Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi Everyone,

I am the happy new owner of this great little car . The original chassis number was 71.04.10.0246.E, at some time it was replaced by a Spyder chassis. I still need to look for the engine number on the block/cam cover. I am trying to find the original engine number for this car but my list ends with 0172.E (1970). Any help appreciated.

Cheers,

Bart

P.S. not sure if this is the right section of the forum to ask this type of question.

It's not on the Lotus plate under the hood (bonnet)?

I forgot to mention that the registration plate does not mention the engine number, see picture below.

I expect Tim will be along shortly and give you the number that should be fitted. Have you checked the number above the engine mount on exhaust side?

What are all the other badges on the car, no offence intended but looks to my eye a bit much with the sprint colours, sun roof and the green stripe too. Your car your choice obviously.?

elanfan1 wrote:I expect Tim will be along shortly and give you the number that should be fitted. Have you checked the number above the engine mount on exhaust side?

What are all the other badges on the car, no offence intended but looks to my eye a bit much with the sprint colours, sun roof and the green stripe too. Your car your choice obviously.?

Lotus Fashion Police

Welcome to the forum!

Records for Elans from unit 0172 through to 0501 were destroyed in a flood at Hethel in the late 1970s. I am afraid you will therefore never know what your correct original engine number was and neither will Andy Graham at Lotus be able to tell you.

It is also clearly going to be no use looking at your current engine, which was fitted by a PO and came out of a Plus 2; it is in fact one of the very last Twin Cams built. What you could do is ask Leicestershire Record Office, Long Street, Wigston Magna, LE8 2AH Tel +44 116 257 1080 if they have the full vehicle details for car registered YRY 969J which was the original mark for your car, issued on 5 May 1971. It is likely that the car came from Roger Clarke Cars dealership in Narborough.

Your VIN plate lacks the engine number and colour code because, in all likelihood, it was bought in component form. The original number would have been in the N24### series.

Tim

He shoots, he scores!

Nice one Tim -well done.

Thanks - the anorak is on!

Tim

Thanks for all the answers and suggestions. The knowledge of the people here is really unsurpassed.

@Elanfan1: the badges are stickers attached by the PO, one of my first jobs will be trying to remove these without causing any damage to the paint. Same for the green stripe with is a sticker as well (and not painted as I originally feared).

@Tim: Your reply is very helpful and it all makes a lot more sense to me now. I am just puzzled about one remark though. You mentioned that the engine must have been taken from a Plus 2? If the car was bought in component form could it not have included an "original" engine? Were the engines fitted to Plus2's, Sprints and Europas not actually the same at that point in time? I will try the Leicestershire Record Office and if I learn anything interesting will share it here.

Many thanks!

Bart

"I am just puzzled about one remark though. You mentioned that the engine must have been taken from a Plus 2?"

Bart, your engine prefix letter is P, which indicates that it was first fitted to a Big Valve Plus 2 Elan. The correct engine prefix for a Domestic Sprint is N and that is what your car would have first come with from the factory, hence my indication that it would likely have been in the N24### series number.

Tim

Bart I know a guy who does vinyls for a living. i suspect he'd say just be careful use a heat gun sparingly and get some soapy water behind them as soon as they start lifting. If you want me to ask him for any tips let me know.

Some nice before and after photos would be brilliant.

Steve,

Yes i could use some advise on how to remove the stickers. I was not planning on using a heat gun at all. The soapy water suggestion could work. Will post a few before/after pics when i will find some time to work on the car. Sadly that wont be before xmas.

Thanks, Bart

3M's trim/adhesive remover works well to soften and remove most adhesives and does not damage paint. Here in the US it can be found at most automotive paint stores.

I used my wife's hair dryer to remove some protective film off another car. It worked nicely and was not hot enough to damage anything. Marginally hotter than leaving the car out on a UK sunny day in the middle of Summer but enough to soften the film and the glue...

No, I din't tell her either

A few updates:

Stickers and green stripe removal:
After soaking in a bit of soapy water for a few minutes the stickers came off quite well. Just a few specks of paint from the boot lid was damaged. Overall very happy with the results.

Engine number:
Finally found it on the inlet side engine mount: P31721. Indeed as suggested yhe "P" prefix means it was from a +2S130.

First impressions driving the car:
Took the car for a great little spin in the Dutch December Spring with open sunroof. Handles very well, much better than my previous +2.