Green On Top

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Green On Top

Postby Saltire » Tue 05.07.2016, 17:38

I've been promising for some time to write up my experiences in working on the Elan. After a year of vacillating, it's time to get words on the screen. This has been prompted by the recent incident where the Green Monster ejected oil all over my garage floor (see this thread for details). Warning: this thread is picture heavy.

The story so far . . .
I'm strapped for time at the moment, so I decided to ask my friendly local auto engineer to do the refit. We now have the car in the air on his lift, awaiting a new aluminium oil cooler from CoolExperts, and new pipework (due tomorrow). While it was up on the lift, he invited me to have a good look underneath.

I've not looked underneath an Elan before, but I've seen worse on other cars. Would the resident expert jury like to take a look at the pictureas and tell me what you think. Is it:
    1. Not bad at all
    2. Needing work but salvageable
    3. Only fit to break for the parts.

By way of background, the car is an S2 no 512 with 63,000 miles up. Very little changed from standard, except for a stainless back box. I have full documentation going back to the original bill of sale, and a more or less continuous set of MoTs, except for one period about five years ago when the car was SORN.

To Start With:
So, first off, here's the OSF hub assembly:
Front OS lower wishbone 2  (Small).jpg
Offside front lower wishbone


Question: The arrowed joint seems very loose and wobbly to me. Should we be replacing it (and its friend on the other side) while we have everything stripped down, or is loose normal?

The Pictures
Front NS hub (Small).jpg
Nearside front hub

Front NS lower wishbone 1 (Large) (Small).jpg
Nearside front lower wishbone

Rear NS hub (Large) (Small).jpg
Rear nearside hub

Rear OS hub (Large) (Small).jpg
Rear offside hub

Rear floor section 2 (Large) (Small).jpg
Rear floor section - 1

Rear floor section 1 (Large) (Small).jpg
Rear floor section - 2

Rad fan and prongeron (Large) (Small).jpg
Radiator fan and prongeron

Oil cooler duct (Large) (Small).jpg
Oil cooler duct

OS rad fan and support (Large) (Small).jpg
Offside Radiator fan and support


More to follow as the story progresses, but, for the moment, I'd be grateful for your thoughts on the corrosion.

By the way, Artaban, the horn bracket is in amazingly good condition, with most of the original passivated finish still there. A bit of tidying up and some POR15 at the lower end, and I think it will be fine.

Thanks in advance for all the advice which I hope will come flooding in.
Jonathan

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Re: Green On Top

Postby par » Tue 05.07.2016, 18:52

I wouldnt be too worried about the rust on the hubs or the damper yokes as they are fairly solid so a rub down and paint or powdercoating will have them looking like new again.

The front TCA part of the wishbone would be where I would be checking out further, this is what I found when I was refurbing mine:-

Image

However it isnt a disaster if you find some perforation as they can be welded up, this is the same set after welding & powdercoating:-

Image

The prongeron seems to be in good condition from the photos, they seem to be quite robust as I only found surface rust on mine, as well as the dents where someone has used a jack :roll:

My lower radiator frame looked similar to yours, many have refurbed them to like new but I got a new one from the aftersales list for about £60. I can send you my old one which could be refurbed without taking the car offline.

It really is a case of how much you want to do and where do you stop. I did mine when it was off the road over winter and coincidently found a burst oil cooler which I wasnt aware of! Try to have a plan and stick to it, I didnt manage and project creep well and trully set in:-

Image
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Re: Green On Top

Postby par » Tue 05.07.2016, 18:59

With regards to the arrowed joint this thread is worth checking out as Dave as done the hard work to identify a cost effective alternative replacement:-

forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=22991
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Rambo » Tue 05.07.2016, 19:23

As Par has already mentioned, check your TCA's. I had one go (FNS) under heavy braking and it wasn't a pleasant experience ! It shunted the wheel back into the arch by a couple of cms. RAC eventually came to the rescue

Your wishies look like they need some attention too. Don't forget the back ones as well :cry:
Last edited by Rambo on Tue 05.07.2016, 19:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Saltire » Tue 05.07.2016, 19:26

par wrote:With regards to the arrowed joint this thread is worth checking out as Dave as done the hard work to identify a cost effective alternative replacement:-

forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=22991

Thanks Par for this and your other comments - very reassuring! Will check Dave's thread now.
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Re: Green On Top

Postby cliff » Tue 05.07.2016, 19:27

It doesn't look too bad to me compared to mine. Some of the corrosion looks worse than it is, you will only find out when you get a wire brush in there and start cleaning. For the suspension components, there many threads covering this. For me, blasting then either powder coating or protecting with POR 15 or similar is the way to go.

The scary thing is though, the arrowed bit should be connected to the front anti roll bar.

CIMG1614.jpg


P2080022.jpg


Extract from the Parts Catalogue 31-01A

Elan 31-01A.jpg


I can't see the anti roll bar on any of your pics, has it been removed for access?

Have included a before and after pic so you can see what can be done with time and effort.
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Saltire » Tue 05.07.2016, 21:28

cliff wrote:It doesn't look too bad to me compared to mine. Some of the corrosion looks worse than it is, you will only find out when you get a wire brush in there and start cleaning. For the suspension components, there many threads covering this. For me, blasting then either powder coating or protecting with POR 15 or similar is the way to go.

The scary thing is though, the arrowed bit should be connected to the front anti roll bar

Don't worry, Cliff, it was connected. We removed the ARB for ease of access - I should have said :bonk:

Glad to hear you think it's reasonable, and thanks for the encouragement. I am used to rust beyond all reason on the 60s and 70s Italiana I used to have, but I had sort of thought that a 90s Brit might be a bit better protected.

Did you need anything in the way of special tools to strip down the front end (Spring compressor I assume, but anything else?)
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Re: Green On Top

Postby simonbuk » Sun 24.07.2016, 14:53

If its an S2 shouldn't the wishbones be galvanised and therefore hopefully ok ?
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Saltire » Sun 24.07.2016, 15:06

simonbuk wrote:If its an S2 shouldn't the wishbones be galvanised and therefore hopefully ok ?

Simon

As I understand it (and no doubt others will correct me) only the REAR wishbones are galvanised on the S2. My comments related to the front of the car, and these don't appear to be galvanised. Judging by Cliff's experiences in restoring his, I believe they are just steel.

I now have the car up and running again, and have some pictures and a write-up to post once I get the photos resized.
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Re: Green On Top

Postby simonbuk » Sun 24.07.2016, 15:29

Ah ok, interesting. Better check mine then !!
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Rambo » Sun 24.07.2016, 19:28

Only the rear wishies are galvanised on the S2. Better than the SE though :?

But Jim (Muley) told me about many other problems with the Bugatti S2 chassis :lol:
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Saltire » Sun 24.07.2016, 19:45

Rambo wrote:But Jim (Muley) told me about many other problems with the Bugatti S2 chassis :lol:


Most of which seem to be present on mine :banghead:
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Rambo » Sun 24.07.2016, 21:32

I'm sure Jim told me the remaining S2 chassis' were kept outside for a couple of years gathering oxides of iron :twisted:
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Re: Green On Top

Postby Saltire » Sun 24.07.2016, 22:39

Wouldn't surprise me, looking at mine. And why would you take up expensive warehouse space with a bulky commodity that you were probably going to scrap?

Thankfully, mine's salvageable, and giving a lot of driving fun even in its present state.

Back in the 1990s, for a brief period, I owned a Triumph TR5, which comprehensively cracked its chassis because corrosion had got into a poor weld. I was quoted £16,000 by a TR specialist to sort it out. Fortunately, the (trade) vendor took the car back when I threatened legal action, as he had admitted to me prior to purchase that he had inspected the chassis and covered it with new underseal.

I'm definitely a bit older and possibly a bit wiser now :chair:
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