Owners

Elva Courier Owners

Some of us  have owned these cars for a long time  - I have had mine for 30 years.  Lon McKinistry has owned this Courier from new in 1960 and it was actively vintage raced  -  this picture looks recent  so it may be back on the road - Lon races an Elva  100 Formula Junior.  I know him only as he appears on the Owner Club roster from the mid 1980's but we have never met personally.

 




I met several Courier owners in the US - maybe 25 out of the 100 that seem to still have these cars
- most of them on the track. 

The Hollyberry color and the white top look good on Lon's car   - one day i hope to see it in person

Every Courier - a Factory Racer Special

I have to admit bias  - I have and have had for quite some time an Elva Courier that I use on the street

and while it has spent time on the track driven at 8 tenths    -   it is not the norm for Couriers

A frequent comment on the car is that I should put numbers on and vintage race the car - in some ways I agree - but I have had poor eyesight for as long as I can remember - it would not be a good idea

Every Courier was built to race  -    now there are Elva Courier Spyders and Elva Courier Sebrings
as the extremely rare factory specials  -  but these are the same car with reduced weight for the most part

Most Couriers came with a tuned Engine  by Ryetune in England (Weslake guys  - Gurney Weslake or the guy who holds the patent on the Heart shaped Combustion Chamber)

It is the same block but a lot of machining and detail work

The suspension is fully adjustable,for spring and shock from the factory

Factory race pedal box

The minimal trim and windshields easily removed.

My car is a well driven show car

This week in a car show,  I lost to a Healey 100M  - a factory M car (aren't they all,  consisting of a few bolt on parts)  The Healey 100M had a few parts added for racing - it was the hard core Healey - you hear this when they talk about the car, and you hear it quite a bit .    It is the later day Porsche GT3   -  A race car for the street - gasp

But there must be a fine line   - every Courier was a hard core racing special just road worthy enough to get you to the track

After the show  - I blasted down one of the most famous sports car roads in the world  - restating in my mind  that while the Courier is a nice car to look at  -  its virtues lie in the driven world













    

The Ecumenical British Sports Car

The Elva Courier  represents the best of british sports car design and contains parts from every major manufacturer.


From MG we get the Engine and Transmission  - and We are official NAMGAR Members (North American MGA Register)
The Front Hubs axles and Steering Rack are MG Midget or more specifically Morris Minor
The Ring and pinion are MG Midget or Morris Minor as well - Lots of factory ratios (3.5 to 5.12)
The steering wheel is TD or TF

The MG guys are uncertain of the mongrel heritage and keep a safe distance



From Triumph we get the front suspension uprights (herald), the steering universal, the heater assembly and a lot of bushings for the Elva designed rear suspension.

The local Portland Triumph club allows us to attend social gatherings - if we bring wine along

From Jaguar we get the front suspension bushings and pedal pads for the brake and clutch XK120 for the bushings - some sedan for the pedal pads

Never really see the Jaguar car show guys, the jaguar drivers come around and share a pint



From Austin Healey - we get the generator with the rear mounted tach drive - It was a good thing in racing to know if your water pump was still turning - and this generator gives RPM and indication of a missing belt (despite the MGA Engine having a tach drive off of the camshaft)

Healey Guys like the car - and the sprite guys share parts



Rootes Group (Sunbeam, Hillman)  We get the Minx brakes and master cylinders (two)  A bias bar system

Is there a Sunbeam Club



We get the rear end assembly from the One point Five (with other parts welded on)

Again



From the Morris Minor we get a bunch of parts - Wiper motor and wipers arms, Steering assembly, switchgear, Ignition and assorted bushings.

I don't know about these guys - I want a Minor so I will have to find out



Shock front and rear are the same as the Lotus Elite (rears are slightly different utilizing a lower bushing mount)

Lotus club guys invite us to track events - very appropriate



There are more parts - but I will have to look to find them on your car

Fuel Level Sender - All Cars - General

Fuel level sending has been the providence of electrical resistance since somewhere in the 1930's when electrification of the automobile hit full stride.  The Ford Model A used a very clever sight gauge so that you actually saw a liquid representation of fuel level - neat design but expensive.

http://www.facebook.com/Fuellevel

Resistance Level worked very well and was easy to understand  -  X Ohms Full - Y Ohms Empty

Simple

And then suddenly somebody decided to add alcohol -  to fuel -

Methanol and ethanol contain soluble and insoluble contaminants.[5] Halide ions, which are soluble contaminants, such as chloride ions, have a large effect on the corrosively of alcohol fuels. Halide ions increase corrosion in two ways: they chemically attack passivating oxide films on several metals causing pitting corrosion, and they increase the conductivity of the fuel. Increased electrical conductivity promotes electrical, galvanic and ordinary corrosion in the fuel system. Soluble contaminants such as aluminum hydroxide, itself a product of corrosion by halide ions, clogs the fuel system over time. To prevent corrosion the fuel system must be made of suitable materials, electrical wires must be properly insulated and the fuel level sensor must be of pulse and hold type (or similar). In addition, high quality alcohol should have a low concentration of contaminants and have a suitable corrosion inhibitor added.

So if you turn to any car chat blog (ANY CAR CHAT BLOG)  - Issues on failed fuel level sensors are driving OBD II cars to the shoulder.

So we need Smiths (Stewart Warner, VDO, Veglia)  to make Pulse and Hold fuel senders for us  - Easy fix

But not really

I have been working on a new non-contact fuel level sensor that I have the patent rights to utilize.

We are applying the sensor to aviation (aircraft, rotorcraft) - In aviation we don't have alcohol,  but we can't put wires in the tank - something about electricity and fuel

Aviation  requires - what cars - all cars using Alcohol mixed fuel need - A non contact fuel level sensor

I have my Morris Minor Smiths Sender above  and the Aviation Sender Unit Below

We use a new concept in our sender called Magnetoresistance - certain materials change resistance in the presence of a rotating magnetic field and they can do this from as far as 3/8" away actually from the dry side of the tank.

Most of us see this everyday in the compass on our smartphone

There is no pivot or contact resistance,  so the float can be smaller and the range can be larger (fuller fulls and emptier empties)

Picture below shows the little magnet next to the pivot pin

Neat thing is that the  output of this sensor  can mimic a resistive sensor - only issue is getting vehicle power to the sensor chip.

Hey if you find this interesting let me know

scott.philiben@ciescorp.com

SU Carburetor Woes

British Cars with SU Carburetors are alleged to be finicky

I don't know - i went for years without touching mine until they leaked fuel and air

So I sent them out to be bushed and rebuilt them

No issues

Well then I rebuilt the engine  - Yes lots of mods

Flowed Head, Manifold and Exhaust thanks to Sean Brown www.flowspeed.com

I believe I still need work on my rocker arm geometry - Winter Project or when I am bored or tomorrow

We did a lot of revised lightening/balancing of the reciprocating assembly (crank, flywheel, rods, pistons)  - the engine has no issue running 5000 rpm for extended periods. 60 miles for example

But I bolted my rebuilt carbs to this new motor -

Rich - even with the jets adjusted full up (H4 Carbs)

So started on leaner needles AO in my case -  the MGA lean needle

Better but not great

Asked the advice of an expert - someone who does this often

Removed the dashpots - Jets not even close to the bridge - We have a culprit

So I took out all my spare (junk) carb bodies and rebuilt the jet assemblies with parts at the lowest range of size to obtain the best result - I should have taken pictures - revised a few washer thicknesses to obtain exact match between (read sanded them on a surface plate)

Anyway - better - a little more tweaking but an overall better performance - leaner less loading on the plugs still with AO needles

I am working up to the In Car Video

Somewhere West of Laramie

It has been said that - LBC's are not good cross country vehicles.

And I agree that I have enjoyed the traditional sports car pass time -

The car seemed perfectly suited to drive from small midwest town to the next  - a real thrill and a chance to recover and walk around

But just like cross country on a motorcycle - a LBC can be a stunning way to see the West (USA)

The views are amazing - the air is  fresh - and the roads clear and the vista's large

Yes it can be uncomfortable, noisy  - but if every hour, you get out and stretch - take a few pictures
it can be more than fun

it may  even turn into an adventure -

I would have have been thrilled to drive this road in my twenties when the car was new to me - and it did feel like I was 20 yr old for a few hours

I am however recovering from the thought and action

Elva Courier Walk Around Video

Elva Courier Walk Around Video

Got the car out today