ELAN PLUS 2S130 Restoration, Before and After

[MACCA.GLM]

Hi

I know what you've gone through.i bought a plus 2s thirty odd years ago it had a good paint job but oh dear what a mess .I remember the wiring was a nightmare.the rest was a total rebuild, New chassis driveline steering engine etc etc. Some of the engineering repairs were atrocius.

Good to know there are good people out there keeping the Marc alive

well done

G

[mjbeanie]

Hello and Happy New Year everyone,

Well after 4 years the Lotus took its first self-powered drive on December 30th. While there is still a fair amount to complete, I had hoped we would complete a power-assurance run, and that it would actually be operational before the end of the year. The goal was simply set for a car that runs, stops, and steers, after this "near total restoration". (and changes gears..lol)

...Still need to add some windshields, fresh CV joints, a headliner, trim, door panels, functional electric windows, and a working headlamp deployment mechanism. But that is what 2024 will be used for.

Anyway it ran very well up and down my small street. It was really exciting and felt like we had just landed on the moon. The car sounded great, no leaks, pressures and temps nominal, and the car was surprisingly fast! However, it was a short trip, as the old Rotoflex looked close to an RUD, "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly."
(ref. SpaceX) A happy, healthy New Year to everyone!

Here are some overall restoration before and after shots.
That's one small step for man....

Cheers
Mike

[h20hamelan]

nice work!

it seems you have used some good parts, particular interest in the brake (not politically correct) master cylinder, and brake rotors. Guessing GT6 stuff?

Was there other N American sourced bits, with part numbers if its not inconvenient please.

[MACCA.GLM]

Looks fab
Enjoy
G

[pharriso]

Congratulations, looks great!!

[stugilmour]

Looking great! No updates on my headliner replacement project yet.

[Stagmatt]

Mike, I appreciate your progress and love seeing another Plus 2 resurrected! Just two questions, having studied your photos closer and after "dry-planning" my own project:
- will you leave the brake servos off? Interested in your comments;
- there seems to be some electrical gizmo on top of the pedal box -??

My car looks in better nick than yours when you got it:

So shouldn´t be too difficult. Inbetween jobs I am leisurely collecting all the bits which are wrong on this car. Main headache is the need for a complete bare-body respray. It looks like you are nearing the windscreen bonding job and I am most interested in this!

Wishing all a Healthy New Year -
Matthias

[Richardsona39]

Looks great Mike! Like it in the red

[Johnny America]

Great effort and a real inspiration to the rest of us.

Well done.

[mjbeanie]

Mike, I appreciate your progress and love seeing another Plus 2 resurrected! Just two questions, having studied your photos closer and after "dry-planning" my own project:
- will you leave the brake servos off? Interested in your comments;
- there seems to be some electrical gizmo on top of the pedal box -??

My car looks in better nick than yours when you got it:

AERP3334-1.jpg

AERP3340.JPG

So shouldn´t be too difficult. Inbetween jobs I am leisurely collecting all the bits which are wrong on this car. Main headache is the need for a complete bare-body respray. It looks like you are nearing the windscreen bonding job and I am most interested in this!

Wishing all a Healthy New Year -
Matthias

Hello Matthias,

Thanks for your email. I'd be happy to answer your questions.
Yes, the brake servos are gone and they are not missed at all. The master cylinder was overhauled at White Post restorations since it is no longer available. New calipers, pads, and front brake lines installed. Banjo fittings were eliminated as well. Spent considerable time on the hydraulics, many setbacks -it was quite painful, but it now brakes really well.

There is a Bosch Voltage Regulator on the pedal box linked to the alternator. I have seen this arrangement once before, but it is not very common. The alternator was installed when I got the car, however during the replacement of the engine bay wiring, there were some wiring modifications needed.

[mjbeanie]

nice work!

it seems you have used some good parts, particular interest in the brake (not politically correct) master cylinder, and brake rotors. Guessing GT6 stuff?

Was there other N American sourced bits, with part numbers if its not inconvenient please.

Yes,spot on. Those were GT6 discs from Moss motors. Much of the suspension is Triumph stuff. British Parts Northwest was also used a source. The Master cylinder was sleeved at White post restorations, and I replaced the broken reservoir with a Girling OEM replacement from RD enterprises. I generally used Dave Bean, and RD enterprises in the US, and SJS sportscars in the UK for the trickier hard to find stuff. Seat belts were refurbished in the UK as well. Some stuff was simply unavailable, such as a nice replacement suite of dash rocker switches similar to Lotus OEM. That would have been really nice. However, that is an original Lotus OEM gear shift knob from the 1970's which made my day. Some more dash before/after pix below.

[The Veg]

Congrats Mike! That first drive after so much work is always a thrill!

[mjbeanie]

Hello fellow Lotus fans. Just another update to my last update, posted at the end of 2023;

"Still need to add some windshields, CV joints (DONE), a headliner, trim (DONE), door panels (DONE), functional electric windows (DONE), and a working (electric) headlamp deployment mechanism."(DONE)

Basically down to two big items left. Headliner installation, followed by the windscreen installation. Then its just performance testing and new tires. Here's the "before/after on the CV joints, Rear wishbone, Differential torque rod bush replacement, and rear handbrake cable replacement (not pictured.)

I love it when a plan comes together. (-H. Smith)
Cheers!
Mike

[mjbeanie]

Here's the electric light conversion kit installation effort (sourced from Spyder motorcars.) Took some serious time to sort the hardware installation for proper travel, and sort the pod mounting, and control linkage for full smooth operation. It took many hours of adjustments, and then came more adjustments. This was followed additional performance testing, and then came the final adjustments. Its finally over-I just hope I can adjust.

At the end of the day, this mod is very cool and fun. Photo 1, The original vacuum pod. Photo 2, the installed drive system. Photo 3. Better access thru the left front headlamp opening, than grill opening. Photo 4.The functional test result. (A small minimal pull switch was added to the lower valence next to the fog/spot light rocker switches to control the operation.)

Cheers, stay tuned for more after these messages..

[The Veg]

I was about to ask what that strange blue bracket on your car was when I realised what angle the pictures were taken from.

But nice work on both jobs!

I'm somewhat surprised though that the headlight adjustment took so long. When I did this install on my car the geometry of the linkage was at least 90% right on the first try and only required a few minutes of additional fettling to get it just right. I shudder to think that I merely got really lucky with it.