Series 2 aesthetics

[ca1066]

Thanks Jeff for that helpful advice must now give it some serious thought. Paul

[Mark Gordon]

Yeah, Jeff, that's some of the fun of driving an E Type. We once came out of a restaurant in Colonial Williamsburg to find a young couple oogling over my car. It seems they were in Wmsbrg to celebrate their first anniversary and the bride gushed that she loved the car and that the E was always her favorite. I had them hop into the car while I took their picture with their camera. She was thrilled and said that it made their first anniversary.

[1954Etype]

Great post! Thats is part of the joy of E type ownership, sharing our cars. I wish l had a pound for every time l have taken a photo of someone sat in my car with the owners camera.

[PeterCrespin]

Great post! Thats is part of the joy of E type ownership, sharing our cars. I wish l had a pound for every time l have taken a photo of someone sat in my car with the owners camera.

Hear! Hear! :-)

[politeperson]

I like the S2 wrap around bumper.

Looks good from my kitchen window.

[PeterCrespin]

I like the S2 wrap around bumper.

I remember coming up behind one in Chester stop-start traffic, in what must have been 1970 when I was on one of my first motorbikes. I remember thinking it looked much more modern and special than the older ones with 'a gap in the bumper.' I think it must have been shortly after the Tomorrow's World episode where Raymond Baxter referred to the safety improvements from exposed headlights etc.. Maybe it was a very early Top Gear - he was in the first ones wasn't he? Anyone else remember it?

Pete

[Bob Falfa]

Yes, and I have done the same as peter, except that I retained the alloy backing panel on which the number plate is mounted. The key is elimination of the square number plate , which is the really ugly feature. Once you do this, you no longer need the ram's horn exhausts

Looks so much better! Presumably you just used SI tail pipes / rear silencers?

[Gfhug]

Bob, yes, you can use the S1 tail pipes and either have the Elan rear lights which include the reserve lights or the better option is to get a set of MarekH's LED rear lights which fit straight into the standard S2 fitting and also include reverse lights.

Geoff

[politeperson]

Yes 9 WYO (above) has Elan rear lights, no filler plate and S1 rear tail pipes.

On the subject of the Elan Lights, I acquired a pair at great expense when it probably isn't necessary.

When I compared them to the Jag versions, the cast bulb holder section is the same casting on the Jag than the Lotus. The Series 2 E-type rear light contains the profile needed to fit the bulb holder, you just need to mill away the cut outs and add a bulb holder.

There is a guy somewhere who can add a clear lens insert into the original Jag lens.

Probably much cheaper .

[ernie]

Hiya Yep Marek has the correct solution...will be fitting it to my S2

[Heuer]

Jeff

You can put a post with full description/photos in our Wanted/For Sale section. Rules are in a sticky at the top: viewforum.php?f=7

[Steve Marshall]

Yes 9 WYO (above) has Elan rear lights, no filler plate and S1 rear tail pipes.

On the subject of the Elan Lights, I acquired a pair at great expense when it probably isn't necessary.

When I compared them to the Jag versions, the cast bulb holder section is the same casting on the Jag than the Lotus. The Series 2 E-type rear light contains the profile needed to fit the bulb holder, you just need to mill away the cut outs and add a bulb holder.

There is a guy somewhere who can add a clear lens insert into the original Jag lens.

Probably much cheaper .

Don't disregard the halfway house solution, buy new Elan lenses and put a couple of festoon lampholders in the place where the E-Type casting already has a place ready for them. It is behind the clear part of the Elan lens, even on US red rear lights. That's what I did. Just requires 1 6mm hole to fix the bulb holder, and another hole with a grommet to get the cable through the casting.

Steve

[MarekH]

I'm not really sure why anyone would want a couple of festoon bulb holders when you can have 100 high brightness LEDs in the same space.
http://www.jag-lovers.org/snaps/snap_vi ... 1426448414

kind regards
Marek

[Steve Marshall]

The amount of reversing I do in darkness will be rather limited I fancy.

I considered not bothering with reversing lights at all


Steve

[Nickleback]

I have had Marek's one piece rear lights fitted as a customer to my car for over 18 months now and they are excellent, they are sealed units so no water ingress problems, there is no need for the seperate twin useless reversing lights as OEM, they are LED so a lot brighter and couldn't be better for reversing into my garage in the dark.
Finally, I think that they really clean up the look of an S2 rear end especially if you lose the "wheel barrow handle" exhaust and revert to S1 straight style.

[Steve Marshall]

Mike

I don't think I have reversed into a garage in the dark for at least 25 years, so that's not really a priority for me, but extra bright reversing lights must be really useful. Feeble Elan ones will do for me, though I will get the brightest led festoon replacements I can find. I had the original castings rechromed, so I have an atavistic attachment to them, while I can easily go back to standard lenses if I ever fancy it.

I heartily agree that losing the original reversing lights and fitting straight S1 pipes is a massive improvement, and I have deseamed the body between the overriders, and omitted the bumper centre section too. Easily reversible though (apart from the invisible deseaming) if I ever want to replace the centre bumper, and even those miserable original reversing lights if I get bitten by the originality bug.

To complete the cleanup I used tiny led number plate lights, and junked the stainless plate (of course).

I have been trying dual filament (replacement) led lamps for years, and I have constantly been disappointed in how dim they have proved to be in service, whatever the vendor claimed. However, the last one I bought really is a great improvement on tungsten (+ve earth for a BSA B50).


Steve

[PeterCrespin]

BSA never made a +ve earth B50 surely? The model superseded the B44 and arrived in the 70s. Negative earth electrics had been used for a decade by then. Nice bike off-road.

[Steve Marshall]

A bit off-topic but I don't think that BSA ever made a negative earth bike, and I have had 11 of them over the years.

My rear end looks like this...


Even J-Lo's booty doesn't look its best with this degree of close up.

Now I am thinking that the MGB rear lights could complete the job! - please ignore previous MS.


Steve

[1954Etype]

Hi Steve,

Any chance you can post some more shots of the rear of your car?

Angus

[Steve Marshall]

Angus

I'm not sure that you can achieve this look on a '65 S1 without a lot of surgery

I will take a couple of other angles when I get chance.