Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi Just new to this forum, I have just bought a 73 Elan +2 s130/5 off my fathers friend who has had the car since new, the car hasn`t been running since 1984 so my intention is to bring it alive again over the next year or so ....so no doubt I will be fairly active on this site, I have just sold my Mk1 ford escort Mexico that i had owned for the last 14years...
The opportunity came up to buy the car so i will be taking delivery of it next week, so i will inspect the car and see what it needs, I am intending to get the engine and gearbox out and sent away to a specialist , though not sure who yet, open to suggestions there ???

I am getting alot of new spares with the car as the previous owner always intended to get round to it though never did, spares include new discs, shocks, sill memders, rotoflex bushes etc & a workshop manual ...........so thats a start, so i`m quite excited to start this new project , as i`ve wanted this car for years, the car is totally original with original chassis that i remeber being waxoiled years ago and is seemingly still good as the car has always been garaged and had very little use but will have to wait and see ... I will post photos when it arrives next week....

Hi and welcome. That?s a real treat getting a Lotus with that sort of background ?very hard to find. Strangely, I have just bought a Mk 1 Mexico that?s been off the road since 1984?and one owner from new! I might get away with posting a pic of it here as it has Elans in the background, and it'll make you feel at home!

The car will certainly need the brakes and suspension going through, and I think that you?re wise to get the engine and box out. If you?re lucky it will just need the carbs rebuilding, new clutch, new water pump and maybe a bit of attention to the valves?just depends how it was stored, if it was turned over frequently, condition of oil and antifreeze etc. Engines that have not moved for that period of time with old oil in them can end up with gummed-up oilways, which need to be inspected and cleaned properly.

The chassis may well be OK as the car has only been on the road for 11 years, so long as it was kept clean and ?oiled?. The side members should be checked out carefully?your seat belts attach to them! Sounds like a decision has already been made on that though. If your replacement side-members are original Lotus ones, you will need to put them in whilst the rear suspension is stripped out. The Spyder ones will fit without removing the rear suspension.


Sounds like a great project. The first thing I do with a car like that it to get the wheels off, clean out all the crud from the suspension and arches, dry it, then spray loads of WD40 over everything metal and let it soak in for a week or two?it makes subsequent working on the car much easier ..and cleaner. Same goes for the engine bay.

What colour is the car, and how many miles has it done?

All the best for the project?I?m sure we?ll hear a lot more from you over the coming months?and years!

Mark

Mark thanks for your reply and the advice its much appreciated, the car has been turned over frequently & the clutch has been worked as well, the sill member sections are from spyder , the car is lagoon blue and i think it had the metal flake roof originally, though was painted the same colour as the car later, yes i`m looking forward to getting my hands on the car , i havn`t seen it for a while,so it will be good to have, i`m know its going to be a challenge for me and not as simple to work on as my escort but thats the chance i`m willing to take to bring it alive again....

Your mexico looks good one owner fom new, wow.. you`ll be keeping a hold of that one then.!! they are fetching good money just now...great fun to drive as well just not very areodynamic...
The one i had wasn`t in standard form and was a bit of a handful ... great fun though!!

I don?t think you?ll find it any more difficult to work on that the Escort. The bottom end of the engine is the same, as is the clutch, gearbox and diff. The front suspension is Triumph Spitfire, the steering is Spitfire, and the rear suspension is Anglia front strut with a different hub!

There are a few quirky things with Elans, mainly to do with it being fibreglass. The cars can suffer from electric gremlins, which is usually down to earth-points. Basically, the wiring for the dash comes to a big earth point on the driver side, which bolts to the chassis, the engine earths to the chassis at the front, and the battery at the rear. Take these off and clean them thoroughly and a lot of potential problems may be solved. Whilst you have the engine out, take off every wire under the bonnet, around the lights etc., one by one, and clean them up?that should sort out some other potential problems.

Obviously, everything electric that?s attached to the fibreglass body or the wooden dash has to have a earth wire?hence a lot of extra wires compared with metal cars?and there are a lot of switches and gauges on the 130! The doors have puddle lights and electric windows, and all those connections need to be good.

Also whilst the engine is out, make sure that the vacuum system for the headlights is good?same goes for the servo vacuum line (though you?ll need to get the servo reconditioned.

At the rear, the rotoflex couplings will certainly need to be replaced. These are like large rubber doughnuts, that connect the differential output shaft to the wheel shaft in the rear hub via a drive shaft. Most people now are replacing them with solid shafts, available from the normal suppliers (Sue Miller / Paul Matty / Tony Thompson racing (TTR) in the UK, and many others).

The Plus 2 has a very strange way of venting the petrol tank, as the tank is set high up just behind the rear seat. You may find the car smells of stale petrol at first, but there are threads on here that describe how to sort it out.

That?s about it for the quirkiness. The engine will last a long time if built properly, with its weakness being the water pump?that requires engine out to be replaced, but lasts for 30k miles if installed properly and the fan belt slack is maintained well.

Mark

Mark the info you are giving me sounds very useful and i thank you for it ... a couple of the things you mention are sure to be a head ache for me as , when i remember being inthe car about 30 years ago , there was a problem with the car regarding the headlights, for example they wouldn`t go up until you lifted the bonnet and on the passenger side there was a small box with a button and if you pushed it that was the only way the head lights would pop up..??? also one other thing i remember was the passenger electiric window went up slow?? everything else worked OK but that was then i`ll find out next week what else doesn`t work ... but hey, at least i`m expecting things not to work and excited to learn what is in front of me ......
can you let suggest a few places for the engine and gearbox and carbs overhaul ive heard of QED, mick miler, burton,paul matty can you reckomend anywhere else.... or are these the best as i`m looking to have a proper job done..

as in the photo graph of the escort what other cars do you own???looks like an interesting collection..
John

welcome to the forum John, your car sounds like a real find, as for asking Mark what others cars he owns, I think the list would be shorter if you asked what doesn't he own

regards

Mark

yes, indeed - welcome John! I'm about to have my gearbox reworked by Graham Boulton in Dereham (once i've found someone to take it out for me!) I have not used him before myself, but he comes well recommended by Susan Miller. Where are you based?

Yes i`m based in Aberdeen, the +2 should be arriving with me on thursday form ayrshire, so can`t wait..
i was reading in the club lotus magazine that QED are going to be closing there workshop,,, hmmm that?s was one of my options where i was thinking about sending my engine can anybody suggest anywhere else??? Also can anybody suggest the best place to have the dellorto carbs refurbished??
Thanks for the suggestion about Graham Boulton I will consider him when I get my gear box out as well..

Agra Engineering in Dundee seem to enjoy a very good reputation for twinks, BDA's etc - could be handy for you

JR44 asked: Can anybody suggest the best place to have the dellorto carbs refurbished??


Give these people a call:

http://www.dellorto.co.uk/

Hi John
Have a look at the thread on the Elan section fron Alex...' New Car Arriving' He's been going through a Sprint in Scotland, so he may be able to give you some better pointers for where to get stuff done.

Paul Matty will certainly sort you out, but there are a lot of one man bands who do work without the overheads of a 'big' organisation. If Alex can't help, try a new thread for local help...quite a few on here from Scotland.

You mentioned Mick Miller...unfortunately he died a few years back. One of the best Elan restorers in the country. His wife, Sue, has taken over the parts business, and she really knows her way around the Elans. She's the favorite source of parts for many of us on the forum. If she hasn't got it or doesn't do it, she'll point you to someone who has or does!

Mark

Hi,

I don't wish to dent your enthusiasm but I would check the chassis very carefully, particularly at the base of the front suspension towers. I looked at a +2 the other month which had been sat in a garage since the early 80's and both sides had rusted through.

Good luck.

David

Hopefully it wasn`t the same car ..!!!..Yes thanks for the info, its been at the back of my mind that the chassis may have seen better days, so we`ll just have to wait and see when i inspect it , I should be getting the car tomorrow, if it has seen better days then i`ll just need to bite the bullet and get a replacement, and start the restoration with that, my garage has now been cleared of all old ford stuff and ready to fill it with lotus stuff...

Thanks Jono....Just been onto Agra engineering and they sound the business for me and its just an hour a way... reckon they it would be a three week turnaround for the engine & carbs , so looks like i`ll need to get to it ... Cheers John

The plus 2 arrived today , so going home to have a dig around and see how things are everything looks as if its there so , that good