A thorough inspection of my +2 has indicated that in the near future, a chassis replacement might be on the cards. I have read through various threads but be good to get some thoughts here. I would like to keep the car as close to original as possible, so the Spyder upgraded version is out. Options I am considering are:
A) Original style chassis (what’s the best source for these? I see Gartrac, SJ and Paul Matty as potential places to buy?)
B) Lotus type replacement stress skinned chassis Elan +2 from Spyder (Any 1st hand experience with these?)
C) Ebay listings which come up every so often
All of the ‘original’ frames (chassis) are produced by Gartrac for Miles Wilkins who owns the license from Lotus. The usual suspects obtain their frames from Miles / Gartrac.
I believe Gartrac have now moved, they used to be not far from me in Chiddingfold, in the same road as the ‘Farm’ studios owned by the band Genesis.
Edit: Regarding which to use, depending on budget, I would go with the original style. Given the cost of a rebuild, the price of a new frame is small in comparison to the overall expense, and gives a known, solid base to build on.
I have the Spyder “stressed skin” (ie Lotus replica, but much better) chassis on my Plus 2 and my Sprint. Highly recommended and cheaper than the weaker “official “ version, and available at short notice.
Hint: get Spyder to omit the towing loop. It’s useless and a dead giveaway when you look underneath.
Ian
Once you have changed it DO NOT TELL THE DVLC that you have a new chassis number or they will probably make you re-register with a Q numberplate which will diminish the value of your car.
It was long ago established by a Lotus official (who alas is no longer alive) that the metal bit under a Lotus Elan or +2 is a subframe not a chassis; the identity of the car is that which is written on the VIN plate in the engine compartment, not the Chassis Number.
For the avoidance of problems with MOT / DVLA inspectors who are not aware of this, it is a good investment to buy/ borrow a set of number punches and to punch your existing subframe number onto the new subframe above the new LR subframe number. It is easier to do this before you put the body back on. The number is on the top surface of the frame, near where the exhaust system passes very close to the frame.
Plus 1 for the Spyder stressed skin replica, got one in my Plus 2. Same comments about towing hoop and if you are sticking with vacuum operated headlights ensure there is a drain plug in the front cross member.
IMHO this is a personal choice .
Impossible for me to fit a Spyder Sub Frame/Chassis.
If later you find the original Chassis only has problems in the Front Towers you can take it to Gartrac and they will repair as needed.
That way your car is as original as possible.
As i said a personal choice and imho it’s not possible to reconvert the converted
For normal driving on the road the original set up is easily good enough. Even driving on a circuit you need to be good or have a lot of experience to tell the difference.
Alan
As the “sub-frame” appears to folded up origami-fashion from a flat piece of sheet steel it would seem to be perfect for carbon fiber. I wonder, has anyone tried it? Does anyone know it wouldn’t work? Something stiffer at half the weight would be so Lotus!
I don’t want to get into this… but the DVLA only have an issue if you for example replace a standard stress skin chassis with a space frame (on any car a replacement has to be standard for standard part then the DVLA have no issue) that is across the board (it includes Sub frames)… the only time a Spyder chassis was acceptable by the DVLA was back when the Original design was out of production (any agreement was void the second the original design chassis was put back into production). Today!! if the DVLA find out you have replaced the Chassis with a space frame you will go on a Q plate unless you can prove the chassis was fitted during the time the standard design was out of production. So the Option is standard replacement chassis in which case you can update any Chassis number with no issue or fit a Spyder Chassis and keep it to your self. IMHO just fit a 26R type strengthened stress skin chassis (ideally get it galvanized)
I did quite a bit of research into this after a past thread on here and i know this is now accurate.
BTW, don’t stamp an LR number into a Spider chassis, to anyone that knows anything about Lotus Elans it will stand out like a sore thumb it’s been tampered with and tampering with a cars ID would involve the Police if caught!! On top of that if you sell it without telling the new owner it has a “Suspect” chassis number you could find your self in court. I just wouldn’t to be honest…
My suggestion above would have BOTH numbers on the sub-frame and I was talking about Lotus Replacement subframes, not Spyder ones.
Your description of DVLA practice, might well be what it is TODAY, but it certainly was not thus back in 1978.
The main problem even now is that though that might well be the proper DVLA practice, you first have to reach someone in the DVLA who knows that. Most of the lower minions do not seem to know about the unusual situations.
Fitting a Spyder subframe would almost certainly prevent you claiming MOT exemption too.
I can offer literally hundreds of examples of the manufacturer referring to the lump of metal under the fibreglass body as a chassis. Is there anywhere in the manufacturer’s documentation referring to it as a “subframe”?
Google ‘chassis‘ and ‘subframe’ and see which images look most like our cars.
Seriously don’t stamp any number into your chassis!! cut the old number out of the bad chassis clean it up and keep it somewhere safe with your documents.
As i said the only time it was accepted by the DVLA to fit a spyder chassis was while the original design was out of production !! if you have a receipt placing your spider chassis in that period then you are golden!! where it becomes very sketchy is when you come to sell your car if you are outside that period or have no receipt, you have an undeclared modification that effectively makes your car a Q plate slashing it’s value if done by the book!! By Law, you have to declare that to the next owner or you leave your self open to a claim down the line. Or just fit a standard design chassis in the first place and skip the headache…
The MOT thing falls under the same category, undeclared then no one will know (assuming it’s outside the period the standard chassis was not in production again) but announce it and you automatically go on a Q and require an MOT.
In the eyes of the DVLA it doesn’t matter what you call it, if you remove a standard oem Chassis or subframe and replace it with a space frame (a Chassis or Subframe that is not of original design) by law it should be declared unless the standard item is out of production!! in that case you need to go through the channels to prove they are not available and make your case to the DVLA.
As i said before the problem is not so much you fitting a Spider chassis and keeping it to your self (you can do that and have no issues) it becomes a problem if you sell it and the next owner doesn’t fully understand a spider chassis in the eyes of the law should mean the car is on a Q plate and he later finds out and doesn’t like it (you would be liable)
Fully agree, took me an age to talk to someone there that could tell me the DVLA stance without reading some passage from the rules at me.
You would have to check but i suspect 1978 was inside the period that was covered by the “Standard chassis not in production” agreement making it WAY easier to fit whatever chassis you wanted under your car. It just seems a lot of work finding out the dates the standard chassis was out of production and proving a Spider Chassis was fitted inside that period.
I don’t know… the DVLA even say Chassis/Subframe when referring to this in their rules. I think it’s been confused with the amount of car you can replace after an accident (subframes get less points than Chassis but it still has to be like for like oem parts if they are still in production)
