Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Soo I fixed the dynamo spring and the dynamo now works OK but it still doesnt charge, got to be the regulator box so Ive removed that and sure enough the contacts are so oxidised theres no chance of it working. found a very useful article about refurbishing Lucas RB106 voltage control boxes here
http://www.worldphaco.net/uploads/REPAIRING_THE_STANDARD_RB106.pdf especially the idea of putting a snubber diode across the field resistor contacts. ordered a diode from RS this afternoon if it comes tomorrow I can put the regulator back in and try again.

Fixed the clutch problem, now I have the correct size cylinders both ends it works fine, just got to adjust it a little to remove some slack.
Dismantled and cleaned all the brake pistons and the brakes are now not sticking, the handbrake was just wildly out of adjustment too, something must have moved since I installed it, maybe the nipple at the crosstree end wasnt in its slot properly or maybe the outer wasnt right down in the adjuster assembly any way there was about 1 1/2" of slack which Ive now taken up.
I think Ive found the remaining hole in the radiator and soldered it up, when I next run it I can see if that worked.
I can hear one tappet too which is obviously not right so the cam covers will have to come off so I can have a look, nothing is ever finished is it!

Next jobs are the cant rails, one fits, the other is about 1/2" out, seems as if the windscreen is leaning back too much on that side, didnt realise that was possible but thats what it looks like

Heres the before and after pictures of the hole in the rad,


It doesnt look too pretty but its stopped the leak for now.
Mr Cool has quoted me for a recore and I am going to have it made with the core 1/4 shorter so that the perennial problem of the bonnet hitting the top of the radiator is fixed for good.
Next job is the cant rails.
As I said before the windscreen seems to be leaning back too much for the cant rails to fit and also if you look at this picture of the window channel with the door shut you can see theres something wrong.

The windscreen top definitely needs moving forwards.
I undid the bolts at the bottom of the screen in the door shuts and sure enough the holes in the bobbins were much larger than the 1/4" bolt that fixed them. It was possible to push the top of the screen forwards at least 1/2" so I made up some offset bushes

and that holds the screen forwards nicely. compare this picture of the window channel with the previous one.

Much better fit.

Stripped the old cant rails completely and as you can see from the pile of rusty bits I need to remake the fixings.

Heres the new pegs made out of stainless bolts

Heres the sockets for the top of the screen also made from stainless bolts

Heres a pic of the pegs for the top of the cant rail to screen join

Heres the finished cant rail repainted and the gutter polished up as much as I can.


And heres the cant rail fitted with the hood stick as well. I cheated and got these powdew coated rather than spraying them myself as I think powder coating will be a bit more durable.


Ive ordered a hood from Don hoods and now have to wait for it to be delivered before I can fit it. Then its driveable in the rain as well!

Rod, you're a master of the lathe

Greg Z

Fantastic job, Rod. Keep posting please!

This thread gets my vote as one of the most interesting and informative ever; thanks for taking the trouble to record and post all the things you have done.

elansprint71 wrote:This thread gets my vote as one of the most interesting and informative ever; thanks for taking the trouble to record and post all the things you have done.

I agree. Thanks Rod for taking the time to try and inform all of us what can be done at home.

Gary

HI Rod,

I just noticed the weather sealing you are using for the cant-rails. They are not what I am use to seeing . is there a reason you chose this type ? If this is the type I think it is , there may be a lot of air/water leaks .

George

Thanks guys you have me blushing here, Im just an ordinary bodger anyone can do what Ive done. Most people fail because they think they cant do it so dont try.


.

cabc26b wrote:I just noticed the weather sealing you are using for the cant-rails. They are not what I am use to seeing . is there a reason you chose this type ? If this is the type I think it is , there may be a lot of air/water leaks .

Which bits did you mean George?

rod

Hi Rod,

The sealing between the glass and the cantrail . it appeared in teh pictures that you did not have a soft seal , also on a set of mine there is an extension to the weather strip that protrudes forward of the cantrail and fits between the windshield frame and the door glass frame Does that make sense ?

george

(i can post up some pictures if i continue to confuse)

Hi George
I do have a soft seal between the glass and cantrail, maybe you cant see it in the pictures because its black too, I got it from Woolies its a got a soft foam lip
rod

Rod,

i'm looking at your pictures again and the soft seal is there clear as day - don't know what i was thinking ( or seeing) sorry about that .

George

The first hood delivered by Don Hoods was obviously not right, the front edge had a lip that stood up when it was tensioned which would mean it pulled out of the slot as soon as you went at any speed. I showed some pics of this in another thread but heres one again
several of you sent me pictures of how an original front was made and armed with this info I talked to Don hoods about the problem. When they saw the pictures they agreed that it was wrong and offered straight away to make another one for me. Took rather a long time but I have to say they were very helpful. Turns out that they had used this arrangement originally and then changed it for some reason to the version they sent me. They had already changed back for the S3 and S4 hoods they sell but for some reason not on the S1. Anyway this is how the new front lip looks And just laying the hood over the frame it all looks as if it will fit OK Screwed in all the duradot fastenersmade up a little punch to fit the rivet part of the duradotsand fitted the Tenax fasteners and it all looks fine.
Now the problem I have is that the windows dont fit, this is the first time ive had the windows up and the cant rails in the correct positions and the passenger side window is about 1/8" short of the door seal on the cant rail and the drivers side is a bit worse, in addition the drivers side window crashes into the back edge of the cant rail at the bottom
As far as I know the cant rails are original and I cant see anyway they can be altered to improve the fit so if anyone has any suggestions as to why my windows dont fit Id love to hear them.
During this miserably wet winter Ive also had my radiator recored, and had the core shortened by 1/4 " now it doesnt hit the bonnet (too late ive already made a dent when I closed the bonnet for the first time ever and it hit the rad.) I have to thank Mr Cool for the rad work the service is exceptional and the results are excellent (just a satisfied customer).

Rod, if you can make it to Goodwood this Sunday morning you can compare your cant rails with mine.

Paddy

Ron & Paddy,

I could bring mine and a spare set of cants and rails to try, too. PM mobile numbers if you're going to meet up.