Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Ian. Did you keep the top half spring covers that came off your old front springs / shockers? They would be better fitted to your new ones. I don't see them on your new front build up. Are they there?

Alex.

Thanks Paddy

I did get the balance weights moved in board and they are not a problem.

As for the end float, hub wobble. My rear hubs were refurbished by Spyder with new bearings etc. when they fitted the 2.25ins springs, so i hope they are as good as they can be.

I reckon I can get about 1mm clearance from chamfering the bolts as you suggest. If that is enough then I am good.

Alex, I did not have any on my old front springs. They were in poor shape. I bought new protech fronts from Spyder at the same time as the above. They were fitted as supplied as I thought they would be ok.

Ian

OK ..Keep me posted re O1..

Talk soon...

Al' ....

Alex

Just spoke to Susan at O1. Ready in 2-3 weeks, just about to start painting.

Ian

Major Update

Finally got my bodyshell back from Option 1. Took my chassis on a trailer from the North of Scotland to Bromsgrove and left it there for a day for Frank and his boys to mount the body on my chassis well enough for the journey North.

Really happy with the colour choice, looks amazing. Very expensive though , even more so than I thought and I always over-estimate when it comes to cost. I was told it would take 12 weeks, it actually took 24! Frank says he is going to source me a new drivers door window frame as he is not happy with the fit of the one I have, he could not get it quite right.

Really nervous driving the whole thing back up North due to the expense of it all, but I made it incident free.

The car will have to sit in my garage for a few months now before I can work on it. For two reasons. 1. Just about to change jobs and need to get my feet under the table at my new place of work. 2. Am massively in the doghouse with Mrs SS at the cost of it all. The figure I told her was 75% of the actual cost. Not allowed to spend any more on the Lotus for a good while. Guess who wears the trousers in my house?

Now I am worried about how the body is sitting on my chassis. It is only a temporary fit at the moment. However it seems really high at the back. Ok, there is no petrol tank or weight in the back but I would expect it to sit lower. The suspension seems very stiff at the back and I don't think it will compress that much with the full normal weight of the car. What do you guys think looking at the photos? What can I do about it?

Take a look at my updated photos below fellas?!

Ian

Looks great Ian.

Adjustable rear spring heights? Lower the platforms a bit for now. It will all be fine.

I had Revo's on my +2 s130 and they had a spacer behind the wheel to give correct offset. Not sure about the Elan but?

Brings back LOTS of memories bud.. Don't worry too much about the height for now the driveshafts will take it ok. Try slackening off all the wishbone bush nuts too. Back and front for now and take a note! Place it in prominent position saying same.

Bet you can't wait to get it going eh? Well done. Tel the mrs to give us a call and I will put Carol onto her. She will calm here down. Tell her that the elan is WAY better than money in the bank at .5% .... !!!!!

Al' ....

Fellas

I'm back. Really sorry but had to take almost a year's sabbatical from my Elan re-build due to undergoing a career crisis. This time last year I was working in N. Ireland and getting home to North Scotland every second weekend or so. I found it really tough and thought the thing to do would be to change jobs. What a really bad decision! In March last year I started with a small Marine Electronics company in Aberdeen. Bought a tiny flat in the city that needs modernisation to work from during the week, as Aberdeen is 80 miles or so from my home in Forres. To cut a long story short the company made me certain promises that they didn't deliver on. Financially I went from being quite happy to struggling in fairly short order. Although I was getting home nearly every weekend I just did not have enough spare cash not only for my Lotus but also for everything else. Since the summer I have been trying to get a better job. At age 51 I was starting to get the feeling I was too old to re-invent myself! I was getting nowhere.

Anyway I am now sorted. Everything nowadays seems to go through job agencies which I have had such a bad experience with. Anyway a chance meeting with a former RAF colleague has led to a job offer with a bigger successful company in Aberdeen with a good financial package and I am back on track, I am happy to say!

Now full of hope again for the future I am able to turn my attention back to my Lotus which has been waiting forlornly in my garage for my attention! I am back in the saddle! Alex B if you are listening I need to pick your brains again on how to permanently mount my body onto the chassis.

Happy to be back and to hear about whats going on in the Elan world.
Ian