1965 Lotus Elan S2 DHC - Complete Restoration - SOLD!

PostPost by: zog » Mon May 23, 2016 1:37 pm

For Sale: 1965 Lotus Elan Series 2 Drop Head Coupe (Convertible).

Body off restoration just completed on this very early Series 2 car. Everything on this car has been totally torn down, sandblasted, powder coated or painted and rebuilt or replaced with new parts. Beautiful, fresh Lotus Monaco White paint job with silver bumpers and silver wheels make it look like a brand new sports car from the 60?s. All new interior done up right in the original style including rebuilt seats, vinyl door panels, re-veneered wood dash and the original Wood Steering Wheel professionally rebuilt better than new! It is a real classic and a real head turner.
Details: I do most of the work myself including the bodywork, but I farm out some of the specialty stuff (engine machine shop work, final paint & seat upholstery) to the pros.
The Lotus Twin Cam, dual Weber carb engine is the original engine. It was rebuilt with new rings, seals, gaskets & bearings. Engine block & head hot tanked. Block was line bored. Crank polished. New big valves with all new guides, valve springs, valve seats and cam followers. New oil pump. Upgraded ?S/E? cams installed. Water pump rebuilt. Upgraded connecting rods (120E instead of 116E) and new ARP rod bolts. Machine shop work done by Apex engineering in Bensenville. New engine mounts. The new exhaust pipe is mated to a brand new Stainless Steel, stock styled muffler. Looks beautiful and sounds great (Not loud and not cheap!) New gear reduction starter. Weber 40 DCOE carbs ultra sound cleaned and rebuilt. New air box trunking hose hooked up to rebuilt original stock air filter set up. Pertronix ignition and a new coil.
Close ratio transmission was in good shape. I tore it down for a good cleaning and just replaced the seals, gaskets and front main bearing. Shift forks and syncros were good. Shifts great. Nothing shifts better than an early Elan!
Rear end disassembled, cleaned & checked. New seals and gasket installed.
Stainless braided brake hose lines. Stainless braided clutch line. Stainless braided oil pressure line. Rebuilt brake master cylinder & clutch cylinder. Rebuilt calipers with new Stainless Steel pistons. Gas tank was rebuilt by Renu - guaranteed for life. Original steel wheels sandblasted and painted silver. New tires. Hub caps re-chromed. Rebuilt 4 row radiator core. Heater core boiled out & tested. Steering rack rebuilt. New CV rear axels No rubber donuts!
New wiring harness. New battery installed under original battery box with an easy access, quick battery shut off switch. Gauges all cleaned up and function well. Tach has new electronic guts to match the electronic ignition. Generator cleaned and checked and a new regulator installed.
Chassis. Not original. This one came out a heated garage where it had been hanging from the ceiling for 30 years. It was checked for straightness, sandblasted and powder coated black. I did install an extra steel plate across the bottom of the front cross member for when you want to jack it up. I sandblasted and powder coated all the suspension pieces and installed all new bushings and rubbers everywhere. New closed cell foam chassis pad between the chassis and the body. New tie rod ends. Trunions rebuilt. New AVO front & rear shocks with upgraded springs with adjustable ride height from Dave Bean. Rear springs and rear perches are slightly smaller overall diameter to allow clearance on slightly wider tires (165X65X13).
Body and Paint - I did all the body work. Body was pretty good to begin with. Body was sanded down to bare fiberglass. All stress cracks and previous repairs ground out and repaired with fiberglass. Body was flipped upside down and the undersides and wheel well areas were completely sanded down and redone. My buddy owns a fiberglass shop so he made sure all the glass work was done right. We retained the stock fender shape - No fender flares. Entire body shot with 2 part primer and block sanded multiple times. Final base coat/clear coat paint job was done by Rizza Autobody in Des Plaines. Color is the original color - a Lotus Monaco white in the modern base coat/clear coat format and it looks terrific! Not Pebble Beach concours but very nice. Bumpers painted silver as were the steel wheels. Chrome was done by Star chrome in Chicago. Door handles, trunk hinges, window rails, hub caps, etc. A few chrome pieces were not re-chromed as they polished up pretty nice. New chrome scripts all around. About $2000 in chrome! New windshield rubber and chrome strip insert.
Interior is gorgeous and looks as new. New veneered wood dash finished with 6 coats of hand sanded automotive clear coat ? looks great! New crash pad from Paul Matty. New stock style door panels and side panels with new vinyl covering. Seats rebuilt with all new foam padding with original style black vinyl but better quality than new. They look and feel great! New rubber elephant hide carpet (as was original) over good insulation padding. New seat belts. New teardrop wood shift knob. New console. New door glass channels and window brush strips.
New Robbins tonneau top fits great and looks terrific. Zip it open and it?s a perfect way to drive around in chilly weather and park it looking great. Convertible top is also new. I even restored the top C pillars and rails.
The original wood steering wheel was rebuilt with all new wood by Lempert Wheels. It is better than stock in that is has a metal ring (that you can?t see) built into it for strength. Looks and feels great!

The car looks great, sounds great and runs great. The steering is tight; engine power and brakes are very good. The car is zippy and handles great. It?s a real joy to drive. Just like a new 1965 Lotus Elan which is what this essentially is. I really like the slightly stiffer springs and the AVO shocks. It gives the car a real nice ride and not too much lean in the turns. It is not absolutely a pebble beach concours car but it is a great car to take out, DRIVE and ENJOY!

I have receipts for everything that I have done to the car. Although everything that could have been done, has been done to this car to make it like new and in some cases better than new, it is still is a 51 year old car with only the reliability you would have gotten out of a new car 51 years ago. So it is being sold as-is with no expressed guarantee or warrantee except that I will provide full technical and moral support for however long as you own the car. This car, just like any new Lotus cars back in 1965 will require service, tinkering and attention. It is not a Miata!

I can provide references from owners of my previous restorations upon request. Some of them still talk to me! ? This is my eighth Lotus Elan full restoration, not including my own S1 Elan which I have restored more than once due to severe racing incidents. I have also done a Europa Twin Cam Special (wrote a book about it), a Seven America, a Lotus Cortina (my first book) and a Ford Cortina wagon converted to a Lotus Cortina Estate tribute (Wrote another book about that one too!).

Full Restoration Photos at: http://www.lotuscorps.org/pictures/inde ... ategory/17
Price? I?ve got a lot of money in parts alone in this restoration and the prices are only going up on donor cars so I?m going to ask $52,500, but I?m open to serious offers from the right buyer. I encourage you to come out and give this car a serious look and test drive.

Thanks!

Bob Herzog 847-390-0142 ? Home. 847-826-0857 ? Cell. email - [email protected]" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank
Attachments
sunwhite-013.jpg and
sunwhite-014.jpg and
sunwhite-018.jpg and
sunwhite-007.jpg and
sunwhite-020.jpg and
Last edited by zog on Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PostPost by: wthode » Mon May 23, 2016 2:36 pm

Bob--
You're not leaving yourself Elan-less by this sale, are you?
--Walt
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PostPost by: zog » Mon May 23, 2016 5:54 pm

Never Walt! I still have my own S1 Elan and I'm about 1/10 of the way through my next project Elan.
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PostPost by: Certified Lotus » Mon May 23, 2016 6:48 pm

Bob, very nicely Done! My complements. May I ask where you got the aixbox on this car?
Glen
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64 Elan S1 - 26/0379
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PostPost by: zog » Tue May 24, 2016 12:47 am

That is the original airbox.....Thanks!
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PostPost by: Ross Robbins » Tue May 24, 2016 6:00 pm

Bob, you have once again done a spectacular job and I hope you get every penny you seek. If I had a million dollars I would sell my beloved S2 and buy this. No, I wouldn't...I'd be afraid to drive it as it is perfect! My old dog? Who cares! :lol:
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PostPost by: el-saturn » Tue May 24, 2016 6:11 pm

i'll hand this or copies hereof to my neighbor: he's been looking for something like this if it has a original chassis - sandy, alps :mrgreen:
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PostPost by: nomad » Tue May 24, 2016 11:30 pm

Very nice car, Bob. I hope that Paul Matty or whoever is taking over still has 26 crash pads?? Desperately needing one!

Kurt
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PostPost by: rcombs » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:49 am

Beautiful car! Great job Zog, and worth every penny. I hop mine looks as good when it is done.

Rick
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PostPost by: tallic » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:41 pm

Where is it located?
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PostPost by: zog » Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:35 pm

The car is located in Des Plaines Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It's still for sale. 2 people very interested. One has too many cars (or too little storage), the other just has not come up to my price yet....real close......but not quite....

And thanks to everyone for their comments!
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PostPost by: zog » Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:44 pm

I have accepted a very fair offer and the car is now sold. The car will be going to a gentleman in New Jersey. Maybe I'll have to come out and visit it at the LOG in Princeton
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PostPost by: Certified Lotus » Sat Jun 04, 2016 10:23 am

That's great that your fine restoration found its home here in NJ. I hope to see it at LOG36! Bob, If you do come to LOG, please introduce yourself, would be great to meet you.
Glen
05 Elise - Back where I started
65 Elan S2 - 26/4055
72 Europa - 74/2358R
69 Elan S4 - 45/7941
64 Elan S1 - 26/0379
12 Colin 30 - Lotus Racing Kart
07 Exige S - Wicked Road/Track Car
07 Exige S - Fast Road/Track Car
06 Elise - Track pack
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