I am working in a rather under resourced lab and don't have access to a plate reader. Has anyone tried reading an ELISA assay by transfering to microcuvettes and using a spec? If so have you had any success?

Yes
I did it long long ago.
All depend how many samples do you have and more important what is the wave length you want to read and do you have the correct filter to read. One more question is the volume of your sample.
Guy