How much shall I spend getting my Sprint back on the road?!

[RichardS]

Hello! I have just joined the forum.

I have owned my 1973 Elan Sprint FHC for 25 years. In the mid 1980s I replaced the chassis with a Syder spaceframe and renewed or refurbished everything. The only thing needed was a respray as the Lagoon Blue was getting distinctly dull. I put about 10000 miles on the clock [up to 92000] until 1990 when I parked her up in the garage and [shame!] never got round to driving her again. Every spring I have an urge to get her back on the road again and this spring the urge is becoming irresistable. I dug out my history file and made the mistake of showing my wife some of the old bills so she has statred remembering how much I spent 20 years ago. Having said that the Spyder spaceframe was under ?500 then.

I am going to start on checking the suspension and brakes but would appreciate any advice on how far to go at this stage. I will replace the rubber brake pipes and put new seals in the calipers and check the pistons. I am wondering about shock absorbers, wheel bearings and rotoflexes - these will have only done 10,000 miles maximum but have been sitting doing nothing for 17 years - so is it likely to be necessary or sensible to replace them while I am getting my hands dirty or are they likely to be ok when back on the road?

I never did get the respray but will leave that till last - my wife's enthusiasm may be rekindled by then! [We did go on honeymoon in the Lotus to North Wales in 1983 so I think she has a subconscious soft spot for the Elan despite our honeymoon being rather dominated by leaking Webers and faulty O rings]

Any thoughts - that is on the recommissioning - not how to persuade my wife its a great idea!

Richard

[peterako]

Oh naive we all once were!!!!

Open an account the wife can't see!!

[ppnelan]

Hello Richard.

To check the Rotoflex couplings, jack the back of the car up under the chassis (with a suitable load-spreader to avoid damage) so that the wheels are clear of the ground (as is done on the MoT test). With the suspension at full droop, look at the couplings. They will either (1) fall apart immediately, (2) make a splitting sound as the rubber tears away from the steel plates, or (3) do nothing! If it's (3) and the rubber looks well bonded to the steel plates and stretches rather than tears, they may be OK to use... If they're that old they may be of better quality than the modern ones

I personally would leave the dampers & wheel bearings if they feel OK.

You may have to adjust the ignition timing, and perhaps use an additive if the engine has not been modified for (super) unleaded petrol, although they can be OK if you're not going to thrash it all day long...

If you've had problems with leaking fuel in the past, make sure you carry a large fire extinguisher....

Then get it up & running - one drive will remind you of why you didn't sell it all those years ago

Best wishes,
Matthew

[ppnelan]

P.S. To answer your question: How much to spend?
Answer: Whatever it takes...

[twincamman]

wellll don't think of the money all at once > work on the premise it will cost what it costs ---take your time make a list and do one job at a time ---some cost lots some do not --all in all repair cost on my car was 3 years and 4500 dollars in parts about 30 dollars a week not including the initial cost of the car - --ed

[1964 S1]

I'm totally with ed on this one. Spread it out...
...if you gave me the car under those circumstances I'd unhook the fuel line at the fuel tank end, stick it in a can of fresh gas, and try to start it. If it starts and runs ok after a bit, shut it off and put the aforementioned fire extinquisher on board. I'd remove the old fuel tank and inspect the underneath closely for rust, insides also, (not sure how?!) All rubber anythings, tires, fuel lines, brakes might need replacing. I'd also turn the rear wheels by hand a few rotations while it's up in the air during the rotoflex crack inspection. Make sure it's safely in the air and you can do it by yourself. If the brakes are safe, away I'd go, maybe for fifty feet maybe fifty miles??? Did you turn the motor or roll the car while it was in storage? Brakes would be my major concern. Mostly time, little money except for all the things I'm wrong about. How does the clutch pedal feel?

[cliveyboy]

Once you have checked her over for any perished fuel lines and free clutch as suggested. The big factor has got to be how is the engine.
If she fires up and ticks over OK then thats potentially a few thousand pounds saved on a rebuild.
You changed the chassis so thats the next big bill (hopefully) eliminated.
As the guys suggest after these two things everything else comes down to smaller bills and lots of time.
If you treat the car as being fully paid for and owing you nothing. You could now justify spending I guess upto ?4000 and have a chance of getting your money back should you decide to sell her later if its not viable to put her back on the road.

Clive

[RichardS]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I am going to make a start tomorrow afternoon and will no doubt be posting again if there are any problems!

No - I didn't turn the engine or move the car so I think the tyres are out of shape - serves me right for not laying her up properly.

Point taken on the fire extinguisher - interestingly I fitted braided stainless fuel lines to the carbs and one of these has disintegrated! I plan to renew all the brake hoses with braided pipes. I quite agree on the brakes - I feel rather more mortal in my late 40s than I did when driving the Elan in my 20s!

The clutch pedal is on the floor so I guess the clutch plate is well and truly stuck - I may need to get professional help on this.

Regarding the engine - this is a Vegantune G3 twin cam - when I bought the car in my naive youth I didn't realise that a replacement engine [non lotus] had been fitted so I bought a new engine which was ?1500 in 1983!! No wonder my wife is going pale. I seem to remember in one of the Lotus Club bulletins that one should take out the plugs and spray some light oil in before turning the engine over to get the oil circulated before going for the big "switch on".

The "how much shall I spend" was a little facetious - having not spent anything on her for 20 years what the hell!!


Richard

[rgh0]

Richard

With the belt drive Vegantune engine I would also replace the cam belt and turn the engine over carefully by hand after spraying some oil down the bores and onto the valve gear to check that it is all free. I would then drain and refill the engine oil and crank the engine over with the plugs out until you have oil pressure.

If no problems at that point then fresh fuel and new set of plugs and see if it starts, if not then time for some more serious troubleshooting.

Great to see anothert Elan about to be back on the road hopefully with minimum trouble !

cheers
Rohan

[twincamman]

the most obvious way to check engine for free movement is to remove the plugs put it in gear and gently push the car ----if its frozen [as the europa motor was] you will know right away --spray penetrating oil in the cylinders and go away for a week -----if its still seized remove the head and GENTLY tap on the piston heads with a piece of hard wood and a medium weight hammer -----worked for a 20 year siezed motor for me ----cost one head gasket ---ed

[gjz30075]

The clutch pedal is on the floor so I guess the clutch plate is well and truly stuck - I may need to get professional help on this.
Richard

Richard, not necessarily. Most likely the system lost all of the fluid so count on either rebuilding or replacing the master and slave cylinders.
Take it from there.

[Emma-Knight]

...before turning the engine, you could try to press oil in the galeries like
I did last week - I hope I find my way to the garage tomorrow to take a picture from the simple and cheap device. The engine might profit from clean, strong oil on all bearings and tappets. There won't be too much oil on the bearings after so long...

Costs are about $ 20 - to $ 25 for the air operated "system". If no compressor avail, you can use a normal spare tire to do so.

Anna

[twincamman]

ok heres the hot set up for ring seized motors ---its patented but you can build one with a hollowed out spark plug a piece of pipe and a fitting for your air line -----I used it to drive the oil past the seized rings -----about 50 pounds ---for an hour ---on each hole - daily and call me in the morning -- ed

[gordonlund]

Hi There,
Just picked up on this thread. When I rebuilt my Sprint, EMA, from a hung over basket case, I assumed that it had been laid up for about 10 year minimum. In that time I would say that anything made of rubber had to be replaced. Even the tyres showed distinctive signs of aging.

As has been said before, go at it gently and do a corner at a time. Rear suspension A frame bushes are hard to get, you may have to use the polyurathane bushes, Mrs Miller does those but are not cheap. Front suspension bushes take your choice but if it was me I'de stick to Poly types if that is the case. Check all steering component, pump loads of EP90 into the trunnions and check ball joints for stiffness and last but not least the rack, grease as for normal service and check for freedom of movement. If in doubt replace, same for brakes. These are all safety related items. If your engine goes phut it won't kill you. Duff brakes, suspension and steering will!!!

Have fun

Gordon

Ps when you have finished don't lay it up again. Use it at least once a month, then you won't have to do all this again. Wear it out naturally!!!

[pereirac]

My experience is thinks of how much you expect to spend and double it. It's always worked for me

Carl