Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to replace the steering joint and am struggling. My car is 50/0009 so I assume I have a solid one piece steering column. The manual says to undo the pinch bolt on the joint then pull the steering wheel up, however even with quite a bit of force I only get a few mils of movement which isn't enough to pull the column out of the joint. I am afraid of being too heavy handed and damaging something. I took apart the binnacle to see if there is any obstruction 'up top' but nothing seems to be limiting the movement. Can someone please point me in the right direction? Do I actually need to remove the pinch bolt from the joint, at the moment it is just slackened off.

Here's a pic or two of the column where the outer ends, just in case I actually have a collapsible column without realizing

Cheers,

Bob.

See also my reply at the end of Early plus2 steering column! It seems to have been lost
because of my lack of posting skill.
Perhaps remove completely the bolt from the universal before withdrawing the complete column.
What if any support or relevance exists at the firewall shown in your picture is what I am seeking!
Regards
Bill.

Bob,
In my 1970 Plus 2, there is a circumferential groove in the splined section at the end of the steering column which the clamp bolt sits in. You need to remove the clamp bolt completely in order to withdraw the splined section from the u/j.

Sean

Correction !

Coincidentally, Bill Williams has just posted a drawing of the steering gear today, which refreshes my memory. The circumferential groove is actually on the pinion shaft. There is only flat cut on the steering column splines.

Homer nods !

You still need to take the bolt right out and you may need to force a screwdriver or some such into the groove to loosen up the clamping action.

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The exploded part diagrams come from the Wiki on this website, Click above on WIKI COMING SOON.

This is the diagram for the Plus 2 and it looks as if you were right the first time, on the non-collapsing shaft it has a circumferential groove not a flat.

Thanks for the advice, took the bolt out then rove the s/wheel again and success...just need to pry the joint off the rack and I'll be half way there. Am now thinking I should have undone the rack end first...living and learning!

Just for completeness in the pics you can see I have dismantled the seal from the engine bay. It appears to be just that, nothing there prevents the column moving up/down.

Thanks for your (very quick) help

Cheers,Bob.

..and Bob , when you put it back together make sure the pinch bolt is in the groove and not just clamping the splines....I've done it and it's not good.

John