Sorry for length. Bit of background to help answer OP...
Jeff (our forum owner/moderator) reviewed and restructured the forum a few years ago. The two major issues I recall were enhancing the For Sale section so stuff found elsewhere on the internet would not swamp the items offered by forum members, and providing a Mods section to separate out clearly non-stock topics. He solicited comment on the forum structure and this resulted in a separate Plus 2 section and the addition of the technical sections. Different sections for various Elan models/series were considered but thankfully not done, as this can result in the ‘trees and twigs’ issue mentioned above (really like that description
).
IIRC the idea was that the technical sections (Repair, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting) would be used for all models. The idea is the similarity between models is greater than the differences, particularly when techniques are being discussed. The General Discussion section would be for more chat style topics.
Obviously the whole splitting up of topics is more art than science, and will never be 100% definitive. The idea was folks could help by highlighting in their new topic titles what model they were working on, or add the model, build year, etc. in their signature data. So, for example, the Plus 2 window lift wiring is totally different than an Elan, but it is still electrical and still window lifts. There are lots of historical threads that can be a bit confusing until it is clear which system is being discussed, but at least they are all archived under electrical.
When Jeff created the new sections and structure he went thru the existing historical posts and split them all up. Took several months. Big job. I have also noticed he periodically moves posts/threads to sections, often from the Plus 2 discussion section to the appropriate technical section.
So, my long-winded answer is to try and use the Plus 2 section for more general topics, and use the technical sections for all models, with your specific car identification in the title. Wouldn’t get too fussed about the Discussion sub-sections, but try to put the more technical stuff under the relatively broad technical topics provided. General guideline might be if you are trying to fix your ride, it probably belongs in a technical section.
Jeff was working on developing a Wiki section as well. Some progress on this if you dig into the forum a bit. Part of the benefit of using the technical sections is creating/populating a Wiki would be easier.
Writing this out just reminded me I have not made my annual donation to the forum. Jeff doesn’t make a big deal of asking for financial help, but usually one of us posts a thread this time of year to remind folks that this is a marvellous resource, and well worth our support. Consider pressing the donate button and providing a few bucks to keep the forum going.
HTH. Happy New Year to all.
Stu