What is my body/chassis number?

[berni29]

Hi There

I have a identity plate for my newly acquired (today hurrah!) Lotus Elan +2 and on the plate it has the number 0991. However on the roof in black pen is 0771. Both could be correct for the age of the car which is 08/1968 registered.

I have googled this but could find nothing that helped me much.

How can I tell?

Many thanks

Berni

[The Veg]

Body number and chassis number rarely correspond, as I understand from reading this forum for years. Don't worry about it.

[Quart Meg Miles]

'0991' would have aligned with a sub-frame ("chassis") number, if enscribed, but the body would have been numbered in a different factory line while it was being assembled and later mated with a chassis before a plate was engraved.

[berni29]

Hi Guys

Thank you very much for explaining! I shall register the car as 0919 (thats actually what the plate says) on the elan register......

Tks again

Berni

[trw99]

Berni, I attach an article I wrote on VIN, Unit, Body, Engine and Chassis numbers on all Elans for Club Lotus News magazine, some years ago.

Your car was invoiced by the factory on 17th October 1968 and originally had Engine No H16918 fitted, which is the rare Super SE Weber, for the domestic market. pumping out 123 bhp. Only 227 such engines were fitted to the +2.

Please note that the number 0991 is the car's Unit No, the only key identifier used on all Elans.

Tim

[berni29]

Hi Tim

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide that information.

Sadly the car does not have it's original engine, and came with a rebuilt but lightly assembled engine with a 701M "L" block. I can see that it has new QED pistons marked "STD" so I am guessing it has not had a rebore. Whether it does in fact need one I do not know yet! I am told that it is all OK, but the PO did not actually do the work himself, he acquired the engine from someone he knows well. He was going to turn it into a race engine, but had an easier alternative so went that route. I can see that the cams and followers are new, it will be interesting to investigate the bottom end when I strip it before assessment and reassembly. I was told that it looks new also. I will do a thread on the engine over on the engine forum when the time comes.

Many thanks again

Berni

[sprintsoft]

Hi Bernie,

Let's have a look at it then! Can you post some pics of the new arrival?

Best,
Iain

[SGO 2F]

The Unit Number/VIN of your car is: 50/0199 which was assigned to the sub-frame at the beginning, but because computers cannot handle a "/" in a file identifier, for recording purposes, the slash becomes a "1", thus I expect your VIN would become "5010199". That's the way both my +2s are registered both here in Minnesota and previously in Colorado.

As was noted above, the Body Number was assigned, again at the beginning of the build process. The various pieces e.g., bonnet, doors, boot lid, interior items, glove box, marked so they will there when needed during the assembly process. The roof is also marked since it was formed separately and attached to the body at a later date.

Hope you will enjoy your +2 as much as the rest of us do.

Cheers

[Quart Meg Miles]

A general comment on postings: don't people read what they've written?

I do and still make mistakes (and often am incorrect in what I post) but some people's are indecipherable. Above we have three variations of the plate number!

Richard's analysis is undoubtedly correct for USA and in UK they just ignore the obliques and spaces (and differences of 1 and I, 0 and O etc), so my 'registered' number is CHN0264088 and the MoT (Annual Test) tester is required to read it off the plate. Recently one refused to accept my interpretation of the worn characters even though he'd tested the car three times already and I had to scratch it on again, which I considered to be falsification.

[berni29]

Hi Bernie,

Let's have a look at it then! Can you post some pics of the new arrival?

Best,
Iain

Here we go! The interior is a disaster area, but its all going in any case........Apart from the dash perhaps......

It used to be raced so it has some modifications.

I'm really looking forwards to making her my own!

Berni