The problem is, that there is notelling when something will go bad. I f you
cannot afford to have a "bad year" i.e. water pump, rotoflex, misc
electrical gremlins, tehn you probably should rethink your strategy.
Reliability is in the eye of the beholder. My car rarely leaves me stranded,
but....
In 14 years I have:
Valve job[new valves, guides etc] twice
Lower end [bore, pistons all bearings] twice
built new front shock towers once
replaced with spyder chassis
rebuilt brake system, stainless everything
rebuilt servos twice, dead again
slave cylinder countless times
suspension bushes twice[have new ones in a box, they need it again]
rebuilt strombergs 3 times
recore radiator
install bolt in water pump
generator, 2 lucas alternators, 2 mitsubish alternators, chrysler
alternator[fingers crossed]
every other rubber part in the car at least once
wiper motor
update vacuum headlight system, replace microswitches
in addition to
rewire car[my choice, it worked but was getting ugly]
repaint car
recover seats
refinish dash
I should note, I drive my car, and I drive it hard. I figured out this year
that i have driven around 9k miles just to LOG's. Some of the things are my
fault, some just are what they are. A Lotus is many things, but cheap
transportation it aint.
I don't mean to be rude, but...
If you plan on buying the car, putting a few thousand miles on it and doing
no maintenance or repair, do us all a favor, don't.
If I had bought a Lotus when I first wanted one, I would have ended up
hating the car, probably destroying it, and never buying another one. When I
bought my car, I wasn't well off, I was young[21] but I could afford the
usual ups and downs, and could afford to pay for my mistakes.
Owning a Lotus, IMHO, requires cash and or resources. I sounds like while
you are in school[like most people at that stage] you will lack both.
Perhaps you would be happier to wait until you have started your lucrative
career to get your toy.
Don't wait too long, fun is all too frequently pushed back while dull
everyday stuff takes up your life.
Keith
Rapidly turning into an OF
At 11:31 AM 11/11/98 +0100, you wrote:
>> Hello
>> I have used an Elan Sprint FHC as a daily driver now for almost 15 years,it
>> is used most in the winter when the weather is to bad to use my seven.
>> I probably average about 10,000 miles a year. If you are interested i have
>> listed all the parts used since 1984
>> on http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dobbo/
>Thats quite a list ;), but what can you expect of 15 years of daily use of
>an old Lotus.
>They wear as all other cars and demand a higher level of maintenance
>(read, parts replacement)
>If I can get away with one year of ownership with little part
>replacements, I will be happy. As that is probably the time I will own
>such a car without having access to "my own" workshop.
>
>> The list is on Lotus Elan Sprint page then Restoration Photos, I cannot load
>> the 3 gifs on the Elan Sprint page, any webb experts out there with advice
>> ???
>What do you mean?
>> I dont really have any problems using the Sprint daily but it does leak
>> water in heavy rain and i dont tkink Lotus managed to cure it on the +2.
>> Mechanicals are ok and pretty reliable it depends on how you view the car,
>> if you expect the reliability of a modern car you will be dissapointed but
>> i suspect you already know Lotus cars and will know what to expect.
>You were right about that point ;)
>
>> Go for it...the more these cars are used the better they become ..
> Good :-)
>
>Tor
>
>
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