With the new exhaust setup finished I wanted to do everything I could to keep engine bay and ‘cockpit’ temperatures down. In the summer it would get very hot in the car at times and that had to be largely down to being sat with the exhaust manifold only a few inches behind me. I […]
There are plenty of Elises out there that get used all year round but mine won’t be one of them, at least during my ownership it wont. This particular Series 1 Elise is a very tidy example and I intend to keep it that way. Unfortunately the state of UK roads in winter and the […]
After one of the side scoops fitted by a previous owner fell off and I removed the other, see here, I thought I’d fit some new ones. This time they would be clear gel coat carbon fibre though which makes them ten times cooler or something like that. 😉 As they arrived, very nicely finished. […]
Having found the exhaust to be leaking at the join between the manifold and downpipe, when I first got the Elise, and noticed the flexi section underneath the sump had occasionally been touching the undertray. I figured the engine mounts might have got a bit tired after 20 years causing a bit more engine movement […]
Clearly there had been some kind of failure of the cable or what holds the handle end in place at some point in the Elise’s life and there had been a bit of a bodge repair made to it. It looked awful! There’s no way a horrible mess like that was going to remain on […]
Well this wasn’t something I’d planned on doing but after driving home from work one day I got out the car to find the right hand side scoop was missing. It was there when I left work so had obviously just fallen off. They had been fitted by or for a previous owner and I […]
Spacing out the diffuser where it mounts to the rear of the clam is not an uncommon modification to an S1 Elise or Exige. It’s usually done as an aid to keeping engine bay temperatures down. Engine bay temperatures aren’t much of a concern with my Elise though as I’m not tracking or racing it […]
While I had the Elise up on the lift and was working in the area with the induction setup and clutch slave cylinder bracket I thought it was a good opportunity to do a quick gearbox oil change. Apparently this is the stuff to use in the PG1 gearbox. Motul Gear 300 75W90. The drain […]
When I was buying all the suspension refresh bits, for some reason I decided to buy one of these. An Elise Parts clutch slave cylinder support bracket. Apparently the original bracket can be a bit weak and bendy. I figured I’d may as well fit it while I had the air filter out the way. […]
To me, one of the most important parts to enjoying a car is the noise it makes, particularly induction noise. Having owned a few Rover K-Series powered cars in my time and run a modified K-Series in my Classic Mini, I know they are capable of making a really nice induction howl. The Elise just […]