Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Yep saw the picture. Thanks for everything you have been a great help Alex. I am away from home for a bit as from today so work stops for a bit. After cleaning and spraying the wishbones i will be assembling as you have described.

A couple of more questions AB? What did you use to screw up the spring seats to your desired ride height once assembled. Are there special keys that I should buy. They must be hard to budge when there is increasing spring tension on?

Was planning to use epoxy mastic 2 pack in black for the wishbones, what does anyone reckon?

Oooh AB Lago di Garda is a favourite of mine I had a couple of summer seasons working in the Arena di Verona 01-02. I also used to work for the McLaren F1 team and Monza was one of my favourite races . A couple of family holidays to Peschiera too. I would love to take Mrs SS back there in the Elan one day.

Stay tuned!
Ian

Oooh AB Lago di Garda is a favourite of mine I had a couple of summer seasons working in the Arena di Verona 01-02. I also used to work for the McLaren F1 team and Monza was one of my favourite races . A couple of family holidays to Peschiera too. I would love to take Mrs SS back there in the Elan one day.

Stay tuned!
Ian

EH!!! Whit?? ... McLaren!! I hear the words Eggs, Grannie and sucking ringing in my ears!!.... Struth! ....

Blimey.. Should have told us that at the start....

Garda?? Yes it is nice... '' I would love to take Mrs SS back there in the Elan one day''....... Make a point of doing just that then. You will not regret that trip..

Back to work now.. You should need a 'C' spanner. Measure the diameter of the nuts and buy a C spanner that fits. They normaly go from 20-30 ..30 -40 etc for EG.... Not difficult to find. The nuts move ok with load on. make sure you give them a small amount of oil 1st.

Al' .....

Ian, I just contacted Tony Thompson Racing to ask if I should be using a pair of bump stops per side, or just one pair per car. They assured me that a pair per car, or one each side is what they recommend. So, why did you install two per side? Just curious if I am missing something, and what is the benefit of two per side. Thanks. Dan

TT bump stops were what I fitted. 1 per side. As per the man's instructions. I would think two per side might limit the suspension travel somewhat. Could well be wrong though. The original(s) were unusable. with one AWOL and the other about to do the same. Just time expired I expect. What I call 'age wear'.

Have fun now.

AB...

Thanks Alex. Do you recall which way they were positioned, flat side down or up?

Dan

Dan, Alex
I was bemused by two bump stops per side too. But that is what Spyder supplied me. I will phone them and check. At the moment I can easily take one each leg off then I will have a set spare if anyone needs.

As for my McLaren days it was not as glam as it sounds I assure you. I operated a radar system for them to let them know where and when it would rain on the circuit between 2003-8. It all went belly up for me when they changed the F1 rules in 08. Now all teams use the same weather info from Meteo France. Had to get a real job again

My experience there gave me no benefits in Elan restoration skills. Hence all my silly questions.

Ian

You weren't one of the nice guys who would often give me radar cover (cloudbreak) when going into Inverness IFR were you?

Were you Met' or radar? Or both? Just in case... Thanks...

I kinda gathered it was something different... Very interesting job though all the same.

Keep the questions coming Ian.

Al' ........

Not me Alex

My rad op experience comes from Nimrods. I blagged it into McLaren but it worked really well. Are you a PPL? I used to be too. Getting married soon put a stop to all that! (And all the other )

Ian

Hi ian,

Yes. Did the PPL at Perth 1983.. I just kept going then and did all the ratings possible just about before starting the Commercial. Had all the flying done but struggled with some of the exams. Performance A!! Heard of that? Stinker of a paper. Never ever got it finished. Was studying for that when Heart problem stopped play & game over. At the time I was a part owner of a Grumman American AA5.. G-BASG.. Went everywhere in it. Nearly 400 hrs.

Selling my share was a real wrench I can tell you. Difficult!!

Hey ho....

Al'.....

Chaps

Just spoke to Sean at Spyder. He says that my 2.25ins spring conversion was supplied correctly with 2 bump stops per side. The top one with taper pointing up and the bottom with taper pointing down so in effect they form a rugby ball shape. As per my photo following the link below.
For anyone that has older type Spyder wishbones like me the bracket that would fit the anti roll bar (rear) is uppermost. Although modern wishbones don't have this bracket as they decided that the rear roll bar was not required. Does anyone have opinions/experiences regarding this?
About to spray said wishbones and this weekend may try to assemble rear suspension.

Alex I trained also in 1983 at Coventry. Later did my IMC and night ratings. As I said I am a settler up here. When/if Scotland votes for independence and the ethnic cleansing starts may have to pack my belongings into the Elan and head for the hills and join other partisans to fight for the Union

Ian

Looking at the combined length of them (2) they look to be about the same as the 1 pc items I got from TTR.. So ..Go ahead and fit them. They will be spot on,those guys seldom advise one wrongly.

Good luck...

AB...

Ian,

What paint did you use to get the nice finish on your diff.casing and rear bearing housings?

Andrew

Hi Andrew

It is called Rustbuster Epoxy Mastic 121 from www.rust.co.uk and the colour is Aluminium. I am using the same but black for the wishbones.
It is two pack paint which is paint mixed one to one with hardener and slightly thinned.

I am pleased with the result so far though it remains to be seen how hard wearing it is when the car is useable!

Ian

Ian, If you could measure the length of your two bump stops, I'd be curious. I can measure mine when I get home, but appear to be the same size as yours. Cheers, Dan

Dan

Dimensions of one of four identical bump stops are 45mm in length and 50mm diameter at the base. There is a logo on the side by the name of "Spax"

Hope that helps
Ian.