Best Mods

[worzel]

Hi Frank

Tried to pm you but I don't think it got there!

Relays- I needed to find a space for 8 since 4 of them are used for the electric lift motors for the headlights. This ruled out the 6RA type because they're bulky so I switched to the smaller modern type- about half the size.

Basically I made a board of marine ply and fastened the relays to this suitably spaced. In the UK we have nylon/plastic "junction blocks" used by domestic electricians with the cables being retained by brass screw fittings. I used a strip of 5 for each relay also fastened to the board.

I extended all the wires by about 15 inches to give more room to play with. The loom ends feed into the junction blocks and from the blocks into the corresponding relay. The idea being to make all connections easy to take apart. Better than bullets in my opinion. To ensure the cables weren't strained etc or couldn't become etached I drilled holes in the board at suitable intervals and cable tied the wiring runs.

The board fits on the passenger side- I don't know the technical term for the panel but it's the one behind the glove box, above the passenger's feet , parallel to the ground and is about 10 inch by 9 inch in size. I removed the felt , ground back to bare grp and using stainless strips of suitable size I drilled these to accept what are called spire clips which basically convert a hole in thin metal into one that can accept a bolt/screw.

The plates were bonded to the panel and the whole board simply fastened to it. It's well out of the way and cannot be seen from inside or outside unless your head is in the footwell. The extra loom length allows it to be dropped to the floor if you need to work on it.

Re the steering column. I did this about 20 years ago. A bit fiddly but not particularly difficult technically. First make sure the column is properly clamped at the dashboard. I used stainless for this job but mild steel will do just as well. You need two flat plates, rectangular and with one side cut out as a half circle to fit round the outer column. Drill two holes in one and with an assistant hold this against the outer column on the engine side. Next hold the undrilled plate against the column inside the car and mark the hole positions. The reason for doing it this way is that the inner plate will be lower than the other.

Drill and bolt the two together in place on the car. Next the fiddly bit- you need two more strips of steel about 1.5 inches wide. These need to be bent/folded in such a way that they each encircle the outer column half way around but with about a quarter inch clearance to the column. On each side of the curved middle bit you need to have a flat flange to enable each half to be bolted together. Because the cloumn is angled you now need to remove some metal from one side to enable the upper half to both go round the column at the correct angle and at the same time the "shaved" side has to be snug against the flat plate already bolted inside the car.

Once done you need to find a way to maintain the position of each in order to have them welded to each other. I used araldite for this. Once welded you then drill two holes in the attached plate one in each flat flange. Next offer up the other half with the rounded middle and mark off the holes and drill. The idea behind making the clamp slightly bigger than the circumference of the column is to enable rubber or similar to be fitted inside to cushion the column.

You'll find if you do this properly that this clamp alone will securely hold the column without the dashboard one- although I wouldn't recommend dispensing with it. This entirely stops column shake etc and also prevents the dashboard from being strained.

Hope this is clear- if not get back to me for more info.

Regards

John

[Frank Howard]

Wow John,

What a well thought out description of the two modifications. Couple of questions though.

I assume you have a +2 because I don't have any kind of panel behind the glove box that is parallel to the ground. When I lay on the floor and look up behind the glove box, I am looking at the GRP under the wind screen that the wind screen washers are fastened to. However, there probably is a way to fabricate a horizontal panel to mount the relays on. I like your idea of leaving plenty of extra wire so the panel can be removed for servicing. Maybe a hinge on one side and a catch on the other would be an even better solution. I'm assuming you have the relays fastened on their sides, with wires going to the 5 strip nylon/plastic junction boxes and then on to their destination. I found that Nissan uses gangs of 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 relays in their cars that are all contained in neat plastic holders with interchangable sockets. I selected the 8 gang holder and then chose the relays and sockets needed for the radiator fan motor, the horn, the high beams, the low beams, and the windows (4).

As far as your steering column modification is concerned, I'll have to admit I got lost. There is one thing you can tell me that may clear up much of my confusion. Where is this bracket that you fabricated located? Is it on the firewall?

Speaking of steering columns, a modification I made to mine improved the car quite a bit. I shortened it to the point that the plastic housing for the indicator stalk and the dip switch stalk is right up against the dash board. What a difference this makes. The car seems so much roomier and the classic arms straight out driving style is maintained. Let me know if you are interested in how this is accomplished.

Finally, if you are experiencing difficulty sending me a PM, try sending an e-mail directly to:

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Thanks!

[cliveyboy]

Apart from electronic ignition one of the best mods I did was a 10 tooth bendix on the starter motor.
Nowdays I would just use the modern starter option.
Other good mods I did include hotter plugs and not venting engine breather into the airbox. Plugs stay a lot cleaner

Clive

[archigator]

I would add a lightweight flywheel, brass liners in your brake and clutch master/slave cylinders, and an oil cooler.

Gary
'71 Elan Sprint
Miami, Florida