The Elan arrived with a few issues: dead driver’s side window, horn that honked on its own, and ½” of play in the steering.  The horn was an easy fix.  The contact plate that attaches to the base of the steering column had come loose and would complete the electrical connection when the mood struck.  Easy fix.

The window was harder, as it required disassembly of the mechanism and a complete rebuild.  It now works much better, but is still not optimal.  Connecting the battery directly to the window motor revealed that the mechanism in the door works great, meaning the problem lies in the wiring between the battery and the motor.  Searches on Elan.net reveal that the fix is larger gauge wire and relays.  That will happen (maybe) over the winter. 

The steering fix was easy but frustrating.  Rather than a U-joint connecting the steering column with the rack, Lotus used a device called a flexible coupling that mimics a U-joint's flexibility via rubber cones wrapped around connecting bolts that are fitted through oversized holes.  It works well until the rubber cones dry up and die.  I initially replaced it with a U-joint from Dave Bean Engineering, but that part was poorly made and only eliminated half the slack.  The much beefier U-joint from RD Enterprises was worth the additional $25 and has completely eliminated the slack.

The repeat visitor (Hi Mom!) will notice the site has a new section.  Yes, I bought a Lotus Elan.  I’m not sure quite when that car entered my consciousness or when it turned to lust, but it’s been a long, long time.  It went from my dream car in high school, to a purchase waylaid when the Westfield fell into my lap in 2001, to finally sharing space with that car in my garage.

I almost bought a ’67 pre-airflow FHC this summer on Bring a Trailer.  I had been watching the auction since the car appeared and with a couple of minutes left, decided to throw in a bid.  Then another.  Then I came to my senses.  The buyer later revealed that his last bid was his limit, so if I had increased my last bid by $500, it was mine, but fortunately I held back.  Although a very nice and honest car with the added benefit of Webers, it had some issues.  It previously had a roll cage so the interior had some associated installation issues that would bother me.  It was also a pre-airflow.  Although I prefer the looks of that version, I figured that Lotus added the vents to the rear pillar for a reason. Air flow through a cabin is a good thing.  And most importantly, it was red.  Granted the Elan looks great in that color, but the Westfield is red, and the 951 (which will be going up for sale soon) is also red.  In fact, the 993 I almost bought instead of my car was red.  I like red, but not to the degree that I want most of my cars that color.  

The car I eventually bought is in better shape than the BaT car, has a ton of extras that I wanted, a significant amount of maintenance/repairs, and after adding buyer’s fees to the BaT car was about $1600 cheaper.  Despite the $14,500 the previous owner invested over the 6 months before I bought it, there is still some work to do.  It arrived with a broken driver’s side window and horn, play in the steering, some rattles, and in need of a few upgrades.  Fortunately I have a garage and a bunch of tools I’m not afraid to use.  Stay tuned