Looking to buy a +2, what to look for?

[JonB]

Ah, so the manly tug the stick needs to get out of 5th is normal.
Still, I am going to check the clutch linkage for play and bleed the cylinder. Might get some improvement.

Here's some pictures.

[Robbie693]

Very nice, looks like a bargain.

Looks like an earlier steering wheel (Chapman signed?), original rear bumper too. Shame the metalflake has gone though!

[jimj]

I`m sure we`ve all been vicariously enjoying your quest and it looks like you`ve just dropped on a decent purchase and conveniently local too. Even a freshly restored car will throw up a few minor issues with regular use so don`t be disheartened by the odd thing.
On the doughnut front, I`ll start a new thread.
Enjoy,
Jim

[JonB]

Very nice, looks like a bargain.

Looks like an earlier steering wheel (Chapman signed?), original rear bumper too. Shame the metalflake has gone though!

Don't know what you mean.The roof looks pristine with a good coat of lacquer. The blemishes are on the purple paintwork and only visible if you go up close and squint, or catch it with the light "just so". Perhaps it is the reflections on the roof's high gloss finish that is confusing things? PO said the steering wheel was non standard (came from an earlier Elan?) but it looks OK to me. And is in good condition. Not signed, unfortunately.

[Robbie693]

So it does have a metalflake roof? it looks like a normal silver metallic in the pics - as you say must be the reflections bleaching it out. Great - I love the Roman purple/metalflake combination, it's 1970's at it's purist.

The early Plus 2 had a silver spoked wheel, later ones went to black, if ti's 15" then it's from an early Plus 2, 14" from an Elan. Either way it looks cool.

[JonB]

Yes, roof is a deeply lacquered metal flake. The car overall wouldn't look out of place in a 70's Glam Rock magazine.

[JonB]

Regarding the clutch, I had a bit of a fiddle under the car to see where the free play adjuster lives. It turns by hand, though I expect that is the whole shaft rotating rather than a loose nut. I also went into the driver's footwell to fit a new throttle cable and discovered a large penny washer on the pedal box cover nut right behind the clutch pedal arm, which fouls it. I replaced it with a slightly smaller washer and I think I have managed to raise the bite point (thus giving me scope to disengage the clutch more fully). Haven't test driven it yet but with any luck the change between 4th and 5th (& back again) will be improved. There seems to be quite a bit of clutch pedal play, it goes down a short way before there is any resistance from the cylinder.

Is that normal?

[JonB]

PS, Also found a thread that talks about an end stop bolt here: lotus-talk-f50/bleeding-clutch-t32186-15.html and sure enough, my car has it. I wound it in a little.

What a great forum!

[JonB]

So it does have a metalflake roof? it looks like a normal silver metallic in the pics - as you say must be the reflections bleaching it out. Great - I love the Roman purple/metalflake combination, it's 1970's at it's purist.

Thanks!

The early Plus 2 had a silver spoked wheel, later ones went to black, if ti's 15" then it's from an early Plus 2, 14" from an Elan. Either way it looks cool.

I just measured it - 14" edge to edge. So it was swiped from a baby Elan. I think it is a bit huge and would not like to try a 15" wheel, despite the relatively heavy steering (note to self: Check the tyre pressures!)

[Robbie693]

There shouldn't be much free play at the pedal end, maybe 1/2" at a guess. The way to set it correctly as per the manual is to give 2mm clearance between the fork and the adjuster nut on the slave pushrod, with the spring removed to set it of course.