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New member but an old Elan + 2 S130/5 owner
Posted:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 10:42 amby Steve Plus 2
Bought my first Lotus in 1975 - The is was a secondhand Elan + 2 S130/5 and I still have it.
The first owner was JCL Marine (Colin Chapman's boat-building business) and the old green logbook has Colin Chapman's signature.
I subsequently owned, from new, a Lotus Eclat (1979) and then a Lotus Excel (1984) but both have long gone. However, I have kept the +2 and I am about to restore it to get it back on the road. My son caught the Lotus bug and bought an Exige and then an Evora. No doubt I will be calling on all of the forum's members, to get advice during the restoration of the +2.
Re: New member but an old Elan + 2 S130/5 owner
Posted:
Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:59 pmby Quart Meg Miles
Welcone Steve and what a historic car and logbook!
How long has it been off the road and did you preserve it first? Toughen up your left leg, you'll need it to operate the clutch; I had one for four years and it was fantastic to drive, but you know that.
Re: New member but an old Elan + 2 S130/5 owner
Posted:
Sat Aug 21, 2021 2:51 amby The Veg
Welcome Steve!
Re: New member but an old Elan + 2 S130/5 owner
Posted:
Sat Aug 21, 2021 4:39 amby Mazzini
Welcome!
Re: New member but an old Elan + 2 S130/5 owner
Posted:
Sat Aug 21, 2021 8:05 pmby Donels
Wow. What a brilliant car to own. I guess you’re going to restore back to how Colin had it. A real collectors item.
Re: New member but an old Elan + 2 S130/5 owner
Posted:
Sat Aug 21, 2021 9:37 pmby Steve Plus 2
Yes, I would like to restore it to "as new" condition as possible. Unfortunately, although it has been stored in a dry and warm garage all these years (34 years), I did not really prepare it for storage. It was always going to be driven "next week"! I guess there will be piston ring issues and lots of perished rubber. To be truthful, it is only a house move that has finally made me move all the boxes in front of it and re-sparked my enthusiasm to get the project back going. The tyres that have done less than 1000 miles look extremely sad.
The history of the car of course makes it special but I just want to get it going again. I recall having the "Lotacone" rear upper suspension mounts failing (the rubber to metal bonding parting company). At the time there was a shortage of these as spare parts and the original manufacturer (Metlastic in Leicester) would only make more if the batch quantity was sufficient. I hope that time hasn't made these fail again!
I think I have an interesting time ahead.
Steve