Attempting to build the fastest road legal Elan in the world

[JS1500]

I'm really enjoying reading about this, excellent work!

The original Elan was the car that kickstarted my love of cars - when I was an impressionable 8 year old a neighbour had one he was rebuilding in his garage that he had written off after spinning on ice and hitting a wall. I used to 'help' by handing him tools.

[Mgd_uk]

getting on well, keep the updates coming

[mwstewart]

Keep up the good work!

[stevebroad]

Just in case I have to back light the fluid reservoirs. 62p from China including P&P :-)

[stevebroad]

Finally, after a lot of head scratching and numerous emails to the distributor, I have a working reservoir holder door latch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P6ds6s1yKY&fe...

[stevebroad]

Having learnt how to fit the latches, the boot was a breeze. What do you think about the panel gap? What gap? I hear you ask. Precisely, I reply. Not finished, but pretty tight methinks

[stevebroad]

A little progress since last update. Steering column finished. Made from titanium apart from steering wheel and rack splines. Various sensors fitted. Header tank and overflow bottle made, along with swirl pot and connecting pipes.













Overflow outlet has since been resited so it faces bottle. Neater and 6ms lighter :-)

Edited by stevebroad on Tuesday 18th July 11:13

Edited by stevebroad on Tuesday 18th July 11:14

[shalmaneser]

Re. the steering column, don't you need two joints fitted out of phase to ensure smooth steering inputs? Unless you've fitted some kind of fancy CV style joint under the orange cover?

[Mgd_uk]

Some work going into this, nice to see the updates

[stevebroad]

shalmaneser said:

Re. the steering column, don't you need two joints fitted out of phase to ensure smooth steering inputs? Unless you've fitted some kind of fancy CV style joint under the orange cover?

The joint is an Apex Covered Universal Joint (aka: Helicopter Joint), bloody expensive but perfect for this job. There is also the standard shaft to rack flexible joint. There shouldn't be any issues with this setup, but only time will tell.

[stevebroad]

Decided to go DBW with regard to throttle input. To that end I have fitted a Datsun 350Z peddle position sensor and replaced original throttle body with a 54mm Bosch electronic unit.





In order to get the intake air from the filter, which is located under where the offside headlamp used ot be, to the turbo I had to make a tube that squeezed between the radiator and inner wing. I made this out of fibreglass a few years ago before I discovered carbon. The weight of it has been bugging me for a while but I have only just gathered together enough confidence (and skill) to make a split mould. It came out OK, weighs 380gms less than the original and a coat of paint has hidden the weave.

[shalmaneser]

stevebroad said:

shalmaneser said:

Re. the steering column, don't you need two joints fitted out of phase to ensure smooth steering inputs? Unless you've fitted some kind of fancy CV style joint under the orange cover?

The joint is an Apex Covered Universal Joint (aka: Helicopter Joint), bloody expensive but perfect for this job. There is also the standard shaft to rack flexible joint. There shouldn't be any issues with this setup, but only time will tell.

Thought there might be something a bit clever under that cap. I'm sure you'll be fine!

Great project, best of luck with it!

[stevebroad]

shalmaneser said:

Thought there might be something a bit clever under that cap. I'm sure you'll be fine!

Great project, best of luck with it!

:-) These are designed for this exact usage and are used on race cars (where accurate steering is somewhat useful), as well as for gear linkages so there should be no issues.

[stevebroad]

I have been working on a pIan of the electic components and I think that I am almost there. Anyway, I have booked an appointment with Dave, the CEO at DC Electronics (mo messing with underlings, me ), to discuss getting the loom made.

[samoht]

I like the 'Dash 2' entries - 'Traction Control', 'Launch Control', 'Line Lock', 'Nitrous', 'Parachute Button' !

[DoubleSix]

My fave thread on PH - love it!!

[stevebroad]

samoht said:

I like the 'Dash 2' entries - 'Traction Control', 'Launch Control', 'Line Lock', 'Nitrous', 'Parachute Button' !

Dash 2 is the LCD screen. Picture of steering wheel below. My little bit of madness :-)

[wc98]

the attention to detail and fab work here is tremendous .appears to be a proper labour of love . really enjoying the thread.

[stevebroad]

wc98 said:

the attention to detail and fab work here is tremendous .appears to be a proper labour of love . really enjoying the thread.

Cheers. I an glad that this thread is of interest to some.

I have had the car for over 40 years so it has been part of my life longer than I have known my wife. However, the car was the reason we met so she isn't too jealous. The only stipulation she made was that the build must allow her to be capable of driving it as well :-)

I broke the car at the 1985 Street Racer Championships and only started to rebuild it 12 years ago. However, what started out as a simple strip and rebuild sort of got out of hand. It is the last car that I will be building so I have made the least amount of compromises to acceleration that rules, money, safety and my skills allow.

Edited by stevebroad on Monday 24th July 00:27

[Turn7]

Love no compromises....