Performed My First Bits Of Lotus Maintenance!

[BealeAss]

Well after racking up a few thousand miles on the Elise so far this season it was time for my first crack at maintenance items. On the list was tightening up some interior bolts (seats), changing the oil, new front brake pads, adding another exhaust clamp to fool myself into thinking the Larini will stop moving/sagging, and replacing some missing underpanel bolts.

Overall with a little bit of forum referencing and using the Sands Museum DIY area everything went pretty smoothly and took just about the time people said it would. I think (for me anyways) since the Lotus came with such a price tag and is a bit exotic, working on the car as I normally would any of my others seemed like a far out idea. But once you get the underpanels off everything is pretty intuitive and basic. Another joy to owning one of these.

Next round will probably be rear brake pads and if I'm ballsy enough a coolant flush.

[ErictheBastard]

My Larini SE has been reasonably stable, a bit of sag, but not touching the lower grille aperature. I have a Euro style stock diffuser on order, I'll give it another adjustment then. I usually support the tips (pointed slightly upward) with a floor jack, the tighten the clamp.

Being my fun car, I work on it without fear. I won't touch my wife's Mini or my Dodge truck - if I bugger one of those up, we're out of business. Bugger up the Lotus, life goes on until I can have it sorted out. I've changed the oil, installed the Larini, installed the LETSLA shift linkage and will probably change the rotors out with the pads next time.

All this is a walk in the park compared to my old 66 Jaguar E-type.

[bman6074]

Yea, I haven't done any of my own maintenance yet as the car is still under warranty but I have pulled the pads both front and rear to check the dealers work. I have found the car simple to work on. Bare in mind I have been working on cars for about 18 years now (just hobby not mechanic). But once the under panel is off it’s a piece of cake especially when you have a lift.

[buzzy]

I took the front clam off this last weekend and was surprised how easy it was. If you take your time and keep all the bolts and washers in labeled ziplock bags you can't really go wrong putting it back together again. With the clam off I was able to paint and tighten the front grills, install HIDs and align the front clam and door hinge cover panels perfectly.

BealeAss, you're local so if you ever want a hand let me know. I'm always interested in taking these cars apart and putting them back together again.

[BealeAss]

Originally Posted by bman6074

Yea, I haven't done any of my own maintenance yet as the car is still under warranty but I have pulled the pads both front and rear to check the dealers work. I have found the car simple to work on. Bare in mind I have been working on cars for about 18 years now (just hobby not mechanic). But once the under panel is off it’s a piece of cake especially when you have a lift.

Lol you don't count, you've done enough "modding" maintenance with me and my car to last a little while.

Originally Posted by buzzy

I took the front clam off this last weekend and was surprised how easy it was. If you take your time and keep all the bolts and washers in labeled ziplock bags you can't really go wrong putting it back together again. With the clam off I was able to paint and tighten the front grills, install HIDs and align the front clam and door hinge cover panels perfectly.

BealeAss, you're local so if you ever want a hand let me know. I'm always interested in taking these cars apart and putting them back together again.

Sweet thank you, I might just take you up on that sometime!

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by buzzy

If you take your time and keep all the bolts and washers in labeled ziplock bags you can't really go wrong putting it back together again.

Uh, yeah. +100.

Especially if you are doing anything that will take you more than one session. I've seen a couple of folks end up with a pile of bolts and bits and they couldn't remember where they went or how they went on.

This is also doubly especially true if you ever are tackling a restoration project. Bag and label everything with pictures of all bits at every point along the way. (You don't really need to do that with your clam off project but if they're digital, they're free).

IMHO, it should be very simple to perform work on the Exige or Elise if one is willing to use the resources here on the forum to their advantage and just try. How many times have we seen a thread with "Help. I'm stuck with XYZ job" and the information is freely distributed. I feel much more confident working on the Elise than I do on my Civic only because I have the forum knowledge that I can turn to for assistance should I get stuck.