Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Morning all, some advice needed please.

Having dismantled the rear of my barn find Plus 2 I now need to work out what is re-usable.

How do I go about testing springs and dampers off of the car? I think the rear upright is called a Champan strut?

The springs look to have surface rust but are of the same length, can I check spring rates at home?

The struts look dirty, but underneath the muck they look in good condition. They move up and down smoothly with no jerkiness, they don't appear to be leaking, the visible part of the column is bright, shiny with no marks of any sort. There are no bearing noises but I'll strip them out to check. Is there anything else I can check on these to help with the decision to re-use or to replace please?

It seems that the car had a new galvenised chassis and sill members in the mid 80's and has been in storage ever since. The rear discs have surface rust but don't look like they've ever been used, no scoring or lips. The rear pads are brand new and have no wear marks on them at all, these will be replaced as a matter of course.

I have a suspicion that when the new chassis was fitted that all the suspension was refreshed and has remained unused ever since. All the bolts came undone easily and are still liberally coated with copper grease.

I would just give everything a good clean and if no leaks from shocks leave them alone.
I have always found it easier to remove hubs from chapman struts while they are still on the car. This avoids you needing to chase the whole assembly around the garage floor trying to extract the hubs from the shafts
I would never paint the galvanised chassis as the paint will not stick and will flake off everywhere. Imho if galvanised it doen't need painting.
The thing i would check very carefully are the Rotoflex coupling and replace if not 100%.
Alan

Thanks Alan

Sounds like a plan. The rotoflex couplings were shredded and came out in pieces!

It looks like you are going to have fun over winter.
Looking at the drive shafts fail safe you car must be late 1972 +2S130 or 1973 +2S130.
So maybe Lagoon Blue Oatmeal trim
Alan

alan.barker wrote:I would never paint the galvanised chassis as the paint will not stick and will flake off everywhere. Imho if galvanised it doen't need painting.

Galvanized chassis can be painted if one wants a more original or pleasing appearance, esp. if old (i.e. galvanized for more than a year iirc), then a good clean and adequate priming should do it. This subject has been discussed on the forum previously :
lotuselan-plus2-f51/chassis-paint-not-paint-t38304.html?hilit=galvanized

Alan, I am sorry to disagree with you but I know of no problems painting galvanised steel.
Not problems, only procedure.
It just needs the correct preparation and the correct paint.
Just follow the paint manufacturers instructions and it works OK.
My garden gates have been fine for many years now.
However I agree that a galvanised chassis does not need painting, In fact I quite like the look of it. It gives me confidence that it is sound.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

Hi Alan

It's a 1973 S130/4

I dragged it out of a barn in September, quite a struggle as the barn roof was threatening to collapse as we took a section of the side wall out to extract it!

I'm still in need of a suitable engine, 4 speed box and a prop shaft if anyone has one for sale!!

Hi Eric,
yes you are right, i was just giving my personal choice.
Alan

A simple jig may help when you come to dismantle the hubs from the struts off the car, particularly if you plan to use the spacer under the spinner method to break the taper.


Can actually be more effective than doing it on the car as you can give the spinner a good whack without risk of damage to the bodywork and the shock is not partially absorbed by the Rotoflex as it would be on the car.

+1 Roger, nice set up
Alan

Hi Roger

Thanks for the input, that looks interesting. What sort of size spacer do you use please?

Also, is there risk of damaging the spinner or threads doing it this way?

Was that picture taken in your lounge Roger or your garage?

Leslie

You need to measure for the packing piece so the spinner has maybe 2 threads left before it becomes threadbound.
That way the pressure is spread over the max amount of threads. For me never had a problem.
You might find after that the concave face of the original spinner you used is now less concave but that's not a problem.
Alan

The best protection for a galvanised finish and the one that adheres the best and remains stuck like **** to a blanket is plain bitumen paint usually sold for roofing etc.

And its best to wait for at least a years exposure to the roads and not tucked away in a garage before painting galvanised whatever finish or system that you use.

In industrial use a light shotblast with a suitable non aggressive media followed by a chlorinated rubber paint works well and again much better if the galva has aged for at least a year.

I prefer to leave it plain, it does not really need any protection.

Just my personal view but galvanising doesn't need to be protected.
On my Sprint it is galvanised not painted from the day Miles Wilkins fitted in August 1985.
No rust perfect.
Alan