Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Has anyone fitted bolt-on Panasports to an Elan that has +2 front brakes? This thread covers the installation of the +2 brakes, where I ended up using the larger rotors and calipers but retained the stock uprights, spindle and hub. I noticed at the time that one of the rivets on my stock steel wheels just nicked the caliper on one side, easily remedied with a file.

I ordered a set of Panasports, which arrived today. When I trial-fitted one wheel to the front, it fouled the caliper. I'm not sure yet how much it fouls. I think the wheel was tight onto the hub but I didn't really check. In any case, the wheel won't turn with the lug nuts tightened.

Looking back over the installation thread, I recall that I didn't use the +2 (Triumph GT6, actually) upright, spindle and hub because I was concerned about tire clearance - the +2 hub would have spaced the wheels out 1/4". That is still an issue. I suspect that grinding the calipers to get clearance is a really bad idea. That leaves me with the options of:

Going to the full +2 setup and dealing with the reduced clearance.
Going back to the original brakes (which I hate to do because I just got the +2 brakes working perfectly, see the "caliper piston retraction" thread).
Returning the Panasports and sticking with my original wheels (which cause a vibration at highway speed).
Installing a spacer just thick enough to allow the wheels to clear the calipers.

I can explore the last option with washers. That will at least give me some more data.

Any insights appreciated!

I think I'd be tempted to see if a 1/8" spacer would sort the problem out as a first shot, you might be lucky with it.

Where is it catching, is it on the side of the caliper hitting the wheel as you bolt it on or is it the outer edges/top of the caliper hitting a thicker profile on the inside surface of the alloy wheel ?

I had the latter problem with Cosmic Alloys last year and the only way forward was to go to a larger wheel, it would have needed very thick spacers to get around it.

But if that's the problem with yours maybe 14" wheels and lower profile tyres would help ?

Brian

Andy,
I agree that experimenting with washers is the first step to see how far the wheels need to be moved outboard to clear the calipers. Normal +2 front hubs are not an option for you as they are in peg-drive configuration only. I just looked at Kelvedon Motors web site and see that their bolt on front hubs has are also available for the +2:

http://www.kelsport.net/parts/product_d ... ctionID=46

Once you know the offset dimension you need you might contact Kelvedon regarding dimensions for these alternative hubs. They are responsive to emails. I presume that these hubs will require you to change to the larger diameter stub axles and uprights.

A normal 7/16" washer (about 3/32" thick) on each stud provides clearance. I think the interference is between the inner portion of the caliper cylinder casting and perhaps the outside diameter of the mounting surface of the hub, but I need to verify that and take pictures.

I've looked around for 1/8" spacers and they are hard to come by. Ken at Dave Bean asked if I had considered "relieving" (i.e., grinding) the caliper for clearance. I initially rejected that, but if the interference is where I think it is, that may still be a viable solution. I'll get some more data and post again, with photos. In the meantime, thanks for the input.

Andy,
It is pretty easy to fabricate spacers from aluminum jig plate. Jig plate is flat and the two faces lie in very parallel planes. Jig plate is available in many thickness from the usual industrial supply houses like MSC or McMaster-Carr. A friend with an E-Type who was installing Minilite wheels with knock-on hub adapters had a related problem. In this case we had to move the wheels inboard by about 1/8" for fender well clearance. We fabricated spacers from 1/8" jig plate to separate the wheel from the hub adapter. This worked out very neatly.

We fitted panasport bolt on 6" wheels to an elan with plus 2 calipers disks and GT6 uprights. We ground a very small amount off the caliper to provide clearance where the rim meets the wheel centre,

Been that way for 5+ years no issues.

V

I made up a spacer ring out of some sheet ali....didn't work too well,I think because the ali was soft?

John

Problem solved. I located the interference between the outer radius of the wheel mounting surface and the inner part of the caliper (see photos). I got the go-ahead from a knowledgeable person to remove up to 1/8" in that area. Since I knew the interference was no more than 3/32", I had at it with the angle grinder until I got clearance, then made one more clean-up pass.

At the rear, I had to grind away the bottom edges of washers I used when I installed poly bushes. The grinding I did on the wishbone ends many years ago to clear the Cosmics was sufficient for the Panasports. So I now have four wheels that turn.