1965 Lotus Elan S2

[zog]

I know you all have at least one Elan, but perhaps you know someone who doesn?t and is looking for a real nice one??

For Sale: 1965 Lotus Elan Series 2 Drop Head Coupe (Convertible).

Body off restoration just completed on this Series 2 car. Everything on this car has been totally torn down, sandblasted, powder coated or painted and rebuilt or replaced with new parts. Nice, fresh Lotus Medici Blue paint job with silver bumpers and silver wheels make it look like a brand new sports car from the 60?s. All new interior done up right in the original style including rebuilt seats, vinyl door panels, re-veneered wood dash and the original Wood Steering Wheel professionally rebuilt better than new! It is a real classic and a real head turner.
Details: I do most of the work myself including the bodywork, but I farm out some of the specialty stuff (engine machine shop work, final paint & seat upholstery) to the pros.
The Lotus Twin Cam, dual Weber carb engine is the original engine. It was rebuilt with new rings, seals, gaskets & bearings. Engine block & head hot tanked. Block was line bored. Crank polished. New big valves with all new guides, valve springs, valve seats and cam followers. New oil pump. Upgraded cams are slightly hotter than ?Sprint? specs. Water pump rebuilt. Upgraded connecting rods (120E instead of 116E) and new ARP rod bolts. Machine shop work done by Apex engineering in Bensenville Illinois. New engine mounts. New "Jet Hot" coated header. The new exhaust pipe is mated to a brand new Stainless Steel, big bore, stock styled muffler. Looks beautiful and sounds great (Not too loud and not at all cheap!) New gear reduction starter. Weber 40 DCOE carbs cleaned and rebuilt. These are 151 model Weber carbs which look the same as original 18 models but provide smoother drivability than the original model 18 carbs. New air box trunking hose hooked up to rebuilt original stock air filter set up. Pertronix ignition and a new Pertronix coil.
Semi-Close ratio transmission was in good shape. I tore it down for a good cleaning and just replaced the seals, gaskets and front main bearing. One new 1-2 Shift fork, good used 3-4 fork and good used syncros were used as my transmission guy does not like the new syncros available today. Shifts great. Nothing shifts better than an early Elan!
Rear end disassembled, cleaned & checked. New seals and gasket installed.
Stainless braided brake hose lines. Stainless braided clutch line. Stainless braided oil pressure line. Rebuilt brake master cylinder & clutch cylinder. Remote bleeder on clutch. Rebuilt brake calipers with new Stainless Steel pistons. Gas tank was rebuilt by Renu - guaranteed for life. New flip up gas cap. Original steel wheels sandblasted and painted silver. New 165X65X13 tires. Hub caps re-chromed. Rebuilt 4 row radiator core. Heater core boiled out & tested. Steering rack rebuilt. New CV rear axels No rubber donuts!
New wiring harness. New battery installed under original battery box with an easy access, quick battery shut off switch. Gauges all cleaned up and function well. Tach has new electronic guts to match the electronic ignition. New mini Alternator replacing the original generator/regulator set up.
Original Chassis was in real good shape! It was checked for straightness, sandblasted and powder coated black. I did install an extra steel plate across the bottom of the front cross member for when you want to jack it up. I sandblasted and powder coated all the suspension pieces and installed all new bushings and rubbers everywhere. New closed cell foam chassis pad between the chassis and the body. New tie rod ends. Trunions rebuilt. New AVO front & rear shocks with upgraded springs with adjustable ride height from Dave Bean. Rear springs and rear perches are slightly smaller overall diameter to allow clearance on slightly wider tires (165X65X13).
Body and Paint - I did all the body work. Body is NOT original as the original was burnt up in a fire. Used replacement body is of the same era (early S2). Body was sanded down to bare fiberglass. All stress cracks and previous repairs ground out and repaired with fiberglass. Body was flipped upside down and the undersides and wheel well areas were completely sanded down and redone. My buddy owns a fiberglass shop so he made sure all the glass work was done right. We retained the stock fender shape - No fender flares. Entire body shot with 2 part primer and block sanded multiple times. Final base coat/clear coat paint job was done by Rizza Autobody in Des Plaines. Color is close to a Lotus Medici Blue in the modern base coat/clear coat format and it looks terrific! Not Pebble Beach concours but very nice. Bumpers painted silver as were the steel wheels. Chrome was done by Star chrome in Chicago. Door handles, trunk hinges, window rails, hub caps, etc. A few chrome pieces were not re-chromed as they polished up pretty nice. New chrome scripts all around. About $1500 in chrome! New windshield. New windshield rubber and chrome strip insert.
Interior is gorgeous and looks as new. New veneered wood dash finished with 6 coats of hand sanded automotive clear coat ? looks great! New crash pad. New stock style door panels and side panels with new vinyl covering. Seats rebuilt with all new foam padding with original style black vinyl but better quality than new. They look and feel great! New rubber elephant hide carpet (as was original) over good insulation padding. New seat belts. New teardrop wood shift knob. New console. New pedal pads. New air vent trunking. New door glass channels and window brush strips. New bullet side mirror. New interior mirror. New dash switches. Brand new ash trays!
New soft vinyl Robbins tonneau top looks terrific. Zip it open and it?s a perfect way to drive around in chilly weather and park it looking great. Convertible top is New Old Stock. I even restored the convertible top C pillars and rails.
The original wood steering wheel was rebuilt with all new wood by Lempert Wheels. It is better than stock in that is has a metal ring (that you can?t see) built into it for strength. Looks and feels great! New Lotus horn button with new dual Lucas horns.
The car looks great, sounds great and runs great. The steering is tight; engine power and brakes are very good. The car is zippy and handles great. It?s a real joy to drive. Just like a new 1965 Lotus Elan which is what this essentially is. I really like the slightly stiffer springs and the AVO shocks. It gives the car a real nice ride and not too much lean in the turns. It is not absolutely a pebble beach concours car but it is a great car to take out, DRIVE and ENJOY!
I have kept all the receipts for everything that I have done to the car. Although everything that could have been done, has been done to this car to make it like new and in some cases better than new, it is still is a 52 year old car with only the reliability you would have gotten out of a new car 52 years ago. This car, just like any new Lotus cars back in 1965 will require service, tinkering and attention. It is not a Miata! What about a warrantee? Well I will fix anything that goes wrong for a year if you can get the car to me. I?m not paying for or providing shipping. I will also provide full technical and moral support for however long as you own the car.
I can provide references from owners of my previous restorations upon request. This is my ninth Lotus Elan full restoration, not including my own S1 Elan which I have restored more than once due to severe racing incidents. I have also done a Europa Twin Cam Special (wrote a book about it), a Seven America, a Lotus Cortina (my first book) and a Ford Cortina wagon converted to a Lotus Cortina Estate tribute (Wrote another book about that one too!). Full Restoration Photos at: lotuscorps.org/ Gallery/ Zog?s corner/ Columbus car or: http://www.lotuscorps.org/pictures/inde ... tegory/136
Price? I?ve got a lot of money in parts alone in this restoration and the prices are only going up on donor cars so I?m going to ask $52,500, but I?m open to serious offers from the right buyer. I encourage you to come out to Des Plaines Illinois and give this car a serious look and test drive.

Thanks!

Bob Herzog 847-390-0142 ? Home. 847-826-0857 ? Cell. email - [email protected]" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

[lotocone]

Bob, The Elan looks great. I admire your passion for these restorations. How many Elans have you restored now?

Bob

[theelanman]

I would buy that in the blink of an eye if I lived in the USA
that looks stunning.....

[collins_dan]

Bob, It's looks great, as do all the cars you restore. If no one on here buys, elans have been selling like hot cakes on Bring A Trailer. All the best, Dan

[seniorchristo]

Hi Zog,
Awesome restoration! I hope you get your asking price. I also installed AVO front shocks from Dave Bean with 115 lb. 12" long springs on my '67 S3. What is your spring length? My springs are almost too long as I have to lower them all the way down to get the proper ride height. Also I would love to duplicate your exhaust system on my Elan. Are you able to divulge your supplier?
Thanks,
Chris

[rcombs]

Great job Zog! It looks very nice.

Rick

[zog]

Thanks for the compliments!

Responses to some questions:

This is my 9th full, body off Elan restoration.

I used the 12" DB springs with the AVO shocks and the height adjusts just fine

The SS muffler is from Ray at RD enterprises

Thanks!.

[elanfan1]

Very nice indeed. You should get your price all day long. If that was RHD and over here you'd get that 52,500 in pounds sterling.

[zog]

The car has been sold. It's staying in Chicago, only 3 miles away from me!

[StressCraxx]

That's great news, Bob. The buyer is very lucky to have such a beautiful car.