Recovered from the wedding!

[john.p.clegg]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one with an untidy bench/workshop....

John

[Oldthumper]

The whole place is a little like that,piles of rare and unobtainable parts(and cars)all over the place! Definitely not the place for someone suffering with OCD. Still,Miles knows where everything is,what is there and what it is.

[richardcox_lotus]

And what it's worth....

[richardcox_lotus]

It's great to see him working though. He replaced my rotoflex's a year ago and I stayed and watched. Ian warned me about the potential profanities but nothing I hadn't seen or heard before. He's quite happy to share hints and tips as he goes, but is equally keen to get on with it to get the next job on the go.

Regards
Richard

[Quart Meg Miles]

He was pretty polite about your car, Ray, even though I didn't tell him I knew about it. Nothing that ?50,000 wouldn't cure. His biggest concern was that you would never drive it after the wedding so make his day and wear it out! I guess polishing the body will make a big difference and draw the eye from all those cracks which look even worse than my unrestored bodywork. It should drive OK and that's the whole point.

Miles has a novel way of supporting the gearbox with the engine out and I thought he always took them out as a pair. Don't be around while he tries to mate the gear spigot with the clutch plate again, even my ears would burn.

[rgh0]

Miles has a novel way of supporting the gearbox with the engine out .......

What is his novel way ??? I always put a couple of bolts back into the bell housing and rest those on a wooden beam spanning the chassis to support the front of the gear box

cheers
Rohan

[alan.barker]

Miles has a novel way of supporting the gearbox with the engine out .......

What is his novel way ??? I always put a couple of bolts back into the bell housing and rest those on a wooden beam spanning the chassis to support the front of the gear box

cheers
Rohan

I take it the wooden beam is Eucalyptus with a Koala holding it in place
Alan

[rgh0]

[elansprint71]

I am still in shock that a "respected" Lotus Dealer managed to graft on the wrong front wing in 1973( and that I hadn't noticed)

You had an S4 with one S3 front wing for 40+ years and did not notice? Just saying...

[simonknee]

Miles has a novel way of supporting the gearbox with the engine out .......

What is his novel way ??? I always put a couple of bolts back into the bell housing and rest those on a wooden beam spanning the chassis to support the front of the gear box

cheers
Rohan

That's what he did with mine, except it was some metal rod I think. Then I trailered it away for a few months so I could tinker with the rest of it. They went from lifting the bonnet to engine on the bench in about half an hour!

Simon

[Quart Meg Miles]

Miles has a novel way of supporting the gearbox with the engine out .......

What is his novel way ??? I always put a couple of bolts back into the bell housing and rest those on a wooden beam spanning the chassis to support the front of the gear box

cheers
Rohan

Well I'd never seen it before!

I don't have a movable hoist so have to roll the car when separating the engine - gearbox and can't use a jack under the gearbox. A rope and wooden beam across the wings suffice to support the gearbox.

[Oldthumper]

A quick update. We're just waiting for new valves to arrive,there seems to be a bit of a shortage. Both screens are out,and the new headlining is partially in place.
So hopefully the engine will be back in soon, then we can think about tidying up the exterior.
Regarding the front wing,as in the last 40 years nobody (including Miles and various other Lotus dealers/experts) had noticed,I think it can stay that way for now!

[Oldthumper]

Head being rebuilt today,hopefully engine will be going back in very soon.Miles is saying a week or two to get ready for a Mot. So all pretty much on schedule.
Has anyone any recent experiences of dealing with the DVLA for re registration.
I can easily prove ownership of the car since 73,have the old style log book etc,just would like to hear of the experiences of anyone that has actually done it recently!
Really can't wait to get behind the wheel again after all these years.

[Oldthumper]

Weekly ride over to check out progress,beautiful sunny day,not too hot so a nice blat on the bike. We're waiting for the cam cover to come back from being refinished,putting a blanking plate where the fuel pump was,and then the nicely painted rebuilt engine can go back in.
We've managed to determine that it is the original engine,and the chassis number on the original log book was wrong,the number on the Id plate being correct.Hopefully the new registration document will get it all right.
Andy Graham helped greatly in providing the correct id,also that the original supplier was Camden Motors,Leighton Buzzard. The registration PKK seems to be from Canterbury.

[trw99]

KK was issue by the Maidstone licensing office of Kent County Council. That makes it likely that your Elan was supplied by Tonbridge Road Garage, the Lotus Maidstone dealership.

Tim