Small (or maybe not) project. 91 elan

[Tuga2112]

Joao,

the pads are great, and there are many threads on here giving various opinions on which brake products are better than others.... but for road use there will be little noticable difference.

I was making the offer mainly because I have all the bits here that you would need to get going again (pads, roll pins, even a complete calliper, a used - but servicable - bottom ball joint/antiroll bar link thingy, a set of discs if you needed them)

It isn't a "this is better than you're getting" offer, it is a "lets get you going again whilst waiting for parts" offer

bring the pins and pads.
as far as im aware thats all i need.
john has jinxed my speedo last night, im not sure how 3 screws (that happen to by pure chanse complete the electrical connections on the unit) vanished....
i shall be at the meeting this evening with the celica.

ps, ball joints arrived today

[dapinky]

As per my PM - I'll put a crate full of bits in the boot and you can take what you think you may need

[Tuga2112]

As per my PM - I'll put a crate full of bits in the boot and you can take what you think you may need

thanks dave,

didnt have a chanse to read pm yet, at work so can only nip in to check topic on the phone.

see you at the coach and horses.

[Tuga2112]

The Elan now has the ferodo pads. and a working calliper, no copper grease anywhere.
Ive also double checked the rear callipers for copper grease and cleaned the bolts.

the only thing missing is the roll bar ball joints now. which should have arrived today, but still nothing, so im assuming will be arriving Monday.

Luckily i only needed to use the pins from the lot of got from Dave, cus the ones that arrived were too short.

No pictures of the new stuff, im afraid. I was focused on getting the job done that didnt think of taking pictures.
Either way there wouldn't be anything exciting to see.

[Tuga2112]

Dave,

I've been re-reading the thread Par linked about the ball joint alternatives you made that Im going to place.

I want to confirm I understand the assembly process correctly.
based on the picture of the ball joint from, SJS.
the small "stick/thread" that is vertical. is the rod end, in the car the thread part will be facing upwards and held in place with a nylock nut at the top ?
the long "stick/thread" that is horizontal is the special "extra large" 140mm bolt and will have a nylock nut on the side that comes out of the wishbone. (rear of the car side of the wishbone) meaning the bolt head is facing the front of the car ?
My understanding is that i need 6 washers per side.
this being 1 at the bolt head (front of car side of the rod end)
5 on the other side of the rod end, between the wishbone and the rod end.
no washers touching any of the nylock nuts.

is this correct? wrong? or my explanation is soo confusing that a picture would be more helpful ?

EDIT

adding a picture just to be as clear as possible

[dapinky]

Joao,

nearly there....

...i've modified your picture a bit - it now shows the rod end/balljoint in the upright plane (as it will be fitted in the car), and i've added 2 washers under the nylocks (pink lines).

It is impossible to say exactly how many washers you will need as the 'spacer' between the balljoint (rod end) and the shock absorber as yours may be a bit different on their thickness than mine were (All Form 'A' washers should be the same, but they may be a bit different).

The best way is to remove the old unit and lay it next to the new (assembled) one on the floor - as long as the centre of your new rod end is in the same place as the centre of the ball on the old/broken one, you will clearly see how many washers it needs for them to work the same.

[par]

Here are a few photos that may help, I played about with the number of washers trying to match the original part but ended up using the 6 washers on the ball joint side:-







There should be enough flexibility & movement in the ball joint and drop link to cope with any slight misalignment due to different washer count/thickness.

[Tuga2112]

Ball joint replacement now fitted and 50 odd miles driven on it.

I put 3 extra washers between the rollbar and the rod end, and it appeared the rod end was too far low compared to the rollbar.
was this a good judgement call or should i get back and remove those washers ?

would a picture help ?

[Tuga2112]

Next problem in my list.

This is something that has happened a few times but comes and goes, so i have been trying not to worry still hopefully i can get some pointers of what to look for during a weekend.

Basically, every now and then, I can smell petrol inside the car.
I have tried to co-relate when the smell appears with actions happening in the hope to confirm how to reproduce the issue, but nothing conclusive yet.

it appears to happen less often when the tank is "fuller" usually I can smell it when its down to a quarter or less in the dial.
doesn't seem to be related to revving high, although I don't rev higher than 4k often.
seem to happen more often when I lose speed, but without braking, so when I take the foot off the throttle to decelerate on motorway for an exit.
very rarely the smell is there when I get into the car. Usually appears after some time driving.
Never seen any petrol on the floor underneath the car.

I had a quick look around and apparently most people seem to have this smell when the fuel tank is full, and its a crack on the tank?

The thing that worries me most about this is that the smell also appears at speeds of 60-70 on the motorway, so i fear its somehow a leak near the engine ?
could a leak somewhere else smell inside the car at those speeds ?

Any thoughts ?

[HJ2]

I would definitely check the tank& filler neck for cracks. Have it pressurized (a little) and see if the problem appears again.
Also it could be possible that you run (very) fuel rich! So check the spark plugs for sooth.

Good luck!

[dapinky]

Any thoughts ?

I always have thoughts - sometimes they are even relevant, and possibly useful (but not always)....

....in this case, my thoughts (which may be relevant/useful) are:-

Possible split/leak in the fuel return hose from the injector rail to the petrol tank (but it *may* be something to do with the pressure regulator on the end of the rail, but I have no experience of them).

My thinking behind this theory is that the pump provides fuel to the injector rail at high pressure, the pressure is regulated by the valve thingy at the end of the rail so the injectors squirt the correct amount of petrol into the engine all the time..... excess petrol is returned to the tank by the return hose/pipework.

When the car is running at a constant speed everything is in a state of equilibrium, with a constant 'loop' of petrol from tank to engine and (less of it) back to tank.

But when you suddenly ease off the throttle, no fuel goes into the engine (or certainly a lot less), so there is more petrol to flow down the return pipe.

This excess fuel will raise the pressure in said pipe (as the diameter of the pipe is constant), so any slight split or loose conesction could cause a leak.

Well, that's my thoughts - but I'm sure someone else will have another theory which tells me I'm wrong for whatever reason (it isn't a problem I've ever had to investigate)

[Tuga2112]

Well, The fuel smell issue is again back to the end of the queue.

Yesterday on my way to work i found myself with the car only engaging 1 3 and 5th gear. all of the gears that require the lever to move back wont engage.

Got home after a stressful journey after work, and... called Dave for help, after the pointers quick conversation we had, i was much better aware of the issue wih the car, and Opened the bonnet, looked for the gear cables, and as Dave mentioned, one of the plastic clips was not holding the cable in place.

Dave mentioned usually the plastic brakes loose and its just a matter of reattaching it. But in my case i am pretty sure it broke. (pictures attached)
After messing a bit with gears and the cables, I felt comfortable I understood its operation and decided as a temporary measure, a very well tightened hose clip could do the trick and allow me to engage gears again.

NOTE. In order to perform this Operation i Also took out the big air hose, and the coolant reservoir, With those off, I could both see the cables and reach them, which made the job easier.

I haven't tried the car on the road yet, decided to update the thread with this solution to see what other people think about the hose clip fix, Usually if possible, i try and get second opinions on these Cowboy fixes, as i may end up causing more harm than good.

distance view of the clip


closer shot of the clip


another closer shot of the clip


Plastic bracket/thingy that broke out.




rusty hose clip on the coolant reservoir

ant its now replaced

rusty bolt on coolant reservoir

and its now replaced, sadly i dont have any stainless steel washers, so decided to keep the old one.


Finally.
I found this connector (pointed by the finger in the picture.
found it a bit odd it goes nowhere, and was curious if anyone knew what is it meant to connect to ?

[HJ2]

On the short term: Lube the cables up a little. The temporarily clamp looks like it is safe enough to give it a try.
Meanwhile: Order a set of uprated cables! John has some available.

[Tuga2112]

On the short term: Lube the cables up a little. The temporarily clamp looks like it is safe enough to give it a try.
Meanwhile: Order a set of uprated cables! John has some available.

I know 2 Johns that attend the WM meetings, assume there will be others on the forum as well.
Do you know the forum name of the John you refer to ?

Thanks.

[HJ2]

Brit-Car-Nut

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Look at this posting topic for the most current information and prices: viewtopic.php?f=48&t=22461

Start from the END (latest posts) rather than from the beginning since it is a long post. I hope this will answer your questions.

You can also look at the other posting I placed: viewtopic.php?f=131&t=22759&p=286921#p286921

[Tuga2112]

Look at this posting topic for the most current information and prices: viewtopic.php?f=48&t=22461

Start from the END (latest posts) rather than from the beginning since it is a long post. I hope this will answer your questions.

You can also look at the other posting I placed: viewtopic.php?f=131&t=22759&p=286921#p286921

Thanks for the links john,

3 weeks ago i would have considered the upgraded cables and short shifter, but with the latest developments in Britain, i would have to be insane to invest that kind of money on the elan, I cant even be sure to stay in britain as things stand at the moment.... which makes me regret the exhaust upgrade done for MOT a month ago

Im going to look into any way to "permanentalize" the current temporary fix, if such not possible, then look into used sets from S2's

[Tuga2112]

Well, took the car out to check the fix.
This fix was very successful at being temporary. in fact so successful that I engaged first gear only once before the issue returned, after that 1 3 and 5 where gone, and i was left out with only 2, 4 and reverse... the opposite ones that worked before.

tried to readjust the hose clamp without any success, Im now officially elan-less for whatever log it takes to get a replacement.
Already checked the cost of a replacement from SJ, so looking around for other alternatives.

H2J, you should have a reply on your inbox, (i am assuming the email i received was from you. )

[dapinky]

Joao,

It may be worth putting a 'Wanted' post in the relevant thread on here - there may well be someone on the forum who has fitted the upgrade cables but still has a usable SE cable (whichever one you may need) somewhere in the garage????

When mine went wrong I managed to fix it (just came undone) so never got any of the uprated cables...... and the set of AB cables I did have ended up being fitted to a yellow elan up in Scottishland.

If you end up offered S2 cables you will need the appropriate 'E' clips as well - they are a different fitting to the 'R' clips on the SE cable.

In a perfect world, I'd suggest using the upgrade cables from B-C-N, but I understand the budgetry limitations, and hope that someone is able to offer you a used-but-servicable cable which they don't require.

[Tuga2112]

Joao,

It may be worth putting a 'Wanted' post in the relevant thread on here - there may well be someone on the forum who has fitted the upgrade cables but still has a usable SE cable (whichever one you may need) somewhere in the garage????

When mine went wrong I managed to fix it (just came undone) so never got any of the uprated cables...... and the set of AB cables I did have ended up being fitted to a yellow elan up in Scottishland.

If you end up offered S2 cables you will need the appropriate 'E' clips as well - they are a different fitting to the 'R' clips on the SE cable.

In a perfect world, I'd suggest using the upgrade cables from B-C-N, but I understand the budgetry limitations, and hope that someone is able to offer you a used-but-servicable cable which they don't require.

Dave,

As mentioned, with the current situation in this country upgraded ones from brit-car-nut are (unfortunately) out of question. if the referendum went the other way round i would be counting pennies for a short shifter included... Anyway im already in contact with HS2 who has a set of S2 cables and is willing to depart of, so, fingers crossed next (more likely the one after) weekend there will be plenty of cursing under the car.

I shall be looking into S2 set as an upgrade anyway, its more durable.