Door assembly 68 +2

[wotsisname]

I will hopefully move on to door assembly and fitting in the near future.
Any advice or tips ?
Is it best to assemble the door (or part of) off the car ?

I have a pair of replacement channels for the quarter lights..(I have had a while so don't currently remember the source) One of mine was completely rotten, the other is useful to see how it fits, but no more. The replacements look like they will require quite a bit of reshaping... Has anyone recently replaced theirs ..did you find a pair that just fitted straight in ?


so far I've found this description of fitting the seals
https://lotusmarques.com/info/knowledge ... ather-seal


regards
Adrian

[Bud English]

Adrian- this should cover all your questions. https://lotuselan.net/wiki/Lotus_Elan_P ... r_Overhaul

Note: I had a copy of this on my computer but didn't want to post it without kudos to the person that compiled it. The only way I could find it on the forum was to search for the great quote at the end. The original poster isn't given credit in the WIKI, but should be!

[Bigbaldybloke]

Perfect timing of this question, my next major task is also the rebuild and refitting of the doors. Both doors are currently bare with nothing in them at all and they are currently in the spare bedroom!
I too would be really interested in the pros and cons of reassembling them on the bench or fitting the door to the car then building up everything into the door.
The link supplied above is a great help and is on the printer now, but on first quick read through it didn’t appear to give advice on the question of where to reassemble the door.
Actual experience from people who have tried the two options would be really useful.

[jono]

I fitted the door shells and then built them up on the car.

I can't recall the reason I decided to do it that way but one good reason, with the benefit of the experience, is the frames needed numerous cycles of 'shimming' to get the frames to sit correctly in the door apertures when closed and having the shells fitted first made the 'trial' frame fitting much easier. Moreover it provided a means of holding the doors insitu as you built them up.

I recall the door building and adjustment being one of the more challenging and time consuming parts of my own build - it certainly requires patience and the dexetrity of a gynecologist to get it right.

Be aware that the door droop will change as you add the glass, motors and other bits so be ready to re shim the hinges as well. I fitted bronze bushed to my door hinges as I found the original re purposed trunnion bushes too soft.

[p.faurie]

Don't wish to hijack the thread, but where can you get bronze bushes from as I need to replace my ones
Regarding fitting up the door,I would recommend fitting the shell first,then fit up,the weight of a fully fitted door is quite heavy and would need two people in my opinion.

Phil

[Bigbaldybloke]

Thanks for the tip Phil, I’m also going to be looking for bronze bushes

[jono]

I had a mate turn up the bushes - looked for oilite but could not find the right size bar stock at the time.

Phosphor bronze did the job nicely.

[mikealdren]

Hi Jono,
I have a similarly useful mate but I've just measured up my hinges and the surface finish is very rough machined and they vary in internal diameter. Nylon bushes will easily take up this difference but bronze is much less forgiving. Did you get them machined 'to fit' each part. My hinge pins are new, stainless items and they have accurate diameters and a fine surface finish.

Mike

[jono]

Hi Mike,

Ian is a very old school engineer - ex instrument maker, electronics, mechanical, optical and everything in between so he was anal and would have made each bush to fit and them reamed it to the part of the shaft it was to run on. I was so lucky to have him on board during my restoration.

I no longer have the car but they worked beautifully up to the time it was passed on. I tried the trunnion bushes but the doors drooped and the bush wanted to extrude so for me they were a no go.

PS: mine were the original hinge pins.

[Bigbaldybloke]

ok, I have a lathe so need to procure some bronze bar to make them from, shound be simple enough, just takes a bit more time and as its been off the road since 1986 I guess its pretty insignificant!

[mikealdren]

Hi Mike,

Ian is a very old school engineer - ex instrument maker, electronics, mechanical, optical and everything in between so he was anal and would have made each bush to fit and them reamed it to the part of the shaft it was to run on. I was so lucky to have him on board during my restoration.
PS: mine were the original hinge pins.

Yes, I suspected that it does mean that I can't get a standard batch made up for others on this site. I didn't realise that the hinge pin design had changed, can you describe the differences?

I suppose one option might be to measure the hinge id accurately to see whether there is the chance to ream them out so a standard size (3/4"?).

[alan.barker]

I thought there was someone on the Forum who made new Hinges.
Have a search on past posts.
Alan

[wotsisname]

updating this thread.
I decided to look at the OE route, at least for now (time and access to machining facility)

The majority of the door movement/sag is due to the worn out plastic bushes. I have some replacement plastic bushes from a couple of suppliers and am surprised at how much they differ. This may solve the sag for some.

From SJ.. black plastic bush. ID (fit to hinge rod) is 14.44mm, the OD (fit into hinge casting) is 18.97mm £0.70 ea

From sue miller, white plastic. ID is 14.33, OD is 19.04. £1.60 ea

I only measured a single item from each batch of 4.
I measure my hinge rods at 14.37 and 14.32, the upper and lower surface of each rod gave the same measurement. there is a discernible movement with the black bushes. the white are very tight, tricky to get on

The hinge castings seem a little oval, although I wouldnt say I am expert with the digital calipers I have.
#1 19.04-19.07mm
#2 18.94 - 19.03
#3 18.95 - 18.97
#4 19.04 - 19.09
The black bushes push in reasonably well, The white will need to be pressed in.

I am thinking to use a silicon or white lithium type grease along with the white bushes.. I expect the door will be a little tight to begin with.

[Bigbaldybloke]

So in old money, 3/4” od by 9/16” id.
My new hinge pins have now arrived, will check them for size. Will need to get the correct size reamer if I go ahead and make my own bronze bushes.
Been distracted moving things around in the garage ready to install my new milling machine that arrives on Monday

[mikealdren]

interestingly the standard hinge rods are a little more than 9/16" as are the nylon bushes. My lovely new stainless rods are exactly 9/16" so the bushes are loose and I will need to get something turned up specially!

Mike