She really is a very sad looking vehicle indeed. Check out these:
www.flickr.com/photos/22002148@N04
A Very Sad Mini-El
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- aminorjourney
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Ouch. It is a bit battered, isn't it?
Still, a good shell in that condition is worth it so I await with baited breath as to what you do with it.
Karl had similar fun resurrecting his - though it wasn't anywhere near as bad a state: http://batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/for ... .php?t=133
I suspect after a good clean it'll look so much better. Shame the seat etc has rotted. At some point there will be a mk III seat for sale (but I don't think it'll fit)
Personally one of those new battery baskets sounds like a good idea. With so much of the original gone it's going to be a tough decision to either go down the route of restoring it back to the paltry 25mph original spec or to strip the shell down, clean, paint and replace the parts with contemporary ones. I think most City Els can be retro-fitted.
Once you get going you'll probably see just how sillily simple the El is in most respects. The thing to be really careful of (as I've just found out - again) is the torque settings on components. I've got through two backplates on mine; one because it failed due to poor helicoiling (not by me) and the second one (this week) because I didn't torque it up enough - the helicoils then broke while I was trying to retorque it up!
If I can help locating circuit diagrams etc I'll see what I can do - but Frank probably has them too!
Still, a good shell in that condition is worth it so I await with baited breath as to what you do with it.
Karl had similar fun resurrecting his - though it wasn't anywhere near as bad a state: http://batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/for ... .php?t=133
I suspect after a good clean it'll look so much better. Shame the seat etc has rotted. At some point there will be a mk III seat for sale (but I don't think it'll fit)
Personally one of those new battery baskets sounds like a good idea. With so much of the original gone it's going to be a tough decision to either go down the route of restoring it back to the paltry 25mph original spec or to strip the shell down, clean, paint and replace the parts with contemporary ones. I think most City Els can be retro-fitted.
Once you get going you'll probably see just how sillily simple the El is in most respects. The thing to be really careful of (as I've just found out - again) is the torque settings on components. I've got through two backplates on mine; one because it failed due to poor helicoiling (not by me) and the second one (this week) because I didn't torque it up enough - the helicoils then broke while I was trying to retorque it up!
If I can help locating circuit diagrams etc I'll see what I can do - but Frank probably has them too!
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
EVangelist and Media Relations Coordinator, www.ZeroCarbonWorld.org
Host, www.transportevolved.com
http://about.me/aminorjourney/bio
EVangelist and Media Relations Coordinator, www.ZeroCarbonWorld.org
Host, www.transportevolved.com
http://about.me/aminorjourney/bio
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