my Elan SPRINT refurbishment by LOG36 ??
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:16 pm
After reading Glen's rebuild blogs on his S1 and now S4 projects, I've been inspired to write my own. I just bought a '73 Sprint DHC #0297K from its original owner!!! It has 39K miles and is very complete and in overall excellent original condition with beautiful original interior and great patina original paint. It is blue over white with gold stripe and bumpers. It has been sitting in his garage for 25 years untouched. I have the original title, original bill of sale (window sticker) and owner's manuals, service voucher books, and paperwork and receipts.
All sounds too good to be true, and so yes, it does have some issues. Apparently 25 years ago, he had rear issues with a collapsed shock/strut. He had it jacked up and took the rear suspension apart, dismantled A-frames, pulled rear diff out, rear brake calipers out, roto-flex, etc. So the rear was completely out of the car and life took some turns for him and he never got back to finish repairing it all. He said it was running fine when parked!
as found stored last 25 years in his garage w/o rear end.
beautiful interior, only very slight cracking of dash veneer
tidy engine bay with matching #'s big valve TC w/ Strombergs
The owner temporarily bolted A-frames on and rear wheel struts in place in order to be able to roll the car out of the garage and for me to winch up onto the trailer.
original owner saying goodbye and ready for my 4 hour trip home.
So my goal is to keep it as original as possible, retaining great original patina, and doing a soft restoration in order to make it safe and road worthy. My deadline i'm shooting for is LOG36 in Princeton, NJ this August. So hopefully I have enough time to do all the repairs needed, rebuilding the hydraulics, assembling the rear suspension, getting it running, sorting fuel supply issues, and so on. I feel keeping this blog going will be the incentive i need to get the job done and you all can hold me accountable. I'll also humbly accept your suggestions and guidance along the way.
So let the fun begin!!!!
All sounds too good to be true, and so yes, it does have some issues. Apparently 25 years ago, he had rear issues with a collapsed shock/strut. He had it jacked up and took the rear suspension apart, dismantled A-frames, pulled rear diff out, rear brake calipers out, roto-flex, etc. So the rear was completely out of the car and life took some turns for him and he never got back to finish repairing it all. He said it was running fine when parked!
as found stored last 25 years in his garage w/o rear end.
beautiful interior, only very slight cracking of dash veneer
tidy engine bay with matching #'s big valve TC w/ Strombergs
The owner temporarily bolted A-frames on and rear wheel struts in place in order to be able to roll the car out of the garage and for me to winch up onto the trailer.
original owner saying goodbye and ready for my 4 hour trip home.
So my goal is to keep it as original as possible, retaining great original patina, and doing a soft restoration in order to make it safe and road worthy. My deadline i'm shooting for is LOG36 in Princeton, NJ this August. So hopefully I have enough time to do all the repairs needed, rebuilding the hydraulics, assembling the rear suspension, getting it running, sorting fuel supply issues, and so on. I feel keeping this blog going will be the incentive i need to get the job done and you all can hold me accountable. I'll also humbly accept your suggestions and guidance along the way.
So let the fun begin!!!!