Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Yesterday I made a quick trip up to the San Francisco Bay Area to ‘supervise’ the loading of my Elan project for transport to my home. This was my first time seeing the car in person and there were a few disappointments, but also a few pleasant surprises! Overall the project pretty much what I expected (feared?). It’s going to be a huge task, every single part needs some level of attention, but I think there is a solid basis for great project and whatever it takes, this will be one beautiful little car again!





Ian

Can't wait to see your progress!

Good luck and well done to save "Little Lo"
Alan

My early Christmas present!





Ian

A reasonably complete S2, a roof with a good backlight is golden.

Great find. Looking forward to watching your restoration.

The roof was a separate purchase locally in LA, I’ll probably never use it, but it’s nice to have and the price was right!

Ian

and some boxes of Panasports too eh!

rgh0 wrote:Looks like it maybe went off the road due to a small engine fire ?

I have never seen casting protrusions on the top of the cam covers like in the photo either

Looks like a nice restoration challenge

cheers
Rohan

I think you may have correctly spotted the cause of the car being taken off the road. Here is the underside of the hood (bonnet).




It does look rather like there may have been a small fire under there! Nothing seems to be badly burned, but one carbs definitely looks bad, may not be recoverable, but I am going to try.

So now the work begins! Hopefully there are no horror stories waiting to be discovered!

Ian
SoCal

Great to see your back in the Elan game again Ian. We will have to get together and ‘kick some tires’ ! I’ve been dragging my A$$ on my elan engine rebuild…
Hope to see you soon !
James Jordan

Welcome Ian,

Looks like a very nice project. I don't think taking the car off road in '76 is far fetched.I bought my S3-Super Safety in September 1974 and realized early on that its life was going to be short. It had come from Pittsburgh where they used sand/ salt mix on the winter roads and the front struts were packed full. But we enjoyed the Elan for a few years.

In May 1978, just after it awoke from its garaged winter nap. the right side of the frame broke enough that it was taken off road. I knew the location of a pre-airflow FHC in Arkansas. Even that coupe had been sitting for most of its life. I moved the SS engine and g'box over to the coupe and enjoyed it for the next 6 years, until the engine was needed to bring the SS back to life. The SS was totally rebuilt on a new galvanized chassis and the coupe took over the long term storage spot. Those 2 cars are now side by side and the coupe should be back on the road again this year. It is still on its original non rusted frame.

I've got to ask if you are any relation to the Mr Ashdown who raced a Lotus Eleven for Team in '57 and '58?

Roger

Hi,

A little more information has come to light in a folder that was given to me when I collected the car. In there is correspondence between the owner who’s widow I bought the car from and a well know GGLC Club member. It seems that somehow it found its way to South Carolina, presumably after ‘76 when the plate implies it was registered in Philadelphia, but was parked in ‘78. So what was it doing in NC for two years? The car was purchased by Jeff Robinson of JAE, it seems in ‘97, and was sold on to my previous owner, it seems almost right away. At the time it appears it only had on seat so I’m wondering if it had some sort of competition use, although there are no signs of a roll hoop or seat belts. It is reported as running, although not well, in ‘97 with a genuine 40K miles, and I have photos of the car being collected from JAE, the body looks the same as it does now.

I’m hoping there isn’t some ugly surprise when I get the body off, but so far the car seems to be a low mileage, numbers matching car!

Yes, Peter Ashdown is my Father.

Ian
SoCal

I am the caretaker of Keith Hall's '58 entry 4DTN and Keith loaned me his 8mm cine movies back in the eighties to help in the restoration. I have them copied onto video tape and now converted to digital medium. Your father is probably in some of it. 4DTN was the last car Keith raced. The Elite he was going to race in '59 was destroyed before he ever had it on track. Is your father still with us?

The three "B" team Elevens were specially built w/ thinner alloy panels and fiberglass nose and tail to make them lighter. The movies showed 4DTN after the crash at Crystal Palace and that confirmed that the fiberglass is original to the car. So Keith's 4DTN, your father's and Alan Stacy's were probably the only Elevens w/ fiberglass with the possible exception of the 750cc Eleven built for 1958 LeMans. Who knows?

Roger

Hi,

Such interesting history! I'd love to see some of those movies if it's possible to share them.

My Dad is still with us, he's 88 and living in Essex.

Ian

Nice find! I have the same breathers (the lumps on top of the valve cover) on my S2 4844.
My car was raced from '66 onwards which I assume is the reason for the breathers.
I have left them on but blocked them underneath-they leak oil over the engine.
I fitted a "Hart" breather and it works very well-no leaks.

Hi David

Are those btreather lumps orginal to the cam cover casting or are they an add on ? is there some link between the two S2 with them ?

cheers
Rohan