Restorations are never complete, but.....

Reading through the last few posts, this blog has changed from a history of the restoration to something different - "we did this and the car did that". A bit self-indulgent and not really in line with the original objective, so this will be the last post on this blog.

I've enjoyed writing it, and I hope that anyone reading it has found it either interesting or informative, or even sometimes both.
(Updated to add a link to a separate blog - jottings on the joys of living with the Elan).

With the benefit of hindsight, I didn't realise fully what I was taking on when I bought the car. At the start, it was impossible to estimate what needed to be done, and only as the car was dismantled bit by bit did it become clear what needed to be done - and the cost and timescales involved.

One point of sadness for me - in additional to the distraction of moving house at the end of 2013 I've had a few health problems in the last year and I was unable to do as much work as I would have wished. This despite the open invitation from the good people at Lakeside to help out whenever I wanted and was able.

If I could turn the clock back, would I have taken this on? I'm not sure either way. The car is just great to drive on the open road but is obviously still less than reliable and is not at all fun to drive in heavy traffic. And it has truly been a money pit. Sadly, the previous owner had been ill for a number of years and had obviously been unable to keep on top of the work required and had taken a number of shortcuts - the scope of which only became obvious as work progressed.

We loved our old +2, and - perhaps this was a historical perspective through rose tinted-glasses - had hoped that the Elan would be an excellent touring car. So far it isn't, and may never be; the +2 is a different car and when we owned it was less than 20 years old.

 Which brings me to the main conclusions of the blog:
1. Running an old car can't be justified in terms of money. They will go wrong, overheat and throw unexpected tantrums. You either love the car for what it is or you let it go.
2. You have to use the car or it will just deteriorate...... and what's the point in that?
3. However, as you use it you have to treat every journey as an adventure and be prepared for issues to arise.
4. I'm really pleased that another of these fantastic cars is still on the road.

Finally a few words of thanks.
- To Max at Lakeside for all his work and advice. He has amazing knowledge of how the cars go together and also how to source components and work around short-term problems. I would have never started the project if I hadn't known of his skills and knowledge.
- More recently, to Brian Buckland of Club Lotus fame. He runs an Elan, which I believe was previously owned by Jim Clark and has now done 870,000 miles. I've recently bought his book on Elan restoration and wish that I'd had that from the start. His advice, freely given, has been most useful.
- And of course to Pauline for not exploding every time I've told her of the latest list of problems and the cost of fixing them.  And helping me at the scene of roadside rescues, coping with the general discomfort, having the heater on in hot weather, carbon monoxide poisoning and more. :-)

'Bye for now.