Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi
have just been trying to tighten near side front bearing as slight play. Problem how do you remove split pin to tighten nut ? as split pin cannot be removed as not enough room, i'm sure there is away but info would be very helpful .
James Loughton Essex.

I pull the split pin out using snipe-nosed pliers and to put it (or a new one) back, bend the pin just sufficient that you can get it into the hole. It's a bit of a fiddle but once you have figured out how much curve to put on the pin, it's easy next time!

Edit: welcome to the forum, by the way!

I'm not exactly Mr Mechanic but isn't there supposed be a little bit of play there more so than you'd be used to on a modern car?

I'll bet the OP is talking about the job on a knock on hub. If so, I drilled a hole in the hub, about 1/8 inch in
diameter right about the split pin. Makes removal so much easier.

elanfan1 wrote:I'm not exactly Mr Mechanic but isn't there supposed be a little bit of play there more so than you'd be used to on a modern car?

Yes, and this can be a problem for you at inspection time. The increments offered by the castle nut are too coarse to get the tight tolerance expected during modern inspections without overtightening, which from a safety and longevity standpoint is much more dangerous than having a bit of play.

The solution is to overtighten, make the inspector happy, then reset properly. Makes the purveyors of cotter pins very happy.

You'll need to put a curve in the pin to get it in, then straighten it.
To get an in between adjustment you can sometimes flip the washer around as they often have wear in them and you can get another half way adjustment.
Don't leave it too tight if you have to do that to satisfy an inspector, the bearing will go blue.....
Don't ask me how I know.

Ralph.

Must say' I thought it was a bit of a faff with the split pin , so I drilled a 4 mm hole and so much easier. I was thinking of trying to get a nylock nut for better adjustment .
Don't know if there available for that thread though.
Cas.

I hope you don't mean a Nyloc without a split pin.
The Nyloc on the rear hubs is done up super tight, as well as having the , hard to get un-done, taper holding everything together.

If you were to rely on the Nyloc, on it's own, to keep the front hub on I think you'd be heading for an accident real quick.

I assume your testing regime is the same as here whereby if you fail you can come back for a re-test. On just the failures, at no extra charge.
In which case you would have to temporarily tighten the bearings.
Fortunately the testers where I go know about older cars.

Ralph.

Not a nylock ' but the type of nut with the end swaged over ,then back it up with another nut . Just an idea that's all .
Cas .

Hi,
Best arrangement I have seen is the one used by Porsche, effectively a split nut with a pinch bolt.
Basically infinitely adjustable but does need an Alan key size hole in the hub. There is a problem in that the stub axle thread is a ? D ? shape so the idea of a Nyloc nut locking on only a part of the thread is not a good one, also a pair of nuts locked against one another would be difficult in practice to use as you need to hold the inner nut while tightening the top nut.
FWIW
Ron.

Dam didn't think of that . Stupid idea anyway ' Porsche solution sounds good though.
Cas .

Craven wrote:Hi,
Best arrangement I have seen is the one used by Porsche, effectively a split nut with a pinch bolt.
Basically infinitely adjustable but does need an Alan key size hole in the hub. There is a problem in that the stub axle thread is a ? D ? shape so the idea of a Nyloc nut locking on only a part of the thread is not a good one, also a pair of nuts locked against one another would be difficult in practice to use as you need to hold the inner nut while tightening the top nut.
FWIW
Ron.

I had to adjust a friends Porsche 914 wheel bearing in a classic regularity rally. The adjustment is so easy exactly as you describe. It's a shame they are all metric

I feel a mod coming on...

John