Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

It's been a while so I thought I would ask again.
My 3 eared spinners a beginning to look a little tired. What do 'people' suggest, getting them refurbished or buying new 'reproduction' spinners? Prices for either option seem more or less the same?

Thanks
Carl

I have 3 on my car that i know are recon ones, they have lost a little thickness here and there due to the romoval of metal in the refurb but, i think they are very nice and smooth on all the corners with very good chrome.
The 4th one i think is a "new" repro one and although it is a bit thicker in places it has rather sharpe edges and i think these don't look so nice? Added to that I have a wheel spinner tool for tightening them up and the sharpe edges dig into the leather liner much worse than the rounded ones, it worries me that it will cut through and mark the chrome?
With the recon ones be carefull to check the taper part as it does not seem to be looked at in the refurb, mine were exchange items and one had clearly been damaged by being run with a lose wheel so the taper was a nasty rounded groove!

vxah wrote:I have 3 on my car that i know are recon ones, they have lost a little thickness here and there due to the romoval of metal in the refurb but, i think they are very nice and smooth on all the corners with very good chrome.
The 4th one i think is a "new" repro one and although it is a bit thicker in places it has rather sharpe edges and i think these don't look so nice? Added to that I have a wheel spinner tool for tightening them up and the sharpe edges dig into the leather liner much worse than the rounded ones, it worries me that it will cut through and mark the chrome?
With the recon ones be carefull to check the taper part as it does not seem to be looked at in the refurb, mine were exchange items and one had clearly been damaged by being run with a lose wheel so the taper was a nasty rounded groove!

Thanks for the info, I don't suppose you had them refurbished locally did you? I see you are pretty 'local' to me

Carl

well Carl I'm happy to report that my '68 spinners went off to Hockley Enterprises in Grainger Rd Southend last month and it cost me ?60 to have them re-chromed. I don't believe they had ever been touched before because they had all the hammerblow marks you'd expect for the age & the chrome was well worn .
They did a brilliant job and they look like new!
Sorry i don't have any pics The motor's shell is away being done up by SMS autospray & the chassis etc is up the local farmer's barn.

I don't have any 'connections' with them other than they have done rechroming jobs for me for years and I've never been disappointed

Rich,
?60 sounds like a bargain .. I will go and look them up on the web.. Did they tidy up the edges as well? Mine are showing a few hammer marks..

SMS repainted my Elan about 10 years ago and it still looks good!
Carl

yes they did .rather took me by surprise what a good job they did of it .
One of the thing's I've noted with other rechroming outcomes is that sometimes there is a loss of definition with the UNDO and arrow markings. I'm happy to report mine are as new with no loss of 'relief'

Prices have gone up since they did yours....

that was for cash...

RichC wrote:that was for cash...

Ah ... explains everything...

I got a refurbished one from Susan Miller. It was very well done and looks perfect to me. I can't distinguish it from the other three. I use Sarto's spinner tool with the leather inserts, so there is no hammer damage on any of them.

Mike

This is to VXAH, I think I'm the only knockoff spinner tool that has protective leather.
So you may have one of mine, if you do, I have new thicker leather replacements if you need them. Ask about better prices---not on the website. After 9 years if any others find that the leathers are getting a little scruffy, let me know.
http://knockoffspinnertool.com/lotus_el ... structions
Elan people should always be happy!
Sarto

Hi Sarto, if you recall I had a bit of an issue with my spinner tool because my alloys don't have the steel thrust rings on them. This means the spinner is closer into the wheel and your tool can and did touch the "spoke" of the wheel and mark it. In the end after making a plastic disc to protect the wheels I modified your tool by grinding the edges down to give more clearance, I made a nice rounded edge so it would not cut the leather but I do have one spinner that has a sharpe edge!
I spoke to Sue Miller and she is going to change it for me!

After seeing this thread I purchased one of the Sarto spinner tools - pics below. Shipped and arrived quickly. My car is currently in the shop, so haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

RichC wrote:well Carl I'm happy to report that my '68 spinners went off to Hockley Enterprises in Grainger Rd Southend last month and it cost me ?60 to have them re-chromed. I don't believe they had ever been touched before because they had all the hammerblow marks you'd expect for the age & the chrome was well worn .
They did a brilliant job and they look like new!

Dropped off my spinners, lights and bumpers on Wednesday. I phoned on the Friday before to be told there was a ten week wait but when I got there 5 days later, the waiting time had gone up to 14 weeks
Just as well I've got a mountain of jobs to do!!
ps don't go there if you want tea and biscuits and a chat, but Lee (the boss) is very helpful and I'm sure they know their stuff.
Kev.

KevJ+2 wrote:Dropped off my spinners, lights and bumpers on Wednesday. I phoned on the Friday before to be told there was a ten week wait but when I got there 5 days later, the waiting time had gone up to 14 weeks
Just as well I've got a mountain of jobs to do!!
ps don't go there if you want tea and biscuits and a chat, but Lee (the boss) is very helpful and I'm sure they know their stuff.
Kev.

Hi Kev,
10 weeks!! I just tried a local company (Vehicle & General Ltd) and they told me it would take 3 months and cost ?35 + VAT each!! I wonder why it takes so long to do? I have a 'spare' set of spinners so it's not so bad if I need to wait. Sue Millers exchange option is beginning to sound appealing ...

Can I be cheeky and ask you how much they are going to charge, Susan charges ?31.50 + VAT for her exchange spinners...

Carl