What did you do to your Lotus today...

[Hawksfield]

Hi Quart Meg Miles

40k on an engine that has now done 102720 miles. Well pleased with QED work which was a full service on my head, new valves, guides, seats, special springs, some remedial work on two new followers +0.0005".
Shimmed valves.

Its a pity they do not do any workshop machining now they were very good.

As Iam in my late seventies it should see me out

John

[Johnny America]

Hi all, small update on the 1001 jobs that I have to do to get my +2 up to scratch. Hopefully others may find this helpful.

I’ve had my +2 outside for the last week and we have had plenty of rain. I have the interior removed as part of the renovation and found the passenger side full of rain water. On investigating found the following.
1. The ‘drip seal’ above the courtesy light switch is missing on both sides - replacement needed.
2. The hole for the courtesy switch in the passenger side was mis shapen leaving a gap for water to run into.
3. Open hole in the engine bay - ditto above.
4. Rain water bypassing the door seal.

As a solution to the above
1. will replace the drip seals, I’m assuming these are simple rubber lip seals - can anyone post the approx size and a picture please.
2. Removed the switch and sealed the hole as a temp measure
3. Fitted a grommet to the hole in the engine bay.
This has stopped some of the water ingress but the final fix was the biggest improvement.
4. Removed the rubber and filled the u section that attaches the seal to the door opening with non setting butyl sealant. Then refilled the seal making sure it was pushed back tight into the corner sections. This left the seal about an inch short where it joins at the bottom of the door opening. Clearly 50 years of shrinkage. I will replace long term.

Then as a separate job, the H4 headlights aren’t great - suspect they need rewriring. I happened to have two LED H4 replacement headlights that were spare. As I believe LED’s pull nowhere the same Amps as halogen headlights I decided to give these ago.

They are simple plug and play connectors and appear to be must brighter and definitely throw a longer light on high beam. A comparison photo

I wasn’t sure I would like them before fitting but the ‘white’ light is cleaner looking than the old yellow halogens IMO.
I also like the three spots on dimmed beam.

[Baggy2]

Hi
Regarding the seal above the courtesy light switches a search on Amazon for:-

"Fafada 4 m 12 x 13 mm Rubber Door Seal Rubber Profile Car Door Edge Guard D-Shape Black"

Will take you to the seal I used and has been brilliant. Unfortunately unavailable at the moment but will give you a good starting point for your search

Regarding your LED headlights I used a 'warm white' version. The colour is obviously a matter taste but I've found the above two mods have transformed winter motoring in the +2

Cheers

Baggy

[Johnny America]

Thank you very helpful

[Quart Meg Miles]

After three weeks away I started up the Elan: switch on fuel pump, clear immobiliser, press clutch and turn key. Engine turned but didn't fire, so I tried again. Same result.

Had a think about it before realising I hadn't primed the Webers! Floored the throttle four times, as regulation, then did something more interesting for a few minutes, and it was away. Must be getting old in my old age.

This morning it did its normal double 20 mile trip to see friends, most of it on dual-carriageway and even overtook a pair of Ferraris like they were standing still. They were (actually following a lorry) but otherwise only two cars went past and they were doing 90.

[ElanDNA]

Hello
Take a post from a 150 year+ old bed made of cherry wood.
After some time on the lathe, today I have once again created a part that I have always missed.
Like everything always to my taste.

Just varnish and assemble.
Cheers Urs

[The Veg]

Hello
After some time on the lathe, today I have once again created a part that I have always missed.
Just varnish and assemble.

Wow, very cool! Show us how it looks with a finish on it!

[Lotus54]

I had no need for an ashtray (66 Elan), I was going to try to make a sunglasses holder, but couldn’t come up with a design I liked.
I had this mid-60s aviation clock (windup, with timer also) for decades. So long I cannot remember who gave it to me. I always figured I would find a good place for it someday. I need to source some nice round head screws, but this mounted it and I could see if fit. I 3D printed the mount.

[mjbeanie]

The 71 Lotus Elan Plus 2S 130 is finally on the road after 2 years of relentless restoration work.
I took "Lucy" on her first drive (since disassembly by previous owner), and drove to the annual British car show (302 cars), and had a fantastic time! (In her first return to public appearance, Lucy captured 2nd place in the Lotus Category competition.) It was a great experience.

[alan.barker]

Put "Little Lo" out in the garden for a few photos after her winter facelift, well pleased
Alan

[pharriso]

Alan, looks absolutely perfect!! Enjoy

[berni29]

Hi Guys

Fitted my minilite-alikes that were originally on a 60's/70's Alfa Junior. This is to my Spyder Zetec chassis with Sierra running gear so a 4*108 PCD. The poke is bigger on the Alfa wheels so I used spigot rings to bring them down to the Ford 63.4mm. I think the ET is about 38 on these wheels. Tyres are 175/70/14 which is the same rolling diameter as standard 165/13/82 tyres.

This seems to be giving me a track that is about 3/4" too wide at the moment, but the body is not on yet so with the suspension more compressed and at it's correct height this could increase by 1/4" I would have thought to give a track of 55" at the back and 54" at the front which would be 1" more than standard, so 1/2" a side.

I really hope that this is not too noticeable. I cannot live with the stick out wheel look that sometimes accompanies Spyder Zetec cars (due to the 22 offset wheels and not helped by 185 tyres).

Note that in the picture you can see one of the special long reach wheel nuts that I had to buy to use with the standard Sierra studs.

Love the wheels though!

All the best

Berni

[persiflage]

My recently acquired 130/5 has been filling the garage and house with petrol fumes. The previous owners had the vent system modified by one of the UK major Elan/+2 specialists.
I’ve just confirmed that the mod has been done incorrectly and the tank was still venting to atmosphere from two points … The original right hand vent and the modified fuel filler neck which the right hand vent was supposed to be connected to.
If in doubt always check.
Looking forward to not having to leave the garage door open 16hrs a day. Simple pleasures eh?

[mark030358]

Well I took Mr Black to France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

Not an Elan granted, but another fine Lotus...

cheers
Mark

[ElanDNA]

Hello
After some time on the lathe, today I have once again created a part that I have always missed.
Just varnish and assemble.

Wow, very cool! Show us how it looks with a finish on it!

Fitted yesterday, tested today, feels good
Not the best photo
Urs