Hi everyone, I’m a bit new to this site, but have been amazed at the depth of knowledge and general helpfulness from the posts I’ve been reading.
I wondered if you would be interested to hear about an Elan Sprint I am in the process of restoring back to its former glory? I bought the car in complete and original condition nearly 2 years ago and have been slowly and painstakingly dismantling it ready for complete renovation. At present, my car looks more like an Airfix kit, rather than one of the worlds all time great sports cars!
My Sprint is a 1971 drop head finished in Gold Leaf Team Lotus colours. When I was a kid I loved the Lotus F1 cars that raced in those colours, so I’m looking forward to getting back to its original paint finish; when I bought it, it had original paint, but had just faded badly over the years. Also, the car had been in storage for about 10 years and although complete, was in fairly poor, but original condition. I was lucky with a number of other things too; my car had a galvenised replacement chassis back in the late '80s, which has held up reall well, so only minor renovation required. Also, the engine was ‘blue printed’ by Twin Cam Techniques at some point. The block is painted blue and the engine carries a metal plaque to this effect. I have no idea what this means, but a very helpful guy called Kim from LDC said this was good. I have an absolute mountain to climb to get it finished, but it’s going to be stunning when it’s done!
Would you believe I’ve never actually been out in one of these cars yet, as my Lotus experience to date has been all M100 Elan!! I’m sure it will live up to all the accolades and praise though! I plan to do some sensible mods to improve the enjoyment and usability of the car, without detracting from the original, ie an alternator in place of the dynamo; Spyder tubular front wish bones; a larger radiator to aid summer cooling. I was really interested to read the posts on the TTR/Susan Miller drive shaft conversion. I really wanted to do that, but feared I would be burned at the stake!
Any thoughts or helpful suggestions would be much appreciated. If there is any interest, I will post some photos of the project and send regular updates - which might help me keep the project on track!
I live in Tamworth near Birmingham, so if you’re passing, you’re welcome to come and view the car/give me encouragement/lend a hand.
Many thanks for all the help and advice I’ve recieved from this site so far and I’m sure going to be needing your help in the future.
Phil