Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I know I need a respray, having gone past the nice patina stage some years ago!

Have had a quote from Option 1 for £13k + vat and I know would look beautiful and shiny after their renowned attention. Possibly a little cheaper elsewhere.

But then the Lagoon Blue has been fading since the 1980s. I remember discussing it with Graham Arnold at a Club Lotus meeting back then. The bonnet edge was damaged when the bonnet flew off driving over the moors in North Wales on a dark wet night in 1982. The boot hinge damage was caused by a gust of wind catching the boot lid sometime back then.

So my wife feels that if we had a respray it would no longer look like our car (she says rather than the cost!?)She has grown quite fond of the Elan since we went on honeymoon in it in 1983! Some damage caused to the boot and bonnet paint work back then when “just married” was sprayed on with shaving foam.

So perhaps I will leave the respray for the next owner (whenever that might be).

But just wondered if anyone else driving around with worse?

Richard

I’d suggest you invest in proper professional machine polish and detailing. It’ll never be perfect but I suspect you might be shocked at what they can achieve.

elanfan1 wrote:I’d suggest you invest in proper professional machine polish and detailing. It’ll never be perfect but I suspect you might be shocked at what they can achieve.

Have tried! Can get a bit of a shine but oxidises pretty quickly. And the paints getting a bit thin in places…

Richard

Hi

I do not have pictures to prove it but I had a yellow Elan +2 that used to constantly shed bits of paint. It wasn't blotchy in the same way yours is.

A friend of mine who is a Lotus aficionado said that with modern primers and paints it is possible to get a good paint job from someone who knows for between £4k - 6k whereas in the past £12-15k.

All the best

Berni

My original Lagoon Blue went the same way, especially after polishing.

Bit the bullet 8 years ago, and have never looked back.

Regards
Richard

Hi

Love that patina and paint job. Quite a few nice ideas for a racy paint theme there. Do you have any pictures of the interior please?

All the best

Berni

There was a JPS Elan Plus 2 that used to come to most of the Club Lotus meeting 10 or 15 years ago. The owner also had a collection of the most perfectly restored cars, including a red Plus 2 (that Matty sold to Chris Evans a few years back for £35k), an S4 DHC and a Sprint, all restored by Peter Day. He loved originality, and restored perfection!
Many of you will recognise this JPS.
Mark

This is mine before I took it off the road last year

Haha, I think we have a winner in the black JPS +2.

Richard
I too am building up to a respray and have the same dilemma as I like a bit of patina.
My Sprint looks OK from a distance (previous owner had cheap respray when replacing chassis) but unfortunately the bodywork has weakened with age so lots of cracks appearing under the paint so it needs a full body restoration.
I got a few quotes for body off respray and the costs were similar to yours.
Recently talked with Paul Mason (based at Spyder) who told me Its starts about £6,500 + for the paint work and if Spyder are to strip it all down body off the chassis and rebuild afterwards its about same cost again.
Once its all stripped down I then start thinking what else might be worth doing at the same time. I fancy a roll cage and sill strengtheners, a rewire would be sensible etc. The bill just keeps gets bigger.
Clive

Just spotted a new potential winner from the Goodwood revival.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/21- ... tp#image=4

Great replies, thanks, and mine not the worst although not far behind. Compared to the “slightly shabby” Sprint mine is only very slightly shabby! Under the body everything is in good shape, and usually starts first time and running nicely and I still love every outing. Have managed 250 miles so far this year, better than the 3 miles last year, but a lot of catching up to get close to Russ’s heroic adventures.

Good to hear from you Clive, your air filter and trunking still in place, along with the aluminium thermostat housing. And also good to hear OEW going strong Chistian, definitely shinier than mine!

I guess could have the twin cam fettled to 160bhp etc for the price of a respray, but these days I am a rather more sedate (or sensible) driver than I was back in my 20s so not really necessary…….but would be fun….

Richard