Lotus Elise/Exige track project
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:30 pm
In march of this year I bought a 2002 immaculate Lotus Elise s2 (rover engine) with the intention of carrying out a charged Honda K swap. I liked the look of my Elise but much preferred the look of the s2 Exige. Having done a bit of homework on the K swap I discovered that it was going to be alot harder to do the k swap on a Toyota engined car. My first priority was to test fit the engine into the car in order to make sure everything fitted without any major problems.
The car when i got it all be it not a great photo.
Two days later
I already had a supercharged k20 left from when i broke up and sold up my previous track car. As I had been planning to buy and k swap an Elise in the first place I had already bought shafts,mounts, Exige exhaust and some other items to make things happen a little quicker.
Engine in
Happy that the engine would fit with charger and other items I decided to tackle the body work side of things. I contacted a uk lotus breaker down south and organised to swap my full set of Elise panels and purchase a full set of Exige panels. On arrival I quickly noticed the panels were not in the best condition so I arranged for the clam shells to go to IA Bodyshop in Dalmarnock.
Prep stages
We began to realise why so few people convert their Elise into an Exige when we noticed the differences in the panels! Whilst I was waiting on various seals and clips arriving I found a few nice parts to be fitted for a slightly more aggressive look.
Reverie roof scoop
Reverie Side scoops
Apr rear wing
After 2months or so I finally got the call from my friend Imy to say the car was ready for collection. The finished article was way more than what id ever hoped it would look like. Here are a few shots of it minus door seals and other trim.
There is so so much more been done to the car than whats shown but I thought this would give everyone an idea of how this build is coming along. I had posted my plans up a while back in the newbie section and hope im posting this in the correct section! My apologies to admin if this is in the wrong place!
A big thanks to Stuart Pollock at Pollock engineering and Ollie at Pheonix motorsport for the AP brakes!
Cheers to anyone else that ive pestered over the phone for swap info its been alot different from my usual customers track cars.
Car has a long way to go but il try and keep progress updated as I go.
The car when i got it all be it not a great photo.
Two days later
I already had a supercharged k20 left from when i broke up and sold up my previous track car. As I had been planning to buy and k swap an Elise in the first place I had already bought shafts,mounts, Exige exhaust and some other items to make things happen a little quicker.
Engine in
Happy that the engine would fit with charger and other items I decided to tackle the body work side of things. I contacted a uk lotus breaker down south and organised to swap my full set of Elise panels and purchase a full set of Exige panels. On arrival I quickly noticed the panels were not in the best condition so I arranged for the clam shells to go to IA Bodyshop in Dalmarnock.
Prep stages
We began to realise why so few people convert their Elise into an Exige when we noticed the differences in the panels! Whilst I was waiting on various seals and clips arriving I found a few nice parts to be fitted for a slightly more aggressive look.
Reverie roof scoop
Reverie Side scoops
Apr rear wing
After 2months or so I finally got the call from my friend Imy to say the car was ready for collection. The finished article was way more than what id ever hoped it would look like. Here are a few shots of it minus door seals and other trim.
There is so so much more been done to the car than whats shown but I thought this would give everyone an idea of how this build is coming along. I had posted my plans up a while back in the newbie section and hope im posting this in the correct section! My apologies to admin if this is in the wrong place!
A big thanks to Stuart Pollock at Pollock engineering and Ollie at Pheonix motorsport for the AP brakes!
Cheers to anyone else that ive pestered over the phone for swap info its been alot different from my usual customers track cars.
Car has a long way to go but il try and keep progress updated as I go.
