Well after a very nice very early morning drive started on my next Elise exploration...removing the engine under pan...is held on by (11) 8 mm bolts and (2) 8 mm allen head screws (thus the answer to why we have an 8 mm allen head wrench in the 'tool kit').
No big deal to remove the pan....just remove all bolts and screws except the back middle bolt ((1) of 5 in a row)...save that last since pan will drop when the last bolt is released...just hold pan in hand and pull to rear of car and it releases...be careful not to scratch...really pretty piece of work.
Here are a series of pics showing what is down there including the oil filter and drain plug (once pan is removed both ARE a piece of cake to access>>>
Also had a chance to see how the oil cooler system is plumbed...it is a large loop type...in this pic you can see the feed line/connector on the left and the return line/connector on the right (pic is taken looking straight up at filter and rear of car is towards the bottom of pic)
So oil goes from left line to front right side oil cooler (line runs inside the chassis tube that makes up the sill we have to hump over) then loops to left front oil cooler and then returns down back (via the driviers side chassis tube/sill) to oil mount shown in pic and enters engine from the right line/connector.
Here is a view looking forward to the front engine mount (the 'Y' shaped cable system is the emergency brake set up)>>>
Here is an overview of bottom of engine looking from driver side to opposite side...still nice work where ever you look :clap:
Now to the only thing I suggest you look out for..and this is going to be somewhat difficult to explain since the pic does not do well in an orientation..in the first pic if you look just in front of the wheel opening you will see an 'L' shaped aluminum looking tube (AC line) and then a black tube (oil line) directly behind it... the oil line has a clip on it that attaches to body so as to keep the line from moving about (really tight quarters here)... well on both of the clips (each side of the car and same spot) the clip retainer (keeps clip closed) was missing...I tried to capture this item in this pic>>>>
Not the best pic but when you are under car what I am talking about is very evident...maybe just on my car but suggest checking at some point. I just locked the clip closed using black nylon wire ties (you can see in pic if you REALLY look hard)
Here is the under engine pan...cleaned it up a bit (not bad but did have some very high grade clear grease dribbled on a few areas..not much but would be a dirt collector>>
That's it for this exploration
Michael
No big deal to remove the pan....just remove all bolts and screws except the back middle bolt ((1) of 5 in a row)...save that last since pan will drop when the last bolt is released...just hold pan in hand and pull to rear of car and it releases...be careful not to scratch...really pretty piece of work.
Here are a series of pics showing what is down there including the oil filter and drain plug (once pan is removed both ARE a piece of cake to access>>>

Also had a chance to see how the oil cooler system is plumbed...it is a large loop type...in this pic you can see the feed line/connector on the left and the return line/connector on the right (pic is taken looking straight up at filter and rear of car is towards the bottom of pic)

So oil goes from left line to front right side oil cooler (line runs inside the chassis tube that makes up the sill we have to hump over) then loops to left front oil cooler and then returns down back (via the driviers side chassis tube/sill) to oil mount shown in pic and enters engine from the right line/connector.
Here is a view looking forward to the front engine mount (the 'Y' shaped cable system is the emergency brake set up)>>>

Here is an overview of bottom of engine looking from driver side to opposite side...still nice work where ever you look :clap:

Now to the only thing I suggest you look out for..and this is going to be somewhat difficult to explain since the pic does not do well in an orientation..in the first pic if you look just in front of the wheel opening you will see an 'L' shaped aluminum looking tube (AC line) and then a black tube (oil line) directly behind it... the oil line has a clip on it that attaches to body so as to keep the line from moving about (really tight quarters here)... well on both of the clips (each side of the car and same spot) the clip retainer (keeps clip closed) was missing...I tried to capture this item in this pic>>>>

Not the best pic but when you are under car what I am talking about is very evident...maybe just on my car but suggest checking at some point. I just locked the clip closed using black nylon wire ties (you can see in pic if you REALLY look hard)
Here is the under engine pan...cleaned it up a bit (not bad but did have some very high grade clear grease dribbled on a few areas..not much but would be a dirt collector>>

That's it for this exploration
Michael