Door removal

[inxs]

I need some advice on removing the door hinges to replace the bushes from my 1967 +2 (50/100).
Trying to get the screw of at the bottom hinge is near impossible. I have soaked it with INOX / WD 40, applied moderate heat but all what i have done is burr the screw slot.

Can this be drilled out or cut of below the bush that is inside of the door?
Or is there another way of removing the center bar to replace the bushes.

Just another small drama in the day of the life of a Lotus owner from down under!!

Thanks in advance Darren

[schroeder]

Darren

I had to drill mine out a few years back. Should be ok as long as you are patient. I ended up replacing mine with new but they are expensive to buy ready fabricated.

Schroeder

[inxs]

Hi Schroeder,

That exactly what I ended up doing. the bottom shaft was worn so even new bushes where still sloppy. I took the assembly around to a local engineering company and had them drill and tap the bolt out, machine the bottom shaft true and remake a new bush from nylon.
All this for $20 (aus), thanks that the old "cash in hand" still works!!!

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Darren
Is your car early enough to have the Alfa rear lights and no sill chrome strip? I'm interested in the early cars and the differences to the later non-S type cars.

I believe that there were some differences in the boot lid shape and trim of the very early cars (maybe the first 10 or so)...it would be interesting to get all these small quirks sorted out!

If you have any photos have a go at putting them on the Elan Gallery...I've just put my BDA engined car up there, and over time the gallery will become a great repository of info.
Cheers...Mark

[inxs]

Hi Mark,
My car is 50/ 0100 so it is a very early +2. It has the alfa lights.
This car was told to London Sports Car Centre in kit form as the early ones where sold, I would say it would be the oldest +2 in Australia.
looking at other +2's (not to many in Australia though!) it is different in the boot lid and wind screen.
When I get the door back on I will post some pictures, for its age it is in good condition with a restoration some 16 years ago with very few miles since (59,000 original miles). I purchased it some 12 months ago. Rebuilt gear box, rear end and put panasport rims on it since then.

I must say when working on a Lotus think of the time it may take you then double it!!!

Regards,
Darren

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Darren
I guess it would be one of the oldest Plus 2s surviving anywhere, and sounds a very interesting car. I didn't realise that the windscreen was different as well....can you get replacements? My Plus 2 (50 / 0770) was also a kit, but the original owner told me it only took him 9 hours to put together. It came as a fully built up body with a separate engine, box, propshaft, radiator and exhaust...and that was about it. I have the original invoices. One from Lotus Car (Sales) Limited for the body (?750) and one from Racing Engines Limited for ?923, including ?102 for the S/E components! So it kind of dispels they myth of it being a kit car really, just a way around paying the purchase tax of the time.

How does it cope with driving in Australia in summer? I lived in Melbourne for much of the 80's, and ran a Dolomite Sprint for a while...a pretty dumb thing to do. I well remember driving back from the sticks one Christmas, 42 C outside, and hitting the Sunday evening traffic to get back into the city. Sitting in the queue for 2 hours with the heater full on and the windows down isn't my favorite memory!

It used to like the tram lines too. A couple of times turning (at speed) in the wet from Toorak Rd into Chapel St the car went straight on down the track...very embarrasing, and I'll bet the Elan would behave in the same way!! That was when the tramlines used to have wooden blocks inbetween the lines, which when wet and covered in oil were like ice.

Hey ho...I still have an Aussi Moke over here and frequent visitors plying me with Bundy OP which would bring back all the memories if any of the original brain cells had survived.
Cheers...Mark

[niallf]

Caught the comment about the different windscreen.

I was talking to someone from the Plus 2 parts collective (Jeff Boughton or Nigel Wilcox, I think ). They told me that the very early +2 screens were flat, rather than radiussed from top to bottom (may have been vice versa).

They also told me that Ron Hickman was very keen to own one of these early Plus 2s.

My 2c

Niall
(Hope that's not all rubbish)

[inxs]

I promise to put some pictures for comment soon. The problem I have in South Australia is I have only seen one other 69+2 at our local lotus club. I saw a couple of later +2 S (1970's +) at the "Classic Adelaide" road race we have each year that wher from interstate.

With the +2 there are not too many is Australia, our local club has a few "baby elan" so not many + 2's to compare with to see what the specfic differences are.

With the model number being so low I would like some comments on the car and also with this car if it is worth perhaps rebuilding it to its original condition if the low number adds any value to the car??? (take of the rear CV conversion and electric light conversion???)

With the wind screen certainly the large chrome trim around mine is different from the other one at our club, my boot has an external handle lock and the exhaust comes out of the RHS and has a different molding in the bottom of the boot to accomadate the exhaust. The body is rather plain compared to others I have seen with the only marking is the lotus badge on the front ond the LOTUS across the boot.

Great to get some interest and help with the car from other Lotus people.

Cheers, Darren

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Darren
Just looing up the Plus 2 Production Milestones in the Robinshaw / Ross book, your car will have only two modifications from the very first car:

0001 First production model
0090 Rear brake supply pipe relocated away from exhaust adjacent to gearbox mounting
0100 Tool Roll and jack securing straps introduced

So there you go, your car is a milestone!

The big changes (such as they are) were at chassis 0929, where the exhaust system was modified from the transverse silencer (with appropriate body moldings, similar to the S3 2 seat car) to a straight out at the back system, and the bootlid changed from external handle to internal pull. Lots of changes in the doors / door frames at this number too. I guess that this was the intro of the 'S' model?

What badges the car had is a tricky one, as every Elan seems to be different. I guess that they were added as the owner fancied / when the car was repainted. I'll look up in my old brochures to see if anything can be determined.

As for originality, that seems to be a moot point with most classic cars. One thing that can't be argued is that if it's original, it's correct! Some mods may improve the car for modern driving conditions, but for me detract from what the car's all about. Some folks spend a lot of time bringing their cars up to a 'modern' standard or a faster spec....I'd rather buy a modern faster car and leave the Elan as it was designed to be!. But hey, each to their own. I wouldn't think about having a modern car without aircon, but wouldn't fit it into an Elan.

If I had your car, I would get it back to as close as possible to the original spec as it's such an early one. I doubt that it would increase the value though, it would just be the challenge of getting it 'right'. I'd certainly replace the headlight motors with the good old vacuum system, as the original wiring wasn't designed for that load. It may well be that a clever auto-electrician fitted them, with approprite fuses, relays etc, but whether a proper job or a botch-up, a potential nightmare to fix when it goes wrong, as it won't be documented anywhere. I'd probably leave the driveshafts, at least initially, as the problems that they cause don't usually manifest themselves on road cars.

Get those photos loaded! I'll do a bit more digging.

Mark

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Darren
The early photos don't show any side badges...I've posted some scans in the Elan Gallery.
Mark

[theelanman]

Caught the comment about the different windscreen.

I was talking to someone from the Plus 2 parts collective (Jeff Boughton or Nigel Wilcox, I think ). They told me that the very early +2 screens were flat, rather than radiussed from top to bottom (may have been vice versa).

They also told me that Ron Hickman was very keen to own one of these early Plus 2s.

My 2c

Niall
(Hope that's not all rubbish)

sort of true......we wandered round the car park with ron at the lotrus show in 2005....he had a special measuring device for the windscreen and what he was looking for was double curvature......basicall a gentle curve at the bottom with a more rounded bit at the top....say where the sun strip was on the later cars......IIRC he told us that it was from the consul capri and that it was designed to around this screen then no sooner had they designed the car than ford stopped doing the consul capri however they continued using the same sized apperture but with a 'cheaper' to produce screen ie only curved once rather than twice....
hope thats of some use!!!
cheers
g