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The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:56 am
by Hobu
Hi Folks,
I drooled over the S1 Elise for many years and a couple of weeks ago I finally got my own to drool over! I'm absolutely the worst at buying cars and the first Elise I went to view I bought. Unfortunately I have already had some teething problems but the Garage have been nothing short of outstanding getting it sorted. I have a couple of questions and hope you kind folks can answer them for me.
- Leaking! The soft top appears to be in very good condition, almost new, but still leaks like a sieve. I purchased a elemental shower cap to help things but am I better to just bite the bullet and go for a hard top? If so what are the best options?
- The teething problems I mentioned earlier meant the car wouldn't start after all this horrendous rain we have had. Water has found its way into the spark plug tubes and the distributor cap and considering this will be a daily driver, living out side, in Scotland (oh god, what have I done!) are there any solutions?
Many thanks,
Colin.
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:14 am
by Shug
Hi Colin,
Welcome along.
Roof - don't think a hardtop will make it any more watertight, but make sure the windows are adjusted properly - they can change it from a flood to a drip. S1 production tolerances being what they are, they might need re-adjusted if you do put a hardtop on it.
Plug tubes - couple of ways to do it. Pikey is to run a bead of silicone down the sides of the spark plug cover. You can try new leads as the seals will be better, or the whole hog is to get the S2 Rover cam cover, which encases it all in plastic. Silicone works fine though. If it's living outside, a full car cover isn't the worst investment for the worst of the torrential rain though.
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:00 am
by Dominic
Welcome along!
What Shug said! My hard top leaks more than my soft top. Where is your soft top leaking? Around the side windows?... TADS...
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:26 pm
by StiflerMR2
Welcome Colin!
Yup, my S1 lives outside and leaks in at the windows (near the windscreen join).
I normally adjust them (well, Mr Moncreiff does) and that improves it, until they drop again...but they all do that

Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 1:31 pm
by AJT
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 4:59 pm
by Hobu
Shug wrote:Hi Colin,
Welcome along.
Roof - don't think a hardtop will make it any more watertight, but make sure the windows are adjusted properly - they can change it from a flood to a drip. S1 production tolerances being what they are, they might need re-adjusted if you do put a hardtop on it.
Plug tubes - couple of ways to do it. Pikey is to run a bead of silicone down the sides of the spark plug cover. You can try new leads as the seals will be better, or the whole hog is to get the S2 Rover cam cover, which encases it all in plastic. Silicone works fine though. If it's living outside, a full car cover isn't the worst investment for the worst of the torrential rain though.
Thanks for the reply Shug, I think the garage is going to use the Pikey technique as its a method they have used previously on TVRs that suffer the same problem. Do you know where I could find a S2 cam cover as the only ones I can see are carbon?
Dominic wrote:Welcome along!
What Shug said! My hard top leaks more than my soft top. Where is your soft top leaking? Around the side windows?... TADS...
That is surprising and slightly disappointing. Is your hard top a OEM one? I better get used to a wet car! haha
StiflerMR2 wrote:Welcome Colin!
Yup, my S1 lives outside and leaks in at the windows (near the windscreen join).
I normally adjust them (well, Mr Moncreiff does) and that improves it, until they drop again...but they all do that

I will try adjusting the windows and see if that helps.
AJT wrote:
Thanks AJT
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 5:01 pm
by mwmackenzie
welcome!
My old S1 lived outside too, I fitted the S2 cover over my cam cover and it stopped any moisture issues immediately. Touching wood here but neither my S1 or S2 leaked at all, as posted above window adjustment should keep you dry unless the water is coming through the roof itself??
This was my S1 engine

Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 6:15 pm
by Dominic
My hard top was supplied with my car new from Lotus (was part of the Sport135 spec IIRC). My windows are not best adjusted, but as the car lives in a garage most of the the time, I have not been too bothered about it. My first S1 also had a factory hard top, which leaked a little, but the soft top was fairly water tight on that car. I used the hard top during the winter, more as a security measure as that car was my daily too, and my place of work was not in the most affluent area of Glasgow!
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 7:50 pm
by Hobu
mwmackenzie wrote:welcome!
My old S1 lived outside too, I fitted the S2 cover over my cam cover and it stopped any moisture issues immediately. Touching wood here but neither my S1 or S2 leaked at all, as posted above window adjustment should keep you dry unless the water is coming through the roof itself??
This was my S1 engine
That looks like an excellent solution and will save me picking out silicon when the plugs are needing changed, do Lotus still make these or is it an Ebay job? The leaks are only from the windows as far as I can tell so hopefully an afternoon (okay, a day!) adjusting them will keep me dry.
Dominic wrote:My hard top was supplied with my car new from Lotus (was part of the Sport135 spec IIRC). My windows are not best adjusted, but as the car lives in a garage most of the the time, I have not been too bothered about it. My first S1 also had a factory hard top, which leaked a little, but the soft top was fairly water tight on that car. I used the hard top during the winter, more as a security measure as that car was my daily too, and my place of work was not in the most affluent area of Glasgow!
I'm also in and around Glasgow so the added security would be a nice bonus. Was there any noticeable difference in the noise with the hard top on?
Thanks,
Colin.
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:15 pm
by mwmackenzie
I picked the cover up used off a member on here who was doing a Honda conversion on his S2

Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:08 pm
by j2 lot
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:08 pm
by Dominic
Hobu wrote:mwmackenzie wrote:welcome!
My old S1 lived outside too, I fitted the S2 cover over my cam cover and it stopped any moisture issues immediately. Touching wood here but neither my S1 or S2 leaked at all, as posted above window adjustment should keep you dry unless the water is coming through the roof itself??
This was my S1 engine
That looks like an excellent solution and will save me picking out silicon when the plugs are needing changed, do Lotus still make these or is it an Ebay job? The leaks are only from the windows as far as I can tell so hopefully an afternoon (okay, a day!) adjusting them will keep me dry.
Dominic wrote:My hard top was supplied with my car new from Lotus (was part of the Sport135 spec IIRC). My windows are not best adjusted, but as the car lives in a garage most of the the time, I have not been too bothered about it. My first S1 also had a factory hard top, which leaked a little, but the soft top was fairly water tight on that car. I used the hard top during the winter, more as a security measure as that car was my daily too, and my place of work was not in the most affluent area of Glasgow!
I'm also in and around Glasgow so the added security would be a nice bonus. Was there any noticeable difference in the noise with the hard top on?
Thanks,
Colin.
I don't think the hard top is any quieter. If any thing it may be noisier. Some foam ear plugs help to look after your hearing, make long journeys less tiring and most of all, make the stereo clearer to listen to.
Whereabouts in Glasgow are you? I am based in Robroyston
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:14 pm
by j2 lot
I never thought there was much difference between the hard too and the soft top re noise levels but I think the S1 looks much better with the hard top over the soft top. If the windows are adjusted and the roof is centred right you can substantially reduce the water ingress.
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:06 am
by campbell
Welcome!
Hardtop is aesthetically nice for colder months.
Decent shower cap will keep the drips out the cabin, and keep the screen clear on frosty / snowy mornings
Welcome to S1 ownership. It's the biz...
Re: The classic daily!
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:00 pm
by Hobu
mwmackenzie wrote:I picked the cover up used off a member on here who was doing a Honda conversion on his S2

I don't suppose you remember how much you paid for it? I have found one for sale but its a bit more than I was expecting.
Dominic wrote:Hobu wrote:mwmackenzie wrote:welcome!
My old S1 lived outside too, I fitted the S2 cover over my cam cover and it stopped any moisture issues immediately. Touching wood here but neither my S1 or S2 leaked at all, as posted above window adjustment should keep you dry unless the water is coming through the roof itself??
This was my S1 engine
That looks like an excellent solution and will save me picking out silicon when the plugs are needing changed, do Lotus still make these or is it an Ebay job? The leaks are only from the windows as far as I can tell so hopefully an afternoon (okay, a day!) adjusting them will keep me dry.
Dominic wrote:My hard top was supplied with my car new from Lotus (was part of the Sport135 spec IIRC). My windows are not best adjusted, but as the car lives in a garage most of the the time, I have not been too bothered about it. My first S1 also had a factory hard top, which leaked a little, but the soft top was fairly water tight on that car. I used the hard top during the winter, more as a security measure as that car was my daily too, and my place of work was not in the most affluent area of Glasgow!
I'm also in and around Glasgow so the added security would be a nice bonus. Was there any noticeable difference in the noise with the hard top on?
Thanks,
Colin.
I don't think the hard top is any quieter. If any thing it may be noisier. Some foam ear plugs help to look after your hearing, make long journeys less tiring and most of all, make the stereo clearer to listen to.
Whereabouts in Glasgow are you? I am based in Robroyston
I'm actually live in Hamilton but my sister lives in Glasgow near Sauchiehall Street, I'm origionally from East Lothian so Glasgow is still strange to me haha
j2 lot wrote:I never thought there was much difference between the hard too and the soft top re noise levels but I think the S1 looks much better with the hard top over the soft top. If the windows are adjusted and the roof is centred right you can substantially reduce the water ingress.
I will keep looking for one but they appear as rare as hen's teeth!
Thanks,
Colin.