+2 Spotted in the wild

[LaikaTheDog]

after decades of ownership i spotted my first +2 "in the wild"

as in, not at a car show...

red plus 2 with white number circles on A3 near M25 interchange on sunday evening.

glad to see car in use !!

[gavk]

Ahh

That would've been me!

I'm on the A3 in the old girl 5 days a week, to and from London!

I used to pass a yellow one parked up in Battersea on my drive in but that's gone now

Gavin

[LaikaTheDog]

yes. it was you !
i am on the a3 at odd times and this was the first time i spotted you !

saw my second spot yesterday. saturday 20th may 6pm M40 near high wycombe
Black +2 on hard shoulder in the rain with roadside support in attendance. I would have stopped to render assistance but you already had help.

[gavk]

I was also on the A3 this morning, saw a car ahead in the distance and thought "That looks nice, might be an old Alfa!".

I got closer and it was another red +2, off to Brooklands by the looks of it, there was an EType and a Caterham out too

[vincereynard]

saw my second spot yesterday. saturday 20th may 6pm M40 near high wycombe
Black +2 on hard shoulder in the rain with roadside support in attendance. I would have stopped to render assistance but you already had help.

Could it have been this one -

I know the owner, it had been to Matty's and M40, Wycombe, would have been on the way home.

[davie489]

Hi guys

The black plus 2 on the m40 was me, having just got the car back from paul Mattys last weekend and driving it back to wycombe all was fine and dandy luckily ....
Having got the car back on the road for a little spin before today's trip to brooklands I was in the fast lane doing 80 mph and the whole car was wobbling all over the place... pulled over straight away expecting to see a puncture but everything looked fine . To my amazement I checked the wheel spinners to find one rear spinner on its last thread!! Paul Mattys had obviously forgot to do it up other than hand tight!! I'm not sure how to approach this yet but will be ringing them first thing in the morning!
Luckily car and driver are fine

[RichC]

.. you just can't get the staff nowadays

[RichC]

will be plenty of us on the roads to castle combe next weekend

[vincereynard]

Hi guys

The black plus 2 on the m40 was me, having just got the car back from paul Mattys last weekend and driving it back to wycombe all was fine and dandy luckily ....
Having got the car back on the road for a little spin before today's trip to brooklands I was in the fast lane doing 80 mph and the whole car was wobbling all over the place... pulled over straight away expecting to see a puncture but everything looked fine . To my amazement I checked the wheel spinners to find one rear spinner on its last thread!! Paul Mattys had obviously forgot to do it up other than hand tight!! I'm not sure how to approach this yet but will be ringing them first thing in the morning!
Luckily car and driver are fine

Glad you are OK Dave. I thought it might be you!

Such basic incompetence is inexcusable IMHO!

I use a red permanent marker to put a dot on the spinner and the wheel opposite the valve. Then you can see if it has moved!

Check the wheel in case the fretting has damaged pegs and location holes.

I've lost your mobile - give me a buzz sometime.

[Quart Meg Miles]

Those spinners were a devil. I had a rear one undo after 200 miles and another time I forgot to tighten a front one and it lasted just 400 metres; so I suspect yours was more than hand tight. Why did the pre-war ones self-tighten and the Lotus ones don't?

[Orsom Weels]

In 30 years of Lotus ownership & driving, I have always broken the rules & lubricated the threads, I always just knock the spinners up tight with a 'firm' blow, & they are always much tighter, or harder to undo after a few hundred miles, so I feel that they do tighten themselves in service.
That said, I have had one rear (O/S) come loose. It hadn't been touched for probably over a thousand miles, & suddenly the car felt like it had a puncture. I stopped, saw what had happened, raised the wheel free of the ground, checked there was no damage, tightened it back up as described above, & have never had another occurrence. Just another inexplicable little event in the course of Lotus ownership

Regards, Tim

[prezoom]

There is a steep twisty down grade leading to Lake Isabella from the west. Both times I have decended, I have the front KO's loosen. As I pulled away from the stop at the bottom, I could feel it in the steering wheel. A couple of whacks with the hammer and all was well. It the only place and time this has happened. Of course, it might have been a little over driving that caused the problem, as the smell of the brakes leaves a catch in my throat as I drive away.

[Davidb]

Which way do the knock-offs tighten on a +2--towards the front like a 26R or toward the rear like a wire wheel k/o? I am impressed that my 26R style hubs and k/os are staying tight. In many years of driving wire wheeled cars I have never had one come loose.

[vincereynard]

Which way do the knock-offs tighten on a +2--towards the front like a 26R or toward the rear like a wire wheel k/o? I am impressed that my 26R style hubs and k/os are staying tight. In many years of driving wire wheeled cars I have never had one come loose.

Depends on which side. They tighten in the direction of forward travel.