Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Who can say me what is the right size for the socket to unscrew the top nut of the rear damper ?
15/16 is too small, then which socket should I buy ?
Thanks
Franck

Hi Franck,
Do you have the original shock absorbers with a shouldered castellated nut ? They may not all be the same of course but mine were certainly 15/16". If you have replacement shock absorber inserts fitted they will probably be metric threads with nyloc nuts.
Can you measure the size across the flats of the nut and compare it with these charts - it should give you the correct spanner size.....

http://www.fairburyfastener.com/xdims_nuts_coarse.htm
http://www.fairburyfastener.com/xdims_metric_nuts.htm

Hi Roger
Not easy to measure the size of the nut
I don't know if it's the original shock absorbers but the nut has a hole for the pin



Franck

Sorry Franck but I don't have any other suggestions.
Maybe the Plus 2 is different from the Elan ..... perhaps another +2 owner will be able to help.

Cut a slot wider than 15/16" in a piece of card that you can push over the nut to measure its size. There should be a split-pin through the nut which, as oldelanmans's picture shows, should be castellated to take it.

When you undo the nut the damper rod will probably rotate so either get a spanner on the flat machined near the top of it (I think) or if you are going to scrap the damper grip it with a Mole wrench or similar.

Good luck