In that time my Elan has never been spared. It was mostly parked in the open because it has been a daily driver. Being a roadster it has got soaked by rain on numerous occasions. When I lived in the country and worked in the city, I often drove it for 3 hours a day and for a significant amount of that time it was driven at around 160 kph. Those were the days when it was legal…well nearly legal. I have dragged it at Calder Raceway over the 400 metres (averaging 15.0 secs) and raced it in club meets at Sandown, Phillip Island and Calder. The fact is that it has been a very reliable car with very few breakdowns despite what you read about these cars. But because my Elan has been driven constantly and quickly over lots of rough roads, maintenance and repair costs have been high throughout its life.

By 2001 though, which was when the Elan was 33 years old, it was completely worn out. And I do mean everything was completely worn out. There was not a single aspect of the car that was not stuffed and this included the chassis, all the running and suspension gear, the body, the engine and all its parts and all the driveline. I contacted Club Lotus for some recommendations and was warned that restoring it would be a big job. I thought I could get away with a patch up job. How wrong I was!

Initially I did not to use The Elan Factory because it is some distance from where I live. However, I kept in contact with Steve Taylor for all the parts required. I suppose that’s where my education began! The more I learnt from Steve, the more I learnt that there was a methodical and a better way of restoring my Elan. I should mention that I am not a mechanic and I was soon to learn a lot more about regular mechanics work ethic. After some challenging tasks, my car eventually ended up at The Elan Factory.

Here is what I have learnt over the last four and a half years during the restoration.

1. Get your Lotus fixed by someone who works on Lotus’s all the time because it saves time and money!

When I started off on the restoration I badly underestimated just how important it is to have someone working on your Lotus who works on Lotus’s ALL the time, instead of occasionally, or never. Most mechanics work on the most popular cars, like Falcons and Holden’s or whatever. Therefore they are pretty good and quick at diagnosing and fixing their particular problems. But when it comes to very rare cars like Lotus’s they will be slow to diagnose the problem and they will often not know the correct solution. The Elan Factory only works on Lotus vehicles (I have never seen them working on any other car). The advantage of this is that problems are diagnosed promptly and accurately. This is a direct result of experience gained whilst problem solving on other customers Lotus’s! And their own of course! This invaluable experience SAVES the customer heaps in labour costs. It also saves the customer from having inappropriate “repairs” undertaken and having to return the car for further time-consuming investigation. I have seen many cars and many components at The Elan Factory that belong to people who took their car or components of their car to people who weren’t able to properly fix the problem. Inevitably the customers have ended up at The Elan Factory looking for a proper fix. I have seen Lotus cars of all types that have been driven or trucked to The Elan Factory from interstate for a proper fix after the owners had exhausted all other options.

The Elan Factory only works on Lotus cars and the benefit to the customer is that it saves time and therefore money.

2. Get your Lotus fixed by someone who is committed to doing a high quality job that will last.

Unfortunately the average mechanic is forced to do patch-up jobs for customers even when the mechanic knows full well that the job won’t last long. This is caused not because the mechanic wants the customer to come back for more repairs as is often claimed. It is because customers complain bitterly about the cost of the parts and labour and will often go elsewhere looking for a cheaper job if their mechanic doesn’t do a cheap job! For example a mechanic informs the customer that “The power is down because the (head, carburettors` or ignition) require an overhaul. The customer of course asks, “How much will it cost to get fixed?” Scared of losing the customer, the mechanic often quotes the lowest possible cost, even though they know that this will be a superficial overhaul i.e. that many parts that are really marginal will be left in place, and that a new overhaul will be required in a short time.

The Elan Factory is an exception to this rule because they are committed to providing a cost effective solution that will really last. They are also prepared to explain so as to ensure that the customer is informed as to exactly what needs to done and why. Expect to be educated if you go to The Elan Factory! You can be confident that an overhaul of any significant part done by The Elan Factory will last far longer than an average overhaul. At the Elan Factory you can be confident that your car is being worked on by experienced personnel, and not by a first or second year apprentice.

3. Get your car fixed by someone who knows what power can reliably be achieved from your Lotus.

Let’s face it in most cases if you are into a Lotus you are probably into getting as much performance out of it as possible. That’s fine, but to get reliable performance out of a Lotus you have to know what you are doing. What works and what doesn’t work, and what lasts and what doesn’t. It’s not much fun having bags of horsepower but then having a big hole blown through a piston or your block or through the sump after a just a few hard kilometres! I have seen numerous engines and cars at The Elan Factory with rather large holes in places they shouldn’t be. All engines hotted up beyond their design limits by a mechanic or owners who didn’t really know what was possible and what wasn’t! With The Elan Factory you get detailed explanations and recommendations because they have a professional engineering background and are not just picking parts out of a magazine or a catalogue! Once again be prepared to be educated at The Elan Factory.

The benefit of listening to their advice is that you will get reliable power.

4. Get your car fixed by someone who stocks a comprehensive range of Lotus parts.

Because Lotus cars are very rare as a percentage of the total vehicle population, few businesses stock parts. So if you go to someone who doesn’t stock Lotus parts there can be delays of weeks at worst and days at best waiting for parts and then there are courier costs involved in getting those parts to your mechanic. And as I found out the hard way, lots of errors occur in ordering parts because businesses that do not specialise in Lotus’s do not have the part numbers. Now when there are literally thousands of parts for any one car …that is a recipe for misunderstandings, confusion and mistakes. Importing parts yourself just compounds the problem.

The Elan Factory probably has the biggest stock of Lotus parts in Australia, which means less misunderstandings and less waiting. Not only that, they know which parts are best and which parts will do the job for your intended use.

5. Get your Lotus fixed by someone who has a design, fabrication and manufacturing capacity.

The fact is that lots of parts for Lotus’s are no longer available or if they are available the cost is enormous so you can easily end up with a car that cannot be repaired. This is particularly the case with cars manufactured during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Luckily The Elan Factory has design, fabrication and manufacturing skills so they often manufacture the parts you need …and often these parts perform better and will last longer than the original parts. And my experience is that the cost is very reasonable.

6. Get your Lotus fixed by someone who knows and can recommend other quality suppliers in the Lotus network.

If you are undertaking a fairly large restoration one of the problems is how to identify reliable suppliers with specialist skills. This includes fibreglass repairers, fibreglass painters and interior trimmers etc. You need to know who to avoid and who to obtain quotes from because unless you have a recommendation you can’t check them all out. In my experience, such is the commitment to high quality by The Elan Factory that you can rely totally on their recommendations and warnings.

7. Avoid mechanics with the "She’ll be right!” or “Close enough is good enough!” attitude.

When I started the restoration I thought all mechanics were the same. This seems silly to me now but I reckon most people think this. What I have learnt is that Lotus owners need avoid mechanics with the attitude or mentality a) "She'll be right mate!" and/or b) "Close enough is good enough!" like the plague.

Going to a mechanic with a “Close enough is good enough!” attitude will have you off the road more often than you are on it! i.e. You will end up with an unreliable Lotus.

I have come to realise to my horror that when some mechanics are overhauling the head, that if they don't have the parts easily to hand, and they aren’t easily available, then they just can’t be bothered getting them, so they just give you back an engine that requires a rebuild in as little as 10,000 miles or 16,000 kames if you are lucky!

Summary

in my experience, which is based on owning an Elan for nearly 30 years, is that Lotus’s are definitely not unreliable as is so often alleged.

The reputation Lotus’s have for unreliability is primarily caused because owners do not have their cars serviced and repaired by mechanics who do work on Lotus’s all the time and who have a widespread reputation for high quality and engineering excellence.

Here is my Checklist which I hope will be of benefit to all Lotus owners.

Only have your Lotus serviced and repaired by someone who:

1. Works on Lotus’s all the time, because it saves time and money! 

2. Is totally is committed to doing a high quality job that will last 

3. Knows from long experience what power can reliably be achieved from your Lotus 

4. Actually stocks a wide range of Lotus parts 

5. Has a design, fabrication and manufacturing capacity 

6. Who is prepared to recommend other quality suppliers in the Lotus network 

7. Does not have the slightest trace of the “She’ll be right!” or “Close enough is good enough!” attitude 

Remember Lotus’s become unreliable if they are not serviced and repaired by mechanics who work on Lotus’s all the time and who have a widespread reputation for high quality and engineering excellence.

Geoffrey Lee
Melbourne VIC
Australia

As a Lotus owning (but penurious) Pom since 1974, I shipped my Elan to Australia thinking I'd be well and truly on my own. Who'd care about an obscure 30 year old car, halfway round the world from where it was already hard enough to keep on the road?

Even Chapman didn't claim a Lotus would last forever. Far from it, he was understandably more interested in making you a new one.

But a Melbourne outfit called The Elan Factory goes a long way to bridge the gap. Those of us trying to cherish our cars far longer than any lifetime "Chunky" had in mind are very lucky to have Steve Taylor on our side.

With the latest predictable demise of my Water Pump, it looked like the timing cover (after years of corrosion) was a "gonner" too. Contacting sources in the UK only produced pessimism and much expensive sucking of teeth. I needn't have worried. The team at The Elan Factory restored the casting like new AND fitted a superior ceramic seal, plus pressure tested it, into the bargain. Complete with other parts, the whole project cost far less than a new cover from Britain.

They gave patient advice and invaluable tips as well, while I put everything back together. Despite labouring in his workshop, stocking a comprehensive parts range, developing improved products and keeping up with every new Lotus under the sun, Steve also answers the phone: impressive personal dedication.

In my experience, no similar restoration service is available in Britain. Lotus owners round the world would be well advised to use the Elan Factory. Due to them, my water pump's smooth as silk (and engine nice and quiet with a new timing chain, state-of-art head gasket and one of Steve's space age breather pipes keeping things oil-tight) all for less than UK prices.

Australia's a great place to own and run a Lotus - thanks to The Elan Factory!

Oil Filters again. Generally I have not been aware of any problems with oil filter quality and advice but people tell me that there are problems for the unwary (as I found running the wrong filter type on the Seven for 16 years!). On buying the Elise recently I contacted Steve Taylor at The Elan Factory for filters as I wanted to make sure the new toy got TLC. To my surprise Steve has found various problems over the years with some filter makes. He has written a short preamble to a US based oil filter survey link which is interesting but only makes you unsure of where to go next. In the end it seems that not all oil filters are created equal and, just because one filter is larger than another, does not necessarily result in superior performance, even if it is dearer. Remember, in our small market, filter stock is sourced from many different countries and may come from one country this month and another the next. Steve recommends FRAM filters from the UK and AMSOIL filters from as his testing shows superior performance over the majority of other popular brand names in the UK.

Braided Weber Fuel Hoses. Steve Taylor has improved quality braided stainless steel fuel hoses for Elans, and the like, as Weber originals are no longer available.

Elan and Plus 2 Rear Wheel Bearing Housings. The Elan Factory is now manufacturing replacement units, as they are no longer available and generally the original equipment bearing seats are well worn out by now unless you are lucky!

High Torque Starter Motors. The Elan Factory is also manufacturing high torque reduction gear starters to replace the Lucas M35G to fit Sevens, Elans and similar engined cars.

Restorations and General Parts. Steve also has a new mechanic, Gary Woodward, who spent 15 years with the BAR and Williams teams and came to Australia to work with Ford Performance Racing. They do excellent restorations and have a huge range of other original and aftermarket parts available.

I’d like to give Steve a big plug as he has helped us a lot over the years, just as he has helped many other Lotus owners across the many years of manufacture.

Address Withheld

• All the brake calipers were overhauled and fitted with new stainless steel pistons plus relevant hydraulic seals.
• The original brake lines were replaced by steel piping that included an external protective coating.
• The original ring gear had been installed incorrectly. This was re-seated to provide the correct starter motor mesh.
• The gearbox input shaft was removed and machined to affect repairs to the damaged spigot.
• The worn gear shift cross-gate cable was repaired.
• The distributor was removed and machined so the leaking oil seal could be replaced.
• All worn suspension bushes were replaced.
• All worn ball joints were replaced.