After attending my first Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG) in Atlanta, I discovered my tale was the norm rather than the exception. I purchased this Elan in St. Louis in 1986, completed the restoration of the chassis and engine by 1988, then let the project sit while pursuing Scouting interests with my son, buying property and building a house and separate shop (ran out of room in a standard 2-car garage!). I started back in on the project in 1998 with the intent of taking the car to LOG 18 to celebrate the 50th anniversay of Lotus. We finally made it to a LOG with our Elan in 2000. Along the restoration path, I found it helpful to construct some custom tools. Pictures and information are offered here.

Dolly

After I had most the body work complete on the fender flares and the bottom, I found it more convenient to have the body lower while I completed repairs on the upper portion of the body and did the painting. I still needed to be able to move the body around the shop, so I welded up this stand. The dolly is constructed of 3/16 inch thick 2" angle iron. Front and back are 54". Sides are 51" and are inset 4" from ends of the front and back. All 4 uprights are 12". The cross pieces are 14" and 28".

Engine Stand Adapter

I found it easier to work on the twin cam engine with this adapter made for my standard engine stand. The adapter bolts to the block where one of the engine mounts normally would. The adapter is made of a 3 1/2" by 3 1/2" piece of 1/4" plate welded to a 12" length of 2 3/8" OD pipe.

Hinge Tool

I constructed this tool by JB Welding a piece of 1/4 inch bar stock into a 1/4 inch square drive socket. It fits the nylon hinge pins with much less chance of stripping the hole out.

Rotisserie

When I first started the body work, I needed the body higher to facilitate work on flaring the fenders. I also thought I wanted to be able to rotate the body. I constructed two adapters for a pair of matched engine stands to bolt to the body bobbins on the underneath side of the car. This allowed me to move the body around the shop and was a great height for working underneath the car and on the fender flares. I never rotated the body, however, because I decided it might tip over on me due to the narrow width of the engine stands. I probably could have rigged some outriggers that would have allowed rotation.

Spring Compressor

I rigged this piece of 1/4 inch plate, two threaded rods, and a bearing separator to use on the Spax coil-overs. The flat plate is 5" by 8" with a 2" center hole and two 5/8" bolt holes 4 7/8" on center. The threaded rods are 14" long. The bearing separator is 6" wide.

Switch Bezel Tool

I modified a 3/8" drive 1/2" deepwell socket to use on switch bezels.

Pan Bolt Socket

I had to drop the pan without removing the engine. Since I could not get a regular socket on the rear two bolts, I modified a 1/4" drive 7/16" socket.

Restoration of a 1967 Lotus Elan