Restoration of S2 Elan - EOK

[Elanintheforest]

The cap changed from round to flip-up sometime between Nov 64 and Jan 65, so the flip up is right for your car Brian.

But as you say, it doesn't fit perfectly on the S2 shell without the recess put in on later cars.

Have a look on the 26 Register for further details of change points:

http://www.type26register.com/spec_changes.html

Mark

[types26/36]

The cap changed from round to flip-up sometime between Nov 64 and Jan 65, so the flip up is right for your car Brian.

Hi Mark,
I'm not sure about that, as you say the type 26 register says it changed between Nov and Jan and as my car was produced on the 17th Nov then it could well have had a round cap.......we will never know for sure but IMHO it looks more in "period" with the round cap, in the same vain as the round oil cap as opposed the the three eared oil cap.
Staying on petrol caps is it correct the early "flip cap" was a slightly different design to the later flip caps .....see this pic of a flip cap which I copied from somewhere.

[Geoffers71]

Yes, that pic shows exactly the fuel cap that I have and you can see that the "button" is different to the later flip tops. Interesting that the parts manual I have for the S2 only shows the flip top not the round top, so it was definitely introduced to the S2 sometime in 1965 (or maybe a touch earlier).

[Elanintheforest]

Sorry I got my Brians and Geoffs mixed up then....I was talking to Geoff but looking at Brian!!

Mark

[Geoffers71]

A bit more progress, but I still don't seem to consistently stick with one task, always flitting about Here's a few more pics;
Front and rear bumpers fitted. These were both in a dreadful state, with a thick resin like substance literally poured haphazardly over their surface. No idea why someone would do that. Took ages to get off

The boot lid is not a particularly good fit, being a bit proud on the right side. Not sure how to resolve that.

I thought I had two of the chrome domed bolts that secure the front bumper, but the ones I have are far too short. Seems they need to be at least 1.5 inches long to fit through the bumper and body bobbin. Anyone know where to get the right ones ? ...or maybe someone has a couple spare
Tenax fasteners in and dashtop fitted prior to fitting dashboard

Made up a new braided fuel line for the carbs and fitted them

I'd forgotten what fun could be had when fitting the carbs and adjusting the thackery washers, particularly the lower nut and washer nearest the bulkhead. I remember nearly 30 years ago fashioning a special spanner to do this. A specially shortened one attached to my wrist with a string so that when I inevitably dropped it I could retrieve it easily. I think I sold my first S2 with at least one spanner lost between the body and chassis A much slimmer socket than the one I have would probably be better.
I must push on with finishing the wiring and then I could maybe get the engine started No rear silencer box yet though.
Bit sad tonight though as my Elise is reluctantly sold and is being picked up tomorrow. I've loved every day of the 10 years or so I've owned it and will miss it terribly, but I haven't been using it so much recently and I desperately need the room. Besides I'm an old bu66er and getting in and out is increasingly dfficult and painful these days

[mbell]

I'd forgotten what fun could be had when fitting the carbs and adjusting the thackery washers, particularly the lower nut and washer nearest the bulkhead.

I found a "Reversible double box ratcheting wrench 1/4" x 5/16" " in combination with a 1/4" drive 1/2 socket a good solution. The socket will just go over the nut and the ratcheting mechanism saves a lot of hassle. A litle tight for the rear most lower nut on the +2 maybe even more so on an ELan.

Lowes does a kit for $10:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_338358-22328-85 ... facetInfo=

[Geoffers71]

Update time again The dashboard is almost ready to go in now, just waiting for the cardboard glovebox to arrive. I need to live test each circuit too before final fitting. It's taken much longer than expected to wire up, the best laid plans and all that. I've traced every wire for it's connectivity to the right destination in the loom. It's time consuming as I'm very methodical ( that's my way of saying very, very slow )

I've also fitted the headlights, but came across an unexpected problem. I cleaned up the vacuum pods and tested as far as I could. They're not great but just about acceptable. About to begin the fit when I noticed that both pods were identical and that they were both left hand ones . So ...what to do? I checked with all the usual suppliers and found that they are not available at the present time ! No-one has any. The company that made them until recently has gone into liquidation and Sue Miller tells me that Miles Wilkins is trying to find another manufacturer. In the meantime I have a problem. Decided I could possibly adapt one of the left hand ones to work on the right. I reversed the spring and stopped up the second pipe inlet. Here's the result

It seems to work when operated by hand, I'm not happy that this is a bit of a bodge, but I don't have any alternative, unless someone has a spare Right hand pod in reclaimable condition,,,,,,,,well?

[Spyder fan]

I'm sort of getting jealous at this point....... ?16k was an absolute bargain for the project, no matter the financial cost over and above to get to this point, the result and the journey is priceless.

Well done Geoffers!

[Geoffers71]

Erm...?16k? Not that much actually, but it will probably have cost ?20k by the finish. Not that I'm grumbling about that

[Geoffers71]

Not posted for a while. I've been forced to give the Elan a bit of a rest as my back has been playing up and I've also had sciatica in my GOOD leg !!! Oh the trials of getting old Anyway I really wanted to get the dash installed before Christmas and I have managed that (just)

Sounds easy when you say it like that , but I had it in and out (pardon the expression )more times than I've had hot dinners this month. Just determining the best routes for things like heater control cable, bonnet pulls and choke cable, not to mention the b**** glove box. I took the heater out twice because I thought it too noisy, but it ended up not much better Still things to wire up yet, especially when I get the steering column in (next job)
In checking various things I noticed the heater control valve is the wrong one, being inverted compared with the proper one. I hadn't noticed before and I did get it from SJ who should have known better

I should sling it back at them I suppose, but not sure I can be ar...bothered, I may just put up with it. I can't swap the internals with the old one which I know is an option, as I don't have the main body that screws into the head, just the old valve bit itself. Anyway another enforced break now as family descending for Christmas, although that might be just the excuse I need to escape to the garage while no-one is looking I'm sure I won't be missed

[Geoffers71]

An advantage of the enforced break from the garage, what with Christmas and my bad back, is that I was properly able to think through the issue with the heater valve. Of course if I had reasoned it out at the time I should have realised that the only part I needed to change was the body shell that carries the lever, everything else is as the new replacement part. So, in case there's anyone who is placed in a similar situation, this is what I did.

I of course cleaned up the old part and gave it a quick spray over with silver paint (pity I suppose that I've lost that golden anodised look) but everything else is new. Quite pleased with how it worked out.
I've got a lot of work to do under the car, but I can't get under it at the moment, not in my current state. Clutch slave needs connecting, and speedo cable, and breather pipe, and exhaust brackets not to mention the exhaust itself.
I could do with one of those Easylift thingies that everyone is talking about, although for a one off it's a bit expensive. Think I'll try and jack up the front high enough to get my ramps under the front wheels. Anyone have any other bright ideas? I don't have a lot of space to work in unfortunately. Hoping at least that my back improves enough over the "holiday" to get on after New Year. BTW HNY to all, and many thanks for all the assistance I get from this forum, Terrific, thanks

[l10tus]

I sympathise with you about crawling under the car for the clutch and exhaust jobs!

I purchased a lift and tilt ramp, then suitably modified it to suit the Elan.

It works great ( operated by an electric drill) - tilts the front or back quite high enough to sit under and will lift up level, to about 700mm.

@ approx. ?350.

Really handy, takes up very little space, can be stored on its side and isn't a permenant fixture in the garage.

Details upon request.

Regards,

Phil,

[gjz30075]

Philip, requesting details

You can post them here or to me at gjz30075 -at- bellsouth.net

Thanks,

Greg Z

[el-saturn]

just a basic comment to mark: our hero Colin C. was like a bunch of us: somehow an aeronautical engineer, but with a british mechanical engineers innovativety: I worked with all of them - the most critical being germans at Airbus (before that it was MBB) - HOWEVER the biggest surprises (as far as crazy solutions go) always came from GB!!! have a nice SILVESTER as they call it here sandy 36/4982

[mbell]

[quote="l10tus"

I purchased a lift and tilt ramp, then suitably modified it to suit the Elan.


Details upon request.

Regards,

Phil,[/quote]

Hi Phil,

I'd appreciate more information too. There has been a couple of threads on here talking about car lifts so adding the information to one if them might be good.

Thanks,

Mark