matts elf project

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well i hope the images above have worked if they havent could someone please give me advise on what to do as im not very good at these things

well here is my 1969 riley elf i have owend this for a few months now and intend to restore it over the year ready for when i can drive i am going to try and do as much work as i can my self by the guidencs of my dad but there will be some things that will be left for my dad like the respraying and weilding but other than that i hopefully can do the rest this car was an unfinished project origonalyand i do have all the bits to complete it but we want to do it again properly so it hopfully looks amazing and will give me experience working on cars beceause next september i hopfully want to train to be an mechanic i have already striped all the interior there are no bad holes on one in the side of the car there is though and thats it there is very little rust as it has been restord about 15 years ago to a good standard i dont wish to restore this as a classic origonal because its been changed to much to be onrigonal e.g it has dry suspension insted of the unreliable hydro elastic and also it has a 1275 metro engine with lcb manifold and stright through exhaust and other little monifications but we dont know how bad that engine is on the inside so we have recently braught a 1300 metro engine that i will be putting in it just to make it hop along a bit faster and i also plan to put disk breakes on the front and will be spreaying it old english whit with a black roof with metal fake init i cant wait till its finished i will keep you posted on progress

Car looks likes like a nice project, 1300 engine should be spritely.

Love the alloy wheels.

Where are you in devon?

looks great - good luck with it

thanks people

i live in bishopsteignton near newton abbot

i like the wheels to but im thinking of puttin some 10x6 revolutions on it.

Fair enough, let me know if you end up selling yours as I might be interested and I'm only in Lyme Regis.

hornetob wrote:Fair enough, let me know if you end up selling yours as I might be interested and I'm only in Lyme Regis.

yh defenetly i really do hope i dont have to sell her for at least a few years yet but if i do i will let you know i see yours has a very nice supercharger? i think its urs anyway how much did that cost and was it hard to fit? urs looks really nice have you lowerd urs at all just ur wheels look close to the top of the arches?

Sorry, I meant the wheels. I've got enough work with my own project!

Yeah the supercharger kit was something I designed and manufactured last year.

It was lots of work and I have posted some pics on the projects page.

It is lowered on koni adjustables and hi-lo front suspension, the front has 1" cut out to enable it to be 'properly' low.

hornetob wrote:Sorry, I meant the wheels. I've got enough work with my own project!

Yeah the supercharger kit was something I designed and manufactured last year.

It was lots of work and I have posted some pics on the projects page.

It is lowered on koni adjustables and hi-lo front suspension, the front has 1" cut out to enable it to be 'properly' low.

that kit must of took alot of thought and enginearing looks really go tho how much did cost to make and how long did it take ?

oh right well i probably will get round to selling those wheels once ther cleand up a bit but i also have 2 extra spear ones so there i have 6 altogeter

i would love to lower mine i just thing it looks better when you have 10inch wheels

hey just a few more pictures of the progress we have no rolled it on its side so we can replace both sils and grind back old underseal to put fresh on heres a few more pics with my dad in some of the back grounds lol

getting there - keep it up!

thanks will do

Hello again,

Looks like you are making good progress, keep up the good work.

hey again,
progress has been really really slow i havent really touched the car in months apart from taking the near side sill off but apart from that iv done nothing, because there has been my dads other project in the garage, his boat :L but in about 2 weeks thats coming out and i can carry on once i can start again im going to be rubbing it down and preparing for respray. but i have a problem i dont know what colour to choose, i know iam going to be having a black roof, arches and wheels etc. but i dont know weather to spreay the body in old english white or demask red what do you think il put some more random pics up that arnt in order lol but should make this thread more exciting to look at


a pic of my car back in its day


future plans lol


engine out


on its side


elf with bike


on stand


i like this one

hey again iv been pushing on with the project now and will put pics up soon but i have a bit of a problem the lip at the front and back of my elf were the bumper sits has completly rotted away it might take some rebuilding but as my elf wont be origonal im seriously thinking of de bumpering it would love it if any of you have pics of a de bumperd elf but i dout it but would love to hear your thoughts thanks matt

il let the pictures do the talking
right hand sill











left hand sill










so many layers lol



restoring radius arms









new suspension




under side nearly done




still got more pictures to upload soon were rebuilding the rear valance and still have some more bits of weilding to do but only about another full hard days work and the should be ready for the body work stage i hope thanks for looking.

So it wasn't restored to quite the standard you thought it was?

Did you learn to weld as you went along, or did you leave it all to dad? My son has, as part of his Capri restoration - yes, I can do it all for him quicker and perhaps better, but he's learned a valuable skill in the process.

I like the heavy-duty reinforcement on the subby mounts - never thought of that but it makes a lot of sense. And nice coily springs!

Looks like the car is coming on well now. Will be interesting to see it finished. My Mini's debumpered, never seen an Elf that way but as long as your valance is spot on it should look OK. Certainly solves the problem of rechroming the bumpers...

chuff me, you've done very well - looking fab - keep up the good work

yes i have been learning how to weld but my dad has done most the work as he wants it done quite quickly as he has had to put he other projects on hold while the elf is in the garage. well bit of an update you guys will probly hate me for this but as my elf wasnt perfect i thought id be a bit diffrent and i have gone ahead and debumpred my elf and personaly it looks great i will post pics up as soon as i can would like to see what you think

wish i had the space you got there.
the suspension looks great no more rubber cones.

i know thank you i am rather lucky to have so much space

more pictures


mock up


front end de bumperd


rear valance finished and weilded on




first skim of filler






would like to here what you think of it so far

Progress coming on well i think the de bumpered will look good, saves alot of money an hassle trying to find good bumpers

Saves a hell of a lot of time cleaning and polishing,believe me !
BTW Although I like to see most classics in their original state I do think yours will look good when finished
Keep the photos coming!

thanks for the comments people always like to here what you think : havnt done anythink this week iv been il but plan to do lots over the bank holiday il put pics later on in the week.

TONYELF wrote:Saves a hell of a lot of time cleaning and polishing,believe me !
BTW Although I like to see most classics in their original state I do think yours will look good when finished
Keep the photos coming!

This is quite "period" modification. Why not? Just keep it "period" looking with the paint, wheels and upholstary and it will be a very nice classic.

thats the plan to keep it slightly period im keeping the origonal old english white with gloss black roof ( at least i think its origonal ? )but with added metal flake. wood and picked wheel arches, 6x10 ultralights,cobra classic bucket seats,origonal reconditioned back seats, modifyed 1300 metro engine, coil spring suspension with 1.5 negative camber allround and with metro 7.5 disks on the front