I have purchased a 1966 Elan Coupe. I will collect it in a few weeks so no pictures available yet !
I am a pretty competent mechanic and own and have built and maintained several Porsche 911 road and race cars. This means all of my tools are pretty much focused on and selected for these specific cars. All of my spanners, sockets, hex keys etc are all metric.
What basic and specialist tools would I need to put together to look after my Elan.
Any advice welcome especially specific tools and any tips or tricks on tools that really work.
depending on the condition of your car you’ll obviously need a differing amount of specific tools… a copy of the manuals will probably help (and reading this forum, as most of the topics you’ll face would have or will be covered). From the top of my mind, if you decided to pull the rear hubs, get or get loaned specific hub pullers (they are made of cast steel, not cast iron, and hitting them or pulling on them by the side can easily induce deformations which would potentially impair operation).
this was going to be my next question - best manuals and books both technical and general reading - I have the twin cam engine book and the Robinshaw and Ross book and a lotus workshop manual - any other pointers would be appreciated
In addition to the Elan Workshop Manual and the Elan Parts List, a copy of Brian Buckland’s Addendum Workshop Manual will be of the most practical help as you tackle issues.
I have a mix of metric and other tools, spanners and sockets, gathered over the past 50 odd years of motoring. A trip to my local Halfords usually sorts out any problems as far as my, admittedly limited, mechanical abilities lead me to.
You will find lots of the dreaded Lucas bullet connectors throughout the car. If you have to do anything with the harness you might want to consider the correct tools for crimping on new bullets and for closing the bullets into the actual connectors. This Ebay ad illustrates how they work ebay.co.uk/itm/363052834317 … %3A4429486
Also, a dab of dielectric grease in to the connectors can help protect against moisture and corrosion etc. The connections at the front of the car are very vulnerable.
As you work on the car you will discover a number of items have better access if you change the bolts to hex socket headed types, So a set of inch sized long ball head hex keys is useful in additon to a general set of inch size ring spanners, open ended spanner and sockets.
After that just buy tools as you find a need for them, a quality specialist tool is always worth tracking down for a job that initially seems difficult to do.
I bought a motorcycle tool kit with imperial tools for not a lot of money. Had set of spanners, sockets+rachet, pliers wire cutters, screw drivers etc. I think it cover the bases well, haven’t had to use it on my car in anger but have a used on other peoples cars and it covered the needs.
I bought it while in the US for ~$50 so can’t recommend a specific one to buy in the UK.
Buy yourself a punching bag to hang up if you don’t already have one. You probably already do if you’ve been working with those things that have the engine in the wrong position - what are they called again? I can’t remember.
Edit - Actually in this application it’s not just a punching bag. It’s also a “You fuing basrd bag”. In other words something you can talk things through with in times of need. Checkrail who is on this forum well understands
Hi Douglas
As an ex Porsche man you will probably understand the benefits of shorter spanners to get into small spaces. You can pick up lots of imperial stuff these days from autojumbles, rather than buying new. The typical range of sizes you need are from 7/16" up to 5/8", but as the cars are now over 50 years old, bolts and nuts can be rusted up. So I would suggest both ring as well as open ended in the above sizes and also a set of 3/8" drive socket wrenches, the 1/2" wrenches can be too long and awkward to get into places on an Elan. I also find 6 point rather than 12 point long reach sockets are better, as there is less likelihood of rounding off corners and you can get onto the nuts(where an overlong bolt has been substituted).
If you go to the Wiki above and access the factory Parts Manual, all the most useful spanners are noted there, I would purchase a couple of 7/16-1/2" spanners so you can grip both the bolt and its nut at the same time.(one of the more popular sizes).
There are so many different tools out there you could end up buying far more than you need, but the above as well as a good multi meter (the cheap versions are not worth looking at), will all serve your basic needs.
On the Wiki there is also a copy of the factory manual, so it may be worth looking up and seeing if this is worth you buying (try and get the latest version printed which was about 1974 as it will have the later amendments and additions), they come up frequently on eBay.
I also bought a Lotus Elan ( but plus2) after years of looking after my 1980 Porsche 911.and had to buy the imperial spanners and sockets. Recommend 6 point rather than 12 point sockets…
As regards specialist tools: 1. Rear hub remover. 2 tool for the 3 eared wheel spinners ( I could not get comfortable with wacking them off with the copper mallet and guessing how much to tighten them). Both avaliable from Kelvedon; not cheap though. but buy before you need and find “Out of stock” … “Wating for the next batch” …“No longer available” …etc…If you use a spinner tool, you will also need a torque wrench thst goes to 220 ft lbs.-I bought mine from Halfords Professional range with lifetime no quibble guarantee and is about £80 ; great piece of kit. .A long breaker bar too…
I don’t know if it counts a s basic but I got a 3/4" dial torque wrench which could be used on left and right hand threads. They are on e-bay second hand. I use it to torque on my spinners. To get them off I have to use a copper headed hammer - size 3 from memory.
'cos I’m an idiot I am also sticking with donuts so I need large strong jubilee clips… to get them back on again.
On the theory that “if I have it I won’t need it” I probably am a little over the top. Under the deck is spare ignition, plugs, cable ties, gorilla tape, safety wire, jack, repair manual, light bulbs, relays, ,
