Sprint restoration - End of a long road

[bloodknock]

This restoration has been ongoing since the mid seventies.
I had previous experience of building twin cams of most marques including a “long block”.

Whilst bringing this epic restoration to fruition, reaching the engine and systems test stage, I was evaluating what parts remained in storage. I could account for all remaining parts (spares and redundant but one! To my horror I found what I believed to be a crankshaft sprocket woodruff key in a small parts box. Since the restoration was so long and the engine was rebuilt decades ago along with the gear box, I could not recall for certain fitting a key.
All installation was completed, engine and gearbox fitted, (and in the meantime we had moved house and down sized, relinquishing all of my major car restoration kit, including engine mounts and hoists), so I no longer had the facilities to remove the engine myself, plus tempus had fugited, and my old body was not up to the task.
Thus, I had to turn to professionals to finally sort the car. After much research, I finally decided on PJS Sportscars of Stoke on Trent to undertake the work. Their reputation for restoring and maintaining lotuses, particularly the historic variety was second to none.
What follows is my brief to them on what I thought needed doing:

So, what needs doing:

location of the crank shaft timing sprocket woodruff key combined with the fitting of the Dave Bean cassette water pump timing chest. This needs very careful attention to ensure that there are no water or oil leaks. On the timing chest there are a number of flat face joints which are difficult to seal, though I have no doubt that you will have sealant solutions for such applications. Experience has taught me that silicon sealants are not effective in this type of application.
Obviously, the engine will need to be tested and set up when the work is complete. It has never been run since the rebuild. The bottom end machining was done by QED. +20 pistons bearings on nominal. The head was handled by Vulcan engineering when it was made ‘lead free’
The differential was stripped and rebuilt and the donuts which are prone to wind up and rapidly deteriorate were replaced with TTR solid drive shafts. When installing the diff, I recall having problems tightening the central stiffening bracket bolt, I’m concerned that it is stripped and may require a helicoil solution.
I found it impossible to hang the doors properly and fit the weatherstrip alone. The doors are hung loose and require fitting correctly.

MODIFICATIONS

Whilst I wished the car to retain originality I have introduced modifications to counter known weaknesses on the Elan.

number 4 plug frequently oiled/sooted up, this was down to the crank case breather venting into the carb air box next to the Weber intake for no 4 cylinder. To circumvent this I have taken the cylinder head engine breather off to a catch tank mounted on the NS radiator blanking plate.
Engine mountings are pretty critical on the Elan and differ from side to side. Deterioration can result in the underside of the Weber carbs hitting the top of the drivers footwell. The NS engine mount is subjected to heat from the manifolds which exacerbates the deterioration of the resilient rubber mounting. To reduce this risk I have employed three mechanisms (1) updated TTR engine mounts, (2) ceramic coating of the manifolds, (3) a fabricated copper shield - heat sink around the NS mount.
Cooling has always been an Elan foible. So to reduce the threat of overheating, I have fitted a new three core ‘fat boy’ radiator and high volume fan . The fan is thermostatically controlled but the thermostat can be over ridden by a push button on the small panel in the centre of the dash where the ash tray used to be fitted. The panel also displays the header temperature of the radiator, plus oil pressure warning and security armed indicator The fitting of a cassette water pump is the final part of the defence against the overheating issues.
The original ‘security’ for the Elan relied on a small switch hidden at the back of the glove box, this was a simple crude switch that frequently gave problems intermittently resulting in the car engine stopping because it interrupted the ignition circuit. I have replaced this with a quality key switch mounted on the body adjacent to the drivers door. The switch function is to interrupt the ignition of the car and sound the horns if an attempt is made to start the car. It will also be used to switch on a tracking device hidden in the car.

P J S agreed a schedule of investigation and correction with periodic invoices. All rectification work to be agreed before action. Paul Shipley, the managing director, proved to be a very knowledgeable, experienced, softly spoken, gentleman, always very willing to advise and discus options. Every incremental discovery was explained and options and implied cost discussed.

As it transpired, the afore mentioned woodruff key was indeed in place! However, with the engine extracted, it was an opportunity to replace the front cover / timing case / water pump assembly with a “Dave Bean” cassette water pump version.
However, when the engine and gearbox were removed, it was found that the gearbox gear change assembly was seized. The gearbox was stripped checked and cleaned back in the mid eighties, the grease used on the shift mechanism had gone hard and the detent balls locked in their slots, this and a light coating of rust resulted in the issue. The box was stripped cleaned checked again and reassembled, full photographic record was provided. Problem solved!
The twin 40 DCOE’s again were stripped and cleaned back in the distant, and during storage gaskets had dried out and hence resulted in fuel leaks when fed with fuel. PJS replaced gaskets and fettled sealing faces to get them fuel tight.
This and a number of other problems were the result of the length of time the car was stored in restoration. One was electrical, a frozen relay, this resulted in some smoke and fried wire, which was quickly detected and extinguished. Another was a headlight Vacuum pod which had developed a perished diaphragm, a new one being obtained and fitted.
The differential was extracted stripped and the stiffening bracket location hole thread repaired.
All of these “open heart” procedures attracted meticulous cleaning, new gaskets and the correct sealants.
I had experienced great difficulty in the fitting of door weather strips and alignment of the doors, so I also handed this task to PJS. My Sprint always had protruding door bottoms, and PJS restored the doors to their original position, I did not want the doors surgically corrected, wishing to retain factory originality.
PJS corrected a number of minor issues during the Sprints stay with them, and I am very pleased with their efforts.
So the Sprint is home now, fully running and MOT’d.
The lesson here is complete the restoration work as expeditiously as possible! Standing cars perish if stored for long periods.

Needless to say I thoroughly recommend PJS for work on the classic lotuses.

[pharriso]

Well done! now enjoy it.

"I've got a deadline, at 73, I want to finish it before I die!" looks like you achieved your goal.

Now let's see some pictures

[trw99]

Congratulations, Bob. Love to see some photos, too!

Tim

[bloodknock]

Here are a few, more will follow

[trw99]

Looking good, many thanks.

Tim

[bloodknock]

A few more….
More will follow

[TBG]

Very shiny! Seems to be sitting very high at the front? D

[Andy8421]

Bob,

Great looking car. That paint finish is fantastic. Can I ask who did it for you?

Thanks,

Andy.

[bloodknock]

The body was stripped and repainted by MARC of Melton Mowbray Leicestershire .
Melton Accident Repair Centre
He does a lot of work on Ferraris Porsches Bentleys Maseratis etc for prestige car restorers and garages.
The only thing I’m missing for my Sprint is the Chapman steering wheel, I can’t remember what happened to the original back in the day, just that as a callow youth, I thought it too large and replaced it with a smaller diameter unit.

Anyone know where there’s a Chapman one available????

Also, just before anyone asks, the car came with the S4 style silencer box from new, I assume it was because of a line shortage at the factory. I’ve merely chopped off the rather tatty MS tail pipes and fitted SS ones.

[bloodknock]

I agree that the front is high, it’s not been driven more than ten or so miles since front suspension was assembled, I’ll give it a couple of hundred running in miles and see if it settles. If not I’ll loosen it all off and see if it’s a function of the replaced springs and suspension bushes.

[pharriso]

Bloodknock, your car looks stunning!! well done! Interesting about the paintshop MARC, I was raised about 10 miles from there.

[bloodknock]

Melton is actually my family home town. Home to TTRacing as well, which was handy.

[bitsobrits]

I agree that the front is high, it’s not been driven more than ten or so miles since front suspension was assembled, I’ll give it a couple of hundred running in miles and see if it settles. If not I’ll loosen it all off and see if it’s a function of the replaced springs and suspension bushes.

It won't settle that much. Perhaps you tightened the inner wishbone nuts (top and bottom) while the car was in the air? That could result in a high front end.

You might want to loosen those nuts a bit of and drive it round the block, then tighten them up again without raising the car at all. If it's still too high, then perhaps you have the wrong springs fitted.

[The Veg]

Wow, looks great!

[nigelstn]

Looks a fabulous job