Sean's '72 +2S130/5 restoration thread

[alaric]

Hi all. Rather than posting in different threads each time I need help or want to share, I thought I'd start one dedicated to the completion of my own +2, known by the family as the 'pas touche'. We're off to live in Italy in the new year, and I want to make progress over the coming weeks, so that I can take the car with me.

This evening she came alive again for the first time in a couple of months. I have rebuilt the Dellortos and she started first time, and tuned up beautifully. What a fantastic sound when you blip the throttle. Just what I needed. So the engine is running really nicely still. What a relief.

I have the passenger side door window to fit, then the completion of both doors and the dashboard. After that a few jobs like fitting the fuel tank and hopefully she's done.

Help will as always be very much appreciated.

Sean.

[Sea Ranch]

Excellent, Sean. Thanks for the thread; I think it's a good approach.

As for the car, sounds like it's close to ready. You should make it through without any major hitch (famous last words . . .).

As for Italy, well that's another matter. If one has a job (or means), I can imagine it will be beautiful (and I'll be envious).

In conclusion, pix of everything (car and Italy) are what we really want (because we don't have lives of our own !!

Regards,

Randy

[JJDraper]

Envious. Two weeks in Italy last summer was not enough! I recommend keeping a 3.77 diff for the sublime mountain roads... see my summer hols report!

free-parking-f19/wot-did-summer-hols-t25869.html

Jeremy

[alaric]

Thanks for the comments guys. My wife will start a job in La Spezia at the end of Jan, and I work from home anyway, so the only issue now is getting the elan to a state where she can go with us, especially given how close we will be to the Alps. I took some pics of the engine with the freshly rebuilt carbs last night and am quite pleased with how smart they look but especially pleased with how easily the braided steel fuel line fitted. Here's a pic of the carbs all shiny:

And one of the car looking neglected last March while I was fitting a new central heating boiler into the garage - the things we let distract us eh - poor car was looking decidedly dusty but I did clean and polish her shortly after:

I collected all the new door window seals and clips together last night, so I should be able to assemble them relatively quickly. Bet the motors won't want to go in though - last time I tried I was about to punch a hole through the door in frustration, so stopped

Sean.

[alaric]

I'm trying to fit the metal trim that runs along the bottom of the outside of the windows. I have the clips in place, and am now getting more and more frustrated that I can't get the trim to engage on the clips. The clips are new from matty's. The trim should slide along from the front most clip engaging on each as you work along. I can't get any of them to engage. Help. Is there a trick that works?

Sean.

[JJDraper]

The way I did this is slightly different - I put the trim approximately in place, with all the clips engaged on one side. Then pull the trim against the engaged ends of the clips while pulling it down and over the other ends of the clips. You sort of do this with one hand, while giving a smart tap with the heel of your hand (or fist when you get frustrated) on the trim so as to engage each clip in turn. When all have engaged, gently tap the trim fore or aft to get it in place.

Worked for me, but I agree, it is very fiddly! Still not sure if they all engaged, but it hasn't fallen off yet.

Jeremy

[alaric]

Thanks Jeremy. I'll give that a try.

On my car the self tapping screws that hold the external clips in place, which pass through the top of the fibreglass door and through the rubber seal, were screwed into the thin metal strip that's welded to the chrome frame. It's not shown that way in the manual, however. The manual shows additional little clips which make more sense to me. How are other cars put together? Should the tappers be screwed into the metal strip?

Thanks.

Sean.

[jono]

Sean,

Yes, they should and, also, I did my trim exactly as described by Jeremy and it worked fine but you do need to be quite forceful with the heel of the hand. I recall it was important to have all of the clips precisely the same distance from the base of the fibreglass flange (or in other words exactly in line) to get the trim to 'click' into place - a couple had to be adjusted to make it all fit.

I have promised myself a 4 week continental sabbatical with the +2 once one the road and fully shaken down. The plan is to head for Italy and so I must look you up when it happens

Jon

[alaric]

Hi. Thanks for the help guys. I've fitted the driver's side one now, but didn't screw through the metal strip. I found the strip was being pulled very hard and out of shape by the screws. Reading the manual section B29 / 3, it doesn't mention taking off the outer trim or weather shield. This caught me out when I stripped the car actually. I spent an age trying to work out why the window frame wouldn't lift out, then realised the outer trim was screwed through the frame, not as described in the manual. I have it on video actually and it's quite entertaining to hear my comments at the time.

So I've fitted my trim using self tappers to hold the little brackets, screwing through the fibreglass and rubber weather shield, then into little screw plates - can't remember the correct name for them sorry. I've attached a pic of the little plate and of the trim fixed in place. The trim pops on really easily now, as suggested - engaging the lower edge of each bracket, pulling the trim up as far as poss then just popping it over the top of the bracket. I can also pop it back off again relatively easily. No doubt I'll be doing that tomorrow as I try and fit the window frame back in...

So following the manual putting the frame and window back in is a reversal of the removal. Yeah right. I'll be swearing at that tomorrow...

Thanks again for the help.

Sean.

[innesw]

Spire clip?

Innes

[alaric]

Yes, that's the name. Thanks.

Window frame went in ok last night.

Sean.

[alaric]

Hi all. It's been a while since I posted on this thread. We've been going through a relocation to Italy. I've put the elan into an ISO container, and it's due to arrive at our Italian house after easter. My plan is to complete the car then take it back to the UK for an MOT. It was that or sell it. The thought of taking the elan onto Italian roads fills me full of horror, but at least a right turn at the end of the drive takes me immediately into the mountains.

Sean.

[JJDraper]

Elan +2 on Italian roads? They love it... but watch out for the potholes.

Jeremy
(pics from last summer - did around 2,500 miles in two weeks with no real problems)

[alaric]

Excellent. We're near La Spezia. Lots of holes in the roads. It's the tailgating and bumper bashing while parking that winds me up. But there are lots of great roads through the mountains that'll keep me entertained should I complete the car while we are here. I will probably ship it back to the UK once it's ready for an MOT though, and keep it there for when I'm in the UK. Getting it up the ramps into the ISO was fun. We didn't have a winch so I drove it up, and ended up having to reverse it, and spinning the rear wheels to get it up the ramps. That'll have cleaned up the clutch nicely at least.

I managed to flood the engine in between moving it which was a first. I recall reading that the Dellortos are prone to that if you press the throttle too quickly when the engine is warm. I whipped the spark plugs out for a clean and it started thankfully.

Sean.

[alaric]

Hi all. My car has now arrived at our Italian residence, and is installed at the side of the house. The lorry arrived on Saturday but was not able to get up the steep driveway to the house, so we had to unload on some waste ground about 100m up the road from the end of the track leading to our house. Of course the local police arrived, wondering what we were up to, with particular interest in the car and how we planned to get it from the lorry to the house. The plan was to take it in convoy between our two road legal cars, but being pushed, and they seemed happy with that. In the end we just pushed it down the road with me sitting in. As soon as it was off the main road and on the track I started her up and drove her the rest of the way. So I've now driven my car half a mile. Hoorah. Here's a pic of her sat on the driveway waiting to go across the garden to the other side of the house.

Elan arrives at new home

Can anyone suggest an insurance company that would cover the car while I complete the restoration? I don't plan on the car being driven on Italian roads at this time, so it's really a theft and fire policy that I'm looking for.

Sean.

p.s. we have plenty of parking space for wandering lotuses