So things are moving along pretty well on my latest Elan restoration, which I refer to as the Detroit car or Elan restoration #12. Dash is all wired up. Rubber carpet installed. Interior side panels done.
So I went and bought a battery the other day. I mounted a battery cut-off switch to the battery box, hooked up the ground cable, and, so, it was ready. Although I’ve done this quite a few times, and I think I know what I am doing, I still put a set of safety glasses on as I brushed the positive cable across the positive terminal on the new battery. I judged the arc to be minimal so I hooked it up. I turned the ignition key to the on position (after I had disconnected the positive lead from the new Powersparks distributor. I’ve roasted $120 Pertronix units by leaving the ignition on for too long before.) Two good things I noticed right away. The gas gauge needle moved just a bit. No gas in the tank so it basically moves just a bit to the “empty” mark. That’s good! Also, the interior light on the dash came on. That’s good but that’s also a story in itself. So let me digress….
The original interior dash light in an Elan does not have an on/off switch on it. There is a toggle switch mounted below the light on the dash or the light comes on when either door is opened. The new interior lights that are made today are crap. They have a cheesy plastic base that does not sit flat, with a cheesy plastic on/off slide switch on top that looks and feels crude. The ONLY thing that I use on the new $40 switch is the plastic lens. Because it has a switch on it, the chrome half lens cover has a cut out on it. Looks like crap so I toss that too. I take the original old switch apart. Throw away the old melted and deformed plastic lens. I have the original chrome lens cover re-plated (another $30), clean up all the old guts from the old switch, and assemble it all together using the original base, the new plastic lens and the re-plated half lens cover. Looks nice. Details, details details….
Back to the wiring test. I pull the bullet connectors off the back of the door switches so the interior light does not stay lit while I work on the car. I don’t want to melt my new plastic lens. I then test the other goodies. Interior light switch on the dash operates the interior light – good! Heater switch operates the heater fan – good! Windshield wipers work – good! Turn signals work – good! Running lights work – good! Head-lights…. I said headlights? No headlights.
Hmmmmmm… Elans were designed so that the lights stay off until the headlight pods come up. The pods operate by vacuum from the engine. I usually bypass the problematic headlight pod switches so the head-lights should come on even with the pods down. But, I stuck my nose in the engine bay and saw that they were not on. Oh, well. I think I know what it could be. Disconnect the battery and leave that trouble shooting for the next day.
9 AM the next day I head out to the garage with confidence that I will fix the headlight issue by 10. 10 AM smart guy! I start by pulling the headlight switch from the dash and double check the wiring. All good there. I get my trusty Harbor Freight volt/ohm meter out and check to make sure I have juice leaving the #8 terminal – and I do. I’ve had trouble in the past trying to use the original 50 year-old switch. It may bench test OK but after about 10 clicks it often falls apart internally. I don’t use used switches any more. I’ve also had trouble in the past where a new, but off brand, headlight switch is not wired the same internally so I had to put a shunt wire across two terminals to make things work. Not needed here.
Next step was to reach up all the way under the dash and cut off a tie wrap holding the big relay in place. I had to be careful cutting off the tie wrap so I didn’t inadvertently cut a wire by mistake. I pulled the relay down to where I could see it. I operated the headlight switch and could feel the little “click” as the relay operated. I tested for juice. Juice leaving there OK. I’ve had trouble in the past where the new relays are not wired the same internally as the old relays. So I have to run a shunt wire from the contact 2 terminal to the winding 2 terminal. Shunt in place. Next thing to check is the high beam switch on the floor. I push it on and off a couple times to make sure it’s not just a little crusty. Although I had bench tested it before installation – you never know. So I had to unbolt the high beam switch. It was, of course, mounted so nice and neat underneath the new rubber carpeting that was glued so nice and neat. Oh well. Pull the rubber carpet back. One hand with a screwdriver inside the car, the other hand with a wrench inside the wheel well. Glad I don’t have the doors mounted yet. I pull the switch and wiring clear and take the wires off the switch. Switch tests ok, but I’m concerned that the wiring lugs may be loose - so I re-crimp them and push them back onto the switch. I check for juice and juice leaving the switch OK. Still no lights, however.
Next, on to the front of the car. Accessed through the opening in the nose, I take my wire snippers and cut the tie wraps that are holding all the wires in a some-what neat bundle on both sides. Just as I snip, my portable light decides that it needs a recharge, so out go the lights. My other portable light is already on the charger; I have to get an old flashlight out to see what is what. First thing I notice is that there is a cut wire. That wire is suspiciously close to where I snipped a tie wrap. Hmmmm. Time to fix that before we go any further. So I do. And then I go further. To get to the wiring I have to remove the air cleaner which is mounted down there in the nose. No big deal. Just three bolts.
I always use a new wiring harness and new connectors on my restorations. One thing I have noticed in the past is that the double connectors – those where you can have two wires in and two wires out – they tend to be a bit loose. I removed all the double connectors in the wiring path and gave them a little squeeze with my pliers. I reassembled the wiring, but still no lights. Juice leaving the connectors OK. I test the ground wires and ground connections and they are all good as they should be because they share the ground connections with the running lights which are working just fine.
FINALLY, I decide to manually lift up the headlight pods and look at the headlights. Funny, both head-lights are foggy like old used flashbulbs. I had bench tested the headlamps with my volt/ohm meter before installing them, but, apparently, the original old Lucas lamps decided to burn out when I had applied 12 volts to them. Up to the garage attic I go, looking for some spares. Aha! Here are a brand new pair of Lucas (made by Wagner) headlamps that Ken Olendzki gave me a couple years ago when he was cleaning out his garage. Thanks Ken!
Changing headlights is no easy task on an Elan. You have to hold the headlight pod open with one hand (it’s spring loaded) and unscrew the three tiny little screws holding the headlamp ring in place. Then you can unplug the lamp, pull it out and put in the new one. Getting those little screws back in place with one hand can be frustrating. But you have to be real patient otherwise you can easily scratch the nice new paint job. Even with things taped off with blue tape. I got the screws in without scratching anything and the head-lights finally worked. Both regular and high beams. It’s 2 PM - So much for the one hour repair. Now I just have to tie wrap up the wires in the nose and the relay under the dash and re-install the high beam switch and the air cleaner and then put away the 27 screwdrivers, pliers, snippers, files, wrenches, hammers, crowbars and all sorts of things I used to figure out what I should have known right off the bat.
Lucas, the prince of darkness had struck again!
