26/4388 Refurb, first impressions and Questions

[lotusbaz]

Hello All,

Since buying me Elan last Friday I have managed to get the car up on axle stands and have a very good look underneath the car. Apart from the usual rotten bushes, rusty discs etc with being unused for the last 15 years there does not appear to be too many disasters. The original chassis seems to be sound except for a small triangular bracket at the front which supports the steering rack. The rest of the chassis is covered in oil from a leak somewhere on the engine and from the pinion seal at the front of the diff which has sprayed oil everywhere!

I do however have a few queries which i hope you can help.

The battery seems to fit behind the passenger seat? I thought that this only applied to S1 cars, am I wrong? The battery connections are the universal clamp type so I do not know if it is +ve of -ve earth? The car is still fitted with an original dynamo which would suggest +ve earth but it has also been fitted with Lumenition electronic ignition. Is this available for +ve earth cars? Any offers of advice?

I am also missing a chrome plated window lifter, anyone know if these are available?

Lastly, the front of the hood frame has two bars which connect to the top of the windscreen pillars. The ends are 'U' shaped but whatever they connect with is missing. Can someone describe the part that is missing or even a photo so that I know what the part should look like.

Best Regards, Baz

[ken ob]

Hi Baz, battery behind the seat is correct. It should be easy to follow the battery cables to see which one goes to earth.

The window lifters are available but at the moment i cant find the advert i saw for them recently.

Im not sure what you mean about the hood frame. I have 2 rigid pieces that sit around the top of the doors and push into an eyelet on top of the windscreen pillars - one each side.

Ken.

[ripley]

Baz,
mine has also been fitted with Lumenition electronic ignition and is +ve earth at the same time.
The chrome plated window lifter are available at Ray Dent enterprises (=> rd.com) and/or Dave Bean (both US). Be aware: There are two versions, early (thin) and late large) type.
Fred

[lotusbaz]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your comments.

I can see which cable goes to the chassis but the battery connectors fitted to both cables are the same size so that the battery will fit either way around, hence the question is it +ve or -ve?

I have attached a photo of the end of the bar where it fit the screen pillar but all I have is a hole!

Best Regards, Baz

[types26/36]

Baz, something is not right there, what you have looks like rails for a S3 dhc.
On the S1/2 there is a locating pin fitted to the front of the cant rail which locates into an eyelet that is on the top corner of the screen frame.
Do you have the cant rails....they are f/glass? I'm not talking about the metal bars.

[ken ob]

Baz, aren't your battery terminals marked + and - ? Most are.

The bar in your photo looks like one of two that fit across the car slotting into the cant rails.

Ken.

[bilcoh]

Baz:

First, welcome. I feel like your long lost relative as I have 26/4378, just 10 cars prior to yours.

- Correct that battery was behind the seat, though mine was later located to the trunk.
- My car is still +ve with dynamo. Are either battery cables colored? In my case, the red cable goes to ground.
- Types26/36 has you covered on the top. Seems like you're missing parts, perhaps.
- For the window pull, I'll check my Dave Bean catalog tonight to see if they list that part.

Good luck with yours. I just pulled my frame, so unless you're going way backwards from your current state, you should be enjoying some driving (before you decide you need to go way backwards. Once you pull that diff, the "maybe I should do this too while I've got it out" can make the list grow long, quickly.

Enjoy the ride. Look forward to hearing more from you,

Dave

[garyeanderson]

Cantrail Hardware

elan-f14/cantrail-hardware-t17056.html

There are quite a few picture at the above link some with dimensions.

p-a

search engine is working good!

[lotusbaz]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the photos. It would seem that my shopping list just got longer as I do not have any cant rails or any of the fixings!

Are there are similar shaped fittings attached to the window edges of the hardtop?

Best regards, Baz

[types26/36]

Are there are similar shaped fittings attached to the window edges of the hardtop?

Baz, I have a hardtop but it is not a factory one so probably does not have the fittings as shown in the Manual.
With my h/top the eyelets are removed and a bolt goes through the eyelet hole and screws into a threaded bobbin in the hardtop, the centre of the hardtop has a over centre catch which hooks onto a bracket on the mirror fitting.
The rear is secured by bolts from inside the boot after removing the two slotted fittings that the rear of the soft top is held with.The sides are secured by bolts just behind the door catch.
I don't use it much as its too much faffing about to fit it and it was originally made with the cant rails glassed in and the whole top then glassed onto the body as the PO could not get a hardtop and wanted a FHC.

[Famous Frank]

Baz,

Congratulations! And may you have many years of fun, excitement and adventure with your Elan. Over the years I have found this has been true with my Elan ownership, alothough it's a 50/50 chance it will come from your new friends and fellow Elan owners.

1) The battery is located behind the seat on S1 and S2 Elans!

2) If for some reason your battery cables are not colored coded (which they should be) Red for Positive and Black for Negative, look at the top of the battery itself. It will usually be marked + positive or - negative. Follow the cables, and that will also tell you which one is positive or negative. The negative cabel will usually be much shorter in length and its other end will attach to the frame, usually in the rear part of the car so as to keep the length of the cable as short as possible.

3) The window lift parts are available from Ray and RD Enterprises.

http://www.rdent.com/

4) Ray may also have other hood parts. Another vendor that may have the hood parts is Tony Thompson Racing

http://www.tonythompsonracing.co.uk/

5) Should you ever need interior restoration parts such as seat covers, door panels, console etc, please give me a call. Thank you and good luck!

Oh, let's see some pictures of this diamond in the rough!

[lotusbaz]

Hi Frank etc,

Many thanks to all those who have taken the time to reply to my post, i really appreciate the response and information.

I did initially attach some photos to the first post but they have disappeared!

So please find attached photos of the car