Z-Car

LilyPon’s British Car Day June 1,2008

By Jimmy January 22, 2015 No Comments

Simple DIY Lotus Elise Front License Plate Bracket

By Jimmy April 6, 2014 Cars, DIY, Lotus 1 Comment

Lotus Elise License Plate Holder

Since buying my Lotus Elise in 2005, I have been pulled over three times for not having a license plate on the front of the car.  Fortunately, the friendly police officers always seemed to let me go with just a warning.  While I definitely don’t like the look of the license plate mounted up front, I really did not have one installed because there just is not a real  good bracket out there.

Recently I came across a company that utilized the stock tow-ring nut located within the grill to mount a license plate bracket.  It was a very sexy solution, and I got ready to plunk down my credit card.  However, when I saw the final shopping cart price of $100, I decided to take a different course.

I found that an 8MM x 60MM bolt with the appropriate nuts and washers did an excellent job of mounting a left over garage door bracket to the front end of the car.  I lined up the holes in the bracket with the license plate, and painlessly drilled a couple holes in the license plate to match up with the bracket holes.  A few sprays of black paint, and it was ready to bolt-up.  I think it turned out pretty well, and saved me a cool $100.

 

Lotus Elise License Plate HolderLotus Elise License Plate HolderLotus Elise License Plate Holder

How to beat the CEL – Custom Lotus Elise Cold Air Intake

By Jimmy April 5, 2014 Cars, DIY, Lotus No Comments

IMG_3080
I have tried a number of different cold air intakes for my 2005 Lotus Elise, and while I loved the sound and performance, I have been plagued by the infamous P0171 code that accompanies the inevitable check engine light.

Finally I decided to take matters into my own hand a develop my own solution.  The conventional wisdom was that the aftermarket cold air intakes modified the intake pipe size, and MAF sensor location just enough to confuse the Elise’s fragile ECU.  This seemed to make sense, as I did have varying success with the aftermarket units, my last one was a simple pipe with a K&N filter clamped on the end.  However, the pipe had a slightly larger bore size than the stock air-box.

So, what was my solution?  It was simple, I purchased a used Exige air-box and carefully cut-out the enclosed air-pipe using a sharp sawzall and some pliers to clean up the ends.  Go slow and take your time.  Once you have it removed, find a K&N filter that will fit the end of the pipe, and clamp it down solid.  I think you will find that it will solve any CEL issues you may have had, you can say goodbye to P071 for good!

 

lotus elise air box

IMG_3083