From Fred Opert Racing. Now there is a name from the past.

Really great to get all that info.

Mack

Wow, that's a really cool find!

Very cool historical find.

If that ALFA is still there, I'll give him $600 for it.

By the way, Fred Opert is still there in Ramsey. It's basically a high-end used car dealer these days.

I've got the VIN on hand, I'll tell him my grandfather brought it in for service and forgot

I saw the dealership still exists, very cool. I wonder how good their record-keeping was in the early days...did dealerships ever keep photos of cars they had in stock?

It's my first update is a very long time, but an exciting one!

Bodywork continues on the Elva, with the inner fender installed on the left side, the left headlight bucket and bumperette area rebuilt, the left rocker panel rebuilt, the left pedal box rebuilt, and some extra "clearance" work done to the firewall to leave plenty of room around the Ford cylinder head.

Her face is looking more complete!


Some shots of the bumperette/headlight area:



The inner fender is feeling more at home!




Roughed out rocker panel:


The pedal box/firewall area, complete with custom catch bottle



Inside the pedal box, all new:


I'm collecting engine and gearbox parts as well which I hope to start building up while the bodywork continues! If anyone has a steel Ford 1500 crank, aluminum or lightweight steel flywheel, and/or a good used 5-port dry sump pump for a 1500 pre-crossflow, please let me know!

Another small but exciting update! The left front fender has been revived!

The front of the rocker has been mostly re-formed as well, and a bit more progress was made on the front bumperette:


We also have the area around the door hinge almost completely rebuilt, with only a couple small patches left!


My hope is to remove the various aluminum patches from the rear firewall tomorrow so we can make it one smooth fiberglass piece, and it sounds like I might get my first chance to do some fiberglass of my own!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Got a bit more work done on the Courier today, although I didn't get to the fiberglass like I'd hoped. Looks like that will be tomorrow.

When I arrived, I discovered some progress around the front fender, door hinge, and rear of the door opening:




The hinge bolts are now welded in, which should make installation and removal a lot more possible in the future.

Today I removed all the dumb aluminum panels which had been installed to cover various holes and breaks in the fiberglass on the rear firewall and transmission tunnel:




It appears "grab the scrap aluminum" was the go-to fix for some previous owner...

Tomorrow should be fiberglass day! I think I'll be working on gluing the inner fender to the outer one, but we will see.

Another update!

Today was my first experience with fiberglass, something I feel is almost prerequisite to working with vintage British race cars. I focused on the area inside the left front fender, attaching the inner fender to the outer. I took a few "before" pictures as a point of comparison:




I also did some small smoothing out of the area between the hood and the headlight:



Here are the results of about three hours' work:





This picture is the rear of the fender well, it's kind of hard to tell by itself:

This is the small patch made just in front of the suspension tower:


I forgot the "after" pictures of the outside, but I'll get those sometime soon!

I was pretty happy with my first effort, with only one air pocket and minimal sloppiness. The most important thing I learned? More gloves = less sadness.

Not an update per se, but some exciting finds!

First, I found a good used Titan 5-port dry sump oil pump:



I also found an awesome std/std forged 6-bolt crankshaft, good for 8,000rpm (more than I'll use, of course)!



And I took some time after work to clear a bench and get ready to assemble my gearbox with Dad! I have a few parts there now, with a bunch more to move:

Time for another update! I was able to remove the rear axle housing from the car and bring it back to the shop:



I wiped it off and removed the brake drums (with a screwdriver and a hammer) to see what things looked like:





Both drums were pretty rusty and one of the slave cylinders was leaking, but the shoes are probably passable. I decided to sandblast the drums to remove the rust and check for cracks:



Good thing I did:


Luckily we have a spare drum around here somewhere.

With the drums off, I slid the axles out some and removed the ring and pinion:



10-year-old gear oil is pretty interesting stuff!
Turns out I have a 4.22 welded rear! Guess I'd better try to find some footage of Mark Donohue!



I also got a box filled with the Courier's old front suspension pieces!

A whole front end assembly plus half the steering column and a spare lower control arm. I immediately removed all the bushings and got ready for the sand blaster:

Looking better!

Finally, I got a few coats of paint on everything and it's ready for new bushings and assembly!


I've got both front uprights (which will have to be crack tested) and the one surviving front coilover to use as a reference!


I'm getting excited!