Lisa the Lotus - Part 2

Ok, so I got the car home and was pretty sure I'd made a BIG mistake. I rang the dealer and asked if I  could give the car back. He suggested that "I live with it for a bit and then see where we get to...". If he had someone in the the wings who was willing to take the car for anything like the price I paid then that would have been the end of the story.

BUT

Lotus' are strange beasties. They are horrid to drive one day and marvellous to drive the next. And for good or bad, I had an amazing few drives over the next week or so. Roof off, sunshine, empty English 'B' roads, that's where a really sporty Lotus is at it's best.

So I decided to 'sort the car out'...

Although the first owner had spent a King's ransom getting the car to full S190 spec, not much had been spent in 'snagging' and making it nicer to live with.

I very quickly got to know Barry Ely in Maldon (not far from where I live). He really is Mr Lotus and knows pretty much everything about them. He's an ex racer and is a mine of information. We agreed to crack on with a partial restoration:

Step1: Make the car nicer to be in!

(a) Change the smelly nasty old red 5 point harnesses with some new Black Schroth harnesses - plus pads Madam? £500

(b) Get some sound insulation on the fire wall and seal the rear window properly...

(c) The muffler on the car was a ordinary Elise item, not a Sport 190 item. The exhaust tips were all sooty, so the engine was rich as hell. So, fit a new Janspeed exhaust and reduce the back pressure a bit.

(d) Give the car a service - engine and gearbox oil change plus all the usual jazz.

So, first the first bill was nicely into 4 figures - BUT the car was much nicer to drive. I went for a 50 mile run. Lisa and I were bonding.

Still not happy about the handling - something wasn't right and the car didn't stop properly. AND it was
making a terrible whine form the engine which can only be the cambelt - oh dear...

Polished and with new belts!