40 year wait, 1969 S4

[pchilberg]

More than 40 years ago, and before I had my license, a friend of my father gave me my first ride on a track, around Willow Springs raceway in his yellow Elan. Even though it was just a parade lap, I was hooked so an Elan was the first car to end up on my "must have" list. Family life and other things kept this non-necessity on my wish list until now. A Series 1 XKE was probably 2nd on the list and I happened to find the right one before an Elan. I soon learned it wasn't a great "Summer in North Carolina" car, especially if I want my wife to come along. I also prefer to do mechanical work within my capabilities versus taking to the shop and the Jag needs a good bit of sorting, resulting in down-time. Wanting to have at least 1 toy I could get in at any time, that gave me another excuse to buy the Elan when the right driver-condition car showed up. I confess to taking the easy way in through BaT, but the comments by the various experts that chime in on each car make it a great way to minimize the chance of buying a bitsa or a bad car with a lot of lipstick. So far that's proven to be the case with this car, though it's running very rich and the trunk wreaks of fuel, and my guess is the fuel pump...but I'll be sure to go through the forums as I diagnose before starting a new thread in a call for help! I'm already thrilled with the resources I've found here, though that's pretty much what I would expect from my prior experiences with Lotusfolk.

[steve lyle]

Congratulations, and welcome!

[cliveyboy]

Welcome
Great to hear you finally got one after all this time.
Love the colour combination

[nmauduit]

Welcome ! excellent choice...

as for the fuel smell in the trunk, a common cause is pinhole corrosion of the fuel tank (held by 3 bolts on rubber cushions on the trunk floor). If they are small enough, they can be plugged from the outside while you source a replacement (mechanical cleanup, a bit of metal charged epoxy, covered by a layer or two of fiberglass to hold it in place - this may well last years, but a complete scrutiny of the corrosion status would still be advisable, then a coating of the inside may help prolong its use).

as for excessive richness, if it's bad it's you may want to look into it or risk being stranded by fouled plugs (make sure they are of the correct temperature for your use, too).

keep it on the road !

[Mazzini]

Belated welcome!

[pchilberg]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. I will look into the possibility of pinholes in the tank. I did discover loose hose clamps on my fuel lines at the carb after a drive late yesterday, so bad that it was dripping as I pulled in. I ran out of time to do more than tighten those so I need to go through every clamp from front to back plus any other critical bolts before driving again. The urge to drive something I had wanted for so long got the better of me so I didn’t do the safety checks I should have. It was also a strong reminder to carry an extinguisher at all times, which I had not done. That could have been bad.

[SENC]

delete duplicate

[SENC]

Welcome! I see you're in Hampstead, we need to connect - I'm in Wilmington.
Henry

[pchilberg]

Thanks Henry, that would be wonderful. I just moved from Wilmington a few months ago, trading square feet for a bigger garage and a better view when the twins went off to school. I'm learning this site though I trust I can find a way to reach you directly. I've been in the local British car club for a few years and suspect you may be as well.

[The Veg]

Welcome Pete! Looks like you've got a real beauty and I hope it exceeds your wildest dreams!

[berni29]

Hi

Looks great and congratulations. What do you think of the stripe? I have a red plus 2 arriving on Thursday of this week and are thinking it might need a white or cream stripe to break up the colour a bit.

All the best

Berni

[pchilberg]

Berni,

While the stripe and even the color were secondary to my decision to buy the car, I did like the fact that it had mild performance modifications, and now that I've had it a while, I really like the Stripes and even the roundels aren't over the top in my opinion. In this case, the green perfectly compliments the yellow as an inverted mix of the race team colors. Normally I don't gravitate towards Gold, but with your car something reminiscent of the Gold Leaf Lotus F1 cars is a consideration.

[berni29]

Hi

I also think the colour combination on your car works really well.

I had not thought of the gold as a possible stripe option but now you mention the Lotus connection it seems like a real possibility.

I have never seen a plus 2 with a gold stripe.

Thank you very much for the suggestion!

All the best

Berni

[pchilberg]

Hi

I also think the colour combination on your car works really well.

I had not thought of the gold as a possible stripe option but now you mention the Lotus connection it seems like a real possibility.

I have never seen a plus 2 with a gold stripe.

Thank you very much for the suggestion!

All the best

Berni

I don't know that I've seen it on a +2, but I've seen the combination on a few of the Elan Sprints and the gold bumper shows up frequently so there are few things to look at to decide if you like it.

[berni29]

Hi

I went trawling on the Internet and came up with this....... I like it and quite a lot less "harsh" than a white stripe against the red.......

Berni