+2S rebuild

[andyp]

Hi folks.

Having now progressed deep into my +2S rebuild, I feel qualified to contribute to the forum discussions

Attached are photos of the extent of corrosion to the front strut tower which allowed the suspension to generate an alarming amount of negative camber. I acquired the car (knowingly!) in this condition, along with a spare rolling shell, and have since purchased a very good rolling chassis to give me plenty of rebuild options. Hopefully I'll end up with two complete cars...........

negative camber.JPG (18.73 KiB) Viewed 4583 times

Andy

[Sea Ranch]

Andy, welcome to forum contributing (tho I see you've been around longer than me!).

Your first two pics look rude, but the third one is downright scary Seeing that front wheel lean like that . . . ouch! But from the list of cars in your signature, you obviously have plenty of experience.

Looking forward to this thread and your rebuild progress (I will sooner or later be doing the same, though for now I'm just driving and enjoying!). And I salute your desire to keep as many +2s intact and (eventually) on the road as possible!!!

Randy

[andyp]

Here's the result of the last few months....................

Thought you might like to see my take on the body lifting and support solutions. Using this method it can be done single handed!!

[Bud English]

Wow, the one and only time I don't procrastinate?

I was at this stage two days ago. Wish I'd thought of doing it like that. You can't quite see it but my hoist is sitting right behind the car doing nothing but taking up room. Got that far by myself and had to call on the neighbor and his two sons to help me take it the rest of the way off.

I'm new here myself, mostly lurking so far. I'll do a proper intro when I get a few minutes to spare. I'm finely getting 0053N back on the road after a 31 year gap in the restoration process. Hey, at least I kept it!

[Sea Ranch]

Andyp, that engine crane lift scheme is brilliant. Can you supply some more details? Like your attachment points and how you leveled/balanced the car (did you weight it to achieve the balance?), pix (of course ) . . .

Thanks,

Randy

[andyp]

Hi Randy

Glad you like my way of thinking

Basically I used the seat belt mountings as the main lifting point to take the weight. If you just lift across here there is too much nose weight, so I added a third point by passing a rope under the mounting plate just in front of the gear stick aperture - this doesn't take too much load so is perfectly safe. Fine tuning to get horizontal is then done with a small amount of weight in the boot. I placed the brake servo in where the battery sits, and you can see how well balanced the body shell is.

Once the chassis is placed roughly in line with the shell, the lift can then be rolled across the floor to line up the body over its mounting points and gently lowered into place.

This procedure came about because it was the only way I could come up with to lift the body high enough to ensure it didn't get damaged once painted. I thought of hoisting from above, but building a frame around the body to lift from seemed a little excessive (and I'd used all the 2 x 4 I had available for the trolley!), so using the engine hoist became the obvious choice.


Andy

[Timb]

Hi Andy,
The most worrying thing about the corroded chassis picture is that I was last to drive it in that state round the M25 at 80mph. Noticed the camber when out in the evening but thought I'll have a better look in the morning. Made a short two word exclamation when I checked it and didn't drive it after. Now Andy is doing the work I didn't have time to do. It's going to be a beaut. Keep it going Andy.
Tim

[andyp]

Thanks Tim

[andyp]

Nearly there

[jono]

Looks lovely Andy - very well done. I'm ashamed that I haven't got further on with mine.

Love the colour by the way - how about some interior shots too?

Jon

[Jason1]

Well done Andy, looks great you have done a great job.

I'm finely getting 0053N back on the road after a 31 year gap in the restoration process. Hey, at least I kept it!

That makes me feel better; mine has been off the road since the birth of my first born about 5 years ago.

I am determined to get mine back on the road this year but work and kids are conspiring against me.

Jason

[stugilmour]

Looks great Andy. Enjoy!

[YellowS4DHC]

Andy,
congratulations on a very nice job, it's a wonderful looking car.

I went back and looked at the earlier photos you posted of your rusted strut towers. I was wondering what kind of condition the longitudinal supports in the rockers were in when you got the car?


regards
Rick

'69 Elan S4 DHC
'57 T1 Speedster
'67 S800 Coupe

[andyp]

A few more shots of the (almost) finished car as requested:



Rick - the rockers (or sills as we know them here!) had been replaced previously in the car's life with galvanised ones. I just fitted new stainless bolts through them.

[Jason1]

Hi Andy

That looks like a nice quality carpet; where did you buy it?

Jason