Elan Plus 2 With Cosworth BDA **** SOLD****
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 9:34 am****** NOW SOLD ******
Get yourself a beer or a glass of wine before reading this, as it's possibly the longest advert to have appeared on LotusElan.net!
Introduction
This is a 1-previous-owner 1968 Plus 2, upgraded to have a BDA engine which was fitted in 1971 / 72.
This was one of the first, if not the first, Elan to be fitted with the Cosworth BDA in the day, and was written up in Motoring news in 1973 where it was received with great enthusiasm.
The interior and bodywork were rebuilt about 20 years ago, and the engine rebuilt in 1984, refreshed in 1997 and dyno'd, with less that 1000 miles covered since then.
The car now needs to be re-commissioned after being laid up ( in a dry garage) since 2006. It is running and driving (on private roads!), with most things working, but for safety it will need the brakes etc. looking at and potentially overhauling. Most importantly, the bodywork and interior are superb, as is the engine, gearbox and final drive.
Also available is a considerable spares package.
There is a considerable amount of documentation with the car, including the original order, Lotus sales invoice, kit delivery instructions, test certificate from Cheshunt Lotus Centre, many letters between Lotus and the owner, invoices for work completed and old MOTs. The original handbook and service record book are also present.
The Story
The car was bought new as a kit by Eric Lyons, ordered on 5th December '67, invoiced on 18th July '68, delivered 20th July 1968, and tested on 1st August '68 at Cheshunt Lotus Centre.
Its registration number was originally VLX 2 G, then Eric put his private number on....1 ELU. In the 80s he put 1 ELU on his everyday car, and the Plus 2 had an age related registration put on which it still has. VLX 2 G plate was still available when I contacted the DVLA a few years ago, and the car would need to be MOT'd to get it.
Eric was the manager of Dave Smith Engineering in Ilford, Essex, who specialised in Ford and Lotus Twincam race engine preparation, and the car was fitted with a BDA in 1971 / 1972 to showcase what Dave Smith Engineering could do. Many months of trying different cams and carbs resulted in a fairly mild state of tune (about 165bhp) to allow the car to be easily driven around North London, and it had to cope with hot weather as it was often taken down to Spain in the summer.
The car was featured in Motoring News on June 14th '73, and I have a copy of the article.
Eric, the first owner, wrote a few pages on the history of the car, which included these two stories....
The Elan lost it's engine to a rally Twincam Escort, where the owner had driven over from Athens (Greece) in his Twincam to compete in European rallies. The import tax on car parts was horrendous, so he popped a 100e side valve engine in his Escort to get him to England, and turned up at Dave Smith Engineering wanting an engine in a hurry!
A decision had been made to swap over the Twincam for a BDA already, but this was the incentive needed to get it done
Apparently it took longer to clean the oil from the engine bay of the Escort that to remove the twincam from the Plus 2 and rebuilt it to rally specification. Somewhere in Greece the original engine for this Plus 2 may well be sitting in an Escort.
Once the BDA was installed, the car was used as a daily driver in London, and for the occasional holiday in Europe. Eric writes that on one occasion in Spain, with his wife asleep in the passenger seat, and an open road ahead, he put his foot down to see what the car would do. 140mph at 8000 rpm apparently, and his wife slept through it all!
The car wasn't used much from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, when it was largely restored.
In 1984 the BDA was re-built to the following specification:
1700cc BDA in an AX Block (original block still with car)
Accralite 83.5mm forged pistons
BD3 camshafts
1.070? Exhaust Valves
1.220? Inlet Valves
Tuftrided crankshaft
Custom Built 'Mike The Pipe' exhaust manifold.
Opus Ignition (also from the 70s, as used on the works Escort BDAs)
8000 rpm redline.
The car was only used for 100 miles or so in the next 10 years, when the engine was refreshed (head off, valves checked, new clutch) and set up on a dyno at the Lotus Service Centre at the end of 1993. This shows 166.25 bhp @ 7000 rpm, with 139.1 lb/.ft torque @ 5000 rpm.
Again, the car was little used, and in 2000 the car had a partial restoration, consisting of:
Body stripped and repainted to original colour (Carnival Red)
All brightwork re-chromed
New sill strengthening bars
New dashboard and switchgear
New Headlining
New windscreen
New Rev Counter
Stainless steel headlamp vacuum tanks
Tyres
Chassis repaired at front tower
Calipers overhauled
New pads, including handbrake pads
New discs
Servo overhauled
Clutch master cylinder overhauled
Clutch slave cylinder replaced
Brake master cylinder overhauled
Differential rebuilt
Rear wishbones replaced
Rear wheel bearings
Trunions replaced
The car was put back on the road and used sparingly until 2006, when Eric decided that after 38 years he'd had his money's worth from the car. I bought the car in 2006, through a mutual friend, Eamonn Swords of Rapier Services, who also used to build race Twincam and BDA engines.
The bonnet has a bump let in to clear the cam wheels of the BD engine. It was decided that this mod was a lot easier than lowering the engine or modifying the chassis! Consequently, engine mounts are standard, and the gearbox / propshaft are in their original position.
The exhaust manifold is a custom made item from 'Mike The Pipe', a well known character from the 1970s!
Eric did carry out a couple of additional modifications, the most obvious one being the installation of the spot lights. Additionally, the boot floor was modified to take a straight exhaust system (the early cars had a transverse silencer which the tuning boys didn't like). The driveshafts are solid / jointed, modified from a Ford Granada, and the differential output shafts are upgraded.
Current Condition
I used the car on the road for a couple of months after I bought it until I became very busy at work and tucked it away. It drove really very well, and the BDA started very easily, ticked over smoothly and didn't overheat in traffic. It revved through the range very cleanly. The engine has completed only a few hundred miles since it was rebuilt, and had a clean bill of health from Eamonn, so I wasn't expecting any issues.
The car now needs re-commissioning to put back onto the road. It will certainly need the brake and clutch hydraulics doing, and the suspension examined with a view to re-building with new bushes and shocks.
The paintwork is still very good, with no gel coat cracks or micro-blisters, There are a couple of very small stone-chip size marks. After 20 years this is absolute proof on a fibreglass car that a top job was completed!
The chrome-work is very good, although the wheel trims and spinners need re-doing. The interior is largely original, with some small marks on the seats, and a small split at the rear of the driver's seat base. A new dash fitted in the restoration, and the car still has it's original Colin Chapman signed steering wheel.
Most things are working, including all lights, instruments, engine fan, electric windows and pop-up headlamps. The wiper motor is very slow, with I suspect, a poor connection or earth.
The engine was fitted with a new cambelt in 2016, and fired up quite easily after draining the petrol tank and putting in fresh petrol. The carbs will probably need cleaning as it does pop a few times when reving through the range, although with use it has got better. It ticks over very smoothly and quietly and there is no smoke.
There is a good opportunity to upgrade some of the bits in the engine bay, such as the Thermostat filler and radiator overflow bottle, with something a little more in-keeping. The radiator fan is now a bit old fashioned, and a more modern twin fan system may be better. The OPUS ignition system is a fine bit of kit for 1972 but quite large, and maybe a modern electronic system would be beneficial. The spark is quite weak, and I'm sure bif improvements will be made in replacing the ignition system.
As mentioned above, the chassis was repaired in the 2000 renovation. It looks OK, but some may prefer a new chassis to be fitted, and a spare, galvanised chassis does come in the spares package.
There is some fascinating documentation with the car, including the original order sheets from Lotus Cars and Lotus Racing Engines. There is also the original invoice from Lotus, the Test Certificate issued by Cheshunt Lotus Centre (Eric built the car as a 'kit', requiring Lotus to inspect it) and the original handbook and stamped up service book. There are many old invoices, some going back to the 1970s, and some old MOTs, dyno sheets....etc., etc. Of course, there is also a copy of the Motoring News article.
I have also been collecting parts as spares, nearly all of which are not needed for the re-commissioning, but as the car is an early one, I thought it a good idea to collect this stuff whilst I could.
It's a really difficult one to price, as the BDA engine is worth ?12,000 - ?15,000 to the Escort boys. The body, paint and chrome need no work, and the dashboard, instruments, seats and side panels are in very good original condition.
I'm looking at offers around ?18k for the car, and the spares can be bought for ?2000 as a package, probably less than half what they would sell for as individual parts. I am open to negotiation with someone who appreciates the historical significance of this car, and doesn't just want to buy it for the engine.
I believe that this is a very significant Lotus with the ultimate period modification, amongst the first to be so modified, completed in period and written up in the press in period. There are two Plus 2 cars that I know of with BD engines, one in New York and one in New Zealand, but they were done in the 1980s / 1990s. There is also an Elan Sprint well known in the UK that was only modified 10 years ago, and that ihas been for sale for ?80,000. Of course the Plus 2 does need some work, but it is also a quarter of the price of the Sprint.
Please not that none of the parts are available separately, but will be offered with the car only. If the buyer doesn't want some or any of the parts (unlikely), then I will offer them separately.
The photos below are of the car as I bought it in 2006. I can't add more photos to this thread for some reason,, so the next thread shows a bit more detail, and they were taken yesterday.
Get yourself a beer or a glass of wine before reading this, as it's possibly the longest advert to have appeared on LotusElan.net!
Introduction
This is a 1-previous-owner 1968 Plus 2, upgraded to have a BDA engine which was fitted in 1971 / 72.
This was one of the first, if not the first, Elan to be fitted with the Cosworth BDA in the day, and was written up in Motoring news in 1973 where it was received with great enthusiasm.
The interior and bodywork were rebuilt about 20 years ago, and the engine rebuilt in 1984, refreshed in 1997 and dyno'd, with less that 1000 miles covered since then.
The car now needs to be re-commissioned after being laid up ( in a dry garage) since 2006. It is running and driving (on private roads!), with most things working, but for safety it will need the brakes etc. looking at and potentially overhauling. Most importantly, the bodywork and interior are superb, as is the engine, gearbox and final drive.
Also available is a considerable spares package.
There is a considerable amount of documentation with the car, including the original order, Lotus sales invoice, kit delivery instructions, test certificate from Cheshunt Lotus Centre, many letters between Lotus and the owner, invoices for work completed and old MOTs. The original handbook and service record book are also present.
The Story
The car was bought new as a kit by Eric Lyons, ordered on 5th December '67, invoiced on 18th July '68, delivered 20th July 1968, and tested on 1st August '68 at Cheshunt Lotus Centre.
Its registration number was originally VLX 2 G, then Eric put his private number on....1 ELU. In the 80s he put 1 ELU on his everyday car, and the Plus 2 had an age related registration put on which it still has. VLX 2 G plate was still available when I contacted the DVLA a few years ago, and the car would need to be MOT'd to get it.
Eric was the manager of Dave Smith Engineering in Ilford, Essex, who specialised in Ford and Lotus Twincam race engine preparation, and the car was fitted with a BDA in 1971 / 1972 to showcase what Dave Smith Engineering could do. Many months of trying different cams and carbs resulted in a fairly mild state of tune (about 165bhp) to allow the car to be easily driven around North London, and it had to cope with hot weather as it was often taken down to Spain in the summer.
The car was featured in Motoring News on June 14th '73, and I have a copy of the article.
Eric, the first owner, wrote a few pages on the history of the car, which included these two stories....
The Elan lost it's engine to a rally Twincam Escort, where the owner had driven over from Athens (Greece) in his Twincam to compete in European rallies. The import tax on car parts was horrendous, so he popped a 100e side valve engine in his Escort to get him to England, and turned up at Dave Smith Engineering wanting an engine in a hurry!
A decision had been made to swap over the Twincam for a BDA already, but this was the incentive needed to get it done
Apparently it took longer to clean the oil from the engine bay of the Escort that to remove the twincam from the Plus 2 and rebuilt it to rally specification. Somewhere in Greece the original engine for this Plus 2 may well be sitting in an Escort.
Once the BDA was installed, the car was used as a daily driver in London, and for the occasional holiday in Europe. Eric writes that on one occasion in Spain, with his wife asleep in the passenger seat, and an open road ahead, he put his foot down to see what the car would do. 140mph at 8000 rpm apparently, and his wife slept through it all!
The car wasn't used much from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, when it was largely restored.
In 1984 the BDA was re-built to the following specification:
1700cc BDA in an AX Block (original block still with car)
Accralite 83.5mm forged pistons
BD3 camshafts
1.070? Exhaust Valves
1.220? Inlet Valves
Tuftrided crankshaft
Custom Built 'Mike The Pipe' exhaust manifold.
Opus Ignition (also from the 70s, as used on the works Escort BDAs)
8000 rpm redline.
The car was only used for 100 miles or so in the next 10 years, when the engine was refreshed (head off, valves checked, new clutch) and set up on a dyno at the Lotus Service Centre at the end of 1993. This shows 166.25 bhp @ 7000 rpm, with 139.1 lb/.ft torque @ 5000 rpm.
Again, the car was little used, and in 2000 the car had a partial restoration, consisting of:
Body stripped and repainted to original colour (Carnival Red)
All brightwork re-chromed
New sill strengthening bars
New dashboard and switchgear
New Headlining
New windscreen
New Rev Counter
Stainless steel headlamp vacuum tanks
Tyres
Chassis repaired at front tower
Calipers overhauled
New pads, including handbrake pads
New discs
Servo overhauled
Clutch master cylinder overhauled
Clutch slave cylinder replaced
Brake master cylinder overhauled
Differential rebuilt
Rear wishbones replaced
Rear wheel bearings
Trunions replaced
The car was put back on the road and used sparingly until 2006, when Eric decided that after 38 years he'd had his money's worth from the car. I bought the car in 2006, through a mutual friend, Eamonn Swords of Rapier Services, who also used to build race Twincam and BDA engines.
The bonnet has a bump let in to clear the cam wheels of the BD engine. It was decided that this mod was a lot easier than lowering the engine or modifying the chassis! Consequently, engine mounts are standard, and the gearbox / propshaft are in their original position.
The exhaust manifold is a custom made item from 'Mike The Pipe', a well known character from the 1970s!
Eric did carry out a couple of additional modifications, the most obvious one being the installation of the spot lights. Additionally, the boot floor was modified to take a straight exhaust system (the early cars had a transverse silencer which the tuning boys didn't like). The driveshafts are solid / jointed, modified from a Ford Granada, and the differential output shafts are upgraded.
Current Condition
I used the car on the road for a couple of months after I bought it until I became very busy at work and tucked it away. It drove really very well, and the BDA started very easily, ticked over smoothly and didn't overheat in traffic. It revved through the range very cleanly. The engine has completed only a few hundred miles since it was rebuilt, and had a clean bill of health from Eamonn, so I wasn't expecting any issues.
The car now needs re-commissioning to put back onto the road. It will certainly need the brake and clutch hydraulics doing, and the suspension examined with a view to re-building with new bushes and shocks.
The paintwork is still very good, with no gel coat cracks or micro-blisters, There are a couple of very small stone-chip size marks. After 20 years this is absolute proof on a fibreglass car that a top job was completed!
The chrome-work is very good, although the wheel trims and spinners need re-doing. The interior is largely original, with some small marks on the seats, and a small split at the rear of the driver's seat base. A new dash fitted in the restoration, and the car still has it's original Colin Chapman signed steering wheel.
Most things are working, including all lights, instruments, engine fan, electric windows and pop-up headlamps. The wiper motor is very slow, with I suspect, a poor connection or earth.
The engine was fitted with a new cambelt in 2016, and fired up quite easily after draining the petrol tank and putting in fresh petrol. The carbs will probably need cleaning as it does pop a few times when reving through the range, although with use it has got better. It ticks over very smoothly and quietly and there is no smoke.
There is a good opportunity to upgrade some of the bits in the engine bay, such as the Thermostat filler and radiator overflow bottle, with something a little more in-keeping. The radiator fan is now a bit old fashioned, and a more modern twin fan system may be better. The OPUS ignition system is a fine bit of kit for 1972 but quite large, and maybe a modern electronic system would be beneficial. The spark is quite weak, and I'm sure bif improvements will be made in replacing the ignition system.
As mentioned above, the chassis was repaired in the 2000 renovation. It looks OK, but some may prefer a new chassis to be fitted, and a spare, galvanised chassis does come in the spares package.
There is some fascinating documentation with the car, including the original order sheets from Lotus Cars and Lotus Racing Engines. There is also the original invoice from Lotus, the Test Certificate issued by Cheshunt Lotus Centre (Eric built the car as a 'kit', requiring Lotus to inspect it) and the original handbook and stamped up service book. There are many old invoices, some going back to the 1970s, and some old MOTs, dyno sheets....etc., etc. Of course, there is also a copy of the Motoring News article.
I have also been collecting parts as spares, nearly all of which are not needed for the re-commissioning, but as the car is an early one, I thought it a good idea to collect this stuff whilst I could.
It's a really difficult one to price, as the BDA engine is worth ?12,000 - ?15,000 to the Escort boys. The body, paint and chrome need no work, and the dashboard, instruments, seats and side panels are in very good original condition.
I'm looking at offers around ?18k for the car, and the spares can be bought for ?2000 as a package, probably less than half what they would sell for as individual parts. I am open to negotiation with someone who appreciates the historical significance of this car, and doesn't just want to buy it for the engine.
I believe that this is a very significant Lotus with the ultimate period modification, amongst the first to be so modified, completed in period and written up in the press in period. There are two Plus 2 cars that I know of with BD engines, one in New York and one in New Zealand, but they were done in the 1980s / 1990s. There is also an Elan Sprint well known in the UK that was only modified 10 years ago, and that ihas been for sale for ?80,000. Of course the Plus 2 does need some work, but it is also a quarter of the price of the Sprint.
Please not that none of the parts are available separately, but will be offered with the car only. If the buyer doesn't want some or any of the parts (unlikely), then I will offer them separately.
The photos below are of the car as I bought it in 2006. I can't add more photos to this thread for some reason,, so the next thread shows a bit more detail, and they were taken yesterday.
