spax problems

[kerryblu]

hi all,
painted the chassis and the suspension,started to put it back together again when I noticed that the P.O. put the two large rubber bushes on top of the chassis tower and the two small rubber bushes on the bottem ,but I saw a gap between the top of the inside of the tower from nothing on the inside to 3/16 on the out side. Should it be one large rubber bush on the inside and one on the out ? or is it that they lost the washers that the workshop manual tells us not to lose? if so what do they look like? They must have replaced the old dampers with spax ones.
Hope someone can help.

Gerald.


S4 70 DHC

[oldelanman]

Hi Gerald,
I don't quite understand from your description what the problem is - are you talking about the front suspension damper top mount ? If so it sounds like your top mount is assembled wrongly. The diagram in the workshop manual shows the original setup which was a large rubber bush below the chassis and a smaller one above with bell shaped cup washers to centralise the damper shaft through the hole. These are the washers which the manual tells you not to lose! Replacement dampers may use different mounting arrangements and I do not know what the Spax system is but my TTR replacements use a large washer and large rubber bush both below and above the chassis, the damper shaft is centralised by a step on the rubber bushes and no cup washers are used. Perhaps if you post up a picture of what you have you will get some more specific advice.

Best regards,

[kerryblu]

Hi Roger.
yes you were right it was the front suspension that I meant. When the Spax unit is fitted to the top mount and the bottom wishbone theres a wedge shape gap between the top mount and the Spax unit top, I surpose if a large rubber bush was fitted there that would take up the incorrect gap.I'll try that tomorrow.
Just one other thing, I bought the car with a new front put on it, so no holes are drilled in it, the ? is where dose the servo go?I can't find the 3 holes for the servo bracket.

with thanks,

Gerald.

S4 70 DHC.

[oldelanman]

Hi Gerald,
The damper will only be at right angles to the top mount when the suspension is at normal ride height so you would expect to see a wedge shaped gap when you assemble it as the suspension is on full hang. The rubber mounts will accommodate this. Don't forget that the suspension hardware should be torqued with the car on the ground at normal ride height.

The servo mounts on the LHS inner wing. See attached pics.

Regards,

[kerryblu]

Hi Roger, thanks for the info, and the pics (we sill haven't worked out how to send them yet but will keep trying), in your pics theres abracket between the relayes could you let me know if they are for the rad,if not how is the rad fixed,& what are all the relayes for?finale what holds the bonnet down I here theres a spring somewhere.

with regards Gerald


and thanks again.

[oldelanman]

Hi Gerald,

The relays are for the air horns, headlamp flash , main beam and dipped beam.

The diagonal bracket in the pic is the support for the bonnet hinge and is bolted to the body mount at it's lower end, the radiator attaches to the two small right angled brackets - the upper one bolted to the diagonal bracket and the lower one attached directly to the body. In the picture they are loose assembled so not at the correct angle.

The bonnet is held down at the front end by a large spring which attaches to the steering rack at the lower end and to a hook on the bonnet at the top.

To post up pictures........at the bottom of the page when you are composing a post there is an area headed "upload attachment" Simply click on the BROWSE button and find the picture you want from your files, double click on it and then click on the ADD THE FILE button. Be aware that there is a size limit on what you can attach so you may have to resize the picture to make it work. Keep trying !

Regards,

[kerryblu]

Hi Roger,
I sorted out how the bracket fixes to the bobbin and how the swivel part fixes to the rad.,but should there be an angle bracket at the bottom of the rad fixing it to the body?Also do all S4's have all 4 relays? cause none came in the boxes that came with the car, only one red round one. I see your air horns but I can,t quite make out where they fit or the motor for them. There are 2 bobbins on the rad tray what fixes to them?
Sorry for all the questions

regards Gerald.

[oldelanman]

Hi Gerald,

but should there be an angle bracket at the bottom of the rad fixing it to the body?

Yes - as I said in my previous post. Have a closer look at the picture, the lower bracket is shown but as I said it's loose assembled so not at the correct angle.

Also do all S4's have all 4 relays?

No - if the car did not have air horns (which I believe were optional) then there would only have been three. Also the headlamp flash function may have been deleted by your PO as it was never very practical and is probably now illegal anyway so you may be down to two. I've never come across a round red relay. The wiring diagram in your workshop manual shows all the relays.

I see your air horns but I can,t quite make out where they fit or the motor for them.

I don't know where the "correct" location is for the air horns - I have mounted mine on a bracket I made which attaches to the two front body/chassis bolts, it also carries the wiring loom, vac pipe and brake pipes that run across the front of the car. The compressor is mounted on the front of the LHS radiator side plate. See attached pic.

There are 2 bobbins on the rad tray what fixes to them?

No idea.

Hope this helps.
Best regards,

[kerryblu]

Hi Roger.
Yes that was very helpful, it gives me more confidence especially the pics(I've just clicked on to them which made them much bigger) didn't know about that before.Just one more ? I promise, the air filter down by the grill the W/M showes a L shaped bracket and fixings on the end of each air in take,but where dose it all bolt down to?.

hope its not to much to ask,

Gerald.

S4 70 DHC.

[oldelanman]

Hi Gerald,

The air cleaner mounts on it's side in the nose and bolts direct to the fibreglass. The exact position is not critical and I suspect there were no two the same. On mine the bracket on the intake trumpet is more or less in the centre of the car and the cleaner body is more or less at right angles to the centre line of the car. I would fit the headlamp vacuum actuator first, before you position the cleaner, or you could be drilling two sets of holes!

Regards,

[summerinmaine]

Odd about the servo position. On my 1965 S2 (recently sold) the servo was mounted back near the heater control valve, into a couple of bobbins in the wing. I've always assumed that the servo was installed as a factory option, so I wonder when and why Lotus changed the position?

[richard sprint]

Oldelanman - must compliment you on the standard of finish within the engine bay - first class!

[kerryblu]

Hi,
thanks all for the info, helped a lot, especially Roger.This is the problem with buying a car in boxes, you don't know where anything fits.Now the next problem is on the bulkhead where dose the temperature water & oil pipes, choke , heater pipes,speedo cable,etc go though there respective holes?

again thank you for all your help.

Gerald

S4 70 DHC.

[oldelanman]

Oldelanman - must compliment you on the standard of finish within the engine bay - first class!

Thanks very much. I appreciate your comment.

[oldelanman]

Gerald,

The attached pic may help identify where things pass through the bulkhead......

On RHS (drivers side) in relation to the solenoid, clockwise from the top you have - choke cable, oil pressure pipe, speedo cable. The heater hose comes though lower down on the front face of the footwell immediately above the steering column hole.

On LHS (passenger side) in relation to the control box, clockwise from the top you have - windscreen washer pipe, water temperature sender (large hole to get sender bulb through), heater hose, ammeter wires, heater control cable, wiring loom, battery +ve cable. The two vacuum pipes for the headlamp raise/lower come through lower down on the front face of the footwell.

Not sure if any of this is "standard" but that's how mine is put together.

Regards,

Edit: Looking at Gary's sketch in the link Brian posted I realised I'd left out the ammeter cables and heater control cable from my list..oops must try harder.