Description
1973 LOTUS ELAN +2 S130 ZETEC, BMJ384L
For sale is a fully restored and rebuilt Lotus Elan +2 that has been very carefully and sympathetically converted to 2. 0L Ford Zetec power.
BMJ384L has been in its current ownership for 11 years during which time it was completely stripped down to every nut and bolt and modified for the brand new engine.
The car was bought as a complete (minus the engine and gearbox) rolling chassis in May 2013 with 38300 miles on the odometer.
Restoration was carried out by the owner, then an F1 suspension design engineer, to a highly detailed and original specification.
This is its 9th owner from new and has just passed 41000 miles on the clock, so only 3000 miles on the new engine and since it was fully restored.
The car is registered in the ‘Historic Vehicle’ tax class (zero rate) and is ‘MoT Exempt’.
It can also be registered for ULEZ exemption.
It is finished in its original colour of metallic Ford Tawney Brown with ‘Metalflake’ silver roof.
The interior has the original oatmeal vinyl seats with new seatbelts and rear lap straps.
The cabin and boot are trimmed in new black carpets and the roof finished with a new headlining.
The walnut dashboard is new with the original gauges (re-chromed, square edged bezels) and its original equipment, Philips Turnolock radio (with a 3. 5mm audio jack hidden in the glovebox).
Being an S130 model, it would have originally had a ‘Big Valve’ Twin Cam, 1558cc engine with twin 40 Dellorto carburettors and 5-speed manual gearbox.
These engines are very sought after so it is not unusual for +2’s to ‘donate’ them to other cars particularly racing Lotuses.
This is exactly what happened with BMJ384L when renown Lotus engine builder, Nick Stagg, bought this car in 2012 to race-prepare its engine for a Lotus Cortina.
Spyder Cars have created a business on restoring engine-less Elan +2’s and converting them to Ford Zetec power.
Many Zetec +2’s have highly tuned engines and fuel injection, but this car has been kept on original Dellorto 40 carbs, the same intake airbox and filter housing, so it sounds and drives like the original.
The designer/ owner has gone to extreme levels of detail to make the engine bay look as close as possible to the Twin Cam installation, even to the point of designing and machining dummy cam covers and a 3-eared top to the oil filler cap himself.
At first glance, it’s hard to spot the differences, but there’s a photo included of his green Twin Cam car to compare to!
A brand new, ‘crate’ 2. 0L Blacktop Ford Zetec engine was bought from Raceline engines along with an aluminium cast water rail to bring the head water pipe from the back to the front of the engine to suit the longitudinal installation of the engine.
The engine is mated to a Tremec T5 gearbox from a TVR with a RS2000 style bellhousing and concentric hydraulic clutch.
This gearbox can take far more power than the Zetec can produce and was a very tight squeeze but was chosen as the gear ratios almost exactly match the original 5 speed Elan’s and also positioned the gear lever in the same place. So unlike conversions with Ford Sierra MT75 gearboxes it did not need the centre console to be retrimmed to suit a different gear lever position.
The owner designed the engine and gearbox layout and the necessary chassis modifications and new engine mounts in 3D computer aided design.
This kept the changes to a minimum and actually improved the stiffness of the front cross member.
It even means an original engine, gearbox and propshaft could be refitted without any modifications.
A bespoke Bailey-Morris propshaft links the gearbox to the original differential unit.
Drive to the rear wheels is via new sliding shaft, universal joint driveshafts. A much more period looking alternative to the CV joint version that is usually chosen to replace the slightly unreliable, original rubber doughnut driveshafts especially with the increased power from the Zetec.
The exhaust system is a bespoke designed, full stainless steel system with a 4-2-1 tubular tuned length manifold, with a sheet stainless steel replica of the original heatshield to protect the boot floor from the silencer.
An OMEX ignition ECU is hidden under the driver’s dash and has been mapped on a rolling road dyno. The results of this test show a maximum power of 151bhp at 5800rpm, so up on the 130bhp of the original Twin Cam powered ‘S130’, and a higher and flatter torque curve (145ft. lb max) as would be expected from a modern engine and the extra 500cc capacity.
An electric fuel pump is mounted on the chassis alongside the diff. The car was back on the road in September 2017, after the owner worked in parallel on carrying out a ground up restoration of an original Lotus Twin Cam powered Elan +2, which provided useful reference for both cars.
Since then, the car has had regular use and had continued refinements.
Some of the most recent work includes fitting a new Pilkington Glass windscreen and modifications to the sump to increase ground clearance.
It has also just had a new cam belt fitted and an engine oil and filter change.
The brake and clutch fluids have also been renewed.
The paintwork was refreshed and professionally polished recently and shows no signs of microblisters or stress cracking typical of fibreglass bodied cars.
Where possible all the work has been done by the owner, for example all the chassis, suspension and engine assembly, body assembly, interior trimming, wiring etc have been done by himself.
The only exceptions being the paintwork, powder coating, zinc and chrome plating.
The car has been restored to a very high detail as would be expected with the motorsport background of the owner with an emphasis on originality and restoring rather than replacing where possible.
For example, the original bumpers have been stripped and re-plated, the door window frames have been re-chromed, even the dash air vent knobs that are usually worn down to yellow plastic have also been re-chromed and the powder coated fuel tank has had the pressure test text re-sprayed with a stencil just as it left the factory, even though it’s not seen behind the new boot trim panel.
The original brake calipers, master cylinders and brake servo were rebuilt with all new seals.
New rubber water hoses and brake lines were fitted throughout.
Apart from new Tony Thompson shock absorbers and new rubber bushes, the suspension and steering is standard and the original parts blasted and powder coated.
The original, centre lock, 10 spoke alloy wheels were stripped, resprayed, diamond cut and lacquered before new Bridgestone 165R13 tyres were mounted. These are still barely worn and have plenty of tread.
The ride and handling are great and just as Colin Chapman and Lotus intended back in 1973.
The car is accompanied by an original Workshop Manual and a folder of documents, receipts and a detailed history of all the work done and a memory stick with thousands of digital photos shows every step of the build and restoration from start to finish.
The car has featured in the Club Lotus News magazine and Absolute Lotus magazine in 2019, where it was part of a group test with other engine converted Lotuses.
Please contact the owner for any more details or to view this special Elan +2.
