Elan S3 S/E.

[Exige300]

Elan S3 S/E. 1966. Recent complete rebuild following flood damage.
Body off, Chassis repainted, Wheel and diff bearings replaced. Complete re trim, Loom refurb. Refinished in original Cirrus White.Gearbox and diff rebuilt with 3.54. Rebuilt Sprint engine with alternator and electronic ignition. Spyder drive shafts. Mohair hood.
New brake pipes aeroquip hoses. Offers on £30k. Somerset. 07562 604536.

[512BB]

Is this David's old car? Seems very close to the fait that his car suffered, and you are in Somerset, where he lived.

Leslie

[alan.barker]

Is that the one that was blackwater contaminated. Not permited to rebuild.
Alan

[512BB]

That is the car I am referencing Alain, and trying to acertain if this is the same car.

Leslie

[Exige300]

Hi Leslie
Yes, David’s car and it was a bit of a mess! Although not totally immersed, all the oils had been floated off from the engine, gearbox and diff!
The body was taken off, stripped, power washed and disinfected. The doors had the same treatment. The chassis was similarly stripped, washed and repainted.
Underside of the body was then under sealed. Reassembly then started.
All the porous stuff, carpets, seats, sound deadening, door cards etc - even the glove box (cardboard) was binned and replaced.
Having been David’s almost daily driver for a number of years, the body work was not without its flaws anyway, so after rectification it was resprayed. Engine, gearbox and diff all replaced - some of the electrics were rebuildable, some were replaced.
Obviously well behind economic repair, but then most Elan rebuilds are! However, that’s not why we do these things, is it?
Best. Simon.

[512BB]

Thanks for coming back and clarifying Simon. A few other things spring to mind, if you don't mind.

What do you mean by 'Engine, gearbox and diff all replaced' ?

I cannot remember all the details of the incident, but wasn't the car a total write off and categorised as not to be put back on the road? Was it recorded as such on the MID database and what does the V5 say in respect of that? And lastly, how were you able to buy it? Are you an authorised company that can buy salvage cars?

Many thanks,

Leslie

[alan.barker]

Hi Leslie,
Good questions and a few points to clear up. Seems a bit vague to say the least.
A bit like "Trotter's Trading Co". Would be nice if Dellboy filled us in on the details.
Alan

[elans3]

If it was written off by the insurance assessor, it will have a marker against it if anyone does a Hpi. Depends what that marker is, as to whether it can go back on the road..
I believe anyone can buy a "salvage" car, if it's category S or N.
If it's Cat B, then it can't go back on the road, but parts can be removed.
If it's Cat A, then it has to be scrapped, no removal of parts allowed.
Would be nice to know which Category the car was put into.

[Exige300]

Hi Leslie

Starting at the front, I built and fitted David’s engine about four years ago. Possibly considered by some to be a bit extreme for a road car it was a 1700 with QED cams.
I sourced, rebuilt and fitted a standard Sprint engine.
The gearbox had obviously been flooded and would always have a question mark over it until being dismantled and checked. I had an Elan gearbox that I knew was 100%,so fitted that.
To reduce engine speed at motorway cruise, David had a 3.0:1 diff ( see thread on this site) It did exactly that but also had a whine on overrun which would be considered unacceptable to many. I had a good 3.54:1 so that was the ideal choice. ( Along with new output shaft bearings). Hence, engine, gearbox and diff all replaced.
I have worked on this car for David for probably more than 25 years, if I didn’t already have an ex IWR S2, I would be keeping this S3,
I bought the car from the insurance company. The V5 is not marked.
I hope that clarifies.
Best. Simon.

[elans3]

Does it have any salvage marker on it at all Simon ?

[Exige300]

Hi
No.
S.

[alanr]

You all seem to be disparaging of what Simon has done in rebuilding this car.
The car has been rebuilt..So what? Assuming it has been to a good standard and it seems like from the description it has then the car will be fine. Most of these car now have been rebuilt a few times over anyway over the years and an awful lot of them have been badly bodged.

A car is marked on an HPI check as 'S', that means that it is classed as 'structural damage' even though in this case it is flood water.
Marked as 'N' is non-structural damage.
The V5 is not usually marked at all, the above only shows on a registration HPI check.
On a modern car this all matters a lot but on a 50+year old classic car that was originally made up of parts sourced from all over the place anyway I can't see how it affects anything.

Alan

[TBG]

Yes it was mine and if anyone knows how to rebuild an Elan it is Simon. He looked after it for over 35 years for me and we did over 200k touring around Europe in it. A really lovely driving car, it always seemed so much smoother and more comfortable than the other Elans around here, and I do hope it finds a good owner. If you do buy it I have a huge amount of photographs of her life with us. Simon has all the paperwork history, all receipts and so on. D

[elans3]

I have no doubt that Simon's restoration will be first class,
I was only asking the question, as it's vital that a prospective buyer knows whether a salvage marker is against the rebuilt car. Regardless of what anyone else might think, and whatever the cause of that marker, it does give any car in question, a stigma.
Not so long ago, any "write off" category, attached to a vehicle, meant a fair asking price for a car with such a flag, would generally be reasonably priced at 2/3rds of a similar car in a similar condition.

If this car has no such category against it, and nothing shows up on a HPI report, then it's a fair price, but the question must be asked, knowing how it came to be damaged.

[TBG]

"knowing how it came to be damaged."

Well I was there when it happened!! We have a river at the bottom of the garden and it overflowed. The water that flooded dear Spot did not come from the roads where the drains are, just pure river water. Incidentally I had to anchor her to my work bench to stop her floating to the sea!! My sack truck in the same garage was found over 500 yards away such was the power of the water. D