounds like a lovely car, any pics?

[exeterjeep]

You may have found this - don't know if any help.

http://forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=8546&sid=0a57a756a5679a59869761cf41a2c7b1&start=20

or http://forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=10435&start=40

[johnpwalsh]

Perfect Keith. Good starter for 10 anyway. See what I can dig up tomorrow.

 

John.

[johnpwalsh]

Brief update on this weekends find/rescue. We came across an old envelope in the car which gives some history and after going through it I have found that she is the 6th Excel off the production line and official colour is NOT Silk Red as I thought, but in fact she is Jupiter Red. So she is one of those very early ones which was still registered as an Eclat, but is in fact an Excel which be be obviously proven by all the Toyota running gear etc. I also came across a letter from Clevedon Lotus who were her original dealer confirming the VIN number to be No6 off the line and was originally registered as OWP 49 prior to her company owner selling off the registration number to Elite registrations. It would also appear to have been a local car to  the Mablethorpe/Louth area for all of it's life prior to going into storage, reason for that I guess will now never bee known now.

Love digging up the history of these old cars. It's part of the fun. 

 

[exeterjeep]

10 minutes ago, johnpwalsh said:

So she is one of those very early ones which was still registered as an Eclat,

My 1990 Excel SE still said Eclat on the V5, I did not think that the factory ever changed the official DVLA records as it would have needed to be re-type approved. I got a letter from the factory explaining things.

I think some owners have applied to DVLA to make the change to say Excel. 

[johnpwalsh]

Sneak preview.

The ratchet strap is around the body to keep the nearside door closed as the latch is bust.