Page 4 of 5

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:23 am
by rgh0
The chassis is drilled for both LH and RH mounting of the rack. In addition you need to get the rack mount and rubber blocks and rack assembled in the right arrangement. I cant remember the details off the top of my head but play with the jigsaw puzzle until it fits the holes and is properly centred.

it should all fit :D
cheers
Rohan

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:47 am
by robertverhey
Finally back on four wheels, after many setbacks (like worn mismatched rear hubs / axles). One of the challenges i'm finding is that it's hard not to chip and scrape carefully refurbished and painted parts on assembly....but as this will be a car that gets used, not shown, that's not a huge issue. Once it's all done i'll go around with a touch up brush.

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:50 am
by Mazzini
It's looking good. Is the gearbox in bare metal? To save you touching it up? lol. Seriously nice job.

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:56 am
by robertverhey
Thanks g/box is actually gold, I recall from a previous thread that some may have been gold originally? So gold it stays!

All that mucking around with Meccano when I was a kid....had to be useful for something!

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:11 am
by Mazzini
It was Airfix models for me.

The gearboxes and casings originated from Ford whom painted their castings dark green, I always thought Lotus left them green, but perhaps a previous owner painted your box gold - why not keep it that colour? Some restorations are so perfect the cars have no character, it's nice to do a sympathetic restoration. My S3 was painted a non original US colour in '74, I wouldn't dream of changing it because I'm too mean to pay for a paint job :D

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:05 am
by robertverhey
Work continues apace....and a slow pace at that

Spent quite a lot of time rigging up a rotisserie ( thanks to the many ideas on this excellent forum), but there will be a saving in time and effort, as most bodywork and paintwork can now be accomplished standing up.

The bodywork will require a lot of attention, there are many, many gel cracks and faults, and the car has taken a couple of hits during its lifetime, front n/s quarter and N/S b pillar. It was well disguised, but when that paint is removed all is revealed!

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:31 am
by robertverhey
Just an update as it's been quite a while since I posted on this resto. Currently undertaking the seemingly endless job of body prep, following the Miles Wilkins / Mick Miller method (grinding wheel, tissue, filler, primer, spray putty, primer.....with spot follow up of spray putty, guide coat, sanding....And again....and again...until I'm happy enough to put the final coats of primer on.

Front end repairs (as shown in kaleidoscope of colours) have been left in situ, as they seem to provide a good stable substrate....there seemed little point in continuing to grind and grind and grind to reach fibreglass, knowing that I'd only have to build it up again with filler to get the right profile..I guess time will tell.

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:30 pm
by Sea Ranch
Pretty awesome, Robert. Just keep at it :) I don't look forward to this part of the restoration process, but it has to be done.

I see you're working outdoors, which is what I will be doing (I refuse to flood my new shop with piles of sanding dust). Are you doing anything to deal with the dust outside? Have you tried setting up a tent?

Randy

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:59 pm
by robertverhey
Hi Randy, thanks, I'm sure the neighbours will be happy when it's all over. This is an especially dusty part, as you end up sanding off about 90% of the spray putty that goes on. I did rig up a tent as per pics below, using the side panels of one of those cheap carports from Supercheap Auto, but the dust still gets out, and it gets....everywhere!

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:31 pm
by Sea Ranch
Right. And I see the houses are close together there. Wishing I had an acre of land for this kind of work :(

I've been making plans to build a temporary hoop structure, to last the 6-8 months that I would devote to body prep. Might take it down for the winter, allow body shell to thoroughly dry indoors, then set up the structure the next year for final painting.

Here are some links to hoop building discussion, just in case you're not familiar:
http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html
http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse_faq.html
http://www.homegrown.org/forum/topics/hoop-houses-101

Regards,
Randy

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:11 am
by au-yt
Hi Guys

I have seen this exact setup but in a Hangar and the Australian EPA had approved it. The one difference is that the guy used a small heater fan to keep the en-closure from sucking in.
Cheers
Graeme
PS I also just bough an Elan that came into the country in 2004 but never registered by its original owner....

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:46 am
by robertverhey
Finally in primer. The trap is that every time you look you find a minor blemish that you didn't notice last time. This goes on and on and on for days and days even weeks until finally you say "STOP!, ENOUGH! IT'LL DO!"

Next step is an all over wet rubbing with 600, and then spot touching up of primer rub-throughs and then......time for top coats!

Just some advance warning, once the chassis and body are reunited in a month or two I'll be wanting to dispense with the rotisserie, so any downunder owners contemplating a body off resto in next little while, let me know. Have I got a deal for you!

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:30 am
by robertverhey
Finally all sprayed and buffed. It's as good as I'm gonna get it with my gear and my expertise.

Let the reassembly (and dropping of tools on fresh paint and swearing) begin!

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:55 am
by Sea Ranch
If I could howl like a wolf (or a dog), I would! Really nice!!!!

Did you do the colour coats yourself? What paint/system did you use (urethane, water-borne, base/clear, brand??). Thanks, Robert. Inquiring minds want to know.

And when you say you used the Miles Wilkins/Mick Miller method, do you mean you followed the suggestions in Wilkins' Osprey book (restoring fiberglass cars)?

Very exciting/satisfying stage to be at, I'm sure.

Randy

Re: Australia now has one more Elan

PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:22 am
by robertverhey
Hi randy thanks. Yes the osprey guide, there are two relevant ones, the fibreglass repair one and the paintwork one.

The photos are flattering, I know where all the blemishes are and they will haunt me forever or until remedied! These cars are so fragile, I even created two star cracks in the rear valance under the bumper doing a trial fit of the fuel tank, so will have to re-do that bit. Bugger.

Just single pack acrylic, solid colour, no clear coat. Old fashioned, relatively neighbour-friendly. There's a place in Sydney called VG autopaints and they sell everything for the DIY body repairer / spray painter. Really good guys, lots of advice and they run free half day courses. I got them to make up a couple of spray cans when they mixed up the paint, so I can deal with any inevitable minor damage that will occur in the next phase.

It'll never be a show car, but looks okay if you don't look too closely.