Been a loooooooong time since I did an update so thought I would do a little bit more about the car’s history before we got it (almost from before I was born in fact!)

My dad sent me over a bunch of pictures of the receipts from the main conversion that was done on the car. Notably there’s no mention of engine works which must have been done at a different time.

Totalling in at £12,366.28 in October 1982, that would be £38,845 in 2022 cash.

Running through the invoices in the same order as the receipt, not every line just the stuff that jumps out at me:

The steering wheel in the car appears bigger in diameter than others I have seen so maybe this is why it has been changed. Extra charge for the SparkRite alarm I took great pleasure in binning! Heated rear screen wiring was present but the rear screen looks period and doesn’t have any heating element fitted.

Rear Koni dampers I couldn’t confirm, it’s fitted with Avo inserts as far as we know now. The driveshaft kit I’ve posted about before and it will be getting a refurb, I quite like it for some reason. 2 headlights is interesting as there’s a clear age and manufacturer discrepancy between the two.

Ammeter is one of the additional dash gauges the car runs in a slightly unusual configuration. Sidelight indicator units are Jag E Type variants. Screenwash kit is a bit rudimentary and will be getting replaced. Hopefully the alternator is ok despite being bathed in a fair bit of oil film and grime in the engine bay.

Full wiring loom was presumably to suit the fitment of the alternator and different gauges in the dash. 6×13 Compomotive wheels is interesting, I was sure they were 7×13, will have to check. Antiroll bar to suit wider wheels possibly suggests the bar has been uprated, will need to research thicknesses etc to find out.

Spyder rollcage added at this point and the chassis repaired. Spyder front arms will be kept as they’re in good condition. The sunroof really isn’t popular with purists, which makes me like it even more tbh.

More body modifications and light units and various replacement body parts, leading to…

This one is the biggie. This ties in to a big incident in the car’s history, given away by the first 3 lines.

As I understand it, the previous owner did a bit of sprints and hill climbs, possibly some fashion of racing and had a shunt with the car, sticking the front left corner in to the scenery. Hence the need for Spyder to straighten the chassis and a replacement bodyshell. The bodyshell which has been modified is not the original, it’s a reproduction, most likely made by Boss based near Snetterton.

It must have been quite a shunt, aside from the engine, gearbox and differential, everything else was either repaired, upgraded or replaced!

Aside from rifling through old receipts, I’ve also managed to score some wheels which we can use to get a rolling chassis again whilst sorting out relacement inner wheel barrels.

Five 5Jx13in Minilite centre lock wheels, with one spare which has been run on the rim but will make a good airline reel or somesuch thing. Couple of them are in need of a refurb so will probably get the whole set done.

Gave them a quick scrub up before stashing away in the garage.

Now, at various points during the strip down, there were moments of WTF.

Particular ones that spring to mind include where someone had rammed a self tapping screw through the radiator supports to stop the radiator being able to rattle around, the number plate light “bracketry” and the electrical tape around the vacuum T-piece.

But all of that was trumped by the rear suspension.

I know the wheels are far wider than stock, but they’re also 3 piece split rims. You can specify and adjust the offset pretty comprehensively. Instead, someone has elected to fit overly wide inner barrels and take a grinder to the bolt heads where the bearing carrier bolts up to the wishbone.

Clearance up top has been achieved with some blacksmith style “heatin’ and beatin'”

The spring platforms on both sides, comprehensively remodelled, despite doing what they could with some custom “spacers.”

Yup, penny washers on the drive pegs!

I don’t have many pics of the engine removal process, was a little busy/involved with the process of getting it out to pause for pictures.

Will need to get my act together and pull a video together as I know I have some footage, certainly the bit where I rattled my head off the engine crane was captured!

With the engine and box removed, there’s not a hell of a lot left. Having only really worked on far more modern machinery prior to this, the overwhelming thought when working through the chassis and suspension was just how dainty everything is.

The steering rack on the Elan is mounted forward of the front axle line. The tie rods and rod ends will need replaced, rubbers weren’t perished but felt very old and will be replaced at the same time.

Front double wishbone set up has been modified, the wishbones look to be Spyder manufactured tubular steel items, where original Lotus ones were made from steel plate. The front damper assemblies are height & damping adjustable Avo units from the mid-late nineties.

The exploded diagram from the workshop manual shows nicely how it all goes together.

The chassis tubes show some evidence of being modified. I don’t recall this area being a particularly tight fit with the gearbox but that’s the only reason I can see for doing this alteration.

The rear wishbones feature zero adjustment for alignment, so a lot of faith/importance in the chassis mounting points. What I would call the hub is known as the bearing carrier in Lotus world. The lower damper tube is pressed in to the casting, the brakes mounted inboard. Up top there is a “Lotocone” top mount, essentially a rubber mount designed with a bit of give to allow the angle of the damper to change through the compression stroke.

Now came an interesting mission, removal of the knock off wheels.

There was of course the rubber mallet which lived in the car’s boot, not even close to budging them. Just knocked lumps off the mallet! Next up, bit of wood + 2kg club hammer. One smashed up piece of wood.

Gave up and ordered a tool off eBay, highly recommended by the Elan forum. Then I took the hump and really wanted them off, so one last try with a meter long section of 2×2 and an assistant to hold it so I could proper swing for it and not risk thumping the face of the wheel.

Success, just! Stopped at just getting them loosened off slightly, saved fully removing them for another day when it would be going on to axle stands for the suspension to be stripped.

Here’s an overview of the suspension I figured would be interesting with the Elan having such a reputation for handling

With the body and chassis apart, it was also time to pull the drive train.

On the face of it, you’d think it would be easy enough to haul the engine and box out with it this stripped down.

The headaches become a bit more apparent from this angle:

• Vacuum tube crossmember to sump clearance
• Exhaust manifold to chassis clearance
• Transmission shift tower positioning between chassis rails

Decided this wasn’t going to work, so pulling the manifold off was more sensible. Interesting there is a redundant bracket and threaded fitting for a handbrake cable on the passenger side, presumably this is for LHD markets.

Not a lot of clearance around the oil filter and pump.

The starter motor and bell housing are actually in between the chassis tubes.

As well as the tight fit, there are some other foibles of note.

Don’t know why this section is so corroded compared to the rest of the chassis. These are the threaded bosses which the screws on the top of the transmission tunnel / bottom of the fascia panel thread in to.

This is not a standard gearbox mount as far as I can tell. A section of solid bar has been welded on to the lower rails, slotted to allow the handbrake cable to pass through, and threaded to accept a rudimentary rubber mount.

All of this would be because our car isn’t running a normal Elan spec 2000e Ford derived gearbox. Our car has a 5sp ZF box more commonly found in droopsnoot Firenzas.

With the body shell off the chassis, it made some parts of the strip down process a lot easier. Everything in the nose area could now be accessed with the body raised to chest height and standing in the engine bay.

The brake servo is mounted front left, with the vacuum feed T’d off the line in to the vacuum tube on the chassis. On the other side, the little solitary horn, should probably have checked it worked before removing it actually!

With those removed, next up was the headlight vacuum pods. The front left was evidently replaced when the car received the questionable quality accident repair on that corner.

As far as I remember, the headlights worked before parking up. That being said, a conversion to electric actuated units is quite common. Still a decision under debate.

Also got a new toy for my home garage