1967 Elan S3 SS Restoration in Progress
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:55 pmHi Everyone:
Below is a link to photos of my Elan. I purchased it about 18 months ago with the help of Ross Robbins. The car was stored in a working repair shop for about 35 years. The working shop helped it avoid the extremes of heat and cool. Here in Colorado we don't have much issue with moisture and the resulting corrosion issues so the condition of most components is very good.
I took some time looking at the condition to determine next steps. I had wanted to perform minimal work, getting it running, driving it and keeping it mostly original. However, as the photos will show, the rubber bits were fairly degraded (roto flex bushing in particular) and the coolant passages were hopeless even after 3 flushes of the system with hot water. I'm now very glad I didn't try to start it, even though oil pressure was good.
So, I've torn everything down to bare components. The frame is updated by a shop owner who worked on race prepping Elans some years ago. With that experience and the references here on this forum we added to the frame structure.
The engine will be upgraded to 10.5 CR pistons at 83mm with an D. Elgin cam measuring .430 lift with about 290 degrees duration. The rear diff is a 3.73 but now has a Quaife for more control. I may upgrade to a 5-speed but that's budget dependent. The 5-speed is mostly due to the distances we travel from event to event, drive to drive. Here in Colorado we have some fun roads, but getting to them is 75 mph highway travel.
Ironically when "found" it was about 1.5 miles from my home. When you look at the photos there are sub folders with approximate titles. I'll be updating the photo descriptions when we have a rainy, snowy, blizzard day.
http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/i47 ... us%20Elan/
jf
Below is a link to photos of my Elan. I purchased it about 18 months ago with the help of Ross Robbins. The car was stored in a working repair shop for about 35 years. The working shop helped it avoid the extremes of heat and cool. Here in Colorado we don't have much issue with moisture and the resulting corrosion issues so the condition of most components is very good.
I took some time looking at the condition to determine next steps. I had wanted to perform minimal work, getting it running, driving it and keeping it mostly original. However, as the photos will show, the rubber bits were fairly degraded (roto flex bushing in particular) and the coolant passages were hopeless even after 3 flushes of the system with hot water. I'm now very glad I didn't try to start it, even though oil pressure was good.
So, I've torn everything down to bare components. The frame is updated by a shop owner who worked on race prepping Elans some years ago. With that experience and the references here on this forum we added to the frame structure.
The engine will be upgraded to 10.5 CR pistons at 83mm with an D. Elgin cam measuring .430 lift with about 290 degrees duration. The rear diff is a 3.73 but now has a Quaife for more control. I may upgrade to a 5-speed but that's budget dependent. The 5-speed is mostly due to the distances we travel from event to event, drive to drive. Here in Colorado we have some fun roads, but getting to them is 75 mph highway travel.
Ironically when "found" it was about 1.5 miles from my home. When you look at the photos there are sub folders with approximate titles. I'll be updating the photo descriptions when we have a rainy, snowy, blizzard day.
http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/i47 ... us%20Elan/
jf
