Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Thanks Bob and Alex, I have ordered the bearings - it will be interesting to see what arrives!

Regards
John

Hi All,

Thanks for all the insight into replacement parts.

I am a little behind the point of replacing things I am struggling to get a set out.

I have a rear hub I am trying to dismantle, my specific problem is removing the circlips. It look like they have never been touched on my 1969 rebuild and both are absolutely solid. Any ideas, previously used trick or advice on removing said circlips?

Many thanks

Brian

Hi Brian
All I can suggest is soak in plenty of WD40 overnight, dry off and apply gentle heat. You are going to have to heat the hub to remove the bearings anyway. Keep trying they will come out. It took quite a while to remove the circlips on my hubs.
Regards Mick G

Be careful about prying on the carrier, the aluminum on the outside of the clip is thin and chips quite easily.

An absolutely essential procedure to carry out before putting circlip pliers anywhere near the circlip is to loosen it first.

Using a punch like a centre punch but with a flat tip (about 1/8" diameter) and tap the circlip firmly against the bearing face as if you were trying to push the bearing further into the housing. Do this in several places as it helps to break the interface between the surfaces.

Then use the punch on the ends of the circlip with the punch angled so that you are attempting to rotate the clip. Its important to do both ends to wards each other. After a few taps you should find that you can rotate the clip and chase it round in its groove. Once its freed it will succumb to the circlip pliers easily.

Cleans as much of the rust and dirt off before you start and again before driving out the bearing.

Let us know how you get on.


Ian Phillips

Hi

Re the point about "modifying" the housing to enable the bearings to be greased. I did this around 17 years ago- drilled and tapped a hole to take a grease nipple about level with the mid point of the bearings, filled the base of the housing with fibreglass resin to bottom of the bearings, removed the inner bearing seal on both bearings, drilled a "relief" hole fitted with a split pin higher than the grease nipple. Once fully assembled just kept pumping in the grease until it escaped from the relief hole. Just grease them about twice a year. Works so far!

Regards

John

All,

Thanks for the replies, especially Elanman99, and will keep you updated.

Will follow the suggests closely as I am scared of damaging the ali casting.

Many thanks

Brian