Bharn fine

[pereirac]

I invited some friends around to lift the body off the chassis, one at each corner works! I left the body on the front lawn while I changed the chassis ...

[Bombay Racing Green]

Regards the steering wheel. I had the same thing with my +2 steering wheel. It?s a common place for them to break as people use the top of the wheel to haul themselves out of the car. I sent mine off to get repaired in Lancashire (North West England). Sounds like welding won?t be an issue for you. The re-covering might be. The hard foam and pvc will be difficult to replace. Replacing it with leather might produce a slightly thicker wheel. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

[Bombay Racing Green]

Lifting the body? As suggested before, Looks like the two post lift is your best and safest bet. I did something similar to Rohan?s method for my Europa last year. Someone here used an engine hoist to successfully lift a +2 body up!

Gary Anderson posted a neat and simple plexiglass side window solution. elan-mods-f31/red-neck-type-side-windows-t26801.html

[h20hamelan]

Ah, welll good stuff. Thanks!

The window solution is sort of what I was thinking. Keep it in the boot, put in place when required. Sorry, I just dont like window frames on convertibles.

My two post would work a treat on the lift. I will most likely set it back down on the frame and position on other side of garage so I can get the other way too long list of projects in. And as I wish to rotate the body, I hope the pullies do their trick. Might do a mock up with a 2x4 frame to make sure weighted it works correctly.

Cheers

[h20hamelan]

For the steering wheel. I would most likely have it rebuilt close to original.
For now however. I suspect I will get new metal, or repair this. And use some nice marine plywood. Okume or Baltic (high phenolic), good quality to get a good finish. Wrap it in leather, and I should be good.

Objections?
Praise!

[Bombay Racing Green]

You might be able to spot at wheeled platform in the left rear of the photo. I rested the body on in and I could wheel it around the garage. Why so high? Two fold. Easier working height and my garage is about 2 metres too short! I can?t park the the Europa and the Elan end to end so they overlapped. I too have run out of space.

[h20hamelan]

Ah right
I do have wheel dollies. And can get good positioning.
The issue is getting good bonding on the underside of the body. This is why I desire to rotisserie or flip it on its side. Seems I will need to lock it in that position once the two sets of double blocks/pullies are in place. But that should be straight forward.
As I will attempt to set new body bobbins, wish me luck.

[h20hamelan]

Some progress, primer arrived today. So hopefully next week the final prep, before paint!
Clamped the low edge of the doors, and weighted the top edges. Applied strips of 5oz mat and polyester. Straightened them somewhat.
For the rear fenders, I made two "plugs" not mold.
Very strong now.
And after stripping to glass, and 4 weeks in dry shop <40% humidity.
Reface coating
And 3 layers of Epoxy primer.
There are a few areas I need to work on. Hope to have primer on this week, and paint soon after.

I tried to keep the S4 fender lines, with the wider +2 hubs and wheels.

Hood bulge eliminated, and fourteen cracks repaired as best as possible without body removal.

[h20hamelan]

I started with a wipe down, before dremel type to open all the many 100?s of cracks.
Filled the cracks with polyester resin before scraping and sanding to glass.
The car had been painted at least three times. Twice in dark blue. The original light blue was there in most places.
A lot of patch jobs with only body filler, so my original estimate was off by 100?s of hours,
I got most of the underside repaired, as the corners were smucked.

Not going for 100% perfection as there was too much to do underside. So when the body comes off, I will tackle then.

[Elan45]

Leave the window frames alone, but use them as models to make new, the part down inside the door that carries the door handle and door latch. If you've got all that welding equipment, surely you must have some pretty good fabrication facilities.

I've thought of making new aluminum window frames for one of my S3 DHC and different window motors to reduce the weight, since that car was upgraded to 26R by the original owner in the late 60's and it will end up being my final track car.

Roger

[h20hamelan]

Roger that Roger.
?Tis the plan, and thanks!
Ive got the plates mostly made. The marine plywood has just arrived.

It?s the British car show here next weekend. Hoping to have it close. Too much work, kids not back in school yet...

[h20hamelan]

The travel on these springs is perfect for side windows.
There is a way to lock 1-7.
I might consider 3 & 6 as positive stops/locks
The spring arms project inward slightly. Basically a perfect angle!
Pictured is a old used pair, new ones are exactly correct.
From a Yakima Rocket Box, one nice thing is the box is meant to be opened from either side Therefore, syemtric and asymetryic path/trajectory. And only weighing a few oz. Canadian OZ, not Australian OZ?s

[h20hamelan]

i probably should have held and pictured the straight one. As the one I am holding is the bent/broken side.
Will post if/how this works out...Winter at earliest

[Bud English]

Wow, those are cheap enough new, $11.00 from the manufacturer, and "...a few ounces" falls right into added lightness. That'll be great if they work out.

I think that the two window mechanisms, with motors, on my +2 are 70% of the door weight.

[h20hamelan]

Needless to say paint!
Midday Moose Mulsanne
Beaver inspired
Like me!