Mike's 1964 Elva Courier MkIV Build Thread!

[ELVA164]

Time for another update! I was able to remove the rear axle housing from the car and bring it back to the shop:



I wiped it off and removed the brake drums (with a screwdriver and a hammer) to see what things looked like:





Both drums were pretty rusty and one of the slave cylinders was leaking, but the shoes are probably passable. I decided to sandblast the drums to remove the rust and check for cracks:



Good thing I did:


Luckily we have a spare drum around here somewhere.

With the drums off, I slid the axles out some and removed the ring and pinion:



10-year-old gear oil is pretty interesting stuff!
Turns out I have a 4.22 welded rear! Guess I'd better try to find some footage of Mark Donohue!



I also got a box filled with the Courier's old front suspension pieces!

A whole front end assembly plus half the steering column and a spare lower control arm. I immediately removed all the bushings and got ready for the sand blaster:

Looking better!

Finally, I got a few coats of paint on everything and it's ready for new bushings and assembly!


I've got both front uprights (which will have to be crack tested) and the one surviving front coilover to use as a reference!


I'm getting excited!

[graveshaker]

Could another drum from a totally different car work or is it model specific?

[ELVA164]

It's a Riley/Morris Minor rear axle, so the drums are not too hard to find still. I probably mentioned it earlier in this thread, but most MkIV Couriers came with a TVR independent rear suspension which is a little harder to source parts for. I'd prefer the live axle setup anywho based on what I've heard of the alternative.

[flyboyx]

i like the "pig" design rear axle. kind of like a mini ford 9". you can probably find a few different ratios to suit different tracks. can you source something with disk brakes? i don't know what kind of speeds you will be racing, but i think those cracks are the result of heat build up.

[ELVA164]

i like the "pig" design rear axle. kind of like a mini ford 9". you can probably find a few different ratios to suit different tracks. can you source something with disk brakes? i don't know what kind of speeds you will be racing, but i think those cracks are the result of heat build up.

It is kinda like that, and the Ford Cortina units are even closer :D

This rear came with a number of ratios but the 4.22 should be the best all-rounder for the time being. Most Couriers use 4.55 or even 4.88 rears on short tracks, so I should have a bit of legs on them anyway.

No discs, vintage racing requires original equipment. These cracks are most likely from when the car hit the jersey barrier, as they're on the left-rear drum.

[flyboyx]

did you ever find a way to ship that cortina front end from cali?

[ELVA164]

did you ever find a way to ship that cortina front end from cali?

Actually, yes. Turbojake was nice enough to drive from his house to Berkeley to our shop to transport it. I honestly don't know how else we could have gotten it with all the issues I encountered. Big :up: to him though!

[flyboyx]

holy fuck! wisconson to cali new york?

[ELVA164]

Michigan upper peninsula, which is even farther!

[TurboJake]

holy fuck! wisconson to cali new york?

Houghton, Mi. In the plow pathfinder no less.

;)

[ELVA164]

Another small update!
I pulled the axle housing out again and took a quick look at the floating hubs:

Everything came apart pretty easily and I made sure to label the brake backing plates very carefully:

I packed the hubs, set screws, and other bits in two bags for later:

Next, I took at look at where the bottom halves of the radius rod brackets had been cut off. They looked pretty gnarly:


After a bit of grinding:



And one more kicker: Apparently the brake drum wasn't the only cracked piece:


Womp womp.

[2mAn]

Im glad to see this thing coming together! All those fiberglass pics made me itchy.

[ELVA164]

September is coming fast and I've got a lot to do, no time to sit on my laurels!

I got lucky with the fiberglass, no itches!

[ELVA164]

I got back from Summit Point at midnight, but I still had plenty of energy to do fiberglass work today! I made what I think is quite a bit of progress. I'll post everything as a "before" and "after."

First, I did all of today's work with the car on a rotisserie at this angle:


It made some parts a bit easier and some MUCH harder.

I started with a seam on the passenger pedal box:




I patched up the inside of the panel I'd previously attached:



I filled a couple cracks/cuts around the hood opening:







I also cut a couple patches for holes in the firewall and taped them into place:





I filled a seam between the left inner fender and the nose, as well as a large hole under the nose:



I cleaned up along the firewall and sealed it:



Finally, I fixed two large cracks and a hole in the rear of the car:









Finally, the hood finally fits properly!


We did have to...modify it a little to get it to fit though:


That's all for now, but I felt pretty accomplished!

[ajhostetter]

Man...that's a lotta glass work. I've only ever played with sailboats...much easier angles to work with.

:up: