Slow re-birth of a Sprint

[alexblack13]

Hi Guys,

Pete..
Yes, I am def' interested in doing that again and pref without the heat... Pity you can't take a day to enjoy the north of Scotland. Carol and I would have come up and had a weekend up there. We love Inverness.

Ian.... Steady boy.. We will meet I assure you. Carol and I might come up for a trip around again... Some bits I still have to show here and a client or two to go see.

Will let you know..

Alex....

[slowsprinter]

Ok Alex

I will calm down

I just don't want to miss the chance to pick your brains face to face should you be in the area. I will look into the possibility of coming south and paying you a visit too and seeing your car for added inspiration.

Ian

[slowsprinter]

Latest Update
After going to the Donington show and poking around Alex's lovely Sprint, I realised I needed to significantly raise my game in my own project if I want a similar result.

I was becoming increasingly unhappy with the stove enamel finish of the Spyder chassis as every time I seemed to clank a spanner against it I would chip a bit off. Therefore I decided to undo all my work to date to put 2 coats of epoxy mastic on my chassis as I am happy with the results on my suspension components. Much happier now.

Big news is I am awaiting the arrival of CV driveshafts from Sue Miller. Obviously I am several hundred quid lighter!

I stripped my steering rack to find its missing a drivers side limiting spacer. I contacted Brian Buckland to double check and he is now making me up a spacer for a small charge. Thanks Brian.

All for now, photos updated.
Ian.

[slowsprinter]

Latest Update

CV joints and anti-roll bar (new poly bushes) fitted. Steering rack now has the correct limiting spacer fitted to the drivers side, made up by Brian Buckland. Just awaiting purchase and fitting of track rod ends and rubber bellows.

A few photos added to my stream below.

Ian

[twincamman]

Hi sprinter ..one thing I did during my cars reassembly was to ad an alternator and a better starter. . These
made life simpler. I also did not get into the purist thought process .I did or added anything for reliability ,but still carry my cell phone ,credit card , CAA card and file a flight plan every time I drive it anywhere ....Ed

[Mark B]

Hi Ian,

Project is looking good, best of luck with it.

Reg your engine stand, it's supposed to bolt on the gearbox end of the block through the holes that the bellhousing bolts would normally go through. You normally have to remove the clutch & flywheel or add spacers first though.

Cheers,
Mark.

[fatboyoz]

Ian,
I see that you have the bellhousing off the gearbox. You are probably aware of the pitfall when re-attaching same. If so, ignore this post. If not, please look at this recent thread:

elan-f15/annoying-oil-leak-t23549.html

Colin.

[elj221c]

My new Clarke engine stand arrived along with a parts washer. There was no obvious way of mounting the engine.
Ian.

I did it this way.

[slowsprinter]

Roy
Thanks for pointing out my stupidity in front of all these elan gurus

No, its just that in Brians book, he recommends the engine be mounted side onto the engine stand for access to the clutch. I don't trust myself to weld so I made my own version out of wood, I realise it does not look too professional! It does kind of sum me up though.

Colin
Really kind of you to point that out about the bell housing oil leak. I certainly was not aware but I am now, thank you very much

Ed
I will be making certain changes and upsetting the purists. I will carry out an alternator upgrade and electronic ignition etc.

As always thanks for everyones input, I really appreciate it.
Ian

[alexblack13]

Hey Ian, If you need anything welded and you are down this way....

Easy peasy...

Alex....

[twincamman]

Wellll I would think about the ignition .I have seen a few cars stuck when the halls effect magnet goes for a sh..t..At 3 in the morning in East Overshoe With points and condenser you can scrape the points on a rock and carry a spare condenser....And be on your way Ed

[alexblack13]

That's fair advice Ed..

FYI Ian. I keep the parts that come out of the dizzy in a poly bag with a new set of points and condenser. etc.. As E says just slip them back in and you have eliminated a cause of any failures.

* disclaimer*..Should never say this but I never had an issue with the set up in my +2s130 and carried the points around for about 4 years from memory.

Does no harm to carry them though..

Have fun now!

Alex...

[slowsprinter]

Your hard won advice noted fellas!
Thanks muchly

[slowsprinter]

Its been a while fellas. I have a bit more progress to update you on.

The big news is my engine is finished. A friend of mine has been doing it for me in his spare time, his full time business is running a garage specialising in Motorsport. I am going along tonight to finish dressing the engine and adding bell-housing, clutch and gearbox. I will then be using my new engine crane to lower the whole assembly into my chassis.

Have nearly finished the brakes having sourced a set of handbrake pads on ebay and sending them to Classicar Automotive for re-lining.

Have starting stripping the Dellortos to clean and replace gaskets etc. Don't really know what I am doing but have bought a service kit and will do one at a time so if I screw up I have the other one to get me back on track.

Have talked to Option 1 and have a price to get all body sorted including windscreen, bumpers, window frames fitted. That is my summer project to get the body off to them and then onto the chassis.

Stay tuned!
Ian

[trw99]

Well done Ian, looks like it's coming on very nicely.

Tim