Sean Green's Garage Raid
(Clubnight - July 2010)
Words & Pictures: Sean Green
Club member Sean Green kindly invited our Club to view progress on his 1970 Series 4 Elan. Some people may remember that this car once belonged to a previous club member, Paul Aston. Sean bought the car off Paul a number of years ago and after a brief on-road sojourn, he decided that the car could do with some restoration/remedial work and TLC.
The car is now in a QED 420 state of tune. The engine has been given bigger valves during rebuild with only cylinder bore honing required and new piston rings and bearings throughout. It has been balanced with mods such as new alternator mounting for belt tensioner and spacers machined for pulley alignment. This factor I believe is as important as belt tension (especially if you press the impeller shaft on the distance specified without checking alignment) which seems to be the most emphasized point in most services manuals and associated literature . New welsh plugs - Sean says to make sure you use brass plugs where they are covered by the bellhousing unless you have a penchant for removing the engine and gear box to replace a failed frost plug.
Other work undertaken has been: Cylinder head overhauled and valve clearance set, new chain etc Gear box has new bearings, baulk rings and seals All hydraulics have been overhauled including calipers and new brake lines, master cylinders and slave and EBC pads will be fitted. It had new dash and upholstery when Sean purchased it. It has a Spyder chassis which has been repainted. Full engine bay detail and a rubber mounted oil cooler and new hydraulic hoses Radiator serviced and otter switch chucked away and replaced with the failsafe screw in switch-I can’t believe Lotus put a fresh engine at risk by using a plug in switch to hold water at bay. A lot of reliance on a couple of bits of wire! And of course a new water pump.... The Elan doors will be tackled next winter!
Other items of interest in Sean’s garage include a couple of old Brit motorcycles - an AJS 16MS and a LE Velocette Mark 2. The AJS has 150 miles on the clock and the Velocette ZERO!!
Apparently our 'Boys in Blue' used Velocettes to do their duty in days gone by. Things have moved on a little since then.........
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