Oh Joy!

[leifanten]

Today I passed technical inspection and got the licence plates and registration on my +2 after messing around with it for six months after buying it. Took it for a 50 mile joy ride. And joy it was.

Only serious item remaining is slightly sticky brakes. Next up: refurbish the calipers front and rear and the master cylinder

[peterako]

I want my +2 back (Hopefully this month )

Fantastic to hear another owner getting joy out of their +2....they're a just magnificent machines!!

Enjoy Leif!

Peter

[john.p.clegg]

Leif

Nice one....the sticky brakes is probably the missing servo spring....have a look through the archives it's mentioned a few times...or pm me with your email address and I'll send you a scan

John

[alaric]

Well done. Still fighting with mine. Hopefully soon.

Sean.

[1964 S1]

I know the feeling Leif.
I fired up my '69 +2 for the first time in about 11 months today and drove it only about 5 miles. It took more than a while to get the fuel to the carbs but then all was fine.
If I were you I'd try going for a ten mile drive with stop and goes, then get out and feel the wheels. The hottest will be from sticky brake, there may be more than one. Just driving it a bit on short trips, (and use reverse every once in a while braking) may free up the pads/calipers. Mine has set for months at a time and the brakes are funky at first but then always fine. What about the emergency brake, it can cause drag.
I wouldn't start a caliper rebuild just yet.
Do you know the history of the car/service?
Have fun, Eric

[Galwaylotus]

Not sure what you mean by sticky brakes. When I got my Elan, I had instances on the 500 mile trip home where the brakes locked. I could release them by stabbing the brake pedal. After other issues at home, I got the engine started and the car wouldn't move at all. Turned out the servo had gone south and all four brakes locked as soon as the engine was running (no pushing the brake pedal). I took it out of the circuit and problem solved.

[leifanten]

all four corners get moderately hot (not discoloured or anything) but hotter than normal US highway driving would normally dictate. My key suspect is the brake hoses (20 year old) since all four wheels show the same symptoms. The key symptom when driving is that the brakes stick for a fraction of a second after I release the pedal (also when bleeding the brakes it was hard to push fluid through even with the bleed nipples open) - so I suspect that the brake hoses are partially blocked. So that is where I will start. And since it is 20 years ago, and I plan on doing track days, I will do the calipers and main cylinder as well.

yes,
I have most of the car?s history, including service records. Bought new in NY in 1968 and then went to AZ, then to New mexico before going to TX. I am the fifth owner. The fourth owner only bought and stored it (did not add one mile). The third owner restored it twenty years ago and put something like 50 miles on it after the restoration. I am re-restoring the parts that have been ruined by time. (and making some tweaks of my own, like adding new electronic ignition, new electric fuel pump, electric fan, CV joint rear axles etc etc....)

[Galwaylotus]

Ahh! That makes sense. The rubber inner hose has probably degraded choking the fluid flow. Replace with Aeroquip or Goodridge steel braided brake hoses - no rubber to degrade, PTFE lined (I think).

[rgh0]

I find it unlikely that all 4 hoses would fail identically to form a one way valve effect so pressure does not leak off and holds the pads against the disks.

More likely the caliper pistons have corroded or the piston seals gone hard so the pads are not retracting fractionally as designed to do when pressure is released or the servo is sticking and keeping pressure on the pistons. You also say the brakes are hard to bleed which would be more consistent with sticking servo piston.

Given the age of the brake lines a good idea to replace them but I dont think it is truely your problem with dragging brakes

cheers
Rohan

[leifanten]

Thanks for good input. I was planning to do the calipers and master cylinder "whilst at it" if you know what I mean . When it comes to the servos, my car has two of them (Lockheed), and I find it kinda hard to belive that these two units (which are NOS as they have sat on the car unused since they were replaced 20 years ago) both fail in the same way. BUT! I will probably just go ahead and refurbish them as well "whilst at it" so I know that when I take the car to the track, it wont let me down in that one dangerous turn.

One of my servos lets out a whistling sound when the brakes are applied, which I gather must be from a partially opened air valve. I have not got around to asking my wife to apply the brakes when I stand by and listen to it. I have only heard it when idling or indeed even after shutting the engine off and applying brake. (It goes away after a short while after the engine is shut off as any residual vacuum has been spent.)

I will be looking into the spring issue that John mentioned as well when I look at the servos.


As an aside, on my way to spring break in Bear Valley, I drove past a building that said Dave Bean Engineering in a tiny little village on highway 4. What was that I thought, and turned back. And serendipity wanted that to be the very one that supplies parts to our lovely little cars. What a nice coincidence.