Hi from a newbie!

[John_3376]

Hi everyone.
I've just retired from the army, after 12 years as cartographic surveyor.
I've wanted a project for years and years but never had the permanency, space, money or time.
That doesn't mean I've not tried, and have a failed Capri and interceptor rebuild on my list of sold, not started, upset wife, lost money, still born projects to my name.

I've always wanted a +2.
A bloke in my village had one when I was a kid and I saw it a few years ago in a local garage when visiting relatives. After his death I enquired about it but it had been sold years ago.

Finding an article about spyder engineering's zetec conversions re awoke my interest in them.

So here I am

Looking for knowledge an wisdom on the car to get a reasonable idea of what's involved before diving in and buying the first car I see!
Which if my memory's correct is exactly what you should do!

Looking forward to chatting and hopefully meeting up

John

[trw99]

Hello John, from an old infanteer.

Before diving in to a project have a good look through old posts on here. You will find a good deal of information through 'time spent in reconnaissance'! There are a number of well known pitfalls to avoid. You would also do well to buy a Workshop Manual, Parts List and the Brian Buckland book for when you have a car and start working on it. Meanwhile the book by Robinshaw & Ross is a good general introduction to the Elan and +2.

Tim

[billwill]

Be sure to read this recent topic:
introducations-f46/new-member-wants-dhc-project-t29141.html

[Jason1]

Welcome John

You found the right place to start; lots of help on here.
The +2 is a beautiful car in my opinion but sadly it seems the rest of the world has started to catch on and prices have gone crazy recently.

There are a few differences on the models and a good place to look is http://www.elanregistry.org/guide.php#plus2

My preference is for the early cars as they look cleaner.

This one on Ebay looks interesting but the seller seems to have set a reserve which is possibly a bit unrealistic. I think the starting price is a good price for a car that needs total restoration.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elan-2- ... 1c35f8aa1f

Good luck on your search. Put some pics up when you find one.

Jason

[john.p.clegg]

John
Get yourself over to the Newark Auto-jumble,next one is October 6,I should be there for a few hours ( if I don't get to go to Korea to see the F1 )

John