Lotus Elan +2 + mk2 Swidget

Good idea, although I'll never need to open the bonnet when it's finished 
I'll have a look, the bonnet was the first thing to come off, so I should really trial fit it soon. The hinges are a bit queer on these that they go through the bulkhead and pivot around a single pin, just behind the dash, probably why they don't open much. Might involve a bit too much engineering at this stage but it's worth investigating.

I've been quietly beavering away at the bodywork and got the car painted, wet sanded and polished. Pretty happy with the result, better than painting the Lotus, I think I've learnt from some of my previous mistakes and was generally a bit calmer and slower this time around, no runs. Started adding a few trinkets to the rear end.




Finally shifted the last motorbike so had a bit of space to play. First job was some rough chops in the engine bay for clearance.

Before



After



Had to relieve a bit next to where the steering column exits the bulkhead so the inlet manifold would clear. The other option would be to convert to maybe bike carbs, but that would involve changing the management etc and I wanted to keep the plug and play simplicity of it.
Going to be close, bolting the column in today to check and make the closing piece.



Finally, a shot of the gearstick location which should work nicely

Just had another couple of hours on it, very frustrating. That inlet manifold / steering column is proving to be an obstacle.
At the moment I'm pretty sure its preventing the engine from dropping low enough to clear the bonnet, everywhere else is fine.
I've lowered the column about 10mm at the steering wheel end, any more and I won't be able to get in and out of the car.

At the moment my options seem to be a bonnet bulge, bin the standard manifold and go down the carb manifold rabbit hole or possibly look at dropping the column more with a removable steering wheel.

Just fully caught up on this,
I thought the work you'd done on the Lotus was great but the work and attention to detail of the Midget restoration is amazing,
Really looking forward to seeing the future updates,
Nigel

Bonnet clearance measured, should really have done that first.
Also had another play, the glaringly obvious thing is to cannt the engine over slightly, I'm talking one side of the cam cover about 10mm lower than the other. Ideally I'd want the engine level, but this is easy and 'shouldn't' be an issue?
The ruler is bonnet height.



I am also intrigued by the double UJ option on the column, but can't find alot of info, assuming I'd just cut a section out of the column and weld a couple of UJ''s on with a short length of joiner between them? Does this need additional support in the form of a bearing etc?
The standard setup is just a clamp at the steering wheel end and a spline pushed onto the rack.

Finally I have an installed engine and box!



I was being a bit dense with the engine / column issue. In its original fitment the engine is canted forward which translates to leaning into the exhaust side, once that is done it clears the column no problem.

Mounts fabricated using MK1 fiesta rubbers and some 5mm plate and CDS tube



Even the gearstick fits through the hole nice

Just to add a couple of gearbox mount and clutch cable pictures really. As said before, the chassis crossmember needed to come out for clearance, but looking at it I think it would be just possible to mount without cutting the chassis, if I got the engine a bit further forward, then the gearstick would need modifying to get further back to the correct position.
Not too much of an issue on mine as I'd planned on removing the crossmember when installing new floors etc, so had plenty of time for additional supports and just kind of followed the tried and tested method the type 9 conversion people use. The gearbox mount / Chassis brace is 8mm aluminium, still needs tidying, the original SJ gearbox mount bolts to this and I made a new link piece which ties the gearbox to the mount.






The clutch cable by coincidence has a collar which follows the same angle as the inner wing, I've routed the cable wheel side of the inner wing and it pops out inline with the clutch pedal. My car has a combined clutch / brake master, so I've removed the rod from the clutch slave and the cable handily has a clevis which will be secured through the pin hole in the top of the pedal. Also made a stainless brace to spread the load on the inside of the wing.





Hope this all makes sense, still got to do plenty of finishing and then remove everything to paint all of the holes I've drilled.

I've got a couple of long weekends coming up so am hatching a plan to paint the wire wheels, I don't really want to go to the hassle of removing the tyres / tubes so it might be interesting.
Slowly getting the interior back together, fuel system next then wiring!!

Been slowly chipping away at the fuel system and brake lines and also picked up my hybrid prop from Dave Mac Propshafts.
One thing I hadn't done was to sort the flywheel. The GTi flywheel is slightly different to the SJ413 one. The SJ is thicker, so moves the clutch assy further into the gearbox, all the other dimensions are the same, but this of course makes the SJ fly heavier, which is ideal for off roading, not so good in a revvy midget. If I wanted to use the GTi flywheel I'd have to look at spacing the clutch out somehow but I decided to keep the SJ flywheel as I know that works.
I try not to sub any work out, but for some things like the prop and this I'm happy to have an expert job done
So, off to Midland Balancing near Lutterworth, this is a proper old school machine shop located in a farm building, 2 guys work in the space, one is a crank grinder and the other an engine balancer / flywheel lightener. 4 days later and for only £60, my SJ flywheel has lost about 3kg, is 150g lighter than the GTi one and has been balanced.







Engine and box out again this afternoon, mounts painted, I've got to fit the clutch and flywheel and do a bolt check then hopefully it can go back in to it's permanent home.

Very nice to see the quality job that you are doing with the Midget. What has to be remembered is that back in the 80's the car was not worth much and so repairs were usually done as cheaply as possible - there were very few "hobby" MiG welders about.
Mind you, a £3.5K "pro" repair should have been much better than that which you have found!