1991 Pacific Blue SE - Nottm area (SOLD)

[dapinky]

Stop press: MoT passed! A few advisories which I'll add later, but we have a valid ticket!
Just a shame the Post Office will be shut on 1st June.

At the Post Office you can get the tax disc 48 hours before it's due to start.....

....or do it online

[nicowalker1]

Great news, your hard work is paying off!

[Rob P]

Stop press: MoT passed! A few advisories which I'll add later, but we have a valid ticket!

Top man, well done and here's to many miles of happy motoring

BTW does anyone know where I can get a Cam Cover, would like to change the colour on mine from Yellow (which doesn't match the Car) to something different, not sure what hence a replacement would let me have a play

[Enright]

Here is the promised post detailing the Advisory Items:

001 Rear Parking brake: parking brake efficiency only just met. It would appear that the braking system requires adjustment or repair. [3.7.A.7]

002 Front wipers smear slightly

003 Both front to rear brake pipes at rear slightly corroded, cleaned and greased

004 N/s rear slightly corroded, cleaned and greased

005 Slight exhaust blow rear box joint

006 Slight play on o/s steering rack arm

007 N/s front wing damaged

...and my comments in response to the above list:

001 Funny that – I thought that this one’s handbrake was quite decent (for an Elan) – I guess the “cr@p design, they’re all like that sir” doesn’t work on MoT testers! Hopefully exercise will improve it, otherwise further investigation required.

002 Another coat of Rain-X should soon sort that out. If it doesn’t, then I have some spare wipers in the garage.

003 & 004 These were a surprise – my friendly garage really helped me out here by cleaning and greasing them during the test for me - they didn't have to do that and could simply have failed it. Many other places would have done.

005 With the number of times bits of the exhaust system have been disturbed or replaced, no wonder the odd part of it leaks. However I’ll either remove it and re-seal it properly, or find something to wrap/clamp round it (on reflection, probably the latter).

006 Now this one bothers me, and can’t be ignored. Unlike the handbrake efficiency, it won’t get better with use. It will affect the handling and could prove very labour intensive and expensive at some point in the future. I need to get the corner of the car up in the air, find out how bad it is, then keep a close eye on it.

007 Remember the original pics? No sh!t – it’s the worst point on the entire car!!!

There would have been either a 008 or a fail too because of headlamp beam alignment – it was something I managed to forget about (even though it was on my to do list). One beam was high, the other was low, but they sorted them both out for me - another favour used up! Anyway talking of the to do list, I’ll make sure that all of the above are added to it.

Because the car has been SORNed, I’m not sure if I can still tax it online or a day or 2 early at the Post Office – I’ll have a go and see on Friday or Saturday.

Rob, I have a spare cam cover - sort of. I mean, it's not quite spare at the moment, but should soon be. It's currently in use keeping my original Elan's engine sealed and runable while I re-spray its own cover. I need to sort out the rest of the engine bay before putting the nice new cover back on. Once I have, this one will be spare again. It won't be for sale, but certainly can be borrowed to keep another car on the road while it's own is being worked on. I don't mind either contacting you or you contacting me direct when that one is at a suitably advanced point in its restoration, which SHOULD only be in a couple of months.

[Enright]

Today another milestone was passed.
With the start of the June, the new Elan is now fully road legal.
There is still a lot of work to do (there's peeling lacquer everywhere and as you can see, the damage to the N/S/F wing hasn't been touched), but it can now be used daily and parked on the road.
And I can use it as the "how to do it" example to get my original one sorted.

[nicowalker1]

Really pleased for you, you have been elanless (it is in the dictionary, honest) for far too long!

[Enright]

The last few weeks have been pretty quiet as far as progress on this particular Elan is concerned.
With the new one (the subject of this thread) now at a point where it is road legal and roadworthy, and with an uncharacteristic spell of good weather, I’ve either been making the most of using it, or doing work on my original. The old coconut is now quite brown, and people keep asking if I’ve been on holiday – ah the joys of topless motoring!

The Serpentine run was excellent, I had a weekend of travelling to and from the RAF Waddington Airshow, a trip to the coast, and have been doing quite a bit of commuting in it. Actually, too much – I’ve had to back right off, because I was going to lend it to my Mother when she visits from the US next month and I want there to be some mileage left.
When I took out my insurance, seeing as I do about 12,000 miles a year commuting, I thought annually 3,000 miles for the Elan should be plenty. Then I discovered that I was already up to nearly 2,000 in a matter of a few weeks! It’s just too nice to be out and about in – that’s Elans for you.

My original Elan has also been scavenged for a few bits, which I kept adding to its jobs list and promising to replace (with better) later:
I borrowed it’s cam cover to lend to RobP while preparing a gleaming red replacement.
My V5 Switcher was put in the new car to make use of until my O2 sensor arrives from Marie, and I can install the S2 Everest that I bought from Muley. Then it will be converted full-time to closed-loop. And the Switcher can be returned.
I even swapped over my old AB short-shift kit to compliment the cables that I discovered in the new one, thinking it would be nice to replace with a DH version in a month or so. Unfortunately there have been some purchasing problems for that particular nice-to-have, and I’m currently considering what I’m going to do about it.

Last weekend the new car expressed its displeasure at being “only” driven and not constantly treated to TLC. While spending a few hours working on Faraday’s SE I noticed the driver’s side CV boot that I previously replaced with a stretchy one had let go again (CV grease splurged everywhere – yuk!), and the door latch that I’d had to remove to test the ajar circuit wasn’t working properly any more.

On Monday evening I swapped out the driveshaft for another used one that I had lying around, although I couldn’t remember how good it was. Last night I found out, and the answer was “not very”. It doesn’t seem to be balanced and there’s now a noticeable shudder on acceleration. I’ll have to replace the boot on the original driveshaft for a decent one, put it back in and get the one that came out of the garage properly refurbed.

At least the wobbling seems to have shaken the door latch back into life though!!!

[Enright]

What a lovely Summer! Plenty of time to enjoy the car.
But now I've got quite a bit to fix.
Both front tyres have got very worn inside edges.
After I lent the car to my mother, she virtually killed the clutch (by going from 1st to 4th and then slipping it to get up to speed )
And now I think the alternator's playing up again: I noticed that the battery was only getting 12V most of the time no matter what the revs were, and sometimes it unexplainedly dropped to 10V.

Has anyone ever bench-tested an alternator? I thought I might be able to hook up a voltmeter to a couple of the terminals, and then spin it with a drill. But I'm not sure which terminals to connect to. Any clues?

[rip]

What a lovely Summer! Plenty of time to enjoy the car.

Has Nottingham been moved to the middle east or something?
Here in the UK, we have had the worst August since the Elan was being built. June & July were pretty cold too.

[Enright]

I didn't think I was seeing the weather through rose-tinted spectacles or anything, but everyone I've spoken to seems to agree that the Summer has generally been very nice. Oh well, different perceptions I guess...

On Friday I got the Elan's alternator back. They reported that there was nothing wrong with it!
They said that the main terminal had been getting very hot and the lead may need the end re-crimping back on.
Other than that, or possibly a bad earth, I'm at a bit of a loss.

[Enright]

I must say a very public thank you to LGM for sending me an O2 sensor in return for a couple of A-panels that I sourced for her.
I fitted it a few weeks ago (along with the S2 Everest chip that I bought from Muley) and have just got round to driving the car with them this week.

Unfortunately I need a bit of help from any Elanscan gurus - the CEL keeps illuminating after a few miles of driving.
I did a paperclip test and got a code 13 (O2 sensor) and also a code 41 (Hall Effect Sensor, which was a bit of a surprise).
Initial thoughts were that the ECU might not be happy that the CO potentiometer was still plugged in, so I unplugged it, but the Code 13 kept coming back.
Now I've put the V5 Switcher ECU back in, set it to Elysium mode, but the light still keeps illuminating. Sometimes it goes out but shortly afterwards comes back on again, although it didn't do that this morning.
This morning I did an Elanscan run from cold on my way to work, and the CEL illuminated shortly before (within 25 seconds of) 1075 seconds into the journey.
Please could anyone review the attached file to see if they can spot what might be wrong with it please?

[GeoffSmith]

A couple of obvious things Neil: The thermostat is stuck open and the O2 sensor is not working. I think that some SEs did not have the 12V supply connected to the O2 connector and is probably the first thing to check.

[Enright]

Blimey, 2 surprises! The thermostat is just plain embarrassing - I hadn't looked at the curve so I didn't have a clue about that. It will be sorted PDQ.
As for the O2 sensor, gobsmacked. I didn't think it wasn't working at all, but will test the supply to see if I can work out why it's failing to operate. It should do being brand new.
Thanks very much Geoff for taking the time - much appreciated.

[dapinky]

Neil,

The issue with the O2 sensor that Geoff was referring to is that the plug is present on the inner O/S wing, but the wiring doesn't go all the way to the ECU - not a problem with the actual sensor.

rip was the first (AFAIR) to isolate this issue on *some* SE's, and would be the man to ask....






(.... or if you do a search for O2 sensor wiring it may help......

[Enright]

That's a really good point Dave, thanks. I remember that complaint now.
I'll give Iain a ring to find out exactly where he had to insert/replace wires.
Edit: Alternatively I could just print off the super-comprehensive instructions in the post that he (well I assume it was Rip that did it) put on the Wiki.
Scuse me, just off outside to give myself a kicking...

[rip]

rip was the first (AFAIR) to isolate this issue on *some* SE's, and would be the man to ask....

Sorry but I can't help there. I took the easy wimp-out approach by switching back to open-loop.
I believe ashm tackled the problem though.

[Enright]

This Elan is now firmly back in the land of the living.

When I took it for it's MoT in June, it cost me the princely sum of £25 to get it through, and that was simply the test fee itself!
The MoT tester said to me afterwards "I thought we might have problems with this one when it arrived, but once you get underneath it, it's immaculate!"
I couldn't have been happier - that was exactly what I was going for.

It's now at a point where I'm pretty satisfied with everything under the bonnet, in the interior, in the boot, and under the car.
All it would take is a respray to finish it off and make it a proper head-turner. The same garage that MoT'd it had quoted me £1000 for a respray, so all it's about is disposable income and the spare time to prepare it.

However, due to the one in this thread having now come up, a respray isn't on the cards. Well, not from me anyway. I've decided that the other one (that's had that done already, and which has a few less owners and miles on it), is the next one to concentrate my future efforts on.

This one has been treated to the blue alcantara seat re-trim that the other was sold with (see pics below), but I don't need 3 Elans so come next Spring it will be spruced up and put up for sale, almost certainly with the AB Cables and an open-loop Kilimanjaro included.

Meanwhile whenever I need my Elan "fix", it's the one that I can use to put a smile on my face.

[Enright]

This project thread is now officially turning into a "For Sale" thread.

A week ago today H509NTF passed its MoT - almost. TBH, first time, it didn't; the garage failed it on just 3 minor points: a rear number plate light not working, a couple of perished wiper blades and a CV boot clip that had gone AWOL.
All issues were sorted there and then, and away I trundled with a fresh MoT certificate.
As far as I was concerned, for a 25 year old car, that was just about as good as it can possibly get - 3 years on the trot!

The car is now SORNed as tax & insurance came up at the same time as my daily driver, and I couldn't afford to do both cars at the same time.
One Elan (out of my 3) has to go, and as was always the plan (see post above), this is the one that now has to be shifted.

It has 133k miles on the clock, is HPI clear and ready, willing and able to be driven away.

The interior has been treated to a recent re-trim in grey/navy blue alcantara, and is in very good condition.
Under-bonnet and inside the boot are also VGC.
The suspension and brakes have all been wire-brushed and carefully repainted.
As far as upgrades are concerned, it has a surprisingly leak-free S2 hood (although this is worn in the usual places), AB cables, a Quicksilver stainless steel exhaust system, ported wastegate, and it will come with a Kilimanjaro open loop chip and Sony stereo fitted.

While road legal, externally this car is in need of attention cosmetically, which is something that I have never got around to.
The front nearside and rear offside were subjected to collisions while the car was in the care of the previous owner. Being fibre-glass the damage isn't getting any worse, but it will take time and money to properly put right.
And although Pacific Blue is the best colour (!!!), it is well-known that the lacquer flakes and peels.
This is an example of an Elan that bodywise is totally original and has spent most of its 25 years outside. Please don't be under any illusions that I am selling a garage queen.
I have been quoted £1000 for a complete re-spray and this will be reflected in the asking price.
The tyres (Toyo Proxes all round) were good enough to get it through the MoT for the last 3 years, but the front ones will need replacing soon.

This thread/post will be used to compile and tweak an advert before it is opened up to the public for sale.
So there is a chance here to steal a march on the competition and secure a fundamentally good car for a bargain price of £2900.
There are better cars out there, but their asking prices will be a LOT more.
If you spend the same amount on a better looking car, you are almost certain to find the kind of hidden issues that I have spent time and effort eliminating.

Please ring me on 07973 853536 if you would like to discuss or come and view the car.

[clemo]

BUMP

Hello , clemo doing a bit of house keeping .

Have you sold your elan yet ?

All the best .. Us at LEC .

[Enright]

No, I didn't sell it, and it's off the market for the moment. Hopefully in a couple of months it will be in saleable condition again.