Elan light crash..

[GreekS1]

Well, I just had a short run with a mate on Saturday on the coastal road from Athens to Sounion.
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww27 ... 270668.jpg

All went well and we stopped for a quick cofee at Sounion...
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww27 ... 270675.jpg

Then on the way home and when we where in Athens (Sounion is 80 miles from Ath) we stoped at a red light. As the green light came on I moved forward but the Subaru Forrester in front just froze!

Result:
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww27 ... one047.jpg

Looks like I'll be neading a new RH pod as it is too far gone I think.
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww27 ... one049.jpg
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww27 ... one058.jpg

A new head light, bumper repaint and various repairs around the hole where the pod sits:
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww27 ... one052.jpg

Oh well... Im trying to find a good fiberglass repair guy in Athens.
One thing that has given me trouble is one of the bolts that hold the bumper. Is there a special tool to remove this? The nut on the inside just turns with the bolt and i cant seem to be able to hold the bolt in place in order fot it to unscrew...

[MickG]

No special tool as far as I am aware but try a hacksaw blade carefully between the bumber and the body and cut the bolt.
Had to resort to this method to remove my front bumper. If you are carefull then no damage is done to the body.
How they expect fibre glass to hold the square head on the bolt makes me wonder. What I intend to try and do if possible is glass a washer to the bumper with a square hole to try and hold the bolt.
Regards MickG

[ardee_selby]

Oooops, sorry to hear of your mishap

Picture links aren't working this end but, from description, could have been worse...

Re: Removing bumper bolt. Not a special tool, exactly, but I resorted to using "Mole Grips" end-on the edges of the domed head...needed 2 or 3 "bites" until it gripped.. Soak the nut with penetrating oil first.

[GreekS1]

Thank you for the input guys!
Im off to get my 'Mole grips' and give it a try.
MickG to glass a washer to the bumper sounds like a v good idea!

Vassilis

[GreekS1]

Maybe you can see these...









happier times...

[prloz]

Hi Guys,
Bumper should have a bobbin with a square hole bonded in.
Regards,
Peter.

[ardee_selby]

Hi Guys,
Bumper should have a bobbin with a square hole bonded in.
Regards,
Peter.

I guess mine started off square but turning the bolt via a rusty/seized nut soon made it round...

[ardee_selby]

[quote="GreekS1"]Maybe you can see these...

Yes, can see them now

Early days I know...looking at the damage maybe a replacement light pod would be better than repairing existing? Reproducing the slight raised edge that follows down from the wing could be tricky for some.

Good luck with it...a real beaut! Not the ultimate Elan, but certainly the pinnacle IMHO!

[Old English White]

Ouppps!
Hi Vassilis,
I am sure it ll be no help but, even with the crash evidences, your Elan still look cleaner than mine...
One last comment, as the fiberglass ideal working temp is arround 20?C, your problem sould be to found the right workshop, air cond. equiped!
Christian.

[GreekS1]

Thank you for your advice and kind words guys!
I'll keep you updated on the work.

On the brihght side she'll be fresh and ready for a busy 2012 (Le Mans Classic and Uk for the Elan 50th!!!)

Hope to see you all there!!

[ericbushby]

Sorry about the damage.
I agree with Richard but when removing stiff or rusted nuts it is best to apply the penetrating oil yesterday! Be patient and it will work.

Best of luck
Eric Bushby
67 Type 45 S3SE Next week has arrived. Its been out. !!!

[billwill]

As a last resort drill a recess hole into the dome & then hold it with a stud extractor. (?)

[bilcoh]

Vassilis:

Like others, sorry to hear about your misfortune. Given that my car hasn't turned a wheel in 24 years, it's especially painful to see fully sorted, lovely examples like yours going back into the workshop (especially body work!!)

Since many of the suggestions for removing the bumper bolt are assuming you'll have to damage the bolt, I wondered if you could use a Dremel-type cutoff tool to get at it from the backside, cutting the bolt below the nut. I've been getting a lot of mileage from Dremel metal cutoff disks that I use in my pneumatic version of a Dremel. It's been working very well, and I think you could get in there at the angle you need. Alternately, you could use the same technique to remove the dome, though you might get a little damage to the bumper. However, it looks like that will need a respray anyway, so repairing the damage shouldn't be much of an additional burden.

Here's a link to the blade I'm talking about, and they come in several thicknesses, including a very thin version:
http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-EZ406-Cut- ... B000FBLRVA

Good luck,

Dave

[GreekS1]

Hello all,

last night I got around to finishing the stripdown of the front end.

car now looks like this:


I think you'll agree that it looks rather good after cleaning all the muck off..
Used the mole grips and some WD40 to persuade the bumper bolts off. Mine has an aditional bolt in the middle of the bumper which isnt described in the workshop manual. Is that original I wonder or a later add on.
I heard that bumpers where filled with foam. Mine wasn't and I'm thinking of doing that with some expandable foam. Has anybody done this?

Whats the damage?
-1 RH headlight pod - I found SJ sportscars have them on their catalogue. Does anyone know of another source?
-1 RH headlight w chrome surround
-1 Chrome bumper strip
- Repair and repaint bumper (straightforward enough)
- Repair and repaint small area behind headlight pod (might be tricky to match the paint)
Not bad....


Some more pics:


Bumper:

[ardee_selby]

Good to see you've made some headway...and have a plan!

(Glad the mole grips worked...my trusty pair has got me out of a few scrapes...including one Christmas when we couldn't find the nutcrackers! )

Anyway...

My S3 Coupe also has the centre bolt! (Ooops...should have mentioned that...but it's out of sight/mind most of the time)

Not sure adding *expanding foam is necessary. If you haven't known it wasn't there...why not leave it as it was? Would it really have made any difference to your (minor) shunt?

WRT the chrome strip...a fairly recent post mentioned a new type that was better & easier to get to fit right (Can't find the post right now ) I THINK Paul Matty was referred to, or it may have been Susan Miller. In either case are alternatives for headlamp pod.

P.S. * my favourite expanding foam story can be found here (half way down)!

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/humour.html