1976 Elite restoration.

[Doris the dog]

It’s alive !!!! Engine running , first time hadn’t seen it running until today. 

Just need bigger fuel tank 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Doris the dog

[Doris the dog]

Well after the engine had been running for a short while I noticed small amount of oil laying on engine block below distributor.  Then noticed the dizzy was not fully seated. So I removed it which then became a bit of a nightmare.  But with advice from members on here it’s in after bit of a struggle. 
Finding out previous owners have ,shall we say done not so good a job of mechanical assembly. Like incorrect fuel hose  and timing out on crankshaft pulley. But I’m learning every day. 
Just looking at the heater unit as I was clearing up , and have realised after looking in workshop manual it is air conditioning unit, but there’s no sign in the engine bay of any of the necessary hardware, except bottom pulley Is double vee’d.  
The more I look the more questions crop up. 
Oh new rotor arm ordered £68 plus vat and delivery.  
 Question, on the inlet manifold there are three outlets, one for servo , one I think for pop up lights and would the third be for air con or to dizzy?

regards

Tony

Edited April 2, 2020 by Doris the dog

[Doris the dog]

[Doris the dog]

Made up new brake pipes from master cylinder down to valve unit on inner wing. All good not to much of a struggle. 
Topped up reservoir with fluid , and no leaks on pipes, but leak between reservoir and master cylinder.  Removed it from servo , dismantle the two parts and the mating face of the master cylinder must have been exposed to the elements for years.  

No rubber O ring was going to stop fluid coming out there. 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Doris the dog

[Doris the dog]

Further to the brake master cylinder, to replace it £160 plus delivery plus vat.  
But having a look on the comparison spread sheet in elite / excel chat done by Mark Wainwright, a series three land rover will work.  Only difference is brake pipes exit opposite side , so towards engine which works well. Down side spent this morning making pipes to fit original. 
Forgot price less than £40

Edited April 8, 2020 by Doris the dog

[Doris the dog]

More progress in the last few days. Removed broken drill bit that was in the threaded bush for the check strap on passenger door mounting bracket.  
Clean and painted mounting brackets for tailgate. 
Removed all the vacuum system as have electric motors coming. 
Hopefully this the bonnet, brakes and tailgate should be fitted. 
Now researching fitting glass between boot and rear seats also how I assemble the doors that have been completely stripped by previous owner, so that’s going to be fun. 

[Tony D]

Tony

I'm about to go through the same exercise of building up my doors, although it will only be dry run for now so I can re-bond the door skins. I do have the benefit though of stripping the doors down, even if it was a long time ago. What with shims in the door hinge, shims between hinge and body and shims between Window frame and door beam, there's a lot of area's to get right.  I also know that getting the lock mechanism back into the beam and connected up, and getting the window frame into the door are fiddly to say the least. You'll read plenty of links on here where people have resorted to a bit of cutting of fibreglass to get the frames out.  I've been thinking about putting a "bolt schedule" together. There's a mix of Metric and UNF bolts just to add a bit more excitement !! Keep in touch and we can compare  notes, and who know, might even end up with a definitive guide on how to do it. After all, it's got to be just a case of logical, methodical work hasn't it? - surely it can't be that hard !!!

"Another" Tony

[Doris the dog]

Hi Tony 

Do you think it is possible to attach the main side beam to the car and build the rest around it. ? Totally honest i haven’t really looked into it further than boxes of parts , and the painted door skins.  
With living around 25miles from Lotus , perhaps I could take them back for them to build. I’m sure though the guys who built the Elites are long gone.

[mikeeech]

Yes it is. This is how I did it. If you have not move the striker plate then this approach will get the door beam in the right place at the right height. This will also allow you to tighten the hinge bolts. With the door on the beam and the door closed you cannot stop the bolt from turning as you tighten the nut.

You can then get the door skin on and bolted to the beam and this will allow you to figure out where you need to whom the hinge. Remove the door skin and shim the hinge then repeat... Again and again.

Once the door skin is on the beam is in the right place then the window goes into the door. The frame then goes into the door without the window in. It takes some bending and squeezing but you don't need to cut the glass fibre.

Before you bolt the frame to the door beam, the glass goes into the frame bolt tne frame in. Make sure to not close the door with the door handles fitted though! Don't ask me how I know.

[Doris the dog]

Thanks Mike that takes a lot of pressure of my old tiny brain. Still sounds it’s going to be a nightmare.  

[mikeeech]

 Took me a few days to get each side done and I still have the passenger's side door mechanism to fit on the inside! There is also more adjustment when you fit the door skin since you can shim this also, so if it is close then stop worry about moving the hinge and switch to moving the door in respect to the beam.

[EXCEL V8]

3 hours ago, mikeeech said:

There is also more adjustment when you fit the door skin since you can shim this also.

Shims between the door beam and door skin?  Are you sure?  That would mean putting them around the door latch and between the door skin and window frame wouldn't it?

Pete

[mikeeech]

Not the door latch side but the plate at the other end near the hinge pin. The door skin bolts to a plate welded to the door beam and you can get some washers on here to adjust the door slightly. The door skin can also rotate slightly around the beam with the positioning of these two bolts. The window frame, to some extent, is separate to the door skin in that it too is bolted to the beam although some bolts (2?) do go through the door skin to secure the skin in place. 

Check this out

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by mikeeech

[Doris the dog]

New brake master cylinder arrived today, fits perfectly.  Just need a7/16 fitting for brake pipe.  Certainly saved money buying that Landrover one. 
Several jobs on the go now with it getting warmer. Just not so easy as can not just nip out and get the little items to keep each job flowing.  But it’s better to wait than doing non essential journey.  
Slightly annoying for me as April 2019 I was flattened with an illness that  stopped me from be able to go out.  Now in remission but immune surpressed I would have been able to go out , but hey ho the world has stopped that. 
Keep Safe and stay in. 

[EXCEL V8]

58 minutes ago, mikeeech said:

Not the door latch side but the plate at the other end near the hinge pin. The door skin bolts to a plate welded to the door beam and you can get some washers on here to adjust the door slightly. The door skin can also rotate slightly around the beam with the positioning of these two bolts. The window frame, to some extent, is separate to the door skin in that it too is bolted to the beam although some bolts (2?) do go through the door skin to secure the skin in place. 

Check this out

 

I get what you're saying now Mike.  On my car the bracket that bolts to the door frame has elongated holes to allow the door skin to move "in and out"  and elongated holes in the door skin itself that allows it to be moved up and down.  This combination allows quite a lot of movement of the door skin.

[Doris the dog]

Well today has been a good day for progress. The bonnet and plastic grill are fitted to the car. 😀
The tailgate is bolted to the car. 😀
Both fuel fillers removed from car. 😔

Need to flatten paint in the dished area as previous owner had damaged it fitting fillers in.  Now ready for spraying 😀

Fitted spare wheel carrier release to boot floor.

Now need to order , throttle cable, bonnet gas strut , bonnet sound proofing foam and couple of bobbins.  

Edited April 15, 2020 by Doris the dog

[Doris the dog]

[Angus553]

Purchased a throttle cable from SJsports last year and all is good so far. Before you order a bonnet gas strut you should see my recent thread "bonnet gas strut" hopefully it will be useful!!

[Doris the dog]

Having just evicted a Bee to part of the garden I haven’t been to recently, I’ve found these two items. One looks like a battery cover. Not sure on the other , but it has wood worm.  

[directordanw]

The bottom one looks to be the battery cover - minus its carpet.  The rubber loop at the top end fits onto a metal hook inside the boot just above the fusebox.

[Doris the dog]

Yikes there’s a fuse box in the boot ?

[Doris the dog]

As the off side cill was not fitted like the near side one , I’ve removed four self tappers and this was lurking. 
Is this a factory set up?  It was wrapped in cheap electrical tape. 

[directordanw]

25 minutes ago, Doris the dog said:

Yikes there’s a fuse box in the boot ?

There should be, but that might just be an S2.2 addition, I've never rewired an S1.  Someone on here will have better knowledge of the differences.

Five minutes later... Ignore me, I've just checked the workshop manual, there's no rear fusebox on an S1.  You can breathe again!

Edited April 16, 2020 by directordanw

[89esprit]

VE 13	Tool Box and Battery Cover Assy.	A075V6027S	*		1
	Adhesive	A036B6204V	*		AR
	Retainer, Battery Cover	A075U6066F	*		1
	Hook, Retainer, Battery Cover	A075U1001F	*		1
	Pop Rivet	A075W6091F	*		1
	Retaining Strap, Toolkit	A075T0367F		*	1
	Foam Pad, Tool Kit	A075T0368F		*	1

[89esprit]

I just ran out and got some pics of mine.