Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi folks, I see from the advert in the latest edition of Club Lotus magazine that Paul Matty is advertising new rear chrome bumpers for the Plus 2. Has anybody seen them or, if anybody is calling in to Paul could they kindly have a look at one for me please and give me an opinion? Either via the forum or PM if you prefer.

Looking for one to complete my '72 S130 resto.

Not being lazy but I live in Northern Ireland and rarely, if ever, come back to the "Mainland"

Many thanks,

Martin B

Martin,
I bought a reproduction from Paul Matty in 2007 when some kind soul wrote off their Ford Focus using the back of my +2 as an emergency brake.

I believe it's the same item he is selling now and the only comments are that the lower edge of the bumper doesn't have quite the same detail as the original and the fit around the rear wings leaves a bit of a gap. Other than that the quality of the chrome is good and I don't have any issues with it after 9 years fitted, and she does go out in the rain.

Never had any comments like " I see you have a reproduction rear bumper" I don't think anyone has ever noticed it.

I noticed it Al just didnt want to hurt your feelings

elan66 wrote:I noticed it Al just didnt want to hurt your feelings

Paul,
I never noticed you holding back on anything else

Alan,
when you replaced it you were probably in the old twin cam mindset so didnt want an old tatty and sharp rusty bumper for someone to cut their hands on when they pushed you when you brokedown

I have a rear bumper from Paul Matty for my '74 rebuild. It isn't on the car yet but it has been fettled a little to fit the body prior to painting and it looked and felt OK.

Malcolm

I bought one some years ago but have only just got to the stage of restoration to trial fit it. It's not a perfect fit, but with a bit of easing of the side holes it is ok, only real difference I have noticed is that the holes for the number plate lights are smaller than in the original bumper which I still have. I may get my original rechromed and sell on the reproduction one.

I have a repro on my car at the moment and to be frank I hate it. I'm a bit of a pedant about these things but I think the fit is all wrong. I dislike the way it doesn't fill the recesses in the side, being too short it doesn't extend forward enough. Neither does it follow the curve from the rear to the side very closely. The profile is very square whereas the originals have more of a curved profile to the vertical face and look much nicer in my opinion. The lip is also missing from the repro. I don't know for sure but I have no reason to suspect the current repro ones are any different.

I have an original but I'm waiting for some spare cash to get it chromed.

As I said, I'm a pedant

Robbie

I had my original front one rechromed and it is an excellent job, but at around ?500, it's not cheap!

Robbie693 wrote:I have a repro on my car at the moment and to be frank I hate it. I'm a bit of a pedant about these things but I think the fit is all wrong. I dislike the way it doesn't fill the recesses in the side, being too short it doesn't extend forward enough. Neither does it follow the curve from the rear to the side very closely. The profile is very square whereas the originals have more of a curved profile to the vertical face and look much nicer in my opinion. The lip is also missing from the repro. I don't know for sure but I have no reason to suspect the current repro ones are any different.

I have an original but I'm waiting for some spare cash to get it chromed.

As I said, I'm a pedant

Robbie

I suspect there may have been more than one source of manufacture for repro's available over the years. I have seen a few pretty poor looking efforts, but have a repro which apart from the lip on the lower edge, is quite good both in fit & quality. I bought it second hand, but was told it came from Matties. I also have an original that had a very small dent & poor chrome which I have recently had restored, & comparing the two, with the exception of the lip, there is very little difference. The repro does have a slightly bigger gap between bumper & body where it wraps around the corners, but it does fill the recesses to the same extent as the original. Shape & profile is virtually identical. When bought 30 years ago, the car came with a repaired & re-chromed original, it has had patches let in to both corners which have been done very nicely, but then the lip has been lost by a combination of dressing it out & grinding it back so the vertical section is now a bit shallow. Apparently, the re-chromers did it as the lip destroys their polishing heads I remember the guy I bought the car from was not at all happy about it, but it might explain why the repro's are made without the lip.

Regards, Tim

Orsom Weels wrote:
I suspect there may have been more than one source of manufacture for repro's available over the years. I have seen a few pretty poor looking efforts, but have a repro which apart from the lip on the lower edge, is quite good both in fit & quality. I bought it second hand, but was told it came from Matties. I also have an original that had a very small dent & poor chrome which I have recently had restored, & comparing the two, with the exception of the lip, there is very little difference. The repro does have a slightly bigger gap between bumper & body where it wraps around the corners, but it does fill the recesses to the same extent as the original. Shape & profile is virtually identical. When bought 30 years ago, the car came with a repaired & re-chromed original, it has had patches let in to both corners which have been done very nicely, but then the lip has been lost by a combination of dressing it out & grinding it back so the vertical section is now a bit shallow. Apparently, the re-chromers did it as the lip destroys their polishing heads I remember the guy I bought the car from was not at all happy about it, but it might explain why the repro's are made without the lip.

Regards, Tim

Yes that would explain it. I must admit my bumper is at least 17 years old so perhaps some are better than others. I recall there was a company that tried to do them in stainless a few years ago but abandoned the idea as they couldn't get a good fit, from what i could make out.

Next time I'm at PM's I'll get them to drag one out and have a look, 500 quid is going to smart a little for the rechroming

Thanks Tim

Robbie

Robbie693 wrote:
Next time I'm at PM's I'll get them to drag one out and have a look, 500 quid is going to smart a little for the rechroming

Thanks Tim

Robbie

Hi Robbie,

I meant to mention that my original cost ?300 to have finished & re-chromed middle of last year. I dressed the dent, filled the remaining imperfections with brass & roughly filed/sanded to shape, then left the final finishing to the experts. Still haven't fitted it yet, it looks great just hanging on my garage wall

Regards, Tim

Orsom Weels wrote:

Robbie693 wrote:
Next time I'm at PM's I'll get them to drag one out and have a look, 500 quid is going to smart a little for the rechroming

Thanks Tim

Robbie

Hi Robbie,

I meant to mention that my original cost ?300 to have finished & re-chromed middle of last year. I dressed the dent, filled the remaining imperfections with brass & roughly filed/sanded to shape, then left the final finishing to the experts. Still haven't fitted it yet, it looks great just hanging on my garage wall

Regards, Tim

Ah ok, that's close to the price of a new one then. I need to get a quote obviously

Thanks

Robbie

I got my front bumper, front and rear lights, 4 spinners and a couple of small bits of trim re-chromed for ?250 at Hockley Enterprises, Southend.
https://www.hockleyenterprises.co.uk

KevJ+2 wrote:I got my front bumper, front and rear lights, 4 spinners and a couple of small bits of trim re-chromed for ?250 at Hockley Enterprises, Southend.
https://www.hockleyenterprises.co.uk

they plated your Mazak rear lights........???...
if so thats interesting...........how did they come out......
I might be tempted to send them my spare set of front sidelights and rears if so.....