As I said in the reintroduction, I let my once pristine Lotus Elise sit in disrepair for 4+ years with a suspected head gasket failure. Now a simple repair has become much more involved. My intent here is to offer a summary of the repair and service steps I’ve completed thus far to catch things up. Maybe diving a little deeper with supporting posts in the future. Diagnosing the Failure 4...
I could write a book on the absurd amount of procrastination that went into letting my 06 Lotus Elise sit in disrepair for 4 years. It would be too kind to say I was busy when in reality, fixing a non racecar just hasn’t been a big priority. But as the years roll by, it’s started to become almost a point of embarrassment and a running joke amongst friends.
The Larini decat and club sport exhaust serves two purposes on project Lotus Elise. For starters, this combo along with the rear panel delete can easily yield weight reduction values approaching 25 lbs. The other purpose is to wake up the exhaust on the Elise because frankly, a car like this needs to be heard. Now what you won’t hear me talking about is power gains because the Lotus...
This guide is a prerequisite for many of the Lotus tutorials on this site. Placing the Lotus Elise on jack stands is a little trickier than most production cars. Due to the Elise’s design and flat underbody there are really only 8 designated “safe” lift points. Also, since the Elise has an extremely stiff chassis, I have found that a “stepping” method is the safest procedure to place the...
Changing the oil in the Lotus Elise is a relatively simple proceedure but first you will have to remove the rear undertray. Also, you can skip to the bottom for my recommendations on oil type and change intervals. Tools and Supplies 4 quarts oil (I use Mobil 1 15w-50) Oil filter (K&N HP1003 or HP2009) Filter wrench or 25mm socket for K&N 12mm wrench Oil drain pan Funnel Rags for cleanup...
The Lotus Elise is one of the few production cars that comes with a full body undertray. So when you look under the Elise, instead of seeing exposed lines and pipes (fuel/coolant/brake/exhaust) what you are met with is a flat sheet that runs the length of the car. This design feature is a blessing for aerodymics as it smooths and speeds the flow of air underneath the car. However, parts of the...
This is perhaps the most difficult project introduction I have ever written. There is so much emotion wrapped up in this car that no matter what I write it just seems wrong. I want to tell the story of how I came face to face with a pristine Type 72D Lotus Elise that had sat on the dealers lot since 2008. Or that my wife literally made me test drive it because I was being “too responsible...