Non BMW Lotus
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Since I have car ADD and can't seem to focus on my M5, I figured I'd start a thread to show some neat stuff on the Lotus. The lotus definitely wins in the fun to drive category, but the raw power of the M5 wins for sure, even in stock form.
Took it to work today, had it aligned a couple of weeks ago. The new carbon bits are on and newly powdercoated wheels (these are stock LSS Lotus wheels, just with new PC, I have the original black set as well).
Deciding how in depth I want to go with it this winter. I have all sorts of parts to install but....BMW.
In the work lot. Yay.
Had to wash it in the rain.
At big bear.
And a funny size comparison to my truck.
Here was the trio at the car show (wifes jeep in the middle)
I think the front canards look goofy from that angle, haha.
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The lotus is cool and all, but that jeep is good
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I want to drive all of your vehicles
...maybe I should start a "Jake's Take" YouTube series.
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The lotus is cool and all, but that jeep is good
Agreed. Fastest vehicle I've ever owned or driven and it's the wife's soccer-mom-mobile. Oh well.
I want to drive all of your vehicles
...maybe I should start a "Jake's Take" YouTube series.
That would be cool! I'd get royalties, right? hahaha. It would be neat to get some exposure like that though.
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That would be cool! I'd get royalties, right? hahaha. It would be neat to get some exposure like that though.
Given your vehicle lineup, I don't think you're hurting for royalties
If you're up for it, let me know. I'd love to experiment with it.
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I live the red wheels on it. Looks great!
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Love this car! Wheels look good, what are the other plans?
The immediate plans (parts I have to install) are:
-Aftermarket shifter/cable/linkages
-4pot AP big brake kit all around
-Rear clam hinge kit
-long(ish) tube header
-Pull out Ohlins suspension and send out for rebuild (one is leaking)
-Higher capacity fuel tank with baffles
-Baffled oil panThen in the future I haven't quite decided if I build the engine and upgrade the supercharger or build the engine and install a turbokit. SC is the 'normal' way on these cars, but I really like turbos and there are some options out there for manifolds and such.
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Very cool--I hope to seeing this driving around Jackson!
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Well, the other day I broke the shifter off.....yes, that is actually a thing. As a dainty fellow, you can imagine this doesn't actually take much force. I was having difficulties getting it into reverse (there is a lock-out) and instead of investigating what was wrong I tried to force it. The rod is supposed to go into the blue thing.
So, I pushed the car to my shed, wife got to steer. And started the project. The plus side, is that the Lotus shifter assembly/cable/mechanism all suck, so I had purchased all new aftermarket stuff about a year ago. I figured it would be a winter project. Now it's a summer project. Sucks the shed is still a mess and I have 2 lifts, and 2 other cars are on them.....but in reality, there is a lot of up and down, in the car, under the car work, so it might actually be easier on the ground with the rear end up.
Whenever you do anything to this car, step 1 is to take the roof off. Then the seats. Then in this case the entire rear clam.
Found a previous owner must have had some mega sound system in the car, so I ripped all that out.
And the new stuff to go in.
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Made some more progress over the weekend. Got the new shifter installed and the new cables run to it.
The old cables are still ran to the trans which I am slowly disassembling. I didn't snap a pic but I'm installing a LETSLA kit which firms up the trans side of the mechanism. And that I'm modifying as well to make as firm as possible. Should be an awesome shift feel once done.
Also trying to figure out how to remove the EVAP/Charcoal stuff without throwing a code. The battery gets relocated from the trunk to this area. Re-routing the battery cables was fun.
Deciding what I want to do with this header. Good thing, is it's a legit longtube, so it won't hook up like the stock unit. The bad thing, is it's a legit long tube so it won't hook up like stock. You can also see the rear tow hook Installed and the clam hinges, which will allow the entire rear clam to tilt up. So cool.
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Like all my projects this is taking much longer than I wanted, but here is another small update.
I removed the stock mechanisims from the top of the trans. These will be replaced by a setup called LETSLA (Lotus Elige Transmission Shifter Linkage Assembly).....So OK, they are both LETSLA's but calling the new one LETSLA just sounds cooler.
The stuff on the left, gets replaced by the stuff on the right. The pieces above the stuff on the right are used to modify the stuff on the right because even the new stuff still has flaws.
A bit of a close up oriented the wrong way for good measure.
This is what part of the modification is, the upper bolt spacer thing still fits loose into a counterweight. The lower roller bearing fits much tighter (I actually have to machine it) and allows it to roll.
Inside the car I'm relocating all the buttons that were on the OEM Console. The Console will fit over the new shifter, but scroll up and look at it.....why would I cover that up? Here are the 3 buttons and new Console:
Traction control button and door lock switch installed.
I'm actually going to cut out the sunken in part of the old console out where the hazard switch mounts and glue it behind the lower gauge hole. So I can still add one gauge of my choosing at some point.
Still trying to figure out the evap delete. What a pain.
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Cup holder install next?
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