Making an Elan reliable

[reb53]

"In my case:

The water pump. (Of course.)"

Totally unnecessary if you fit the twin pulley system I have!!

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Agreeing with Tony here.
I've replaced 1 waterpump in the last 45 years, ( caused by over tightening the fan belt in an unsuccessful attempt to overcome a failing dynamo).
If you guys stopped over tightening your fan belts you'd also have as few problems...

Ralph.

[TBG]

"If you guys stopped over tightening your fan belts you'd also have as few problems... "

Absolutely correct!! Also if you have two belts you don't have to!!

[elanner]

"If you guys stopped over tightening your fan belts you'd also have as few problems... "

Absolutely correct!! Also if you have two belts you don't have to!!

Good points. I keep my fan belt as loose as possible when the car is in use. In winter it is disconnected completely and I turn the pump by hand every few weeks to stop the seal from getting stuck.

I think the water pump was about 15 years old, which is reasonable.

Nick

[MrBonus]

The closest I ever became to being stranded in a Lotus, was on a 1500 mile tour, titled a Drive to the Center of the Earth, as Death Valley was included. Driving on Hwy 395 between Bishop and Lone Pine, I suddenly smelled the sweet smell of coolant hitting a hot surface, the exhaust, and immediately hit the clutch, shifted to neutral, and turned off the engine. For those not familiar with the area, it is half way between Nowhere and No Civilization. The rubber diaphragm in the heater valve had ruptured. In a stroke of luck, I was near a running stream, and with a pocket knife and a close to proper sized branch, I was able to carve a plug for both the hose and the valve. The knife proved useful along with the knock off hammer to destroy the rivet holding the valve together, which allowed me to disassemble the valve to insert another plug into the valve. A bit of barbed wire fence was used to secure the plug in the valve. A water bottle provided the means to make several trips to the stream for water. The plugs lasted for the rest of the tour, about 500 miles, and got me home safely. After getting home and looking for another valve assembly, I found that all of the valves of a similar type have the same internal guts, so any of the valves can be used to repair the old one. This is handy because you do not have to remove the main body of the valve from the cylinder head to make the repair. More bits have now been added to the repair kit in the trunk/boot.

Well this story definitely trumps mine! That's great ingenuity.

[persiflage]

A lifetime ago my Sprint was my daily drive for 6 or 7 years.
45 mile round trip to and from work, daily run around and numerous trips to Wales. Apart from a very distressing hot start issue ( now cured ) and the usual issues of wheel bearings and spark plugs, oil leaks etc.. requiring attention the only "failure" was the drivers window cable.
The car may be fragile by today's standards but " of its era, care and maintenance" and use, should provide a reliable car.

[mbell]

If you have a 5 speed you need to make sure the gearstick is tight and doesn't work lose, allowing the stick to come out and the selector rods to disconnect in the gearbox.

My car had its first trip on a tow truck last week due that issue. Wasn't the nicest way to spend an afternoon but all fixed now.

[nomad]

The closest I ever became to being stranded in a Lotus, was on a 1500 mile tour, titled a Drive to the Center of the Earth, as Death Valley was included. Driving on Hwy 395 between Bishop and Lone Pine, I suddenly smelled the sweet smell of coolant hitting a hot surface, the exhaust, and immediately hit the clutch, shifted to neutral, and turned off the engine. For those not familiar with the area, it is half way between Nowhere and No Civilization. The rubber diaphragm in the heater valve had ruptured. In a stroke of luck, I was near a running stream, and with a pocket knife and a close to proper sized branch, I was able to carve a plug for both the hose and the valve. The knife proved useful along with the knock off hammer to destroy the rivet holding the valve together, which allowed me to disassemble the valve to insert another plug into the valve. A bit of barbed wire fence was used to secure the plug in the valve. A water bottle provided the means to make several trips to the stream for water. The plugs lasted for the rest of the tour, about 500 miles, and got me home safely. After getting home and looking for another valve assembly, I found that all of the valves of a similar type have the same internal guts, so any of the valves can be used to repair the old one. This is handy because you do not have to remove the main body of the valve from the cylinder head to make the repair. More bits have now been added to the repair kit in the trunk/boot.

Well this story definitely trumps mine! That's great ingenuity.

Agree, great ingenuity. As a farmer I hope that barb wire wasn't actually a critical piece though I have been known to "borrow" a bit for similiar repairs. With a CT plier and a good pocket knife a man is invincible!

[prezoom]

One end of the wire was already cut and hanging loose. Judging from condition of what I could see of the remaining fence, most of the fence was already down. Spent a good deal of my life opening and closing gates that consisted of 3 strands and a post with a loop, to proper metal ones. I did add a coil of tie wire to each of my cars tool kits.

Then there was the time the S2 became stuck in an intersection, unable to move in either direction. The restoration had been completed a couple of days before embarking on a 1200 mile tour. Nothing like a little shake down cruise.
I tried making a three point turn when the gear lever managed to engage two gears at the same time, reverse and 2nd. Was now stuck in the middle of the intersection. I found this problem when I finally removed the gear lever from the box and saw two selector rods in alinement that was not neutral. A quick jab with a screwdriver released the rods, and all was good. What happened was, the gear lever was able to pull too far up, and managed to snag to the two rods. Wound up making a small spacer to restrict the upward movement that when placed on the lever just beneath the top of the screw on cup. Didn't take much, and after several tries to get the right amount of movement, the figure of .037" is now firmly embedded in my mind.