ELan S2 Cristopher Neil Convertable

[DE1]

Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum and in the lucky position of being in the Market for a good Classic car, an Elan being one of my desirable choices.

There's a lovely White Elan S2 convertable for sale on Pistonheads and listed on this forum for sale section !

Does anyone know this car, I'm interested in any comments / opinions anyone may have !

Is it expensive?

Is the Hood reliable / usable on these converted cars, I live up north where rains always a threat !

Any comments please !

[paddy]

The S1/S2 hoods are primitive but when up they are taut and tolerate high speed driving quite well. The shortcomings, relative to the later S3/S4 hoods, are that they take a lot longer to raise/lower, they take up space in the boot, and they aren't as watertight as the later ones. Having said that, with practise they can be put up quite quickly in an emergency, and on my car I have more water leaking in through other routes (eg the leading edge of the doors) as I do through the hood.

If the rain is only light I tend to keep driving because if you keep moving it all goes over the top, and only raise the hood when it's really wet. I don't use it as a daily driver when it's wet and I think it would be a bit of a pain.

The upside is that you can a much cleaner and IMO prettier car with the hood down.

Paddy

[robcall]

I think he's discussing this one Paddy!
elan-for-sale-f2/elan-cabriolet-1968-for-sale-t18513.html

[richgilb]

I think the +2 converted is the prettiest Elan of all.....I would check past threads for concerns from perhaps one or two owners that, once converted, it doesn't handle quite as well.

Rich

[paddy]

I think he's discussing this one Paddy!
elan-for-sale-f2/elan-cabriolet-1968-for-sale-t18513.html

In that case ignore everything I said

[gordont]

Hi

As a daily driver of a S2 elan all this talk of trouble with roofs, flapping, leaking etc is a storm in a tea cup. I have a brand new hood and well worth the investment no leaks at all from the roof though like Paddy I get more leaks around the leading edge of the door.

Mid winter here in Sydney Australia and 11 degrees today and with the heater on an a jacket it is fine; having said that I used to own a PRB clubman (like a lotus seven) as a daily driver with NO roof so an elan is a luxury.

Gordon

[jimj]

Midsummer here in Derbyshire, 11 degrees and with the heater on and a jacket you still get soaked.
The +2 convertable looks excellent and not an unreasonable price, VERY pretty.
Jim

[dusty]

Very Pretty with the roof down



Not so nice with the roof up though

[elansprint71]

I would like to see how the hood arrangement works; why did the advert not show this?

[twincamman]

it is one lovely car --BUY IT QUICK -------ed

[kstrutt11]

Ive got one,

I converted mine myself using CN parts, the hood is not the easiest in the world to use but it's not to bad either and it seems preety waterproof (it's out in a thunderstorn here at work at the moment). Basically you erect the frame, spread the hoood over it, slide it under the front rail and push in 2 poppers, then you just push on 20 or so lift the dot fastners around the rear and push the rear hoop up from inside to tension it, all takes a minute or so.

I first converted mine as per the CN and found the scuttle shake very poor, I added a strengthening frame behind the dash (links top door hinges to tunnel) and closed in and foam filled some open sections, it's now pretty good and you can only get shake on the roughest roads, handling seems pretty much unchanged.

Kevin