Thinking of buying an elite what should I check for?

[dr_jayhart]

Going to look at an elite Sunday. Not been mot since 2009. What do I need to check for? What goes wrong on them? Thanks. J

Sorry excel. Going for a friend. 

[Tony D]

Elite - Excel : It's generally the same when it comes to things to look out for.

Doors - Door beams and window frames.

Do the doors open freely? Check the hinge bolt is not rotating in the hinge plates. 

Lift the B post end of the door when open - Ideally they'll be no free lift, but a couple of mm is not too much of a problem. Anything more and bushes need replacing.

Inspect the condition of the beam ( you can only see the last 6" unless you take door cards off). They can rot away to nothing. Try rotating the door along it's length. Any movement at all and the door beam is shot.

Window frames : Can compete very well with the door beam when it comes to their propensity to disintegrate. They go inside the door, where you can't see them. Not easy to check but the front leg is usually worse. Try getting power to the electrics to see if the window's go up and down. Again : remove the door card if you get a chance.

Ideally, take an endoscope style camera along with you and try to look inside the door at the beam and window frame.

What ever the condition of the doors, it's not a show stopper if you're handy on the spanners, and beams and frames are available, but parts alone would set you back over £300 per door to do a proper job. OK condition second hand parts more economical.

 

Tony

[EXCEL V8]

That's pretty much what I was just typing Tony!  You beat me to it.  Suspension/brakes are all pretty straight forward - only part difficult to get is the collapsible spacers for the rear wheel bearings.  Roof linings fall off.  Look for poor accident repairs - the Excel bodies are really good mouldings compared to the earlier Elite stuff - they don't suffer from many gel cracks unless they've been hit.

Pete