1966 Lotus Elan FHC: The "Bought-not-Built" car

[uturn]

Simon is going to need to install an alarm system.... when he's not looking I'll be cannibalizing parts to get my Elan running!

[2mAn]

I know Simon's has some mods done, but an early S3 coupe should be around 1300lbs

and more coming!....

OK! Small update to keep everyone in the loop of whats going on...

I should have some progress with the battery install in the next few days as I have the battery and the battery mount on hand. Just need a few uninterrupted minutes in the garage...

Hopefully that should wrap up Project #1 and I can keep making progress with Project #2. In regards to this, I also received my 5th Minilite from TTR without issue from customs. We'll see what happens with my next order thats supposed to come from the UK.



While the car is up in the air for Project #2 I will be working on my sidequest project of sorting out the handbrake. I wont bore you with those details here, but will say that I spoke with Dave Bean and he should be taking care of the handbrake components and we will see what else is hiding under the car. I

I also got my Singer style reflectors and did a quick mock up and thats just not going to work, so I think I will see how difficult it will be to remove the Existing headlights and mount a set of brand new 7" Round lights I have. If they work out well, and I like the look I will likely upgrade to a set of the Holley Retrobrights so I have strong headlights for night driving...

That should also bring us to Project #4 and ideally I will have the chrome vinyl wrap soon to re-wrap the bumpers.

The BIG thing I have been quietly working on is the BIG project I have been wanting to do, and thats an EFI conversion. I have always wanted to throw on a set of Jenvey Heritage Throttle Bodies to keep the engine bay looking as good as it has since Sean rebuilt the car ~5 years ago...



More on that to come, stay tuned!... on that note, a shameless self promo. Please subscribe to [my youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@thetumanshow) and follow me on [Instagram](https://instagram.com/@the_tuman_show) as I'm trying to do something I haven't and that requires more support and more eyeballs on my stuff.

Thanks
-Simon

[2mAn]

https://youtu.be/bSISkdUC8Mo?si=aeNijInhIf_xqidV

[OSAH racing]

I subscribed. Good Video explaining your decision. I go about my car purchases in a similar manor. Every Car nut/lover has different reason to love cars. Mine is driving dynamics first and that Magic PTW ratio is anything below the 10 -1. The value for me is in the experience behind the wheel. I am satisfied with a higher ratio when the driving dynamics are great. This is where the Miata especially the first one is a big winner. It's too small for me 6 2" to get comfortable. Additionally, unless any of us is a licensed Racing driver big power on the street is just for show. Love the Lotus. I would love to hear your thoughts on M20 stroker motors and where the sweet spot is cost vs. power and how it translates to driving the e30.

[2mAn]

I subscribed. Good Video explaining your decision. I go about my car purchases in a similar manor. Every Car nut/lover has different reason to love cars. Mine is driving dynamics first and that Magic PTW ratio is anything below the 10 -1. The value for me is in the experience behind the wheel. I am satisfied with a higher ratio when the driving dynamics are great. This is where the Miata especially the first one is a big winner. It's too small for me 6 2" to get comfortable. Additionally, unless any of us is a licensed Racing driver big power on the street is just for show. Love the Lotus.

Yea the 10-1 is basically where I think the magic starts... thanks for subscribing!

I would love to hear your thoughts on M20 stroker motors and where the sweet spot is cost vs. power and how it translates to driving the e30.

M20 VS 24v used to be a no-brainer that the 24v was the way to go. Nowadays the newest M50 based motor (E36 era) is at least 25 years old, and theres something special about the M20 so if you're not chasing 300bhp and are content with 200+ a higher CR on a M20 and rebuilt would be money well spent, and also likely to retain its value in a E30 more than a 24v

[2mAn]

Alright folks, the plan is starting to come together. This is the ultimate side-quest derailment project that I wasnt planning on doing yet, but here we are...

I know I need to figure out where to adapt some sensors. QED is supplying the toothed crank pulley along with the Ford crank position sensor and a few other bits. My current headscratcher is the coolant temp sensor. Initially my idea was to tap into the thermostat housing, but it seems like I might be asking too much from this. My plan was to use the sensor location and instead of a single wire, to replace it with a 3-wire sensor so two can be used for the incoming ECU and the third for the gauge. Still exploring this, but it also seems like the thread would need to be re-tapped and that makes it sort or irreversible...



Then I recently had a moment where I saw that the radiator also has a sensor on it and now I'm wondering 2 things... (1) Where is the gauge getting is info from and, (2) Is this a better place to accomplish my goal?



Any ideas/ suggestions are appreciated. The UK (re)builder did a great job of keeping the engine bay clean and tidy so I want to keep this going

[BlackbirdM3]

The cylinder head will give you a more accurate engine temp reading, the radiator will be cooler. I think the EFI sensor should go into the head, and the gauge sensor will be okay from the radiator. Yes the gauge will likely real a little cooler than the actual temp, but if you reverse things, I could see the EFI running a little on the rich side because its reading that the engine is cooler.

Will

[Northern]

Agree that the head is best. Either find a sensor that fits (maybe a 2-wire to the ECU and have the ECU spit out the gauge signal, depending on ECU)
Or make a spacer for the Tstat housing to move it up, with a bung below. Might even be able to find a cheap OTS one that fits.
Bleeding issues TBD...

Is there an aux fan? Looks like the one on the rad is a fan switch

[2mAn]

Friday the 13th felt like a good time to share this video haha

[parkerbink]

Woah, I missed alot.

[2mAn]

Got a few minutes to play in the garage and decided to work on Project #4 "Look at Me."

I took the "bumpers" off and removed the wrap so I can wrap them in "chrome" vinyl so I can merge the quotes and officially have "chrome bumpers"



This while the not-a-project-car projects continue. Got some more pieces coming so I can make some real progress on the big project