1

Interior of our donor car is ropey but much of it is salvageable. Most importantly, it's complete. Depending on budget and the state of the donor car you can choose to make the best of what you've got or replace the lot. Most bits are easy but Elan dials often need a specialist overhaul.

2

Surprisingly, the original Lotus Twin-Cam still turns over but it needs a full rebuild, which can cost £5000. It's not a DIY job. Spyder retains a few bits and pieces (we'll see which bits next issue) but most of what you see here will be redundant.

Before the full stripdown can begin, the bonnet has to come off (there's a bolt on either side of the bonnet's front inside edge). Then undo the fuel line unions and unbolt the carburettors from the inlet manifolds. Take care, they could be good enough to sell.

The Twin-Cam's inlet manifold is part of the cylinder head casting. To make room for the body to lift past the engine, the inlet manifold studs have to come out. Lock two nuts together, then turn the back one.

The radiator needs to come out. It's only held in by four nuts and bolts, which usually come undone easily. The hoses might not be so easy but if you're struggling, consider hacksawing through them. You won't need them.

The same goes for other hoses and fittings, including this one which goes to the vacuum reservoir for the headlights. In case you're wondering, the up-down action of the pop up lights is vacuum operated on the Elan

All brake pipes need to be stripped out of the engine bay. If the unions are hard to undo, it might be best to cut the pipes at this stage and work on freeing any unions when you've had the chance to soak them in WD40. Don't get brake fluid everywhere, though.

There's no saying exactly where the servo will be - it depends where the fitters felt like putting it. Whatever, it needs to be unbolted. You won't need it again, because the modern four-wheel discs you'll be fitting don't need assistance in such a light car.

These are the connections on the starter solenoid being undone; also disconnect dynamo, coil, oil pressure and water temperature wires, speedo cable (from back of speedo, then pull through bulkhead) and accelerator, choke and handbrake cables.