Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

So you don't have to read the entire thread here's what I found. My 5th stock steel wheel arrived last night, and it was very original. Never been repainted, but needs to be repainted. It appears the original wheels were painted 100% semi-gloss black, and then masked and the front painted the dull or semi-gloss silver. I hope this helps to anyone restoring there car. Tough call on originality, because I prefer a more gloss almost silver metallic, rather than the dull aluminum, and have the bumpers and hardtop match.


I've seen several topics discussing this, but just want to make sure. If the steel wheels were originally painted Silver then all of them were painted semi-gloss black on the backside, is this 100% correct? I now have 5 stock steel wheels, just found the 5th on eBay advertised as a Triumph wheel for $10 BIN. Anyway I've looked at all 4 wheels I have now, and I don't see any evidence of black on the inside on any of them. True they have all been repainted and have come from 3 different sources but I'm not seeing any black if I sand them down a little. My first car didn't show black either and didn't look like they had been repainted, but I could be wrong. I'm asking because now that I have a set I want to get them painted correctly for an S1.5 and put them aside for the future.

Russ, my original steel wheels and the two extras I bought before leaving the UK were all silver inside and out. I believe that to be as they were originally.

As an aside, the Lotus aluminum wheels I bought from Dave Bean years ago were painted black on the inside, as in black everywhere except the silver spokes and beads.

Edit: Of course it's a +2 and I'm assuming they are the same. That's bit me before and maybe I should have stayed out of this.

My original 1968 Elan bolt on wheels silver inside and out.

cheers
Rohan

the +2 had a later variant like this....
the rim was chromed and the centre black......

Hi Everyone

Hope I not hijacking this thread but can anyone confirm what colour the Plus 2 alloy wheels were originally painted. I ask this because although they always appear "black" in photos, the similarly styled wheels on the Europa Special were actually a very dark metallic grey (anthracite?). I wondered if the wheels on the Plus 2 should be the same colour.

Regards
Andy

So how do we respond to this?

Originally the wheels were painted silver ("dull aluminum") on the Elan and Europa, or black on some Elan Sprints and Plus 2s (some Plus 2s had chromed rims). The backs and inside rim of all silver wheels were semi-gloss black.

Above found here:

http://www.lotuselan.net/wiki/Care_and_Repair_of_Lotus_Steel_Wheels

oops sorry....misunderstood the first question....
I thought you meant the centre.....
black on inside....silver on outside

My +2S130 Alloy wheels which have never been touched are just black, no metallic and they are on a somewhat pebbly cast surface although the splines that are unpainted are smooth Gordon Sauer

Bump to see my first post and edit.

This has prompted me to dig out my old wheels for a closer look. Yes they are silver on the outside and black on the inside! That will teach me to rely on memory - I would have sworn they were silver all over before i finally went and checked

cheers
Rohan

Both my Series 4 cars have wheels that are silver on the outside and black on the back. Well what's left of the paint on the back is black anyway!

Nigel F.

rgh0 wrote:This has prompted me to dig out my old wheels for a closer look. Yes they are silver on the outside and black on the inside! That will teach me to rely on memory - I would have sworn they were silver all over before i finally went and checked

cheers
Rohan

Embarrassed myself as well. I climbed up to where my wheels are stored and, lo and behold, all of my steel wheels are as described. That's three strikes for me. From now on I'll keep my fingers off the keyboard unless I have eyes on what's being discussed.