Update by Tim Suddard to the
Elva Mk VI project car
Jul 30, 2024
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Elva,
Restoration,
Elva Mk VI
Photography by Tim Suddard
When we got our Elva sports racer, unbeknownst to us, the entire front of the frame forward of the suspension pickup points had been cut off and thrown away. In its place was a reworked mount for an incorrect radiator that some previous owner had added along the way.
Without original chassis drawings, we would have to figure out how to recreate this part of the frame from pictures that we had of various examples of Elva Mk VI and some notes we received from a fellow Elva owner.
Another bit of help came from a butchered but still usable bit of the front frame area that was used to mount the spare tire mount. Maybe we could use this as a pattern.
The key was to get some real measurements. Our first step was to determine where the front body mounts actually went.
Despite repairing the fiberglass body in this area (and every other area of the body, for that matter), we were able to find the body’s mounting holes.
We looked at pics of the frame and saw that there was originally a 1-inch-diameter tube that went across the front of the body, perpendicular to the car.
The radiators are mounted on the outboard end of this tube with brackets. We got what appeared to be the original radiators with the car. As the radiator mounts were 6 inches apart on center from each other, we could begin to do some math and see how this front frame area should all go together.
Our next step was to duplicate both the radiator mounting brackets as well as the brackets that mounted the body.
From the pictures, we could tell that these were not just flat plates. We carefully studied the pictures we had and decided the brackets were about 2 inches in length and about 1-inch wide.
We folded and then wrapped a quarter-inch vertical rim around each bracket (as we saw that Elva had originally done) and welded the brackets together. While this was a lot of work (but kind of fun), we wanted the car to be as correct as possible as we plan on entering a concours event or two before we take to the track with our rare little car.
The two frame-mounting-point centerlines were 22 inches from each other.
We made a mark on our tube and tacked our new body mounts into place. We then guesstimated where the radiators should go, figuring about a quarter inch from each end of this main tube.
After that, we welded those brackets in place and then test-fitted the radiators. Success!
We then jacked up the front of the body slightly to remove any droop. The idea was to take any stress out of the fiberglass body without lifting it too far.
At this point, we measured, cut and made the diagonal tubes at either end of the bar. We then tacked them in place and began working on the spare tire mount and the diagonal tubes holding it in place.
As we mentioned earlier, we had the battered remains of a spare tire mount–perhaps the original one. It gave us enough information to know the diameter (1.75 inches) and the angles of its mounting tubes.
We laid the spare tire mount on a board on our bench and slowly worked the diagonal tubes down to the correct length and then tacked them in place. What made this particularly challenging was that the spare tire mounts sat slightly behind the main tube, and we had to use the remains of the old spare tire mount to determine how far behind the main tube the mount needed to sit. It turned out to be about half an inch off-center towards the rear of the main tube.
With the first tubes tack welded into place, the rest came a bit easier. We were able to get the remaining tubes cut and shaped correctly and tacked into place.
To do this job, we needed to leave the body in place, making for a very awkward working environment. This is the only way we could get the measurements correct.
Once everything is tacked in place and we will complete some other projects necessitating the body be in place. Then we will take the body back off the chassis and seam weld or braze the entire frame correctly.
This has been one of the hardest parts yet on this project. We are thrilled with how good it looks and how close the entire front area looks to the picture we cut out from an original 1962 Sports Car Graphic road test that we scanned.
Our confidence is now bolstered and soon we will tackle the roll cage area and rear frame. This will be another challenge, as our car came with no roll bar and the rear frame area has been mangled a bit as well.
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