Thought for the day

[JonB]

Good evening chaps (and chapesses)!


Since buying it last November, I have spent nearly every weekend underneath the car, and the body has accumulated grease and grime. It started to look a bit tatty, and because this weekend I can't really do much to it (it's all ready to go to Spyder in a couple of days) and I had some time, I decided to wash and polish it. I ended up washing it, claybaring it, washing it a second time, drying it with a chamois and polishing it with some very expensive polish.

Mine doesn't have perfect paintwork. However, it sure does scrub up well.

I thought I'd share some pictures with you, as a reminder that, although you may be up to your elbows in grease, rust, tatty trim and all the other nastiness that classic car ownership entails, somewhere at the end of the tunnel is a beautiful car waiting to be discovered..

Cheers
JonB

[JonB]

[JonB]

[Bud English]

Great looking three wheeler, soon to be running on all four, Jon!
It does clean up well. Washing and waxing can be very therapeutic in taxing times. Clay bars do work wonders.

[SENC]

Looking good, JonB! Wish mine cleaned up so nicely!

[The Veg]

Beautiful!

I'm envious; mine would need a respray to look so good!

[JonB]

Thanks all!

When I took those pictures (and the other 50 or so that I didn't post), I was trying to capture the beguiling shape of the thing. The Plus 2 has some really interesting curves and if you catch the light just right, you can see them. For example, If you sight along the side of the car from the rear, you can make out the subtle continuation of the wheel arch (fender?) ridge, all the way to the boot. The problem with this is that the mirrors get in the way...

Another part of the car that is especially dramatic is the look of the front wheel arch and ridge viewed side on. It's very sporty looking and makes the car appear squat, like it's hugging the road. I think this is due to the very short distance between the ridge and the top of the wheel arch., The front of the car in general (viewed at an oblique angle) looks very "Batman" to me, with the swooping bonnet line and wheel arch ridges.

If anything lets the car down a little, I would say it is the headlight pod design. When the lights are off, the car has a sort of "kit car" look when seen front-on:

Things don't improve that much with the pods up. At least it has a friendly, non aggressive looking face.

I also think the boot could benefit from having some sharper lines.

The curved sides of the rear are somewhat at odds with the shoulders on the front. But I'm nitpicking here. Despite all the problems I'm having to deal with, I do love the car and want to continue improving it. Spending the time washing and polishing it is a way of reaffirming that sentiment - and it's also a way of giving me an aching back!

Oh, but look at the state of those bumpers. Dreadful. They grew rust spots over winter and now need to be replaced or re-chromed. The wheels, too, which were reconditioned, have suffered. There are black spots appearing on the alloy parts. I think the lacquer that was applied was way too thin. Hopefully I can polish it all off and respray. This is pending satisfactory completion of the suspension overhaul, and the restoration of proper handling characteristics...

[RichC]

of course its a magnificent car to own and look at !
Your pride and joy no doubt ...
BUT it's even greater to be on the inside looking out driving the thing..

[RichC]

flat out castle combe last year...

lotus270517-595.jpg (38.6 KiB) Viewed 1392 times

[JonB]

It's not my pride and joy yet. Too much pending work to be done. And as for driving it, I'd agree if it handled properly, the gearshift and clutch were better, and the steering column bushes and mounts done. Oh, and the oil leaks, water leaks, "only just working" electrics, uncomfortable seats, saggy doors, etc etc. That's before I mentioned swapping the dash out. Oh, and overhauling the heater!

It's a hobby at the moment. Quite an expensive one, but I started this thread to remind myself (and others?) why I am doing it.

[JonB]

flat out castle combe last year...

Nice.

But hang on, you should be on opposite lock, drifting round, surely?

[Spyder fan]

flat out castle combe last year...

Nice.

But hang on, you should be on opposite lock, drifting round, surely?

Rich was driving fast enough to unsettle most 1960's/70's cars, but on a dry track It's actually quite difficult to provoke a +2 into the sort of oversteer that would require opposite lock. I have managed to do it in the wet, and it's great fun because the car is so predictable. I must add I have only ever got the car sideways on a track, never on a public road.

Your Roman Purple +2 does look splendid when polished up, hopefully a very good reason for you to persevere.

Here's mine at the NEC last November, highly polished, but maybe a bit dusty with all the footfall.

[JonB]

Hi Alan

Gosh, that looks pretty buff!

I'm not sure mine is robust enough to sling round a track. Yet!

You're right about the paintwork, and I went out this afternoon to have a little potter about with a polishing cloth. Thought I'd clean the inside of the windows too. It's all long overdue. The trick with mine is to try and ignore all the tiny paint blemishes. Not easy when you're polishing it.

It looks like the car had a blow over. There's evidence of its former colour (marine blue?). It's a funny thing though. Not bad enough to warrant a full on "back to gel coat" respray, but not good enough to be able to forget about it.

Fortunately there are many other distractions to keep me busy.

[Spyder fan]

Jon,
My car is paint on paint on paint. It?s original colour is French Blue, I say is rather than was because if you sand through the layers you will come upon the original.
It was badly resprayed Royal Blue when I bought it in 2004 and I resprayed it again within 6 months of purchase. I repaired most of the stress fractures using Miles Wilkins book as a reference, but couldn?t see the point of removing all the paint as so much of it was in good condition. Repairs, high build primer, base coat and 2k lacquer made the car look really good for over 10 years, 2 years ago I started renovating areas that were showing signs of wear and tear, mostly the bonnet and boot lid, the car would originally have a power bulge bonnet, but I fitted a flat bonnet donated by a forum member (elaninthefrorest) that came from an early car that I worked on until it looked good, then swapped keeping the original meaning to repair and reinstate at some stage.

I?m very critical of paint finish and would score my car as 7 out of 10. My S4 is a 9, I have never seen a 10 out of 10 Elan, maybe a 9.25......

[RichC]

flat out castle combe last year...

Nice.

But hang on, you should be on opposite lock, drifting round, surely?

that's doing well over a ton on the long right hand bend which is after the start/ finish line .
not even on the 'esses' could you fling the back out , there's just no weight to do it with.....
I forget the name of the castle combe circuit driver who took me round at the beginning of last year's lotus track day ( charming senior citizen french sounding surname, someone must know his name !...), but he was berating me for flicking the steeringwheel like i was in a gokart trying to get the back out going thru the 'esses '.... told me to smooth out my movements , which i did .