New car!

As documented in my blogs about the restoration of and then living with my Elan Coupe, both Pauline and I have many fond memories of the +2 we owned in the late 70s and early 80s.

The Elan isn't a touring car and despite the pots of money spent on it hasn't really proved to be reliable.

As a reaction to post-Brexit-vote depression, I started to look at +2s and found what seemed to be a decent example advertised for sale in Kent; a white +2S 130/5, September 1973.

So I drove down for a test drive. Very nice, the usual 'queerbox' sloppy change issues (you can't rush it) but the engine seemed fine, interior good, paintwork OK. Front suspension a bit sloppy and the servo needs work - the brakes stay on a couple of seconds after the pedal is released.

Decided to take the plunge and put down a deposit; agreed to collect the car when we were, coincidentally, on holiday in Kent a couple of weeks later. Seems like a decent investment given the near-zero interest rates now........

Collected the car on a hot and sunny day, left the window open a bit and opened the air vents and drove 65 miles to where we were staying - bad mistake, carbon monoxide drawn in resulting in headache and general malaise.  So, kill or cure, toured around Kent the following day windows closed and vent fully open, no problems. Then drove home - M25 very slow on a hot afternoon - no problems apart from sweat! The fan must have been on for most of an hour and kept the rad temperature down below 100 at all times. So 190 miles in total from collection to home.

The 5 speed box makes a huge difference - 25mph/1000  - and the car is relatively quiet, comfortable and on initial calcs doing about 32mpg. A bit of oil used, about .25l  of what I think is 10/40 so a bit thin, in 190 miles, rad needed a small amount of water but nothing major.

Initial assessment seems about right; some work needed but it's very usable. Boot seal needed to stop fumes ingress, possibly an exhaust extension too. Maybe a cooler thermostat so there is a wider difference between stat opening and fan cutting in (currently 84 stat /86 fan C indicated). Signs of a bit of water passing the pressure cap so perhaps a new one too.

Once back home and everything had cooled down , I checked the tyre pressures when cold - manual says 20psi front, 24 rear. They were 36FR, 19FL, 28RR, 32RL. Impressive....not....  May explain some of the handling imbalance. Now set to 22F/26R and that will hopefully be an improvement.

Fun times!