Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

does anyone have ideas on poly bushes on the elan.does it effect the ride for better or worse? will it cause any other parts to wear out quicker. while im on the web,im soon starting the rebuild of my plus 2 on a spyder chassis,so are there any upgrades that i should be thinking about. looking on the site,im considering sue miller drive shafts. a 3.5 ratio diff. adjustable rear arms. the above mentioned poly bushes. some form of new suspension ie koni shocks but no idea whats out there. any ideas will be considered. there are loads im sure.

thanks all.paul

Hi Paul. All the best on the frame off. I am just in the process with a Spyder chassis.

Sean at Spyder sent me a complete list of parts with pricing that they routinely put in a frame off, which I found very helpful to sift through. Most of the stuff is on their site, but the list was a lot easier to go through. I placed a pretty big order with them as it was easier to get all the required stuff shipped to Canada in one steel box large enough for the chassis; everything else fit easily around the frame. If you are located in UK this is less of a consideration. Anyway, the list includes pretty much every perishable bit attached to the frame.

I see they list brake lines sized to fit, which could save a lot of hassle. They run slightly different than your stock frame, so new is the way to go. I didn't go with them as I was unsure if they had them for a Federal car, and kinda had the order finalized when I saw them. I did get new flexible hoses to the calipers.

Some of the stuff I went with included the full front & rear suspension, steering rack, brake rotors & pads. I think front & rear shocks from Spyder are Protech; he may be able to supply alternatives. I believe the bushings (that were installed by Spyder were poly, but you can confirm with Sean or Andy. Sorry, I don't have experience with them yet, so not sure of relative merits vs. Koni, etc. I went with the adjustable rear wishbones, which seemed like a good idea.

You may want to consider a five speed transmission from Spyder. I have not installed it yet, so no reports of difficulties. I believe the final gearing in top will be similar to the 3.5. Spyder has a complete parts list that goes with their five speed including drive shaft, clutch, starter motor, etc.

One thing Spyder offers that I did not fully consider is their 14" Minilite wheels. Andy explained this allows you to get readily available tires that provide the same rolling circumference as stock. I think I figured I am loosing about 5% on final drive just from the lower profile tires I could get for the stock 13`s. This is a good portion of the gearing change you get from the 3.5 diff. This might be an item to talk over with them.

I went with the stock diameter springs, but now understand they have smaller diameter which provides more selection for wheels & tires.

I am upgrading to solid shafts, but went with one`s from a NA supplier. Views are mixed on them, so check the archives.

Other items while down to frame I am doing include radiator, stiffener for the diff, wiring, and various interior trim.

HTH and keep us posted. I have found this site great for keeping my enthusiasm up, 'cus it is a big job! Seems to be quite a few folks doing this job this year.