Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Very nice! Whose 'small spring' kit is that?

Thank you!
I’ll post some before and after in a separate thread once I get a chance to organize some of the zillion pictures I’ve been taking!

The spring kit for front and rear are from Tony Thompson, as are the output shafts and hub shafts. The CV is Elan Trikbits.

Fitted a Cigar Lighter to my Sprint which has never had one since it was born.
I know i know blasphème but i need a GPS.
It's OK i won't be lighting up Cigars in "Little Lo"
For all the Anoraks i've kept the original Blank so she can be put back to the day she came into the World of Lotus
Alan

74Twincam wrote:Just about wrapped up with Phase 1 of the full refresh- all suspension and bits back onto the frame finally. I have to fit up the rear hubs and then wheels go on! It'll obviously need all the adjustments for steering, brakes and suspension once it's all back together and properly weighted, but this feels good to be this far.
Next up, the engine!

Thanks to everyone here for all the great posts and answers to questions as I've gone, this forum has been a great help to the project.

T-I-D-Y

B -F-N.
T-T-F-N
How's that
Alan

My main job today, I spent time trying to reposition my distributor into the correct orientation.... Leads facing aft, only to end up returning it to a leads facing forward orientation. I now remember why I fitted it this way back in the '90s.
The cap simply will not fit the other way around, fouling the manifold / carbs ..... And the the lesson from today's efforts is that the older and stiffer I get the harder it is to accomplish anything

Bye For Now
Ta Ta For Now
Alan

Weird post!

Finished up a rebuild of the front brakes. Green stuff pads, drilled and slotted rotors (silly, I think, but only about $13/each more expensive than solid ones), ss pistons, new seals and hardware. Brass bleed screws. All from RDE.

First press of the pedal is a bit spongy, second is effective. There's no air in the system, so I think it's just the pads not bedded in yet. Make sense? Or wishful thinking?

If the pedal is spongy, that is going to be air somewhere.

If there is a 'long pedal' which goes a long way before it is firm - and is shorter on the second pump, then you probably have something knocking the pads back. The first push gets the pads back in contact with the disc. Most likely cause is runout in the discs.

If you have a servo, it can sometime exhibit similar symptoms - but if you have just changed the discs, that would be my first area to check.

Good luck.

Andy8421 wrote:If the pedal is spongy, that is going to be air somewhere.

If there is a 'long pedal' which goes a long way before it is firm - and is shorter on the second pump, then you probably have something knocking the pads back. The first push gets the pads back in contact with the disc. Most likely cause is runout in the discs.

If you have a servo, it can sometime exhibit similar symptoms - but if you have just changed the discs, that would be my first area to check.

Good luck.

It's the latter, it seems to me. And "long" isn't very far, just a tad. Second pump, and the "long" is gone - it's rock solid from the top. No vibration when braking or otherwise, which is why I was thinking it was just new pads, not runout.

When I bled the brakes (all 4), I got to the point where it was a solid stream of fluid coming through the tube, no hint of air bubbles - which is why I think there is no air in the system. Am I wrong, and it could be hiding/trapped somewhere?

I'll check into doing a dial indicator test on the discs.

Thanks,
Steve

Sometimes new seals ‘ grip ‘ the piston too much pulling the pads away from the disc, after a few operations the pistons should move into a normal place on the seal.
FWIW

Oil leak from the cam cover so decided to replace the gasket. As I've never checked the valve clearances in 6/7 years of ownership took the opportunity while the cam cover was off. Found inlet valves at 0.003/0.003/0.003/0.004" and exhaust 0.010/0.011/0.011/0.007". Luckily I've collected sets of shims off ebay in preparation for this task (now got approx hundred, from 0.075 to 0.135"). After reading all the forum posts found the job relatively straight forward. Chain tension was a bit loose so tightened it up to correct tension.

The "T" for the vacuum take off on Chassis was perished/rotten.
I replaced it with a brass "T" from Webcon for Carbs and joined with 3 pieces of rubber Fuel Hose.
So this should not be rotted by Fuel. I put small "Ty-wraps" to be sure Vacuum tight.
Alan