oooooh! just found a Lotus Elan +2 !
Discussion
Brads67 said:
Actually have driven past it a thousand times but finally got to chat with the owner.
Needs a full resto but is pretty solid. Such a shame it`s sitting out in the open. Hopefully something will come from the chat we had.
Would be a superb project.
This thread is useless without pics! Needs a full resto but is pretty solid. Such a shame it`s sitting out in the open. Hopefully something will come from the chat we had.
Would be a superb project.
Rangeroverover said:
Bravest of the brave, not only a wooden boat but a lotus to go with it
have you sold the boat yet? as I reckon sale price of boat=full restomod of elan
As much as I admire the Elan I'm not messing with cars at the mo, small matter of redundancy, needing to build some flats and a young family.have you sold the boat yet? as I reckon sale price of boat=full restomod of elan
Huntsman is tucked up for winter now in a big shed on Isle of Wight, she'll come out in spring.
MoggieMinor said:
Huntsman said:
New chassis and a Zetec conversion....
Too right. Someone would be daft enough to buy that horrific Lotus engine. The money would build a Zetec to whatever spec you want...The Lotus Twin Cam is complicated and expensive to rebuild if you're used to something like a BMC A-series or Ford Crossflow, but it's still only a fraction of the finished value of the car, these days, and it's a perfectly good and reliable engine if built by someone who knows their arse from their elbow.
It's also surprisingly torquey compared to modern 16-valve engines and has a whole lot more character than the Zetec ever had.
Regardless of what you do, I'm supremely jealous of anyone getting an Elan. A DHC Sprint is top of the Lottery List, and values seem to keep outpacing my ability to buy by some margin.
A friend has been rebuilding a Europa, and I think has a spare twin cam on his bench. Not sure of his plans for it, but with recent price rises, I suspect he'll find a project car for it to go into.
And a neighbour is currently building a 26R replica - looks and sounds awesome.
Hope it works out.
A friend has been rebuilding a Europa, and I think has a spare twin cam on his bench. Not sure of his plans for it, but with recent price rises, I suspect he'll find a project car for it to go into.
And a neighbour is currently building a 26R replica - looks and sounds awesome.
Hope it works out.
Lotus TC is a good engine if maintained properly by a knowledgable owner, if you pay someone else to look after it for you its gonna be unreliable IMO.
A friend has a 'Modernised' Lotus TC in his 1971 elan. It has TB's and an emerald ECU, modded head and high lift cams - it gives a genuine 147 BHP - it also has an electric water pump which eliminates the old mecahnical pump, which is a source of many TC's problems.
On the other hand another mate has a spyder 2litre Zetec engined Elan +2 again with TB's and emerald, this time the engine is standard except for the TB's, it gives a genuine 162BHP. Both are nice to drive but given a choice I'd buy the Zetec car everytime - the Lotus engine is expensive were it to ever fail - the zetec can be picked up from the local scrappy for £50 or so - IMO it's a no brainer
A friend has a 'Modernised' Lotus TC in his 1971 elan. It has TB's and an emerald ECU, modded head and high lift cams - it gives a genuine 147 BHP - it also has an electric water pump which eliminates the old mecahnical pump, which is a source of many TC's problems.
On the other hand another mate has a spyder 2litre Zetec engined Elan +2 again with TB's and emerald, this time the engine is standard except for the TB's, it gives a genuine 162BHP. Both are nice to drive but given a choice I'd buy the Zetec car everytime - the Lotus engine is expensive were it to ever fail - the zetec can be picked up from the local scrappy for £50 or so - IMO it's a no brainer
S47 said:
... the Lotus engine is expensive were it to ever fail - the zetec can be picked up from the local scrappy for £50 or so - IMO it's a no brainer
...and the people who were converting Elans to Crossflow engines back in the 1970's and '80's almost certainly thought the same thing. 
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