New member looking for advice

[vincereynard]

As a fairly new +2s 130/4 owner in W London area I'm following this thread with a degree of interest.

As such, here's an interesting option for you guys to mull over. For auction is this nice looking car, with some pedigree which might make it a smarter investment and worth pushing the budget that little more...

http://www.historics.co.uk/buying/aucti ... plus2.aspx

Only available if you can drive like Ronnie?

[Sea Ranch]

Wickey, I do hope you don't live to regret passing up that car. The purple roof aside (perhaps the easiest colour change that you could ask for in a Plus 2 if you ever grow weary of it), the car and owner present a very unusual opportunity.

The gentleman was a poster here (till some trolls digusted him and chased him away). A lifetime of experience in the British motor industry and a very helpful chap indeed. Find the money if you can. Custom interior, too, kept quite stock in appearance, I believe, and perhaps done in (real) leather. Very nice car. Especially for someone who is going to do no repair/maintenance of his own.

Randy

[Tournesol]

I was in touch with the owner of the purple roof with the PLUS2 private plate. He was a huge help and wrote long detailed emails to me, even organizing for a friend of his to go see one car I had in mind. Glad he did as the car was a total wreck but cleverly advertised.
Never seen his car rather than on pictures but it looked pretty good! The way I see it he's a true genuine car fanatic and some kind of perfectionist. Could well be worth stretching that ?15K budget a bit or striking some form of a deal....
Wishing you all good luck with the search!

PS: not related to the seller in any other ways than the exchange of emails when I was looking to buy mine.

Randy how's your rebuild going?

[Sea Ranch]

Rebuild is going great. Body shell done (but for a little more refitting to front bumper), waiting for paint. About 150 metal parts painted in black epoxy paint. Chassis awaiting. Thanks for asking

Now back to regular programming . . .

[trw99]

Guy

https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/197 ... elan-130-5

I have history on this car - all is not as it seems, which is not to say that it is not a sound car, but it would fit your budget, if it goes within the Euro estimated range.

Tim

[GuyC]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your consideration, I've sent you a PM.

Cheers,

Guy

[Robbie693]

Guy

https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/197 ... elan-130-5

I have history on this car - all is not as it seems, which is not to say that it is not a sound car, but it would fit your budget, if it goes within the Euro estimated range.

Tim

Nice car, even got what looks like the original carpet. Haven't got access to my books but, were they making 5 speeds in 1971? Seems to be a lot of zeros in the unit number...

Robbie

[trw99]

No Robbie, the 5 speed gearbox was not announced until the October 1972 Motor Show.

This car was a 1970 +2S that was refreshed by the factory and left Hethel for the first time in August 1971 as a Plus 2S130 - with a 4 speed box.

VINs with 710000 as the first six digits denote refreshed cars and applies to both Elans and Plus 2s. This is something we are only now beginning to understand. I should perhaps elaborate in another thread.

Tim

[Robbie693]

Thanks Tim, now you've piqued my interest! Never knew about factory refreshed cars, please do elaborate.

Robbie

[Robbie693]

Ah - just seen the elaboration. Must remember to check before typing

[Rich135]

All you guys still looking for an Elan +2, this is an interesting ad. Needs a chassis, but a very good price at ?9k http://classifieds.seloc.org/ads/99-lot ... an-2s1305/
No connection to the seller, etc etc, but I wish I had his garage/warehouse!!!

[Rich135]

I've just realised this is the same car discussed on our For Sale section.

[billwill]

Ah - just seen the elaboration. Must remember to check before typing

Can someone please post a cross link to that elaboration; I can't find it.

[GuyC]

Hello All,

Thought I'd update this thread, I bought a car! So many thanks to everyone for your help. I've tried to upload a couple of photos, although not sure if has worked!

After much reading here I went with the assumption that if the bodywork, engine and chassis were good then everything else shouldn't be too bad. Unfortunately it didn't pan out exactly like that and it's needed a fair bit of work!

So this one had good bodywork, recent engine rebuild, chassis seemed OK and loads of recent receipted work, so I took it to a Lotus 'specialist' for an on-ramp inspection, they noticed the dampers were leaking and a few other minor things, so I went for it. However, after driving it thoroughly the first weekend, it was clear that the suspension was absolutely way off.

So I looked at some pictures of other cars and mine to just cross check everything and it transpired the previous owner didn't have an ARB fitted!! Anyway, new springs, dampers, tyres, wheel bearings, ARB, clutch master / slave cylinder and an engine tune up later I think I'm nearly there! It has certainly been a good learning experience.

Shortlist of problems is now:

1) Rubbing noise from rear when accelerating around a right hand bend (more common up a hill)
2) Rear vibration at 70mph most likely relating to a steel wheel being slightly out of shape
3) Slight steering wheel play, and slight movement in the n/s rack.


Below is a video of the Elan on a rolling road today, it made 114bhp @ 5500rpm, with more still to go if he went to a higher RPM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd45u0Z6LrY&feature=youtu.be

One thing the dyno chap pointed out was the transmission losses from the engine to the wheels was incredibly high, he said he would expect about 30-32bhp loss for a solid axle classic, but the Elan was around 41bhp loss. Anyone have any experience if this is normal? The wheels rotate freely as they can with rotoflexes, so I'm guessing there are a lot of additional losses through the rotoflex couplings?

Cheers,

Guy

[SprogBarnes]

That's a lovely looking car. Nice buy!
Watched your video with interest, that was seriously put the car through its paces. What speed did that get up to if they measure that?
What did you end up paying for the car and the repair work, if you don't mind me asking?
I bought a plus 2S 130 in August last year and am West London based. It would be good to compare notes as my purchase is quite a tale!
Cheers and thanks for sharing.
Pete