Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Early last month I contacted a company called Classical Dash. Their details were given to me by Susan Miller who didn't have an early Plus 2 dash in stock and said I might as well go direct to them.
I emailed an enquiry and next day I was contacted by the owner who said if I emailed an order, early Plus 2 dashboards would be made the following week and payment would have to be by bank transfer or PayPal. The next week I phoned to confirm they received my order and the owner confirmed. No payment was taken and no contact was received. Now over a month later, I still have received no contact and can only assume they don't need my business. Maybe a sign of the times - business is good and they don't give a s**t.
I was looking at a dash for sale on fleabay and would have bid, but the final figure it reached was ?30 more than a new one from Paul Matty (including vat)
Sometimes I just wonder what it's all about!!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111505459777? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Hi Kev

I too phoned classical dash for a plus 2 order - the guy was affable enough on the phone. He told me that they had non in stock and it would be a 5-6 week wait. I asked him if he wanted me to pay and he said no need, if I didn't end up buying it someone else would (maybe on ebay ).

That ebay price is astonishing I was watching it out of interest too!!

Cheers
Gareth

I dont think thats a bad price really!
Maybe its just me - used to paying vastly inflated rates for ford escort bits!
Andy.

Kev,

My car is an S4 Elan.

I bought a new dash from Sue a few years ago.

I went for a new dash as this was cheaper than having the existing dash repaired and re polished. This was a mistake, for although the new dash looks splendid it was not the same as the original. All the holes for instruments were too large, as were the holes for the rocker switches and the ignition switch. The plywood that the dash was made from was thinner than the original, so that all the rocker switches protruded into the car further than they should. By the time I had corrected all these detail errors I was of the opinion that repair and repolish would have been better value.

I think the basic problem with my dash was that it was copied from a template that had been used many times. Over time the template has worn, resulting in a poor fit.

Richard Hawkins

SJ Sportscars sell them

DASH BOARD +2 EARLY SJ050B0028 EACH 179.00 +VAT

Thanks all for the replies.
SJ, Matty and Classical Dash are all within about ?5 of each other but is the quality the same?
Richard's refurb seems a good option but probably costly and my dash is quite 'worn'.
I've found LB15/76 on the back in two places so is this already a replacement part or original? By some of the wiring twisted together and bound with masking tape I know its been out before maybe a few times in its 46 years so a new loom is essential. I'm also going to fit new wiper wheelboxes as I don't fancy diving behind the dash in future.
All good fun and amazingly interesting, but that's just the masochist in me coming out
Kev.

and I hope you're going to refurb the heater box/flaps/motor?

John

John,
Yes I've re-trimmed the heater flap but just ran the motor which seemed fine. I just know you're going to advise inspecting the motor and I suppose this would be prudent. I stripped the wiper motor right down and it was all ok but maybe I'm getting lazy
I promise to inspect it this weekend.
Kev.

Kev, I just made sure to run / inspect and lubricate the heater motor. Do take a close look at the mounting of the speed resistor; I had a bit of a voltage potential on the heater box which was not apparent at first.

When installing the new loom I added several modern connector plugs which makes dash removal much easier. I think my hope was something like " if I do this, the dash will never have to be removed again....". Turns out I have had the dash out a few time for various issues anyway, but a bit easier with the connectors.

Can't really comment on the particulars of each UK offering (I got mine from a US supplier) but a few things to consider or look over listed below. Wonder if they all use the same supplier anyway?

• Is the dash completely lettered?
• Correct for my model?
• Is the white lettering sealed in the urethane finish or just on top of the last coat?
• Are the glove box hinges included? Does the glove box door come mounted?
• Is the glove box door matched to the surrounding veneer?
• Do the switch holes (assuming the square type) have the required extra material attached to the back of the dash so they mount flush on the face side?
• Are there embedded metal tubes at the mounting holes to keep the screws from digging into the dash finish?
• Can the dash be ordered with or without a radio cut-out? A cut-out with a matched insert?
• Can the radio cut-out size be ordered in a DIN size (180 x 50 mm)? I think the stock size is close, but I had a bit of fiddling to mount a DIN radio insert in my replacement.

HTH

Stu

Stu

"extra material attached"...surely you mean removed?

John

Thanks Stu,
Could you tell me where the speed resistor is? I take it that it's attached to the heater box side but it only looks like a raised ledge with two connectors. Any tips on how to check it? I have a multimeter but I'm no expert
All the best,
Kev.

john.p.clegg wrote:Stu

"extra material attached"...surely you mean removed?

John

The flat switches may require shimming at the mounting screws to be properly flush on the dash face. Can't recall the thickness on mine, about 1/16" or 1/8" IIRC. I think someone mentioned in an earlier thread being disappointed with their switch fit because of this issue; not sure who's dash it was. My Prestige Autowood dash had the shimming all attached prior to the urethane coating, and the seller mentioned this as a feature when I was considering getting the dash. I suppose it also depends on the plywood thickness used, so more than one way to solve the issue.

John, isn't your car an early model with the rat tail type switches? Do they need drilling at the back to fit?

HTH

Stu

KevJ+2 wrote:Thanks Stu,
Could you tell me where the speed resistor is? I take it that it's attached to the heater box side but it only looks like a raised ledge with two connectors. Any tips on how to check it? I have a multimeter but I'm no expert
All the best,
Kev.

Yes, I thought I recalled mine mounted on the left side of the heater box on my LHD car, but looking the the thread below maybe on the top front of the heater box?.

Basically the resistor is in series with the fan motor when on the slow speed. The high speed wire from the switch connects to the 'output' end of the resistor so that it is effectively out of the circuit when switch is in the high speed position. Looking at the thread again it references different wiring configurations for the switch / resistor (hot side or ground side) over the model run; had forgotten that detail.

Issue on mine was the mounting screws or the resistor wire was contacting the metal heater box. This put a phantom voltage potential in the heater box. I don't think it caused a specific electrical issue in the car as the heater box is electrically isolated from the frame / ground.

To check for the issue either (with the box out of the car) use the ohm meter to make sure the resistor is electrically isolated from the heater box, or with the box installed and wired check with the voltmeter from the heater box to a known good ground. There should be no voltage in any of the fan switch positions. I had to use insulating material to correctly mount the resistor; might have just been removed without noticing when I took things apart.

This thread shows a picture of the resistor

lotus-twincam-f39/heater-box-t21546.html#p128250

HTH

Stu

Update -
Ordered a new dash, loom & bits from Mattys on Friday for Tuesday delivery, my only free day at home.
No payment taken - too busy. No phone call on Saturday. Monday - I phoned to give card details - apologies - too busy, phone me later to take payment. Tuesday pm (my requested delivery date) I'm told it's all packaged up and ready to send - oh and that will be ?45 delivery
So I spent the weekend thinking of doing the damn thing up myself by re-veneering and varnishing it myself.
Even if I cock it up completely, I couldn't feel any more pi**ed off than I do right now.
Now I know there's going to be loads of people saying how unusual this is from Mattys - maybe so, but I'm not talking about a screw or a switch here, this was an order of about ?350.
Sorry, but not good enough.
Kev.

Salut Kev

I got one made up 3 years ago from Margaret Cuthbert (never sussed if it was a he or a she).

Dash made to order - send in a photo of old dash and any wanted changes. He/she said the font was slightly different - a bit thinner but the same height - and sealed with varnish. It came well packed and looked the biz. I have to admit I never actually fitted it as I sold the car on with it. However, given the price and quality, I would go to him/her again. ?120 plus ?23 delivery to France (in 2011). Two months wait, if I remember - but I wasn't in a hurry.

PM me if you want his/her contact details.

@+

Vernon