So what does your Elan/Plus2 look like today?

[kerryblu]

Black roof on ebay cost me ?156 + P&P Leaked like a seive
White roof cost 40 + P&P dry as a bone
No the sun was not out there, just rain storms going over, and her in doors doesn't like getting wet, so over 1000 ft up in the
rain best to cover up.
Will have to find a good water proofer for the black top, but not so easy when your in a town of 30,000, and the nearest town bigger is 70 miles away.

[elanern]

Resurrected from a barn find. Still needs hood and hood cover. Fully roadworthy and functional, licensed and insured.

[freddy22112211]

Ernie,
Bit cheeky to ask, but was it cheap?
Gordon

[TroonSprint]

My first post on this forum as I am in the process of acquiring my first Elan, a 1972 Sprint FHC. So far I have the body and a new (but 20 year old) Spyder chassis. The rest will come in the spring once my pal is back from his winter abroad. This car has not been on the road since 1977. He bought it, drove it home and decided to strip it and rebuild it the way he wanted. In the intervening 34 years new parts have been slowly accumulated and refurbished, so mechanically everything is as new and ready to go. The owner has always had Elans all his adult life and currently has a very nice +2.

As for me, I have wanted an Elan since I was a teenager back in the sixties, but I could never afford one. I think I'm finally going to manage it. The rebuild should be no problem - I have rebuilt cars before, including my 4.0 litre MGB GT with fully independent suspension and four wheel discs. I am hoping that you guys (and girls?) out there will be able to supply advice when needed.

Mike

[trw99]

Mike

Welcome and as ever, it's always good to see another Sprint being resurrected! You will find a great deal of excellent information here, both on a daily basis and by doing searches in the archives.

I would also very much appreciate you letting me know more about the Sprint for our records: you can contact me via a PM or email through here or via my website, below.

Several members have recorded their restorations on here in the past and it is always interesting to read of progress, look at photos and offer advice. You may enjoy reading all of Alex's here: elan-f14/new-car-arriving-t15608.html

Good luck and have fun!

Tim

[TroonSprint]

Tim,

Thanks for your comments. Are you building a list of known Sprints? If so, I will happily tell you what I know, but I don't understand what a PM is.
I had already found the lotuselansprint web site, (and very interesting it is too), but I don't see any list of cars on there.

I met Alex Black at the Glamis Castle Classic Car show during the summer, when we were up our to knees in porridge-like mud. He was in the blue/white Elan mentioned in that thread. It's a lovely car. I was there with the MG Car Club.

I don't expect to do anything to the car until the spring as I have a 1275 Midget that I'm building at the moment, and as I said, I won't get the components of the car until the current owner is back from his winter abroad. I wonder how many other 39 year old cars have only had 2 owners?

Let me know the best way to pass the information on to you - I am most definitely NOT one of the facebook generation!

Mike

[ardee_selby]

The rebuild should be no problem - I have rebuilt cars before, including my 4.0 litre MGB GT with fully independent suspension and four wheel discs. I am hoping that you guys (and girls?) out there will be able to supply advice when needed.
Mike

Mike,

Good luck with your project.

But, with that under your belt, I suspect you could teach us a thing or three!

WRT direct contacts. PM = "Personal Message" via this site or e-mail as an option (if poster has "switched them on").

HIH Cheers - Richard

[gjz30075]

Tim,

Thanks for your comments. Are you building a list of known Sprints? If so, I will happily tell you what I know, but I don't understand what a PM is.
I had already found the lotuselansprint web site, (and very interesting it is too), but I don't see any list of cars on there.

Toon, go to Tim's site, go to 'Production data', then go to the clickable 'Here' near the bottom of the page. You'll see all the registered cars in a spreadsheet.

Greg Z

[holywood3645]

Progress is being made. Waiting for parts from elanfactory and D bean. Need to fit the head, then on with the body. All transmittion rear seal and angle drive oil leaks fixed. Looks oil tight. (for the time being) Need to figure out the Lucas CE ignition and Tacho. Gave up on the high torque starter, and went old school. I could have fitted the starter, but could NEVER have got it out once the body was fitted.
James

[cal44]

Hmmmmmmm..........I feel like such a looser. Other than a couple of little things, I didn't do beans too this car. The prior owner gets all the cred.

Mike

[Famous Frank]

The Elan is still under restoration although it looks very promising that I have found a painter. In the meantime, I took my engine to Barry at PHP Racing in Wauconda, Illinois (847-526-9393) a suburb of Chicago. The engine was rebuilt in the middle nineties and has been sitting in my basement ever since. I wanted to 1) make sure everything was spot on and 2) maybe we could find a little more HP. Barry took much of the motor apart. While apart I had a new front water pump assembly installed that allows the pump cartridge to be replaced without removing the head or the pan. Additionally, he cc'd the head, unshrouded the valves and did some porting. Last Friday we put on the engine dyno, ran warm water through it before cranking it and then cranked it until we had oil pressure. It then fired right up although there was an intermittent misfire. Turns out the 30 year old points were slightly corroded but we also founs a hair line crack in the distributor. Instead of messing with it, we installed a new Pertronix II Distributor. One cylinder was also slightly lean. That turned out to be a Weber Carb O-ring that wasn't sealing properly. We checked for leaks, ......none. I wondered if it had any fluid in it??? Barry then ran it on the dyno, progressively changing the rpm level and the load on the engine to properly break in the motor.

By that time is was time to eat. We drained the oil, refilled the sump and went to lunch. After some good eats we fired it again, to make power runs, adjust the timing and change the jetting as necessary. On the dyno it was running a hair lean but Barry assured me that in the car with an air cleaner installed it would be fine. It made some great power at 6900 and peak torque at 4300. It's going to be a great street motor !!! Here are a few pics of it on the dyno with Barry.

[Sea Ranch]

Thanks for the pix and descriptions, Frank.

But what were those numbers the motor generated??!!

Randy

[garyeanderson]

three months later, temperature in the high 30's and still a very nice day for a drive.

[elansprint71]

My sensible family car at the rear.

[ardee_selby]

My sensible family car at the rear.

Could you please tell me where you got your sensible family. I've asked the usual suspects but without success..

Cheers - Richard