16:00. My first car was a '64 TR-4. The caps on the master cylinders said, "Use Girling Fluid Only". I ignored what I thought was nothing but an advertisement for Girling and put in everyday brake fluid that most cars used. Boy, was I wrong. 6-months later, all the rubber bits had turned into chewing gum. The original rubber parts were made of pure rubber and most brake fluid will attack pure rubber. Modern brake parts are made of Neoprene. Off the shelf brake fluid has no effect on Neoprene. If you buy your rebuild kits from a reputable dealer, he or she will sell Neoprene parts but if they have some really old stock laying around, it's pure rubber. To avoid taking any chances, use Castrol brake fluid. It won't attack anything regardless if it's DOT 3 or DOT 4. DOT 4 is only useful if you're going to really heat up the brakes like in a road race. One more thing. As you know, the exhaust pipes wrap around the slave. They do a pretty good job of cooking it. See if you can fabricate a shield to protect the slave. Best of luck!
@@ianj3663 it’s not that I want to do more track days…it’s to get the elan to where I want it is over £10k. The old adage…’thousands spent…thousands more needed’ 🤦🏻♂️
@@olly22n Hi Oliver. I am curious to know what is left on your wish list to further improve your Elan. You seem to have done so much development already. What would you spend the (next) 10k on?
A great series of video's, always try and watch them. One thing I would say is the release bearing you fitted looks like one of the "Indian" made ones. They are shocking quality and really dont last very long. As for the seal issue, I would soak the new ones in the same DOT fluid you used initially. To me the fluid has perished them. Again, its a question of quality control. I rebiult my Elan master cylinder but the seal was a tab too big and it was sticking, once again crap quality. Cheers Mark
@@olly22n Hi, The new release bearing you fitted looks like a "No Name" bearing. Allegedly Tony Thompson does uprated ones made in the UK. I try and buy OEM new old stock bearings. cheers Mark
I just noticed two things. First your radiator overflow pipe to expansion tank has been flattened by contact with top tank. Second you don’t seem to have the usual temperature control valve in the thermostat housing. I realise you are using this as a track day car but surely this means a constant hot car. Or do you have another temperature control elsewhere?
Get some 15mm plumbing pipe (only about 20-30cm) and put it over the silicone breather tube. To protect it from the belt. You can get it in silver as well as copper.
Great vid as usual.. Sorry to hear that you are getting more fun out of fettling the Elan than driving it; I thought it was just me..! Hopefully your mojo will return after the trackday. Btw, try using a thick walled silicon hose for the dipstick tube breather..
Hey Tony, yeah I’ll see how I feel after Llandow. I think my hose is on ok now it’s not at an angle, but if you have a link for the thick walled stuff..?
I agree with Tony - a few track days will sort that feeling out.. or some other car adventure. And if both of those ideas don't work … add some more BHP!
are you sure that the ignition live feed ( the one that energises the alternator) is actually connected? If not it wont charge. Otherwise yes it's a dud
Funny coincidence that not only am I an Elan enthusiast, I also have had several of these old C Class Mercs, and currently have a W203. I find them lovely cruisers. I do have one little tip regarding rust on these cars. On a previous example I owned I made the mistake of allowing the rear brake backplates to go rusty. The problem with that is that the handbrake shoe hold down springs would no longer secure the shoes, leading to a non functioning handbrake, loose shoes and they are a nightmare to change! Lesson learned, I go over my current C Class annually with Waxoyl and Merc preservation wax and it is still mint underneath despite its 20 years. BTW, I can recommend the genuine Mercedes preservation wax, it is top quality stuff! 👍
I just caught your video by accident and it brought back a memory. It's 1987, I'd been on a date with a lady down in South London. In those days I owned a '71 FHC sprint (i've owned a lot of Elans and Caterham's). And we had been out visiting friends. I was out from early in the day until late in the evening, and eventually had to make my way back home to North London. Just as I was approaching the Blackwall Tunnel I noticed the ominous glow of the ignition light. I pulled over as soon as I could (remembering to leave the engine running) and it all looked good. But, as soon as I switched anything on (lights, wipers) the light would come on. So it was either lights or wipers, always fun on a night of terrential rain! Even to this day I think the car was jealous! But it got me home and just swapped out the alternator. I used to commute into London for years in both my Elan FHC and +2S130, and also Caterham. Don't let anyone tell you they're unreliable. If you stay on top of servicing and maintenance and use them regularly (cars are made to be used not stored), no problems.
Ha! Thats not the worst of it. I later found out that they hadn’t changed ANY of the ignition timing tables, and tuned it with one carbs choke fully out 🙄
Apologies for ridiculously suggesting you rebuild your clutch after the gear oil debacle! In my defence, it was sage advice. If time travel were a thing. I keep forgetting your early stuff’s two years old.
Yep. That’s a category 2 fuck up at a minimum. I’d be worried about oil residue rotting rubber hoses / seals, because it’ll likely stick to the internal surfaces like shit to a blanket. As unappealing as it might be, I’d be disassembling the whole system a replacing all the rubber. It might be ok for a while but after that … ?
Good to see someone on RU-vid willing to admit that they’re a bit half-arsed and “she’ll be right” with their resto! Too many W⚓️s out there chasing perfection but, ultimately, not achieving a real lot. I think I’m going to enjoy the rest of this series. Cheers.
a question oliver.. seats are mounted to de fiberglass floor ? or you will mount them to the roll cage for obvious safety reasons ? cheers from Montevideo - URUGUAY
@@olly22n Cracks normally are ground out to give a 12:1 depression. So if fibreglass is say 4 mm thick you would feather the sides back to about 48 mm (12x4) either side of the crack, then fill the depression with wider and wider layers of fibreglass to make up the 4 mm. Then apply your additional layers. :)
Hi Just come across your channel, between 1976 and 1980 I owned an Elan plus 2S130 JPS addition, one of 50. Reg XWJ 697M How did you mount the roll cage into the chassis. I might still have my +2 workshop manual in the attic, if you want anything copying from it I can try to find it. I also still have the rear hub puller that screws on to the knock off left & right hand thread although I don't want to part with it. I built a Davrian Mk5 before that.
The roll cage bolts to the chassis through the existing bobbins, 2 in the floor and two on the rear towers. The front legs only bolt into the chassis bobbins behind the bellhousing. I’ll film when I refit it 👍🏻👍🏻 that hub puller would be a useful tool, I’m not surprised you want to keep hold of it!
2:29. Oliver, you've got to tell us why there's 2 gauges behind the passenger seat. Never seen this before! 15:34 Also, not sure but I believe that plug will reveal limited access to the driveshaft U-joint grease zerks. You'll need to go quite a bit forward to reach the filler for the gearbox. Really appreciate you posting the videos.
