DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

That mirror looks much better Andy

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I realise that it was fairly common practice in the '50's & '60's - at least in British cars - but I wasn't happy with all of the Elite's electrical system being protected by a single (35 amp) fuse so decided to upgrade this item ...

Although the previous owner had improved matters slightly by fitting a Lucas unit with 2 fuses, I still felt that this was inadequate.

Again, I didn't want to drill any additional/alternative holes in the engine compartment bulkhead (where the fusebox is located) & was reluctant to modify the wiring, so searched for a suitable replacement that could be fitted in the same position & wouldn't look 'out of place'.

The obvious solution seemed to be a Lucas 7FJ fusebox - which accepts 4 fuses - as fitted to early Minis, MGB's, TR's, etc.

New Lucas-branded (& boxed) versions are available from numerous sources but the quality is horrible so I located a used 7FJ on ebay.

After a bit of cleaning & some TLC it was ready to fit.






The old layout:






- & the upgraded version






- 3 x 10A + 1 x 35A ... much better !

Not only that, it was all achieved for an outlay of less than £10 !!


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Next on the agenda was a switch to LED's - headlights, sidelights, brake lights & instrument lighting - all purchased from Classic Car LEDs.



- & comparison to H4 bulb:




- brake lights & rear sidelights:



- comparison of front sidelight & no.plate light LEDs to original bulb:




Fitment for all of these was simplicity itself.

However one problem came to light (pun intended !) ...

With the ignition on (with or without the engine running) - necessary for headlamp operation - the headlights 'flickered' constantly ...

Being a grp monocoque with no chassis through which to earth components, my immediate thought was an earthing problem, so I checked all of the earth leads & connections but all were clean & tight.

Next I checked the wiring & connections at the main dash lighting switch, the floor-mounted dipswitch & the headlamp relay - again all clean & tight.

I then checked the layout of the connections on the relay & discovered that it was wired incorrectly - after correcting this fault the flickering was reduced but still there ...

I then removed the complete headlamp assemblies & checked the 3-pin connectors only to discover that the orientation of the 3 wires within each plug was wrong !

Re-arranging the wires to the correct layout improved things further - but the flickering was still there (albeit less) ...

Next I removed the access covers in the wheelarches behind the headlamps & checked the (bullet) connections between the headlamp wiring & the engine compartment harness - several of which were mismatched - main beam connected to earth, earth connected to dip beam etc.

I'm amazed they worked at all !

With all of the wiring correctly connected I finally had fully working headlamps with no flickering ...


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Are these the 'things' that sadly gave Lotus a reliability reputation?
Just bought led's for my 1949 Humber push bike lights from the same source!

911hillclimber wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 5:55 pm Are these the 'things' that sadly gave Lotus a reliability reputation?

As far as the Elite is concerned, most of the 'unreliability' issues were caused by inexperienced garages/mechanics more used to working on more 'conventional' cars with separate chassis, cast iron engines, etc.

However the previous owner of my car spent a lot of money with a well-known /high profile Elite specialist - including new headlamp relay& asscociated wiring ...

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Although it seemed to be working correctly & hadn't presented any obvious problems, one area that I was keen to upgrade was the car's voltage regulator.

By modern standards the Elite's charging system seems woefully inadequate - comprising a Lucas C39 dynamo (with a massive 19A maximum output !) allied to a Lucas RB 310 electro-mechanical voltage regulator.

Admittedly the car has little in the way of electrical equipment to put a drain on the charging circuit but, in my experience, any fault always occurs at the most inconvenient moment - eg at night &/or when it's raining, etc, so any modification to make the system more reliable has got to be worthwhile.

One added complication is that my car retains its original positive earth electrical system (with no plans to change this).

There seemed to be a few possible options:

- replace the existing dynamo & separate VR with an alternator with integral regulator ... ruled out on the basis of cost, looks & the need to alter the wiring loom
- replace the electro-mechanical regulator with a modern solid-state electronic version ... ruled out on looks
- replace the Lucas VR with an exchange unit incorporating a modern electronic regulator housed within an RB 310 body ... a possibility but expensive
- as above but source a suitable electronic regulator & carry out the conversion myself ... the preferred solution

After a little research I found a company - Electro Dynamic Solutions - which manufactures a range of modern solid-state electronic voltage regulators specifically designed to be used to convert old fashioned electro-mechanical regulators in order to retain their original outward appearance.

A quick phone call to give them the details of the existing Lucas dynamo & VR resulted in their recommended product - a DVR3.

Unfortunately they didn't have one in stock so it would be made to order (approx 2 week lead time) - no problem

A few weeks later this is what arrived in the post:





- & this shot gives you a sense of scale:




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First stage of the conversion was to remove the Lucas regulator from the car & dismantle it by 'gutting' the electro-mechanical internals ...

As removed:



- & with cover off:



Coils & pedestal contact removed:

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First job in the assembly process was to drill a hole for the wires to pass through & fit a grommet:



- & then crimp on some 4mm ring terminals plus heat shrink sleeving:



At this point I thought it might be a good idea to use nylon screws for the terminal 'posts' to prevent the possibility of any electrical contact where they pass through the metal body - plus some for mounting the electronic unit to the base:







5mm thick nylon spacers were used to give clearance :





All that remained was to refit the original outer cover, reconnect the wiring & test the unit on the car ...

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Very neat Andy and a fine improvement.

This one has just turned upon FB in Cornwall

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... =top_picks

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That's an Elan +2 ...

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Great work Andy, it’s all these little tweaks that make a car special! On my bucket list is to buy one of your cars. Wish I had bought several that you have had over the years!!

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Thanks Feroz.

I really should have brought this thread up to date:

Driving the car on some of my favourite fast roads had shown up some 'nervous' handling traits at speed which I traced to changes in the rear toe settings so I replaced the old rear wishbones (which already had rose joints at their inner ends) with a pair of more substantial versions incorporating bigger rose joints combined with beefier inner mounts from Tolman Motorsport - which improved things significantly.



Then the car developed a strange 'graunching' noise which I initially thought was coming from the gearbox ... luckily I wasn't far from home so drove slowly back to check it out.

In fact on further investigation it turned out to be the water pump - the bearing on the impeller shaft had seized necessitating a total rebuild of the pump.

Once everything was back together - complete with new hoses & thermostat - the car was running faultlessly - so time for a 'voluntary' MOT:



Thankfully it passed with no advisories - at which time I decided to sell it !!

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Must have been planning a new purchase I reckon

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- so the car was entered into Iconic Auctioneers' (formerly Silverstone Auctions) final event of the year at the NEC.

I'd had success in selling cars there on previous occasions & Iconic were offering half price seller's commission to celebrate their name change.

However, I negotiated further & we came to an agreement on the guaranteed minimum price I'd need 'in my pocket' ...

The November event turned out to attract the largest number of cars they'd ever auctioned at the NEC (165) with a few world record prices achieved... £108k for a Mk I RS2000 Escort & £486K for an RS200 Evolution but many cars failed to meet their reserves ... fortunately my Elite was one of the few cars that exceeded their expectations !



It was bought by a buyer in the US & a few days later it was on it's way to Maryland on the East Coast .

Now, the question is , what will replace it ? ...

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