I recently purchased a Norfolk mustard 1991 Lotus Elan SE. It arrived by trunk Friday night. So far I am thrilled with the car but I have one minor problem. It appears the dashboard light is out, so at night I cannot see any instruments. Does anyone know how to replace the bulb? I looked in the owner's manual but it says "entrust this task to the dealer".
Where do M100 owners hang out? Is there an M100 list similar to the TurboEsprit list?
I'm also planning to change my insurance since State Farm wants over $100/month to add the Elan to my existing policy. I have obtained quotes from Hagarty and Heacock for insuring all 3 of my Lotus cars for an entire year for about what SF wants to insure the Elan for 6 months. I would appreciate opinions on the relative merits of these two companies and any other insurers who specialize in sports cars. Does anyone know how many yellow Elan M100s exist in the USA?
I believe only about 300 were brought into the USA and yellow and BRG seem to be the most rare colors. Now I have to get busy building a larger garage.
I have owned 5 or 6 of the M100s. Great car and really much undeservedly maligned. The car is just fantastic with one drawback. The front brakes. But more on that later. The top of the dash has an access panel and comes right out. I have never replaced a dash bulb, but I don't think it should be hard. There is a Lotus M100 list called www.lotuselancentral.com<http://www.lotuselancentral.com/> Lots of stuff on there, but the average Elan owner is not as mechanic savvy as most older Lotus owners are.
I use Hagarty and they are great. I insure my early Elan and Caterham with them. Now the front brakes. Do you yourself a favor and put a big brake kit on them. I can give you the name of a guy in the UK that sells a very nice kit. About $800. Worth every penny and transforms the car. The front brakes are just terrible. I would love to meet the guy that approved that setup and ask him what the hell he was thinking. None of my cars would ever lock the brakes up and at times they are downright dangerous.
The only reason I sold my car/cars was because of the brakes. Back in 2000 or so there was no kit. Had there been a kit, I would still have a M100. Watch for gas tank leaks. They leak at the top where it cracks. Be careful of the rear spindles. They are unobtainable as are fenders, windshields and bumpers.
There is a great and easy way to get about 50 more HP. There is a waste gate arm that actuates the waste gate. You need to put a sleeved turnbuckle on it after reducing the length by about ¾ of and inch. The ¾ of an inch gets you into the ball park of about .7 or .8 boost, but you need to fine tune it with the turnbuckle. Engine will take the extra HP no problem. The guys at Lotus way back when that car came out told me that it was designed with the turnbuckle (in fact the lotus manual shows it being a turnbuckle) and you can go to .9 bar on the boost. Motor will shut down anything over that so there is no risk. If you need more clarification, let me know off list.
The most rare Elans are black. Then the Yellow, Silver and Blue as I recall. Most were the Red, Official line is that they imported 600, but I think the number is actually 450 or so. If you need any help with the car, let me know. Enjoy the car. It is a great Lotus.
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