Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

An easy one, perhaps, but apparently not if the bolts have been fitted from the top (nuts on the bottom). I have so far disconnected the prop, removed the NS wishbone and driveshaft and the two tie rods that provide fore-aft stability to the diff. Pouring with rain outside now so have come in to warm up and take stock.

Guessing I have to remove the fuel tank (or at least lift it an inch and a half or so?) in order to get the bolts to slide upwards enough to get the diff wiggled free?

Any suggestions?

Cheers, Ian.

I disconnected the tank straps at the front and used some wood to lift the front of the tank while I was working on the diff. My diff case had a boss at the bottom of the nose, just behind the flange. Had to grind it down to get clearance for removal. The other cases I have, do not have this boss.

You should be able to get the bolts far enough up if you raise the tank an inch or so as previously mentioned, but if you want the bolts right out so you can put them in from underneath, that might need more space. Possibly once you have the diff out you could undo the bolts holding the top diff mounts and tilt them over a bit to enable the bolts to be removed.
On a Spyder chassis you can get the diff out of the near side quite easily, but on a lotus chassis I believe it needs a bit of brute force and possibly grinding as previously mentioned. Certainly it was no problem on my Spyder chassis. It?s worth fitting the diff brace while you are doing this if you had not already planned to.

I made this mistake on my plus two and had to go in with a hacksaw blade in one of those keyhole handles

http://www.airgas.com/product/Tools-&-H ... gKqJvD_BwE

If you can loosen or remove the nut from the bottom you can get some vice grips or some other bodge to hold it up in place and saw the head off of the bolt.

A little tedious but you can then get the bolt in the right way around and no tank removal required