What did you do to your Lotus today...

[Elanman68]

That`s the way to go Tim. I did everything except the headlights and ignition lamp a while ago and have never looked back.
Eric in Burnley
S3SE DHC

Same for me but did the headlights as well so only the ignition lamp is still filament and I know there’s an adaptor for that

[JonB]

Amen to that. I'll be changing mine when I reassemble it. But, watch out for colour temperature. You don't want a pure white light as it looks wrong on the old car. Found that out when fitting LEDs to the instruments on my Plus 2...

[Elanman68]

I went warm white all round, apart from the reversing lamps which were not available in warm white, for that very reason .

[trw99]

Today we (I have my grandson staying and he is about to start his Race Technicians course at the Silverstone Collage of Motorsport) went off in the thunderous rain to get the Sprints wheel alignment done.

Tim

[RichardS]

Today we (I have my grandson staying and he is about to start his Race Technicians course at the Silverstone Collage of Motorsport) went off in the thunderous rain to get the Sprints wheel alignment done.

Tim

Have you noticed a difference after the wheel alignment? Or was it too wet! Keep meaning to get mine checked.
Richard

[trw99]

Yes, a noticeable difference, despite there not be too much change.

Well worth the £55 it cost.

Tim

[RichardS]

Excellent, must get mine done
Richard

[alan.barker]

Today we (I have my grandson staying and he is about to start his Race Technicians course at the Silverstone Collage of Motorsport) went off in the thunderous rain to get the Sprints wheel alignment done.

Tim

hi Tim,
well done. Just a question, what did they adjust and how did they adjust the Rear which is non adjustable.
Have you put adjustable Wishbones.
Nice to know what they did.
Alan

[smo17003]

And I would like to ask from where did they get the data for correct adjustment? Did you provide it, or is it within the equipment's software?

Cheers

Mike

[trw99]

They only adjusted the front.

As we know, with the original set up, as my Sprint has, there is no adjustment on the rear. Hence the near side rear red reading.

I provided the data, which nearly corresponded with what they had on the Hunter laser system. My data came from the WM with refinements gleaned from members on here. I can post them if you’re interested.

Tim

[rgh0]

Hi Tim

I would be interested in what you have understood is the correct rear toe in specification.

cheers
Rohan

[Craven]

Hi Tim.
Very helpful & interesting set of data here, as we know castor and camber on front, camber and toe on the rear are non-adjustable on an Elan. Comparing the two sets of data would suggest your car ride height was different for the two sets of measurements, highlighting the sort comings in the design of the rear set up and perhaps indication on the front some degree of bump steer present.
FWIW

[alan.barker]

Maybe it would be a good idea to buy ajustable wishbones. For £55 then get it adjusted "spot on".
Alan

[JonB]

Tim, this is just like my +2 where the "before" and "after" readings on a full Hunter alignment rig showed changes in the non-adjustable parts of the suspension. Some people on that thread were quite critical of this (and critical of me come to think of it) and for my part I didn't think to query the variance with the operator. Funny thing is, I was reviewing that thread last night, along with the "Peterborough Odyssey" thread.

However, one thing I remember them doing was to lower / raise the ramp between measurements which had the effect of moving the suspension arms and this I suspect might have been the culprit; the suspension settling in a different position.

Anyway, "what I did to my Lotus today" was to finish blasting and priming the front wishbones. The body is off to the paint shop on Wednesday and I still have not decided what colour to go for... The frame is on trellisses and I am removing the factory applied under seal (which is on EVERY surface including inside the main box section) and giving it a fresh coat of primer. It is in staggering condition considering it's the original chassis and 53 years old.

[trw99]

These are the details I handed the wheel alignment folk for reference:

Total weight 700kg
Front 385kg, 193kg per tyre
Rear 315kg, 158kg per tyre

FRONT SUSPENSION
Front wheel toe-in 3/16th in (4.8mm) to 1/16th in (1.6mm)
Camber angle 0º to + 1º
Castor angle 3º to +/- 30º
Swivel pin inclination 9º to +/- 30º

REAR SUSPENSION
Rear wheel toe-in 3/16th in (4.8mm) to zero
Camber angle 1º to 0º

Alan, I have no desire to buy adjustable wishbones. My Sprint is very original and that is the way I intend to keep it. I like to replicate the driving experience of the Elan from the period it was 'alive', even if traffic is a lot heavier and there are more potholes than in the 1970s!

Ron, as Jon has mentioned, they did raise and lower the ramp the car was sat on during the time they spent with it. I'm afraid I was not watching closely enough to note at what stage of proceedings they did so. Also one of the technicians placed some sort of gizmo inside the car (steering wheel alignment tool?), which clearly meant some 80kgs of man-weight might have altered the ride height.

After they had finished the work I did say that I would be back if I felt things were not right. They noted the nearside track rod end nut was a wee bit loose and that they had tightened that. Again, I do not recall at what stage they may have done so.

Although laser alignment would appear to be millimeter perfect and I'm sure it is for modern cars and highly adjustable race cars, I guess where our Elans are concerned that the measurement may be pin accurate, but that the actuality perhaps is less so, particularly given the comparative lack of adjustment on the original suspension.

What I do know is that, despite the car already being pretty well aligned, the adjustments made were subjectively felt to be an improvement by me, the driver and the seat of my pants. And that is probably what really matters!

Tim