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My Modest Build Thread

8K views 71 replies 17 participants last post by  jdawson 
#1 ·
So I’ve owned the Elise for a little over three weeks and I’ve already started tinkering like I always do. I’ve never done one with any of my other builds, so I thought I’d start a build thread to document everything I’ve done.

here she is the day I picked her up:
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a couple days later I decided to “upgrade” the speakers for a little better sound. I like music, but being realistic with my expectations with the amount of space given, and the amount of space needed to move enough air for any noticeable base, I decided to keep it cheap, and went with some off the shelf speakers- I’ve been ok with them so far.

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Then the next day I decided to do a paint correction. Admittedly, the star shield up front looks like crap, but I haven’t decided on when or how I’m gonna tackle that project yet- so I went into it with the idea that I’ll do it next time hahahah.

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more to follow! Happy I found this forum, I’m certainly learning a lot!
 
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#5 ·
Honestly didn’t even consider it. Anything even remotely abrasive will probably dull or help yellow the star shield faster (guessing and 100% my speculation). And to be honest mine is cracking on the upper portion of the front clam, so I’m just gonna replace it when I find the time.


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#9 ·
They’re the same line, but different sizes. I didn’t run an amp because in my opinion I don’t see the point. Poor sound deadening makes this a terrible car for sound (unless you spend a lot of time and money to sound proof it and buy great components). Since I plan on tracking it sometime late this year after my deployment or sometime next year, I’d rather spend money on other things I want to address. So personally, for me- these speakers made sense.


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#16 ·
Cool, keep us updated. I read that the interior light stops working so I wonder if you will encounter the same.
Just finished and it works flawlessly. The light still works as well, I’m thinking when the put the foam back, they covered the harness to the light and forgot to connect it because they didn’t see it dangling there.


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#18 ·
So I got some time to dive into the immobilizer and factory alarm removal today. I also went ahead and installed the Remote Keyless Entry that was noted in the write up (found up there^^^) to keep that feature. Follow that write up and you’re golden, I’ll only be showing pictures of what I did differently on mine.

here’s the immobilizer and harness after I removed it. Instead of cutting the harness on the vehicle side to splice the required wires together, I decided to just de-pin the immobilizer side, cut the wires that needed to be cut, and soldered them together. Makes for a cleaner install in my opinion. Pictures below:
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At this point I went ahead and installed the V harness bar so that it wasn’t laying in the garage just waiting to get banged up. Purchased it from a forum member here.
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Then it was time to make the harness for the Remote unlock module per instructions in the write up. I went ahead and soldered everything because I hate chasing/troubleshooting loose connections, plus crimp connections would take up too much under a very small/already space-limited dash. I also went and added heat shrink to the ends of the cut portions of the harness that weren’t utilized to further prevent grounding anything out (it’s probably a little overboard I know, but makes for a better looking job, and I don’t have to worry about it so much).
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And there you have it! Everything works as advertised in the write up. Thanks to everyone that pointed me in the right direction, and answered my questions to get me on the right path!
 
#21 ·
So like most elige owners, my hard too suffered from the lotus headliner droop, so I decided to re-wrap mine in some black alcantara along with the beauty board that bolts up forward of the roof. Here’s the before and after pictures (note the pin needles holding the headliner in hahahah I never noticed until today):

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And the after pictures:
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Probably added a little bit of weight due to the thin 1/8” foam backing, but it looks and feels great. I’m happy with the results!
 
#23 ·
Damn that looks good! I redid my headliner this fall and it is a wrinkly mess so I will have to redo it in the future. I couldn't figure out how to prevent it from bunching up, and with the spray adhesive, if you don't get it right on the first go its ruined...
 
#25 ·
Some goodies came from GRP today. As always, great customer service and would not hesitate to give them business again in the future. Can’t wait for the splitter and the side skirts! But for now, i went and mounted the CF scoops. I went ahead and got the wide version, which will look perfect with the skirts mounted in the car after I receive them from Greg (in my opinion of course).

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#28 ·
Car looks great! Super jealous of the Monolites and am bummed I missed them by an hour or so! Headliner looks great too. Mind sharing what products you used? I think I’m about ready to tackle that project this summer. Specifically curious about liner material, foam backing, and what adhesive you used. Any other tips you’d like to share beyond what you did already would be welcomed by me as well.
 
#29 ·
Thank you! I was just there at the right time for the wheels [emoji23]. Drove 3 hours to get them but well worth it.

The roof upholstery work was done professionally, I would’ve been mad at myself if I spent money on alcantara and the foam backing and did a terrible job. I’m pretty confident in my repair capabilities, but something that required this much patience- I paid for [emoji23]


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#30 ·
Got rid of the cigarette lighter socket and installed a dual USB charger for continuous power for my GoPro. Got a track day at buttonwillow coming up (1st one in the lotus). Looking forward to establishing a baseline and identifying what I want to throw money at next 😂

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I was expecting it, but I was still disappointed to find that the factory wiring has this always “hot” and not tied in to the accessory side or “on” side. I’ll admit I have a small concern to how much the voltmeter actually draws from the battery over a period of time. Any experience with this from y’all? Any info would be appreciated!
 
#31 ·
Got rid of the cigarette lighter socket and installed a dual USB charger for continuous power for my GoPro. Got a track day at buttonwillow coming up (1st one in the lotus). Looking forward to establishing a baseline and identifying what I want to throw money at next [emoji23]

View attachment 1287097
I was expecting it, but I was still disappointed to find that the factory wiring has this always “hot” and not tied in to the accessory side or “on” side. I’ll admit I have a small concern to how much the voltmeter actually draws from the battery over a period of time. Any experience with this from y’all? Any info would be appreciated!
I installed something similar, but got one with an on/off switch for that reason (not this specific model, but similar: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TMDTQQV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_8BSP6SPNCK309M85B542). There was a couple times where I forgot to toggle mine “off” and my battery died, but that better was on its last legs as it was. I’ve switched my battery since, but haven’t accidentally left my 12v “on” with the new one so I can’t speak to it draining a fresh battery. I suspect it’ll be alright if your battery is healthy and you’re driving every day or every other day. If not, then maybe one of the on/off units would be better. Good luck and have fun at the track!


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#33 ·
That is a good idea for the USB plugs, I also bought one recently with the on/off switch and have been meaning to install it. I've been using a traditional USB adaptor for like 10 years, but I realized at a trackday recently that if it wiggles loose, power to the Garmin Catalyst is cut off and it's camera stops working.
 
#34 ·
#37 ·
Just a tip on those cans....my car came with them, and those plastic fittings are notoriously known for vaccum leaks which is why I switched to an all metal design. Not saying yours will have them, but if you get some funky stuff going on, it would be the first place I’d check for a vac leak.
 
#48 ·
Looking forward to photos of the parts installed!

I'm about to buy the same front lip and am also interested in the side skirts.
damn didn’t mean to keep you waiting. Everything was installed right before my track day on Saturday the 29th at buttonwillow. Couldn’t be happier with everything, but I think I’ll add a splitter to the front underneath the one I have to address some downforce wants.
Here’s some pictures of everything installed! Hope they inspire you!

this is actually from today (installed an HID kit)
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And a very slow fly by running counterclockwise from last week’s track day:


things I’d like to address before the next time I hit the track (which won’t be until at least next quarter):
-suspension
-more downforce via added front splitter or canards. Maybe even a wing 🤷🏽‍♂️
-better brakes. The EBC yellows didn’t give me the bite I remembered them having on my Evo 8. I guess that’s similar to reviews others have written on them, I just wanted to find out on my own I guess hahahah! Might look at the possibility of adding the normal “lotus” two piston calipers to the rear and maybe some 4 pots up front so I can brake later. Way later. Somethings telling me that if I don’t plan on boosting the car- then this might be over kill. So if I think about it really hard, this might just turn into a rotors/brake pad experiment based off of what others have liked. Or maybe I find a smog friendly person and I slap a SC on her 🤷🏽‍♂️.

We’ll see later down the road I guess!
 
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