1971 Sprint rebuild "diary"
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:09 pm
I?ve posted at length about my Elan history in the ?Hello? section of the forum, so it was time to stop talking and start doing.
The first was to spend money on equipment, so I bought (from SGS) a tool chest, skates, an adjustable seat and some odds and ends. The service was impeccable ( f.o.c. next day delivery) and the cost very reasonable. From Halfords, I bought their large ?Professional? socket set and a bundle that included a trolley jack, a creeper, wheel chocs and some axle stands ? again I was very happy with the cost and quality of these items, especially the socket set which is gorgeous, although it is enormous and heavy. I passed a happy afternoon pushing the car around on the skates, and swivelling it like a top, and deciding the best place to locate it in the garage. Needless to say, I eventually chose the worst place, in the middle of the garage, right where the extending ladder comes down from the mezzanine floor where I have stored hundreds of Elan parts.
Now there were no excuses and I actually started to do some work.
As explained in my earlier posts, although all the wheels were attached, the rear springs were not fitted, so the car was sitting very low at the back. So low, I could not get the trolley jack underneath, so I had to start jacking at the mid point, put an axle stand under the car each side and then jack again a bit further back. This was going well until there was a loud creaking noise, and when I looked underneath the rear of the chassis had dropped out of the body - years ago I had removed the rear body to chassis bolts to facilitate fitting new wishbones . I then had to continue jacking under the rear wishbones until I could eventually get axle stands underneath.
It was only then that I noticed that when the chassis dropped out of the bottom that one Weber mounting stud and the water temp sensor had been snapped off the cylinder head ? a great way to end the first day!
I had originally thought to separate the body from the chassis by using an engine hoist, but I then decided to carry on jacking ? it didn?t seem to put any stress on the body and I would not have to worry about how to attach the body to the hoist or worry about it tipping front to back ? very important as I am doing everything single handed. It went really well, so I shall devote almost all this post to how I did it.
In order to avoid any more damage to the engine head, I decided to remove it. This was relatively easy following the manual, except I could not get the head off!! It was loose, and I could easily wiggle it around, and I spent a frustrating 24 hours (almost full time) trying to get the b****y thing off. Even beer wouldn?t shift it. Eventually I found the block to head bolt on the timing case that screws in from underneath on the left hand side ? phew. The head then lifted off easily ? it?s very coked up but otherwise looks to my inexpert eye to be in good condition. When I removed the camshafts I found very light scoring on one bearing face; hopefully that will polish out.
I belatedly realised it would be a good idea to think about things BEFORE doing them, so I searched this forum for advice on removing the body. Many, MANY thanks to Jang, Raymond who posted a checklist on 06/10/1999, which I found in the archives ? it was invaluable. Back to jacking up the body, which as usual I did without proper planning. Originally I was jacking using a six inch length of 3 x 2 on top of the jack to spread the load. Once I had raised the body about a foot, I decided that once the body was off I would build a trestle underneath the car so I could move it to a shed and I could store the (hopefully) rolling chassis underneath. At the moment all work is taking place whilst my wife is abroad, and there must be no evidence of what I have been up to in the garage (and especially that her car has NOT been in the garage) when she returns, at the end of March!!
Having decided I would build a trestle, I decided to put full length 3 x 3 bearers fore to aft under each side of the car and jack it up under those. This necessitated some nifty holding up one corner of the body with one hand whilst putting in the new bearers with the other, but the body is mercifully light, and this went without incident. As I went higher, I piled up building blocks to raise the jack and to raise the axle stands. I went very slowly so I could check how stable everything was, but it all went ok. If anyone else decides to do it this way, I would recommend having a jack for each side.
At that point I then realised I would not be able to roll the chassis from underneath the body because the blocks and axle stand would be in the way ? I needed to put the bearers crossways at the front and rear so that I could continue to jack the car from outside the width (track) of the chassis. Of course, I could only do this once the bodywork between the wheel arches was above the level of the backbone.
Once gain I was holding the body with one hand and shifting bits of wood, building blocks and axle stands with the other, but it all went smoothly. I then continued jacking until at last I could roll out the chassis, backwards, from underneath. There was also a bonus in that the 40 y.o. chassis seems to be rust free and in good order ? time for more BEER.
I attach some pictures to show how badly I did it, and it still worked ? no damage to the body at all.
I?ll keep you updated of how everything else goes.
John
The first was to spend money on equipment, so I bought (from SGS) a tool chest, skates, an adjustable seat and some odds and ends. The service was impeccable ( f.o.c. next day delivery) and the cost very reasonable. From Halfords, I bought their large ?Professional? socket set and a bundle that included a trolley jack, a creeper, wheel chocs and some axle stands ? again I was very happy with the cost and quality of these items, especially the socket set which is gorgeous, although it is enormous and heavy. I passed a happy afternoon pushing the car around on the skates, and swivelling it like a top, and deciding the best place to locate it in the garage. Needless to say, I eventually chose the worst place, in the middle of the garage, right where the extending ladder comes down from the mezzanine floor where I have stored hundreds of Elan parts.
Now there were no excuses and I actually started to do some work.
As explained in my earlier posts, although all the wheels were attached, the rear springs were not fitted, so the car was sitting very low at the back. So low, I could not get the trolley jack underneath, so I had to start jacking at the mid point, put an axle stand under the car each side and then jack again a bit further back. This was going well until there was a loud creaking noise, and when I looked underneath the rear of the chassis had dropped out of the body - years ago I had removed the rear body to chassis bolts to facilitate fitting new wishbones . I then had to continue jacking under the rear wishbones until I could eventually get axle stands underneath.
It was only then that I noticed that when the chassis dropped out of the bottom that one Weber mounting stud and the water temp sensor had been snapped off the cylinder head ? a great way to end the first day!
I had originally thought to separate the body from the chassis by using an engine hoist, but I then decided to carry on jacking ? it didn?t seem to put any stress on the body and I would not have to worry about how to attach the body to the hoist or worry about it tipping front to back ? very important as I am doing everything single handed. It went really well, so I shall devote almost all this post to how I did it.
In order to avoid any more damage to the engine head, I decided to remove it. This was relatively easy following the manual, except I could not get the head off!! It was loose, and I could easily wiggle it around, and I spent a frustrating 24 hours (almost full time) trying to get the b****y thing off. Even beer wouldn?t shift it. Eventually I found the block to head bolt on the timing case that screws in from underneath on the left hand side ? phew. The head then lifted off easily ? it?s very coked up but otherwise looks to my inexpert eye to be in good condition. When I removed the camshafts I found very light scoring on one bearing face; hopefully that will polish out.
I belatedly realised it would be a good idea to think about things BEFORE doing them, so I searched this forum for advice on removing the body. Many, MANY thanks to Jang, Raymond who posted a checklist on 06/10/1999, which I found in the archives ? it was invaluable. Back to jacking up the body, which as usual I did without proper planning. Originally I was jacking using a six inch length of 3 x 2 on top of the jack to spread the load. Once I had raised the body about a foot, I decided that once the body was off I would build a trestle underneath the car so I could move it to a shed and I could store the (hopefully) rolling chassis underneath. At the moment all work is taking place whilst my wife is abroad, and there must be no evidence of what I have been up to in the garage (and especially that her car has NOT been in the garage) when she returns, at the end of March!!
Having decided I would build a trestle, I decided to put full length 3 x 3 bearers fore to aft under each side of the car and jack it up under those. This necessitated some nifty holding up one corner of the body with one hand whilst putting in the new bearers with the other, but the body is mercifully light, and this went without incident. As I went higher, I piled up building blocks to raise the jack and to raise the axle stands. I went very slowly so I could check how stable everything was, but it all went ok. If anyone else decides to do it this way, I would recommend having a jack for each side.
At that point I then realised I would not be able to roll the chassis from underneath the body because the blocks and axle stand would be in the way ? I needed to put the bearers crossways at the front and rear so that I could continue to jack the car from outside the width (track) of the chassis. Of course, I could only do this once the bodywork between the wheel arches was above the level of the backbone.
Once gain I was holding the body with one hand and shifting bits of wood, building blocks and axle stands with the other, but it all went smoothly. I then continued jacking until at last I could roll out the chassis, backwards, from underneath. There was also a bonus in that the 40 y.o. chassis seems to be rust free and in good order ? time for more BEER.
I attach some pictures to show how badly I did it, and it still worked ? no damage to the body at all.
I?ll keep you updated of how everything else goes.
John