Inspected a Fed M100 this weekend...your thoughts?

[FunElan]

Hi LEC,

I have been somewhat active in the facebook group, but figured I should post here as well, as I've learned a ton of information from searching this board in my search to find an M100 in Los Angeles. My search started because I saw one parked near my house in my LA neighborhood. I left a note but hadn't heard back, and started looking at several others around the US. I test drove a red one in Orange County, CA. But then the owner of the one in my neighborhood called me. I've just driven the car and had a good inspection underneath.

The car has been in one family since new, spending time in New Jersey, Florida, and California. While in California, it seems to have been parked outside a few blocks from the ocean (not ideal). That being said, the control arms still felt pretty solid with the screwdriver test. Here are my other notes:

- 52k miles
- very smooth power delivery
- AVO struts
- brakes felt strong even though they’re stock. I think I saw green pads in the front - hopefully EBC
- shifter was smooth and easy even though the throws are long
- I jumped the ALDL pins, and it displayed no fault codes

Now some notes from what we saw underneath:
- outer left CV boot (gaiter I think you Brits call it?) clearly has thrown its contents everywhere. Seems like a good excuse to change all 4 boots (I really would not like to pull the entire driveshaft out
- Leaking cam angle sensor - I found a site in the US that makes an "X-Ring" which apparently is much more robust than the standard O-ring
- Oil all over the trans case - hopefully the cam angle sensor leak?
- some oil on the right side of the engine too - oil filter or oil cooler lines?
- the hood/roof cover skin has split in half. I’ve found old posts on fixing this. Seems similar to how my father and I are securing frame bobbins on his baby Elan at the moment
- Some peeling clear coat on the mirrors and the rear quarters. The car is just very dirty as well from being outside. Needs a good clay bar and polish
- the hood/roof right side clamp has also fallen off, and it seemed to be missing the pin. Perhaps it's under the seat.

I've hosted some photos here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/fold ... JGj0z_qvi0

Curious to hear your thoughts! My next move is to make an offer based on these projects. They don’t seem insurmountable, there’s just a number of them

[esprit888]

I'll comment on one item:
-' outer left CV boot (gaiter I think you Brits call it?) clearly has thrown its contents everywhere. Seems like a good excuse to change all 4 boots'

In order to change the boots you need to remove the front hub from the drive shaft, and at that point you simply have to pull on the drive shaft to remove it from the transmission and work on it while on the bench, so leaving it in is making it harder than it needs to be (plus you cant replace the inner boot without removing the shaft anyway) However, the outer boot is readily available but for some reason the inner boot is significantly harder to source, unless someone has come up with a matching cross reference since the last post?

[TorqueHorse]

Welcome! Hope your negotiations end up with a happy resolution. Esprit888 knows what he's talking about and I'd follow his advice, but If you are really trying to minimize your scope creep, then it is possible to just change the 1 outer boot without removing the drive shaft. viewtopic.php?f=79&t=28322&start=20#p364473
And yes oil everywhere seems normal, especially if it is the original seals on the cam angle sensor and the adjacent bung plug at the other cam. Happy to provide more feedback when I get access to the photos.

[FunElan]

Welcome! Hope your negotiations end up with a happy resolution. Esprit888 knows what he's talking about and I'd follow his advice, but If you are really trying to minimize your scope creep, then it is possible to just change the 1 outer boot without removing the drive shaft. viewtopic.php?f=79&t=28322&start=20#p364473
And yes oil everywhere seems normal, especially if it is the original seals on the cam angle sensor and the adjacent bung plug at the other cam. Happy to provide more feedback when I get access to the photos.

Thank you for the kind words! I just edited the permissions - my bad

Attaching a photo of my father's baby Elan - he's owned it since 1985. We are in the middle of refurbing everything underneath the body, something I hope I won't have to do on an M100

[TorqueHorse]

I looked at the photos, thanks.
I liked the exhaust, chassis, and condition of the ball joints on the front suspension (that I could see). And I liked the lack of scrapes/dents on the oil pan or prongeron. Evidence of some regular maintenance with the belts, tires, shocks.
I didn't like the surface rust on the rear wishbones. Those are pretty dear, so you'll probably want to take those off to get them fully prepped and recoated. And yeah that is a lot of oil so it's a pain. Also, why did the boot fail? Suspension geometry all right?
Fingers crossed for you!

[FunElan]

I looked at the photos, thanks.
I liked the exhaust, chassis, and condition of the ball joints on the front suspension (that I could see). And I liked the lack of scrapes/dents on the oil pan or prongeron. Evidence of some regular maintenance with the belts, tires, shocks.
I didn't like the surface rust on the rear wishbones. Those are pretty dear, so you'll probably want to take those off to get them fully prepped and recoated. And yeah that is a lot of oil so it's a pain. Also, why did the boot fail? Suspension geometry all right?
Fingers crossed for you!

Yep - the rear wishbones (and the fronts, IMO) are definitely items I'd love to get off the car and cleaned up. If I can't get them blasted and powdercoated soon, then I'll wirewheel and paint 'em (unfortunately, I don't have a long term workshop for the car yet).

Not entirely sure why the boot failed. The car didn't exhibit any weird symptoms on the test drive that would indicate anything wrong with the suspension. Tracked pretty damn straight. It's very odd to me.

Thank you for your analysis! I've read a good amount of your thread

[FunElan]

ALSO - I should note, the cambelt was changed last year, which is a big plus in my mind. The outer window seals are basically gone, and the right side window is up because if rolled down, it won't want to go back up, so both doors have to come apart. Luckily, I've done a similar job on my e36 BMW about 4 times

My next step is to meet with the owner and determine value/how much he'd let it go for.

[steve matthews]

Yes a lot of oil for a 50K Elan. Watch those jacking points. Is that Green grease out of the boot?
More Pic. we enjoy Pic.

Steve

[FunElan]

Yes a lot of oil for a 50K Elan. Watch those jacking points. Is that Green grease out of the boot?
More Pic. we enjoy Pic.

Steve

Just for you, I added more photos to the link

The grease was dark green/grey it appeared. Strange color for sure. Methinks that the CAS has been leaking for some time with how much is on the gearbox