LOKI my long term project.... (help often needed)

[MattDon]

just to keep everyone updated, i cant afford to get the car fixed so im going to try to do it myself, i have a sence of forboding but needs must. giving serious thought to a full rebuild, any advice on cost would be apriciated. dont know how much i'll get done during the winter not having a garage big enough to work it, but i might move the none runner outside and see what i can achieve.

If anyone needs me for a group buy or any such thing email me, matt @ mattdon . co . uk

[MattDon]

just dipping my toe in after a long absence, still not looking good and im pretty sure i'll be rebuilding the car. first job is still to strip the brg car down to its components so i can fit the other car into garage and hopefully get some money. hope everyone is well.

[RayD]

Hi Matt, I was about to check on your wellbeing.

Have you got all the decorating done?

Ray

[MattDon]

good to hear from you Ray, ive got most of it done i just need to do a few finishing touches, but i dont have the cash for that either, think i need about £2k to finish off but atleast the girlfriend is moved in

think i might trawl the project threads for some rebuild inspiration.... i cant be that hard, but its the rebuilding, reconditioning, sourcing new part and the modifications which are going to set me back, im hoping i can get it done in a year or two. just trying to decide if i should buy another car in the mean time but that would set the project back another year or two. unless i just get a decent elan..... hmmmm lol.

[MattDon]

im still alive, but the car still isnt. nothing new to report just checking in. hope everyone is well.

[RayD]

Hi Matt,

Now the weather's picking up you need to formulate a plan - to end up with one Elan - preferably running.

It's the right time to sell all your bits at Malvern.

Ray

[MattDon]

guess who just removed his first engine and gearbox

finaly got the ball rolling again, looking under the BRG the chassis looks pretty tidy, and according to the manual its a later car because it has rain tubes running down the a pillar, which im also hoping means its the later 2.5 degree chassis, think i got that the right way around. whats annoying is if it is a good chassis then i didnt need to remove the wishbones driveshafts etc, but its not the end of the world if i want to start a ground up rebuild.

does anyone know how much a typical gearbox rebuild is, i dont think theres anything wrong with the one from the BRG but id like to make sure its right, the other option is to buy a new one, and im thinking the cost difference wont be huge, but i could be wrong especialy if theres nothing major to do and its already out of the car.

whats the consensus on uprated clutches with the lgm conversion?

loki is looking pretty sorry for himself, it got damp inside over winter and its got a little mouldy, im feeling rather guilty.

[MattDon]

theyre both 5 degree chassis, not a big deal but it wouldve been nice. i just removed the console from the green car and the passanger side carpet and doors, i found broken glass and that the door was from a blue car.... interesting. what was scary was the amount of rust around the sills, im hoping loki isnt as bad but im willing to bet he is. any tips on what to do about that?

things left to do to the brg are remove the windscreen (if i can, any tips?) then remove the tub off the chassis then im done, only two big problems, ive got no idea how to lift off the body or where to put it, then i have the issue of no front hubs wheels etc so moving the chassis maybe a problem, unless i strap it to my engine winch and drag the from around on that.... sounds dangerous though.

after all that then work can start on loki, after seeing the state of the brg i think a full rebuild realy is the way to go, failing that i could strap on new wishbones bang in the engine and gearbox and just wait for stuff to go wrong. perhaps an S2 chassis is the way to go, scrapping my chassis and transfereing the vin, but that wouldnt solve the sills issue.

im getting closer to my destination but i still dont know where that is.

[Specky]

A few pics

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=11475&start=100#p184995

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=11475&start=140#p197703

You can cut the windscreen out with a windscreen wire, saying that... the bottom/middle is the hardest bit to cut without cracking a good windscreen.

TTFN

[MattDon]

mate thats ace!!!! but where was the hoist attatched?

[Specky]

There's a hole in the back wall...

It's in the middle at the bottom, it deinatley not meant as a lifting point, but I opted to use it anyway.

It a two person job though,

TTFN

[Dico]

Took three of us to lift the shell off my chassis. Quite easily too. One person can lift a bare chassis, so long as you balance it correctly.

[Specky]

TTFN

[MattDon]

well its been a crap day here, so the body removal has been delayed, but i have put the front end on a pallet with 4" castor wheels(swivel and brake!!), because i need to move the car around and its front hubs wishbones etc have been removed. thankyou specky for the inspiration, ive now made three of these torllies at a grand cost of about £50 for 12 castors and a bunch of screws and washers, scrounged the pallets from work. This will make me life so much easier!!! will post some pics when its sunny.

so im pretty much set on a full rebuild, i realy dont want to be without this summer but if a job is worth doing.... looking to refurb everything so its going to take time and cash (neither of which i have lots of), I would like to idealy get hold of an S2 that got body work damage and use that as a base but they seem pretty rare and quite expensive, if anyone comes across one please let me know, the azure one i found wouldve been ideal if it hadnt been so dodgey.

will do a proper write up when i start on loki, or start rebuilding, as much for my records as anything else. keep your eyes peeled and all the help coming.

[MattDon]

ok following the on going discussion in the wanted section i though it only right to move into this thread rather than ramble on in there.

So ive been thinking long and hard about finding myself a nice tidy s2 which i will run as my main car while i do up loki, im missing driving the elan, the weather has been great, ive just become single again, and i need cheering up so i thought id treat myself. one thing is clear rebuilding loki is going to take time as id rather not pay someone else to do something im fairly happy to do myself and with the money i save doing that i can hopefully get another elan. I was looking for an S2 partly due to the fact that the S2 came in azure blue and partly because i do feel the S2 was a better put together car, if a little slower, its also been suggested that i look at a NA which has always interested me, but ive never even seen one. but the extra simplicity does appeal even if buying an early elan makes me nervous.

having lots of thoughts and ideas what to do, so im open to suggestions.

[MattDon]

further my cries for help today.... thanks for all the advice from all.

its been abit of a nightmare, thought id just undo 16 bolts and bobs your uncle. never seems to go like that, i spilt some petrol on the drive and it appears to have eaten through it, and the hoist and trolley castor wheels holding the front up all sank into my drive upto an inch, is that normal??? Basicly two captive nuts became uncaptive and i couldnt remove them, so the body is currently stuck on the chassis, theres also something i must have missed holding the front end on, i can move it a few inches then it stops. also got a quick question, do you have to remove the wishbones to remove the fuel tank?

[Specky]

You have to remove the wishbone to remove the tank.

TTFN

[MattDon]

well i think ive got around that tank issue, i just free'd up the body from the chassis only issue now is that after discovering i have a drive made from the quick sand type of tarmac, is that i have problems with storage unless i dont mind putting dirty great hole in my drive. Its abit bloody annoying the main reason behind tarmacing my drive last year was so i could work on the cars more easily.

also i was looking at the chassis on the green car and it looks to have the rounded mount where the rear wishbones meet the chassis, so im confused and a little exited the vin on the front clam indicates its too early to be 2.5 degree chassis (i think i got that right!?) but it looks like it could be, will post a pic and see what people think. Although from what ive seen of the brg chassis its not in the best condition and it has been crashed at one point, unless the chassis has been replaced after.... hmmm

omg my brother just popped around in his new aston martin v8 vantage, now its a good looking car and i do like them but i still love my elan and am not suffering to badly with jelousy... that was until he open up the throttle down my street (in a sleepy little village) and the exhaust valve opened, now that my friend is utter filth, made even more impressive by the fact one of my elderly neigbours parcticaly dived across the pavment clutching her dog when she heard it coming, i know i shouldnt laugh but its was a major over reaction, im looking forward to going out in it later and to hearing it when he removes fuse 22

[RayD]

.


2½°

[MattDon]

the reason a wasnt sure was because the rounded end looked like it had just been stuck on, so i was a little suspicious but by the looks of things thats how theyre made.... why am i not supraised. thanks ray.