Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Great, I’ll arrange for collection in 2022

I have a front bumper in need of a new home here.. PM me if interested.

Thanks Jon but I've sourced one.

...but if you have a good rear one, and a nose moustache?

Dave - no such chance this one's a keeper, then no more restorations for me.....except a classic bike which is my next plan

Please post as many photos as you can be bothered to! Esp of the awkward bits that you know us first timers will be confused by. I find them a big inspiration for me to get stuck into my +2S restoration.
All the best
Ned

Great stuff. Echoing the previous post asking for pictures. Really helpful. My body was somewhat over enthusiastically 'soda blasted', resulting in a loss of all the gel coat and a mountainous surface overall. Showed all the cracks though.Replacing with resin and sanding back. Very slow.
Q. Will you leave an access panel from the boot to the diff? Mine has one but can either be made decent or removed.

Tonight I separated the body from the chassis for the first time in 53 years - I will strip it down then take it for blasting but I'm certain it will go again - no holes or rot, some thin bits along the sides of the backbone where water has been trapped by the saddle felt. These areas might go through in the blasting process but they can be cut out and repaired

The chassis is now stripped and off to the blasters - I'm 100% satisfied it can be saved with some light refurbishment (front towers are remarkably good). I may do some 'improvements' by adding gussets here and there to known weak areas.

This now gives me time to return to the bodyshell as I would like to be in the position of that being off for paint by June so that I can repair and build up the chassis while it's away.

(sorry about the photos - they are right way up when I attach them but go on their sides once uploaded for some odd reason)

I've been doing some fibreglass repairs which I'm quite enjoying.

I've done the cills and built up and re drilled all of the the holes where the fibreglass had gone very thin by grinding/feathering back and then laminating up 3-4 layers of chopped strand mat. I've also built up new sections which were missing or broken. Both cills were then given 2 layers of tissues and resin before flatting back - really sold now and almost straight.

I sandblasted the stainless screws and washers before fitting so that they will take paint without it flaking off. I also laminated up and reinforced the jacking points inside the car and fitted galvanised cill members.

I've repaired the split in the nose and just need to grind it back a bit before applying a layer of tissue - the contours can be brought back with a thin layer of filler. An old ding in the nearside frnt has been ground out and layed up with 3 layers of CSM on the outside. I now need to get inside the nose with the grinder and put a couple of layers on the inside as well.

Great work Jono, I admire your fibreglass skills! I will tackle pretty much anything on a car but I've always been 'afraid' of the fibreglass, guess its just down to getting experience? Your chassis looks amazing and I've no doubt that the mileage is genuine. Those front turrets look very good. Your making super speedy progress, hope you manage to keep the momentum up, and I'm looking forward to seeing the build!

The chassis is back from welding and ready to go back to the blasters for re blasting then painting in 2 pack.

The main work was to the sides of the backbone where the steel had become like a tea bag - the belt mounting rod was also replaced as the belt bolts had snapped in the existing one due to rust. The top hat section along the base of the backbone was found to be pretty much perfect when the sides were cut out so that was simply cleaned up

The front towers were remarkably good but there was some evidence of hairline cracking at the welded joint with the cross member and so they were both re welded and I also decided on some 'prophylactic' plating even though the metal was excellent in these areas.

I also had the diff torque rod mounting points reinforced as there was some ovalisation of the mounting holes.

I know some folk will suck between their teeth and say you should always renew an Elan chassis however this one was simply to good to scrap and I'm very confident in reusing it with the repairs and selective strengthening carried out.

A load of suspension and chassis goodies arrived from Sue Miller a few weeks ago so once I have the chassis back I will look foward to building it back up.

Looking good, great progress. Just a bit of info based on mine which is a similar age, cracks had developed around the square corners of the headlamp pod openings, particularly the innermost ones. I reinforced mine with additional fibreglass and it’s been fine since, if you’ve not done this already, it might be worth a look. Particularly worth it if you go for electric pod motors rather than vacuum as the motors are much quicker and I feel put more load on this area

Yeah, I need to turn my attention back to the body and will be doing some reinforcement in those specific areas among others. It's possible I may go for electric lifters as the cost of replacement vac pods is prohibitive.

My aim is to finish the underside of the shell, stone chip it all and then get it back on the rebuilt chassis then final glass repairs then off for painting - it's amazing how floppy the shell becomes, especially at the rear, when it's not fully supported

I made a transit frame for the body while working on it off the chassis, but to be honest I didn’t notice the rear being a bit “floppy”

......I've been doing some work building up the chassis.

I needed new lower front wishbones (Sue Miller) and I've used new TTR front damper units and re bushed all of the suspension, fitted new Lotocones, diff mounts etc. All other parts could be refurbished and re used.

I rebuilt the rack but needed a new steering rod as the extension piece was seized on and mullered the threads. New ball joints and track rods ends were fitted but the vertical links and trunnions were good to go again (after fitting new poly bushes and seals)

Happily the diff was fine so I fitted new output bearings (pleased to discover the stronger diff outputs were already fitted) and a new pinion seal - punched the nut and pinion end and everything lined up just as the torque wrench clicked on the recommended pre load figure so that will do for me .

The original casing had been repaired to one lug and was the early, weaker, version so I sourced a good later unit and fitted that together with a brace so I'm happy the diff is good for a bit more power if I decide to do that. I also strengthened the torque rod mounting points on the chassis by plating it.

I aim to complete the underside of the shell then get them both back together hopefully in time for painting in the Spring.

I'm going to have a bash at re-building the calipers myself this time - will strip, inspect and have the bodies plated. May use stainless pistons depending on what I find when they are stripped.

Hi

Well done you, especially with the bodywork. I recently bought a Plus 2 (early also but non original having been raced). It is also in my least favourite colour of red (my favourite being white), but somehow the red has really grown on me very quickly, and now I honestly would not have any other colour even if I could change it with a flick of a switch. I am going to have a gold stripe down the middle though haha. The car also has its original chassis, but like yours has had quite a bit of extra gusseting and strengthening. Sadly though I strongly suspect it is not straight. So if anyone reading this wants to sell a used Spyder spaceframe one please let me know.......

Many years ago I had a car not dissimilar to yours in that it was a 30k something but sadly had been standing (sitting) under a tarpaulin for many years. I sent what looked like a perfect chassis off to be shotblasted and it came back like swiss cheese. I am embarrassed to say I did break the car after that. I probably still have some parts. My only excuse is that I was quite a lot younger and the cars were worth so little at the time. Plus I had another running one.

Looking forwards to reading about your future progress with the car.

All the best

Berni