Series 1 vs. series 2????

[L2Man]

I have a LC mk2 genuine, and wonder can any of you enthusiasts answer some basic questions for me

The car is registered on 1/8/1968 and has

1. series 2 seats, the pimply ones rather than the ones similar to mk1 lotus ones with the horizontal slatting effect, is this wrong?

2. what I would regard as a series one cam cover with the lotus letters in pairs running parallell with the cams rather than one lotus word parallell with the cam sprokets?

help!!

 

[Lashman]

Hi, Your best bet to figure out what seats/interior your car came with is by decipering the trim codes etc. if they are still on the car.
If your current engine match's the car then just the cam cover may of been changed in the past because the old one leaked/ somebody perfered the older style/original one got lost..etc.etc.
Cheers
Louis

 

[Scott Simpson]

Hi L2 man,
Going by the registration date you give, the car must have been built before then. So you know your car must be earlier than August 68, which means it has to be a series one. Series two's didn't appear untill october 68 and even then there seems to be no clear date of series ones finishing and series two's then comming on stream. They were kind of dribbled out and then the later cars dribbled in over a period of a couple of months.
For quite some time the club had no cars on the register from oct 68 at all. I'm not sure if that's still the case, Ricks the man with all that info. The other period where mk2's were very thin on the ground were feb and march 69. I suspect this could have been due to industrial action at Dagenham by the work force. Strikes and walkouts are claimed to be the reason that many mk 2 cortinas had issues with the metalic paints falling off due to the unfinished bodies being stored outside for prolonged periods during these disputes. Not sure how acurate that can be as only the metalic finishes were affected.
You shouldn't have too much trouble in finding someone to do a swap with the seats. Your bound to find someone else with the opposite problem with their series two!
Hope this helps
Scott

 

[H Cortina]

You and i need to meet up L2Man. Mine is definately series 2 and has horizontal stripey seats with pimples, well sort of.
As far as i'm aware it's original although my drivers seat used to be a passenger seat (seat forward lever in wrong place).

That's muddied the water a bit more.

 

[cortina321]

Hi L2man,
I`m looking for a drivers seat for a series 2 , if your selling i would be interested??

 

[Gpilky]

Hi L2man,

I second what Scott says - pre Oct 1968 would be a series 1. Mine also is August 68 and doesn't have pimply seats. From August the series 1 also had the console with the clock, and the lotus Badge on the rear was changed to the Twin Cam badge.

The cam cover is interesting. Miles Wilkins suggests that the change in cam covers occurred in Oct 68 - before then the Lotus was cast in the side and after this was cast in the end. from personal experience though I have had 2 68 cars, both pre-October reg, and both had the later cover. I also checked some literature and can clearly see some series 1 cars with the later cover in some road tests of the time.

Personally, prefer the later cover anyway as the air cleaner pretty much obliterates the lettering on the earlier ones.

Gary P

 

[Lashman]

I think the oct 68 camcover changeover has been argued about and disproved before on the old forum. There is plenty of period pics showing it was more like late 67 changeover on the LC.

 

[kevflight]

Hi There L2 man

My series one MK2 LC was registered 6th March 1968, and it has the camcover with the Lotus accross the front, so I would agree with Lashman that if it was late any year it would have been late 67.

Regards
Kev

 

[Scott Simpson]

ok, this needs explaining in some detail.
There are two types (if you like) of series one. The first type went from the model introduction which was March 1967. This was the version with the Lotus roundel badge on the rear panel and no twincam badge on the boot. It also featured a Mk 1 cortina GT handbrake handle, didn't have a clock in the console, didn't have tilt lock buttons in the front seats, had pull knobs either side of the ashtray for the dash vents, had the mark one type camcover, a different throttle cable bracket on the offside inner wing and had roller bearing top mounts.
I think that was about it. The change to the later type series one, with the twincam boot badge, tilt lock buttons in the seats, clock in the console, twist and release handbrake lever, camcover with Lotus accross the front, etc, etc happened in August 1967. It's all in the parts book. Most of the early cars (but not all) were E registered as this was the year that DVLA altered the change over of reg no's from Jan 1st to Aug 1st. It's also why you don't see many E reg cars about. The change over from series one to series two mk 2's came in October 68.
Hope this clarifies everything.
Scott
PS. The E plated L/C's are pretty rare.

 

[Gpilky]

Scott,

Interesting info - I was aware of the clock and badge changes, but not some of the other details. I checked my references and I made a mistake - it was 67 as you stated, not 68 as I suggested. Which parts book are you referring too?

Gary P

 

[Scott Simpson]

The Ford one for all Mk 2's, mine is from 1971.
They're really hard to find these days, but worth their weight in gold.
Plus I've owned a 1970 Mk 2 (HNO) and a November 67 (PMF), both excellent cars.
Having had both types teaches you a lot, so does being around L/C's for far too long!
Scott