Elan Kit car

[Don.Hasi]

very interisting project. AND as I have seen the VX, Elan & GTI very similar to my carpool

[surfboardfiller]

very interisting project. AND as I have seen the VX, Elan & GTI very similar to my carpool

We are men of good taste!

Having changed the chassis for a new type I have had to change the rear engine mount which was a tricky job. The parts manual wrongly identifies the bolt sizes (to the gearbox) making it difficult to deduce what goes where.
If in doubt don't read the manual I borrowed a thread cutter from the old man to remove wax and bits from the chassis but all in all it was a good fit without fettle.





I had to use some plumbing washers as anti vibration washers as the originals were well bonded to the old chassis and pretty old too.

[surfboardfiller]

[hatters]

It looks to be coming along fine What a MASSIVE job ,good luck with the end result keep posting pics please

[ashm]

Would love to see it when it's finished!
Adam

[surfboardfiller]

Today was good despite having man flu and slowly dying from it in the most horrible way known only to man. I got the bodyshell on the rolling chassis. A great achievement only possible now I have the fuel tank in place thanks to Wayne sending me the most useful Christmas pressy a man could hope for - silicone fuel tank pads (this man knows where silicone pads belong and it aint on the human body).









I will now need 6 months to recover as this thing is heavy, even without man flu.

[epipete]

Very very impressive! Was this just you and a hoist?

[surfboardfiller]

Just me, no hoist just a load strap to hold it clear of the chassis whilst I roll it back. Sounds simple but it took a couple of hours and I was good for nothing after.

[Steve A]

Your work shop is looking like Specky's old Hethel pictures, impressive stuff

[surfboardfiller]

Down pipe removal.

I'm glad that's off as it would be worse in a few years. Because of the corrosion and little room to get to the seized screws it was pretty difficult.
I had to cut 1 stud with a hack saw blade (hack saw was too bulky to get in there so just the blade was used with much patience and endurance) the other stud was too far in and too close to use the blade so I drilled it in half, had to re sharpen the drill bit about 5 or 6 times as I didn't have a pilot hole.

The pre cat had to be removed once the heat shield was cut up but there was little room to get in there so it was a case of 1 bit at a time and continuously re positioning the pipe as low as possible to cut each screw head and shield.
Once the shield was off I could drop the pipe low enough to get access to the 6 screws/studs that hold the 2 sections together.

When the precat was off I could then twist the downpipe round to drop it out the bottom.

I broke a nail, some skin and a sweat but no tools suffered in the making of this post.

This will be a lot easier without Air con; the precat and down pipe can be dropped out the bottom in 1 piece and a lot more ease than my Air Con project car.

[surfboardfiller]

Door/Closure assembly and fitting the steering wiring loom and heater system prior to my move.
My new work shop is mostly open air with room for 7 cars in front of the garage.
The garage is a store room for my parts and workbench with a token of really useful tools but nothing special. I have a decent table and bench for building composite parts,
light and power and the all important dehumidifier.

[rip]

You've made a lot of progress since I last saw it, Phil.
Looking good...especially in yellow

[surfboardfiller]

It's funny how easy it is to just go outside and do a bit of work whenever I have spare time. Feels like a luxury even though its an open air workshop. I can also bring things into the house where its dry and warm.

I got the windscreen refitted last week which saved me a few hundred pounds on a new one.

I got a brand new set of head light mounting plates in Galvanized steel and powder coated in black from SJ sportscars (just started manufacturing). I hope they do the rings as well soon.

[Rambo]

It looks quite high at the rear (top of tyre to wheel arch) ?? Is that intentional Phil or is it jacked up somewhere ?

[surfboardfiller]

It is quite high, you are right. The geometry can only be set when the car is fully built and is at full weight.
The shocks have not compressed but will settle a fair bit when there is more weight on the car and it moves about.
So all this will be sorted last before it's driven.

[Rambo]

When is her maiden outing scheduled ?

[surfboardfiller]

Hopefully I'll have too much work on to do anything with the car for years and I'll just go and buy a new V6 Exige.
Not deadlines or I'll stop enjoying the challenge.
Still a long way off, there's the rusty front end, turbo rebuild and interior to do....

[surfboardfiller]

I'm going to put this car/project up for sale to see if anyone wants to finish it off.

[esprit888]

I'm going to put this car/project up for sale to see if anyone wants to finish it off.

Picture links are all broken