Especially made custom Elan tool

[nitroman]

Look at this for instance: http://www.zeni.net/trf/Christmas05/index.php?menu=A&page=12 . I had a custom-bent distributor wrench made for my TR8 at a local welding shop in Jacksonville. I am also out on disability until the new year. I will spend a lot of it in JAX where it is warmer.

What would be a good custom tool to have a machine-shop make for the Elan... a service type of tool? Looking for ideas as I finally have the time, money, and resources.

Please post your idea and what you'd pay for it.

Thanks, Matt

[Monty]

One that`ll get the turbo unit off with out losing skin

[ab2cv]

Thinking of fiddly jobs that I've come across in the past (and I guess others will contribute their own ideas from their own personal experiences) , my list would be:-

Refurbing the front calipers - some kind of press/punch the exact diameter for refiting the new seals (piston seal and slider seals) as they are an extremely tight fit. Anything up to or around £20 wouldn't be unreasonable.

Reattaching the terminals on the headlamp bulbs after replacing a bulb - very fiddly for those of us with big hands - same applies to reconnecting any other spade terminal in restrictive space (e.g. the power window motor). Something approaching £10 would save a lot of skint knuckles and cursing.

As both jobs are for 'serviceable' items, a tool to make things easier could be seen as a long term investment.

Alan

[Doug]

how about one of these, Matt?

Auto Suck

[Monty]

how about one of these, Matt?

Auto Suck

Is that the new turbo design, sucks instead of blowing LOL

[DeeAitch]

I just love the 'add to wedding register' bit

[muley]

Matt,

I'd second Alan's suggestion for the drift/driver to put those blasted caps on the calipers. Not sure about the terminal refitter (I replace my bulbs by unscrewing the lamp and popping it back into the pod..)

Other ideas;

A tool to hold the crank pulley steady - it would need two pins to engage in the pulley and a fitment to attach it to a 1/2 inch socket drive. Access to the nut in the centre would be needed.

A shallow spanner to undo the 10mm (?) bolt in the middle of the cam cover

A tool to pop the upper ball joint on the front - basically some studding with a long nut to bear on the hub and work upwards against the joint.

I'd pay around gbp 20 for any of the above.

Another suggestion is that you might consider re-creating the adjustment bolts for the rear wishbones - a bolt with an offset washer on it basically. As far as I know they are virtually unobtainable and there's a ready market (especially in stainless) I'd take 4. Thanks.

Cheers

Jim B

p.s. Have a warm winter !!

[Dave M]

A special, angled wrench to remove the oil pressure transducer. I have an ugly feeling this will be an issue in my rebuild... Then I'll ship it around for whoever needs it at the time.

$20-30?

[nitroman]

Muley, I already have a "A shallow spanner to undo the 10mm (?) bolt in the middle of the cam cover". I bought it at Sears. It is just an extra-long wrench with a slight offset. If you'd like, I can take a picture & post it as well as tell you the part number (for the whole bloody metric set, anyway!). Let me know if you want that.

For all others, if you can make a hand drawing & scan it then email it to me that would help greatly. Please include any dimensions. Actually, I don't care how you create the image but a drawing is worth a thousand words, so they say. Then I'll see what I (or more precisely, they) can do.

Thanks, Matt

ps - Doug, when they grind a lot of bone off your vertebrae it really hurts for about a week. Why don't doctors mention these little details in advance? I thought this go would be just like my last surgery but as it wasn't, the recovery period was Hell.

[Sy V]

Matt

You have my sincerest sympathies.
In 1980 I had an excision of osteomyelitis from my left tibia - they used something akin to a small circular saw and cut a rectangular longitudinal section out of the bone - this hurt.
In 1988 it flared up again and the surgeon (different one) this time chiselled a similar section out - this hurt like merry f*ckin' hell for days afterwards (I guess this was caused by bruising of the bone).
If it flares up again, I'll chew my own leg off at the knee - can't be as painful as last time.

[Doug]

Glad you got thru the 2nd round okay, Matt!

I always tell people it is going to hurt
The periosteum (covering of the bone) is very rich in nerves and hurts like feck when injured/aggravated/cut . . . .