The longest Elite Resto ? - probably

[neilbennet]

Hi, I seem to have lost track, I am following along very slowly behind you, please do you have a written plan, simple and step by step please, are you ok to share and do you have an end plan, I would love to drive up next to you one day in a car park and compare how we got there. Elite and Elite together one day, cheers Neil

[MetBlue]

please do you have a written plan, simple and step by step please, are you ok to share and do you have an end plan

I've had so many plans Neil, that I've run out of letters in the alphabet. Sorry but nothing is written down, but I'd say the best plan is to tackle one area at a time and actually see the results/ progress.

I must admit though, I'm not disciplined enough to Walk the walk. Do as I say, not as I do.
Tony

[MetBlue]

Playing with Vacuum head lights - I know why people change them to Electric. - What a phaff.
I bought a generic vacuum pump for Diesel Brake Servo's, so I could rebuild the Vac headlights and see how long they'd stay down without having a running engine.
Initially I bypassed the solenoid valves, drew vacuum, pods went down, but within a few minutes they were up again. Blanked off one pod, repeated and vacuum leaked away even quicker ! - Puzzled.
After much testing, I came to the conclusion the NRV wasn't reliable / repeatable ( it was a new plastic valve from a brake booster as I knew the brass Lotus original wasn't doing anything).

Then removed the accumulator and it rattled - full of rust.


I know for sure the vacuum pods will be similar. I can only conclude that I was drawing debris into the NRV.

I have a couple of in line filters ( originally planned to go between the pod and the solenoid valve). One of those is going immediately before the NRV when I get delivery of some new fittings, valves and pipes.
I'm also thinking I'll mix up some resin and wash through the accumulator, which should both seal the inside and stick any remaining bits to the inside.

All I'm trying to do at the moment is draw a Vacuum on an Accumulator and some blanked off pipes and seal it with an NRV (with a Vac gauge in circuit so I can see how quick it decays). What can be so difficult ? Funny stuff VACUUM. It just sucks up all the muck.

On the plus side, the very fact I'm posting this says we have yet another restart on this glacially slow project.


Tony

[MetBlue]

Some satisfying progress. - Wheels

Before:


After:


Done by Spit & Polish in Tonbridge following experiences from users of the forum that they know what they are doing with the 50 year old alloys.
The paint colour is the closest match they could find to the original. I took some paint flakes of the wheels before refurb. Not easy to photograph as light reflections make a massive difference to the look on camera. For reference, the colour is Tesla Sonic Carbon Grey.



This progress was quite easy really. All I had to do was put my hand in pocket and wave a card

[Alan_M]

Wow
Those look amazing - let’s hope they can salvage mine!

[Pete Boole]

Fantastic! Wish I'd had mine done

They're going to look great on the car.

Pete

[AndrewWebber]

I'm pleased for you, always a worry when you make a recommendation...

Just the rest to finish now, another Elite for LITP 20XX?

Andy

[MetBlue]

Not easy to photograph, but the lower grill (batch manufactured via Mr Boole) was too long to fit in my car.
Investigation at the weekend revealed that the crash boards in my car are 30 mm thick !!!
This is an early car, so would appear to be another case of passing crash tests with flying colours, so having the opportunity for a bit of VE (somewhere earlier in this thread, I'm sure I will have mentioned the door beams are made from much heavier gauge steel than later cars).

In other news, the Photo below may look to most like a typical car 30mins after being parked up, with a lazy eye :


But not too me. To me it's a miracle.
The pod plus a short pipe length and a blanking plug are the only items in the vac circuit. I pushed the pod to closed, inserted the blanking plug, then let the spring pressure create a vacuum and achieve this equilibrium position. 48 hours later, it was unchanged, i.e. I now have a vac pod that is pretty much 100% vacuum tight - Not bad for a pod that was so rusty on the bottom it had become porous and the M6 thread had broken away ( I found enough good steel to tack an M8 stud in place). Fibre glass is a mans best friend .

Now to do some further tests introducing valves (which I know will leak to some extent, but at least I finally have a baseline to start from).

[Pete Boole]

Do they look like two pieces bonded together or can't you tell? Good work on the vacuum pod!

Pete

[MetBlue]

Do they look like two pieces bonded together or can't you tell?

Difficult to tell, but I'd say 2 boards. The top edge is very well finished, with fibreglass and a full radius. They are in "as new" condition - not the slightest sign of rot anywhere.

If only my Excel was the same.

[MetBlue]

Back to Vacuum pods, the other side just won't seal as well as the one reported above. However someone on Faceplant has reported this week on opening the pods up, repairing the insides, then successfully recrimping. I might just have to give that a try. I'll put something on here if / when I decide to open one up.
Currently juggling a few jobs

• The front lower grill ( Pete B special mentioned above) is now shortened by 10mm and fits . Just now sorting a couple of tabs to fix it - Photo soon.

• That has lead on to a repair of the A/C Condenser - pipe got crushed during a house move. Fortunately on the very last run through the matrix, at the end next to the connection. Even more fortunate, the pipe is standard 10mm OD copper so easy to cut out the crush area and solder in a repair section)

• Spraying Bumpers Satin Black - progressing well, but on hold now - Just too cold and damp to be spraying paint

• And the Vac headlight system, which we should get back to soon

Dare I say it : Feels like I'm actually making some progress - Finally

[Pete Boole]

Good progress Tony! Note to self - get cracking!!

Pete

[AndrewWebber]

Keep going (both of you).....

Andy

[bash]

Petes promised (!!!!!!!!) to be at Lotus in the Peak with his next summer. Are you going to be the same ?

Bash
( Pete was renamed Rodney for a while at this years event. "This time next year we will all be........)

[Hawaiis0]

Interesting . I might start mine