New owner questions

[jimbo]

A couple of questions now that my 'new' '72 Sprint DHC is safely tucked up in my garage.

1. Do they all leak! Mine seems to spill a few drops at the back after a run. My pristine drive is beginning to look a bit the worse for wear! Is there any hope of fixing this or am I just wasting my time?

2. I am considering fitting side repeaters as I do a fair bit of duel carriageway driving. Is there a preferred/recommend location and is there a specific type I should fit?

3. My passenegers seat is somewhat 'reclined'. I'm going to try moving it to the rear mounting and sliding the seat right forward, but if that doesn't work can I just put some wooden blocks under the rear? Are there any saftey implications to doing this?

4. Can the rear light clusters be rechromed? Mine are a bit the worse for wear and the price of replacements seems ridiculously high.

5. The car seems to 'shunt' a bit when cruising on a very light throttle in fourth. Its a sort of nodding effect. Any additional throttle makes it go away. The suspicion is that I have some hottish cams, but to me it almost feels like the drivetrain is 'pushing'. Any ideas?

6. I am considering replacing the battery as the car has not been used much since the battery was last replaced in 2004. Do I need a specific type/style of battery, or is it just a case of finding one that fits?

7. As above, but read tyres instead of battery! The ones on the car are OK tread wise, but I have no idea how old they are and I've always understood tyres lose grip as the rubber ages.

Thanks in advance!

James

[CBUEB1771]

A couple of questions now that my 'new' '72 Sprint DHC is safely tucked up in my garage.

5. The car seems to 'shunt' a bit when cruising on a very light throttle in fourth. Its a sort of nodding effect. Any additional throttle makes it go away. The suspicion is that I have some hottish cams, but to me it almost feels like the drivetrain is 'pushing'. Any ideas?

James

I'll take a crack at #5 rather than trying to be comprehensive. I hope you mean the engine seems to "hunt", you can't "shunt" too many times! I assume your Sprint has Weber or Dellorto carburettors. Hunting at light throttle openings is generally a sign of deteriorated o-rings between the carburettors and inlet manifold or broken Thackeray washers. These are the spring wahers used to load the carburettor against the o-rings. Any failure in these items will allow air leakage behind the carburettors causing a lean mixture. This is most noticeable under the conditions you mention when inlet manifold depression is high. This happens from time to time with my Plus 2 and is always rectified by finding and replacing the broken Thackeray washer(s). Be sure to follow the shop manual instructions for setting up the Thackeray washers. I believe you are supposed to have about 0.040" gap between the flat coils of the washer. Generally this means tweaking all four nylok nuts on a carburettor to load each washer correctly.

[jimbo]

Russ,

Thanks for the reply ... I think your analysis is spot on. The car is on Webbers and when I got home after collecting it I discovered it was leaking a bit of petrol between the carburettors and inlet manifold.

I tweaked the joints and the leak has stopped, but they joints are probably overly tight now. My impression is that the top row were tight(ish), but that the bottom row (being harder to access) were a good deal looser.

I spoke to Paul Matty who supplied the car, and they offered to fix the leak, but it's a 150 mile round trip so they are sending me a set of new o-rings and thackeray washers instead. I don't have a manual at the moment (all to come in the course of time) so any advice on the procedure to replace them would be appreciated!

Cheers,

James

[steveww]

For the battery try using an Odysea sealed type. Available direct or from racing suppliers e.g. Demon Tweeks. A bit more expensive than the regular lead acid types but smaller so they will fit better.

For tyres go for Michelin XAS FF. Lots of useful info on my site http://www.steveww.org/

[Elanintheforest]

Just remember not to tighten up the nuts too much when refitting the carbs?the Thackeray washers need a gap to allow the carbs to be rubber mounted rather than hard mounted.

The shunting effect may also be exaggerated by the rotoflex couplings?if you?re not used to these they can be quite disconcerting. Most folks are changing over to solid drive shafts as they give a much better drive and, most importantly, the modern crop of rotoflex coupling are rubbish?they last a couple of thousand miles if you?re lucky.

As for oil leaks, the answer is no?although many do. If the engine / gearbox / diff is built properly, they will not leak oil. Is your leak coming from the back of the engine or the back of the car? If the back of the engine, it could well be the crankshaft oil seal if the car hasn?t had a lot of use. It could be any other area, as the oil tends to drip to the back when going along, but check out the cam cover gasket and half moon seals first. The next likely suspects are the oil return tube between the head and block, or the front cover. In any event, I would take it back to Matty to get it sorted properly?don?t let him tell you they all leak?.mine doesn?t! (and it does have oil in it!!)

If it?s the back of the car then it?s the differential?again, take it back under warrantee?.that should be the advantage of buying from Matty. Or it could be oil dripping down the chassis from the engine. The gearbox can leak from the speedo drive area.

As for side repeaters, it should have them on the front wings?all Elans from S3 on did. Any additional side markers would look a bit naff. Remember to drive it like you?re riding a large bike, and expect the worst from everybody. Relying on a small orange light won?t help.

The recline of the passenger seat should be exactly the same as the driver seat, but putting it in the position you suggest would make it sit up a little. I don?t see that putting something under the rear would make any difference to safety.

The rear lights can be re-chromed, but only by specialists and at a price. They are made of Mazak, a nasty alloy that is a sod to re-chrome without melting the whole thing. Each ?pit? has to be filled with copper and rubbed down prior to platting, so you can imagine the price getting somewhere close to the cost of the repro ones that Matty sells. Every so often a pair of lights appear on eBay, but a good pair will be ?300 ish.

I just bought a battery from Halfords?for a Mk 2 Cortina. So long as it has flat lugs and it fits they seem to work.
Mark

[mikealdren]

James,
Hope you enjoy your new car. Batteries vary in how long they last and 2004 is not that old for a quality battery, if it works well leave it, if it's not performing well, change it.
Tyres are another matter, the rubber does age and old tyres are dangerous. Don't use tyres over 6 years old.
regards
Mike

[jimbo]

Chaps, thanks for the detailed replies. It's really reassuring being able to tap into the wealth of knowledge on this site!

As for oil leaks, the answer is no?although many do.

I'm going to clean things up a little so I can work out the source of the oil leak. I've not done many miles since tweaking the thackeray washers so I'll see if that has also improved the 'nodding'. If not, I may well invest in driveshafts.

As for side repeaters, it should have them on the front wings?all Elans from S3 on did.

Currently it has them on the nose (by the side lights) and in the rear cluster. Whereabouts should they be on the wing? Anyone got a link to a photo showing them?

Batteries vary in how long they last and 2004 is not that old for a quality battery, if it works well leave it, if it's not performing well, change it.

Tyres are another matter, the rubber does age and old tyres are dangerous. Don't use tyres over 6 years old.

I agree 100% with that. I had it drilled into me from an early age that "tyres are the only thing that keep you in contact with road" so I may well invest in some new rubber!

For tyres go for Michelin XAS FF

I've always got on well with Michelin tyres on modern cars so I like the sound of that.

Cheers,

James

[Elanintheforest]

Here's my '70 S4 showing his winky bit on the front wing....
Mark

[jimbo]

And a very nice winky it is too! Maybe that's why mine doesn't have one ... we think she's a girl!

Thanks!

[Elanintheforest]

This is on eBay at the moment, and I think she's a girl....have a look at the pictures to see what's the same / different to yours. This is a one owner super-original car......I'm sure the owner won't mind me pinching one of the pictures
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=006
Mark

[stuartgb100]

Hi Mark,

Is that badge near the front wing common to all Sprints?
Mine's a late '71 (blue over white) with no badge.

Regards,
Stuart.

[elansprint71]

Looks to me that (despite what the advert says) it has been re-sprayed, at least partially, the white paint extends too high along the rear flanks. The gold stripes are along the side are not in the original positions and it looks to be suffering from serious micro-blistering at some points. The price looks to be around ?10k too high already for a car which will require a great deal of body prep to make it perfect.

But hey, what do I know?

[Elanintheforest]

Most of the later cars seem to have them, but quite a few don't. It's the same with Plus 2s...some have one badge on one side, some have them on both sides, some on the other. Lotus consistency comes to mind. On the Sprint, some are World Championship badges (not sure when they came in), some are Elan Sprint badges, and some have both. Then there's the 5 speed....
Mark

[Elanintheforest]

The stripe position does look odd.... I can still believe it's factory though Well, maybe.

I remember seeing 3 month old cars going back to the dealer for paint rectification required because of micro-blistering...usually a blow-over of the affected panel, which I'm sure would have lasted all of a year...two at most.

Just found a picture from the very early brochure showing the high badge.....
Mark

[stuartgb100]

Hmmmmmmmmm,

Went out to the garage, and spotted that in a certain light, there's a hint that there are two indents about 6 inches apart on the offside (where a badge might once have been mounted), but nothing so obvious on the driver's side.

Anyways up, you're saying it doesn't matter with or without (for authenticity)?

Thanks and Regards,
Stuart.