Re: Have Just Purchased A Plus 2.....
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:30 pm
You have made agood choice! The +2 is a great car, but with a few problems..... I have had my 1969 one for over three years now, and have covered over 25k miles with no breakdowns at the side of the road, yet!
First thing is to check the sill members, or side impact bars. These are often forgotten about, being hidden away within the sill of the car, they are doubly important as the seatbelts attatch to them. Mine were a pile of rust...
I agree with all the comments regarding the maintenance things. If you use the car regularly, consider a driveshaft conversion to replace the 'doughnuts'. Although I have not had a failure, the dents in my chassis show that his has happened at least once to my car. I went for the Spyder conversion which keeps the inboard couplings, and has a CV joint for the outer ones. The unit also has a nifty little fix to stop the inner shaft flailing about if it does fail. This keeps a bit of flex in the drivetrain and stops shock feeding back up the drivetrain.
I don't want to alarm you, but I did spend a fair wad of cash in the first 18 months of ownership, but mainly to rectify some of the horrors of the past...The car is now reliable, hardly leaks (apart from the diff), is in everyday use, and is kept on the street (I don't have a garage). I justify the amount spent as equal to the depreciation of a conventional car, but the value sticks to the car! Cheap motoring, even with the expenses to date (around ?3k).
I think that a lot of problems with these cars stems from lack of use, especially electrics and brakes. Talking of which, does your handbrake work....mine didn't to begin with, and I spent a year trying to make a clapped out mechanism work. It was a waste of time, and I regard the money I spent to get both rear calipers refurbished by 'Classicar' (do a google) some of the most effective cash spent! The handbrake (and rear brakes) has worked a treat ever since.
Good tyres are essential in the wet, the light weight and strong braking can get you into trouble if the tyres are a bit hard. I run Goodyear GT2s, but there are several good choices.
Hope this helps - Enjoy!!
First thing is to check the sill members, or side impact bars. These are often forgotten about, being hidden away within the sill of the car, they are doubly important as the seatbelts attatch to them. Mine were a pile of rust...
I agree with all the comments regarding the maintenance things. If you use the car regularly, consider a driveshaft conversion to replace the 'doughnuts'. Although I have not had a failure, the dents in my chassis show that his has happened at least once to my car. I went for the Spyder conversion which keeps the inboard couplings, and has a CV joint for the outer ones. The unit also has a nifty little fix to stop the inner shaft flailing about if it does fail. This keeps a bit of flex in the drivetrain and stops shock feeding back up the drivetrain.
I don't want to alarm you, but I did spend a fair wad of cash in the first 18 months of ownership, but mainly to rectify some of the horrors of the past...The car is now reliable, hardly leaks (apart from the diff), is in everyday use, and is kept on the street (I don't have a garage). I justify the amount spent as equal to the depreciation of a conventional car, but the value sticks to the car! Cheap motoring, even with the expenses to date (around ?3k).
I think that a lot of problems with these cars stems from lack of use, especially electrics and brakes. Talking of which, does your handbrake work....mine didn't to begin with, and I spent a year trying to make a clapped out mechanism work. It was a waste of time, and I regard the money I spent to get both rear calipers refurbished by 'Classicar' (do a google) some of the most effective cash spent! The handbrake (and rear brakes) has worked a treat ever since.
Good tyres are essential in the wet, the light weight and strong braking can get you into trouble if the tyres are a bit hard. I run Goodyear GT2s, but there are several good choices.
Hope this helps - Enjoy!!