Next up, I wanted to get a look under the car and see how things were holding up. The jacking points on the Elan are actually not dissimilar to a normal steel monocoque car.
But… I just wasn’t that keen on using them. Whilst I have no reason to think our sills are worse for wear, it can be an issue with the steel reinforcement inside corroding. So I decided not to take the chance and to go with option B (Blue Peter).
Using an off cut and a half inch sheet of polystyrene, I made a jacking pad for under the vacuum tube. This is a well known alternative jacking point and plenty strong, as that’s where the towing eye is located, but it makes sense to spread the load as much as possible.
Obviously not going under the car without it being supported on axle stands, but was still able to get a decent look from the front and sides.
The chassis itself is in good condition, only light corrosion evident, as would be expected. Although I know it’s been upgraded to a Spyder item, I don’t know how old said chassis is.
Front suspension arms are in decent condition, again, not standard items. The flakey chromed finish is on tube steel, which is not what the Elan came with, the original Lotus items were formed from welded steel plate. These appear to be upgraded Spyder items.
The front dampers are Avo coilovers, can’t remember the year, but I’m relatively certain my father commissioned these in the mid 90s along with replacement damping adjustable inserts on the rear.
Evidence further back along the car of a leak coming from the crank seal, light haze of oil over the chassis brace and leading up to the bell-housing. More about that very open bell-housing at a later date.
Timeline wise, at this point we’ve reached the start of May-2020.