+2 elan to join the stable of Morgans

[jmp]

Well originally I was after an s3 or s4 DHC elan but have failed to find one at the right price. A Christopher Neil conversion +2 appeared on E-Bay and I won it a short while ago at what seems to be a reasonable price to me as a "newbie" to elans after a 20 year break from owning one. Not sure I can live with the colour though!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT
When I get to collect it, it will have a cursory inspection and possibly a run to my local MOT station for a quick assessment and then put on one side for a month or two as I need to get my latest 4 seater morgan back together to do a few trials in later on in the year. Sorry everyone but my first passion are morgans but I still have a soft spot for elans and have never owned a +2.
Anyone in the Staffordshire area have a similar conversion ?

[Jason1]

Hi and well done it looks like a bargain.

I am a big fan of Burnt Sand but others will disagree. Imagine buying a sports car today in that colour; it just would not happen it is unique to the 60s.

Most parts are available and if the engine and chassis are good you should have no problems with the rest.

Have a look at this post for colour suggestions: elan-plus-f13/colour-suggestions-for-respray-t18654.html?hilit=%20birthday

Enjoy the summer.

Jason

[Elanintheforest]

I wish that I'd seen that! Along with Jason I love the burnt sand colour, although we may be the last two left on the planet who do. If it is the original paint as the owner claimed in the advert, then it is a very rare survivor.

Good luck with your new purchase. Compared with your experience of sliding pillar suspension, the Lotus will feel like you're driving something 50 years younger!!!

Mark

[blackandgold]

Seems like a good price for convertible

Not sure about the colour a bit to close to biege for my tastes

The seller says that the conversion dates from 1974 however Christopher Neil starting producing these around 1984
as per the following newsletter from around June of that year

[elansprint71]

I remember those CN newsletters. What is "the latest Ford five-speed gearbox" which they refer to?

[blackandgold]

I would say the Ford 5 speed gearbox they are talking about was the type 9 from the Sierra

I did buy the electric pod lift they mentioned which came with no instructions and after a lot of head scratching and mucking around managed to get it working quite well

[Alex]

Hi,
I used to know the original owner of the car in the 80s (from what I remember!). I believe it was one of the first CN conversions. He used to run the North East Lotus Owners Club, so at some point the car has moved its way south. It was a very good well looked after car at the time.

[jmp]

Thanks for the comments and replies. I Haven't picked it up yet and the present( now previous ) owner is only available on an evening and a weekend and is away this Saturday for a week. I've not got a night free this week so it is looking like a fortnights time before I can collect it.

I've just got hold of a type 9 5 speed box to put in the current morgan that I am restoring. I'll perhaps investigate fitting one in the elan in future years.

It would be good to follow up on one of the previous owners once I have collected it and gone through the paperwork.

I've noticed the request for Donnington and if I am not away could possibly offer it for club use over tha weekend. It would be good to receive comments and suggestions as I am on a steep learning curve with elans again after such a long break from owning the s3.

[jmp]

+2 now in the shed and I'm in the middle of doing an assessment for hopefully meeting an MOT time of 12.00 noon tomorrow. Couldnot work out the light pods not raising and some where along the line it has been converted to electric once I had the bonnet off to have a look. Part of the mechanism had come apart all now working. Washers not working, look in the old pile of spares from Triumph Stag days and find a working washer motor. I haven't managed to find how to get the fogs on yet though. Handbrake working yet to test the main breaks. It has had electronic ignition fitted and seems to have a permanently wired fan from when you switch on the ignition!!! is that a common mod. Don't recall my old s3 back in the 70's overheating. Not so keen on that so will have to look at it at a later stage.
Fair oil leak from the engine but no smoke even on start up and antifreeze looks a good colour . Oil leak from the rear axle to be looked at as well. It also has been converted to an alternator but doesnot seem to be charging too well on low revs according to the ammeter.Rotoflexes seem to be okay and were changed some years ago but unfortunately car hasn't been used much since.
Interior is clean and the dash is in very good condition with all decals still strong. One concern it took a while to find the horn switch. It has been hard wired to a switch that can be permanently left on!!!
Seats goos with a small tear on the passengers seat by the seat belt. There doesn't seem to be much fore and aft movement on the seats which may be an issue for ownership as SWMBO'd may not reach the pedals sufficiently to fully apply the break and clutch. I presume they were not lock down seats either originally as they need to be lifted for access to the rear seats.
Tea brake over and off to see what else I can find.

John

[Jason1]

seems to have a permanently wired fan from when you switch on the ignition!!

Mine it switched by one of the switches on the dash, try flicking all the switches and see if it stops.

Jason