Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

elansprint71 wrote:Here is a photo of Gareth's +2:



He really should take more care of it.

What respectful birds to avoid the Lotus badge IMHO

Snap!!

Wow, at first I thought that was a gray car cover and how fortunate you were and then I realized, oh my gosh some thick dust Gordon Sauer

Better get that cleaned up before wife gets home . . .



Randy

I've just taken early retirement, here's what's waiting in the garage......

All of a sudden, I love red cars again!

Looks awesome, Ron. And what a great stage to be at: nasty bodywork behind you, finish assembly and/or mechanical ahead?

Question: it appears the interior C pillar is done in black, not the white/ivory of the headliner. Am I correct? And is this "correct" for your car/year?

Thanks,

Randy

Hi,

Must agree red is my favourite but the Lotus Esprit red paint on mine I believe used by Vauxhall at the time suffers terrible 'pinky' fading.

Literally had to polish it every week in the summer if outside to stop the fading. Appears many red cars have this problem depending on paint type.

Ron........don't forget all the other things though that will be needed done..........I seem to have worked harder in retirement than I ever did at work.........I bet my old boss would probably agree

Thanks guys,
It's red, but it's not a Lotus colour. It's Guards red as I found the Lotus reds to be a bit too orangey for my taste.

Well spotted Randy, the pillars were indeed black.
I can only surmise that the DPO used vinyl paint to cover stains on the material. This has now been put right as I've had the interior refurbished since the picture was taken.

The Engine, Gearbox and Diff are all rebuilt but there's still loads to do:
Re-check all the work carried out over 20 years ago, rebuild Carbs, new loom and electrical overhaul, install CV drive shafts and sort rear suspension, fit headlining and all glass. Oh, and I may take the body off one last time as the chassis is showing a few paint blemishes after 20 years in storage.

And Steve, I hear you loud and clear! All I seem to have done over the last 2 months is fix things, I think the house has been saving them up for me. For example, tomorrow I'll be fixing a drain pipe instead of working on the car

Cheers,
Ron

Interesting that my October 72 built plus 2S 130 also had black pillars; this is a federal car and I thought too perhaps the person had painted them as well. It was the correct Moonstone pattern but maybe there were some cars that were done in black? whatever others think?; I did look at that very original white one for sale that is noted on the current forum and saw that it has white pillars so maybe never correct and certainly would take an extra step to make them black and it doesn't seem the factory usually took extra steps; I made mine white Gordon Sauer

RonR wrote:Thanks guys, It's red, but it's not a Lotus colour. It's Guards red as I found the Lotus reds to be a bit too orangey for my taste.

Yup. Could have guessed that. There are reds, and then there are reds. Yours is really eye-catching; I never felt the same about the Lotus reds I've seen so far.

RonR wrote:Well spotted Randy, the pillars were indeed black. I can only surmise that the DPO used vinyl paint to cover stains on the material. This has now been put right as I've had the interior refurbished since the picture was taken.

Would be my guess, too. Vinyl dye/paint. Will probably be what I have to do, as I too have the dreaded dark stains from petroleum-based glues, if Steve's diagnosis is correct. All the other dirt comes off well, but not that dark discoloration.

RonR wrote:And Steve, I hear you loud and clear! All I seem to have done over the last 2 months is fix things, I think the house has been saving them up for me. For example, tomorrow I'll be fixing a drain pipe instead of working on the car

And this is my state, as well. At some point we have to draw the line on home and yard refurbishment, as there truly is no end of it. After 2 years of rebuilding my deck, shop, garage, and entire yard, I have finally begun the Lotus. A toast to all Lotus rebuilders!

Randy

Ron,

I think we deserve to see some pictures of the interior now then and how you have progressed.

Nice colour Porsche guards red, my 911 was actually Indischrot red and albeit referred to as guards red there was actually a shade difference between the two.

Those side panels and indeed the headlinings are simple to renew especially when I see the cars have the screens out and certainly look nicer in white IMHO.

The material I recall is available from Woolies http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-94-vinyl.aspx indeed I think there are some Lotus dealers you can get the headlinings from sewn up but they are easily sewn on home machines.

The key is also to use a high temperature contact adhesive (absolutely essential where tension is needed on the headlining)............and if the headlining is gently pulled and a pencil line run around the apertures marking the back of the H/lining then the glue need not be spread so the age colouring stains come through.

When the headlining is trimmed we would steam it and any minor imperfections in the trimming would be stress relieved as the cotton backing would shrink.

I posted previously on the subject of vinyl paint on a perforated headlining........may work in black as the glue that has also filled the holes looks terrible if painted white as the holes effectively disappear. Much easier and neater to renew the headlining.

Regards

Steve

Here's my new baby - years of lotus ownership to come!!

Gordon Sauer wrote:Interesting that my October 72 built plus 2S 130 also had black pillars; this is a federal car and I thought too perhaps the person had painted them as well. It was the correct Moonstone pattern but maybe there were some cars that were done in black? whatever others think?; I did look at that very original white one for sale that is noted on the current forum and saw that it has white pillars so maybe never correct and certainly would take an extra step to make them black and it doesn't seem the factory usually took extra steps; I made mine white Gordon Sauer

Black rear pillar trim was actually standard on late (S/130) cars with the Oatmeal interior, maybe there was a bit of mix and match with your car Gordon? Or more likely an owner 'modification'... On Ron's car the pillars should of course be white as the Oatmeal trim wasn't available in 1968!

Cheers

Robbie

Robbie693 wrote:

Gordon Sauer wrote:Interesting that my October 72 built plus 2S 130 also had black pillars; this is a federal car and I thought too perhaps the person had painted them as well. It was the correct Moonstone pattern but maybe there were some cars that were done in black? whatever others think?; I did look at that very original white one for sale that is noted on the current forum and saw that it has white pillars so maybe never correct and certainly would take an extra step to make them black and it doesn't seem the factory usually took extra steps; I made mine white Gordon Sauer

Black rear pillar trim was actually standard on late (S/130) cars with the Oatmeal interior, maybe there was a bit of mix and match with your car Gordon? Or more likely an owner 'modification'... On Ron's car the pillars should of course be white as the Oatmeal trim wasn't available in 1968!

Cheers

Robbie

Absolutely correct as the original photo from this site will show. http://www.motorlegend.com/voiture-coll ... 2,971.html

Albeit French writings it translates reasonably well using google. Click on the photo link and see some early Elan publication pics too

regards

Steve

I think we're in danger of a bit of thread creep here, but as there's a photo involved........

The interior bits are just placed in the car to keep them out of harm's way, they will need fitting when the re-wiring's completed. As you can see it's a Plus2S interior, which is in keeping with the new shell (it was cheaper than repairing the old accident damaged shell at the time).
The colour of the leather isn't the usual Oatmeal, but Cashmere which I think is a Jaguar colour. Interesting to know that oatmeal interiors had black pillars, but too late for me now.



Thanks for the headlining tips, I'll make a note of them. The headlining is in my study waiting to be fitted, most probably next year.