Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi Brian
I have had a couple hours to kill tonight and I did a search on "body number" at the top right of Lotuselan.net. In reading through much of what I and others have writen before I think that body number is a lot more important in this discussion. My examples that I was using chassis number 26/4020 with body number 3569 and 26/4045 with body number 3691. Do you have a body number for 26/3944? Anyone else following along on this discussion
I probably have close to 100 so far, more are always welcome please include a chassis number so I can list it with its proper i.d.

ps Brian do you know Ian Hebblethwaite? Do you now own his Elan 26/3944

3808 - late S1 aka S1 1/2 has a single bobin
4364 - S2 has a single bobin

hi cab
Are those numbers body or chassis numbers?

Gary
"3808 - late S1 aka S1 1/2 has a single bobin"
"4364 - S2 has a single bobin"

garyeanderson wrote:Hi Brian
ps Brian do you know Ian Hebblethwaite? Do you now own his Elan 26/3944

Hi Gary, Yes I know Ian very well although he doesn't own 26/3944 and never has. He had a DHC Sprint (sold) and now currently has an S4 DHC, a single seater FF (not Lotus) and I think he still has a +2 in the U.K.
I have owned 26/3944 for about fifteen years and am currently in S.A. putting 3944 into storage for about a year (long story)
I said in a previous post the car had two windscreen bobbin mountings per side......well my memory had being playing tricks and it only has one per side.
As regards the body number (on the bulkhead) it got destroyed when I replaced the front after an accident but it has a "22" on the vertical ledge at rear of the engine compartment .......any idea what this indicates? also on the other side of the car (exhaust side) it has a series of blind holes (not round but hexagon shaped) have you seen these before?
I will try to attach pics but my internet connection this part of the world is not very good.
Regards Brian

Hi Gary

Perhaps neither

I would consider them unit numbers or prodction numbers

on the S1 1/2

The body is numbered 3424, the chassis is numbered 0837
both chassis and body have seccond numbers 3808 - ( via plate on the body and second number on the chassis

dos this help ?

Hi Brian

I was reading one of Ian's emails to me and just plain read it wrong, he was talking of Elan's in S.A. not cars he owns. see the link
http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7110

The 22 number (i'm guessing here) to be able to tell at a glance which mold set a part has come from. I figured at one time 14 mold sections would be needed to lay up a S1/S2 body and another 27 for the rest of the doors, boot, bonnet, headlamp buckets, bumpers/fenders. So if you had 3 complete sets (another guess) for the S1 bodys then you would need to keep some identifing marks on the molds just to keep track of things that were a matched set.
The hex imprints into the body were to may have been something that Bourne plastics did, I don't know when lotus took production away from them but body 3569 26/4020 doesnt have them and I don't think that 3691 26/4045 has them either. I have seen them before, and I don't remember where.

Hi Cab

Yes it does

Hi all
I have attached the excel sheet sorted by body numbers, For all you Early Elan lovers out there please feel free to copy and use as you wish. It has taken me awhile to find and enter the data, I really wish I had more (like the pages with 39 Elans per page that were sent to folks when they asked Lotus for there cars particular history) for the Early S1 and S2 Elans. I think this could/may/might help explain the big gap and if not its just fun to look at.

Hi Gary,
I don't think my car ever had a Bourne plate (well not when I got it anyway) may be Bourne were not doing the body or they were integrating the number into the mold by the time the S2 was introduced ?? there used to be a body number on the bulkhead imprinted in the fibreglass but an over enthusiastic helper rubbed it off during a rebuild........doh!
Here is a reply from Lotus to a previous owner of my car confirming the model and month of manufacture which you may find interesting.
Regards Brian

Hi Brian
Well maybe one of the other S1 or S2 folks that has asked for info on there Elans will read this and you can finally get a body number. I guess none of this is too important but its cold, rainy and I am an out of work ex computer support person. I have been doing this type of thing and its keeps me busy until the weather improves then I can get back to working on my Elites, Elans, and LoCort.

Gary

Gary. You wrote
"Anyone else following along on this discussion I am trying to get a few more body numbers to go with their respective chassis numbers used in the excel spread"

My Bourne tag number is 260135 and the chassis number is 260146.

This page is a sample of what I am looking for, some folk asked Lotus archives and were sent the whole page I believe.

Gary