Rear lights

[triumphelan]

I have a S4 DHC and the rear lights seem to be knackered,I have difficultity getting the bulb to stay connected in it`s socket,I have to use bits of thin wood to wedge them in .
Can I get spares? what is the donor car?
Regards John

[BillGavin]

The S4 lamp unit (or similar) was fitted to contemporary Jags
and Alfas. Replacement bulb sockets are frequently available
on the small parts rack at local auto parts stores. A temporary
repair can be made with a pair of pliers by carefully squeezing
the sides socket across the slots for the bulb retaining pins.

At 02:21 AM 12/5/2003, you wrote:

[kandmpc]

Vehicle Wiring Products (0115 9305454) sell a range of bulb holders
that may be of use.

Ken

[jopalm]

On Thu, 2003-12-04 at 23:21, John Harrison wrote:

For replacement bulb holders try:

www.britishwiring.com

Regards,
-John

[frearther]

My long, long rebuilding project has gotten to the rear suspension on my
S2. The old wishbones were pretzeled by autocrossing, so I got new ones
with adjustable inner ends (Bean/RD? - I can't recall and am too lazy to
look it up right now). Also have changed to CV rear end and changed
rotors.
In assembling all this, I find that the rotors contact the wishbones
on full droop; this leaves me wondering if they'll simply chew through
the suspension bits if I hit a big bump in anger and take flight. I
don't remember if the interference was there with the original bits
(they've been off so long that I've forgotten).
Anyone else notice this? Should I be thinking about limit straps to
keep the sharp-cornered new rotors away from the expensive new
wishbones? Has this been done?
All advice accepted graciously.

Art
26/4934

--
Arther H. Frederick
Initial Reaction
Embroidered apparel and monogramming
3869 Route 66, Chatham Centre
Valatie, NY 12184
518-392-4287
***@***.***

[saarhus]

Art,

Where do the rotors contact the wishbone? I'd guess against the the fore/aft strut of the wishbone?? Do your replacement wishbones have rod end joints on both the inner and outer joints? If the outers are rod end jointed, check that the distance form the center line of the rod ends to the center of the fore/aft wishbone strut is close to the same as the standard wishbone. If the rod end joint is screwed too far out it could bring the rotor into contact with the fore/aft wishbone strut.

If the above is ok, you might want to check that the droop with the new CV shafts is rougnly the same as a stardard suspension. If its greater, there are potentially two problems. First, some CVs can only operate within a specific angular displacement. Greater droop angle could make your balls fall out (ouch). Second would be the problem you initially described. The solution in either case would be to create a droop limiting device, probably from aircraft cableIf. HTH.

Cheers!

Stan A


Subject: [LotusElan.net] Rear limit strap?


My long, long rebuilding project has gotten to the rear suspension on my
S2. The old wishbones were pretzeled by autocrossing, so I got new ones
with adjustable inner ends (Bean/RD? - I can't recall and am too lazy to
look it up right now). Also have changed to CV rear end and changed
rotors.
In assembling all this, I find that the rotors contact the wishbones
on full droop; this leaves me wondering if they'll simply chew through
the suspension bits if I hit a big bump in anger and take flight. I
don't remember if the interference was there with the original bits
(they've been off so long that I've forgotten).
Anyone else notice this? Should I be thinking about limit straps to
keep the sharp-cornered new rotors away from the expensive new
wishbones? Has this been done?
All advice accepted graciously.

Art
26/4934

--
Arther H. Frederick
Initial Reaction
Embroidered apparel and monogramming
3869 Route 66, Chatham Centre
Valatie, NY 12184
518-392-4287
***@***.***

[BillGavin]

I have stock wishbones on my S2 and they don't hit the rotors, nor did the
adjustable wishbones I used to use. My car also used to be an autocrosser
so the rear Konis may have been shortened to limit the travel.

The stock rotoflex joints act as travel limiters, as you have to 'bend' them
to move the suspension up and down.

I'd contact the vendor and ask about it. If that's the way they're supposedto
be, I'd definitely limit the suspension travel. I've seen nylon web straps,
steel
cables, and even chain used with success: I'd prefer the webbing to cushion
the stop. Formula Vee race cars often use a neat rebound stop that has a
built in rubber cushion. If there's room for one, it'd be a slick solution.

BTW: If the arms aren't built wrong, that much travel is probably putting
your CV joints out of their safe operating range. Don't run the car on
jack stands with the rear suspension drooping like that - you'll probably
rip the boots, and maybe damage the CVs.

- Bill

At 10:40 AM 12/10/2003, you wrote:

[The Cyclist]

Dear fellow S3 owners

I am a slightly worried man. I still have the original one piece Vauxhall rear lights on my car in good condition. I am told if anything happens to them there are no spares anywhere. Anyhow I have been wondering if it's possibe to make a mould from a lens (Possibly a surround too) & then resin cast some spares, in case of need. My memory is that there was a commercial kit to do this a few years ago that now seems to be unobtainable. www.CFSnet.co.uk however seem to have the necessary stuff, albeit clear resin only so it may be feasible.

I have two questions:
1: Has anyone else tried this?
2: Has anyone got a lens I could borrow for casting purposes? There is a glued in reflective sheet behind the reflector which I would need to remove to make a cast & I was hoping somebody already had one where this had come off &/or which had been cracked/broken, but was repairable in shape only.

Obviously if this works I'll make some extras, but don't send me orders, I'm just working on the feasibility.

Geoff

[elansprint71]

Geoff,
There were a pair of these on e-bay a couple of weeks ago selling for around 20 pounds in good condition! Keep looking every week and track the Vauxhall sites, rather than Lotus- did Opel sell a similar car too, and what about Holden? I have sourced several shared parts for my S4 Sprint from the clubs of the donor car. Making your own sounds like hard work.

Good luck,
Pete
----- Original Message -----
From: Geoff Searle
To: Lotus Elan
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 8:03 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] S3 Rear Lights


Dear fellow S3 owners

I am a slightly worried man. I still have the original one piece Vauxhallrear lights on my car in good condition. I am told if anything happens to them there are no spares anywhere. Anyhow I have been wondering if it's possibe to make a mould from a lens (Possibly a surround too) & then resin cast some spares, in case of need. My memory is that there was a commercial kit to do this a few years ago that now seems to be unobtainable. www.CFSnet.co.uk however seem to have the necessary stuff, albeit clear resin only so it may be feasible.

I have two questions:
1: Has anyone else tried this?
2: Has anyone got a lens I could borrow for casting purposes? There is a glued in reflective sheet behind the reflector which I would need to removeto make a cast & I was hoping somebody already had one where this had comeoff &/or which had been cracked/broken, but was repairable in shape only.

Obviously if this works I'll make some extras, but don't send me orders, I'm just working on the feasibility.

Geoff

[Fred Talmadge]

I haven't had the need (yet) but I saw a demo making a red plastic
taillight lens and a pot metal hood oranament and it look very
promising. http://home.sprynet.com/~gridge/

Fred T


At 08:03 PM 12/30/2003 +0000, Geoff Searle wrote:

[Unibrain]

Fred Talmadge wrote:


I've made a couple of small parts with a similar kit. See
http://www.unibrain.org/motorsports/ela ... ry/casting for pictures of
my first try.

While the process is fairly straight forward for a single sided mold,
the rather complex two sided mold for a taillight would be difficult to
make. On top of that, I've read it is hard to get the clear compound to
form without bubbles.

I wanted to replace my cracked lenses with "new". I watched the
auctions and dealer sites for a year until I found a pair of NOS red
lenses for sale. I'm still looking for the amber portion, although mine
are still serviceable.

BTW, I've totally redone my elan restoration web site to make it easier
for me to update. I'm sure there are some broken links hiding out. If
you find any let me know.

--
Jim
www.unibrain.org

[elancoupe]

This doesn't directly relate to this topic, but..... I have brand new set of
NOS S2-3 lights, still in the box. Anyone looking to finish off a resto
with new ones could contact me off list. Price is a ? at this point.

Mike B

[Fred Talmadge]

Bubbles were a problem during the demo as well. He used a vaccum pump to
pull the air out of the silicone. He also uses the original part as a mold
and I guess as all demos do, made it look a lot easier than it probably
really is.

Fred T

At 05:20 PM 12/30/2003 -0800, Jim Boone wrote:

[ddddumas]

--- In ***@***.***, "Geoff Searle" <gf.searle@t...>
wrote:

them there are no spares anywhere."
-------------------
On a related issue: several of the S2/S3 mounting studs for my
taillights are broken off. The studs are miniature versions
of "carriage bolts" with a locking square shank between the screw
threads and the head. Does anyone know where to buy these screws?
Thanks,
Paul G.

[Billmack]

Re the studs for light units:
Those studs are common to other lucas light units like mgb tail lights and
can easily be poached from them or others.
Bill Mack