Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

You might want to also check the trans mount and the bushings in the A frame attachment to the lower part of the rear end. Both get a lot of road grime and the usual Lotus oil leak causing them to deteriorate.

Thanks Joe. I'm replacing the rear a-arm bushes - the gearbox mount is one of the few obvious perishables I'm not doing automatically, only because I suspect I'll be taking the engine and gearbox out next winter for servicing and I've been resisting the urge to go down that road knowing my "while I'm there" tendencies.

Started putting things back together today, got the generator re-installed then started work on the front suspension. Got the driver's side bottom wishbone, top link and damper/spring unit reinstalled and vertical link (same as on our Elans) reassembled before realizing the traditional trunnion bushing metal seals wouldn't fit in the wishbones. The shop manual makes it look like the outer seal was simply omitted, but given that I'd rather use polybushes so have placed an order. Will get the passenger side bones and links installed tomorrow and hopefully get the bushes before next weekend.

A little more progress - and wondering whether some of the bushes have ever been replaced...

Coming together. New brake lines came with a banjo fitting on the caliper end and couldn't find any 3/8 banjo bolts locally, so had to order them, but otherwise about ready to get her back on her own wheels.

Is that a single rod for the top wishbone? What prevents it moving fore / aft under braking? I see the ARB (sway bar) but its bush will have some compliance.

JonB wrote:Is that a single rod for the top wishbone? What prevents it moving fore / aft under braking? I see the ARB (sway bar) but its bush will have some compliance.

Yes your right but it appears to all work ok on a Seven The roll bar is much stiffer for / aft than in twist

cheers
Rohan

rgh0 wrote:

JonB wrote:Is that a single rod for the top wishbone? What prevents it moving fore / aft under braking? I see the ARB (sway bar) but its bush will have some compliance.

Yes your right but it appears to all work ok on a Seven The roll bar is much stiffer for / aft than in twist

cheers
Rohan

It's a 7, so it weighs less than a super model on a diet, so the suspension looks skinny.

JonB wrote:Is that a single rod for the top wishbone? What prevents it moving fore / aft under braking? I see the ARB (sway bar) but its bush will have some compliance.

Designing the ARB as a component of the top wishbone was CABC adding lightness!

Is the inverted shock absorber intended?

Craven wrote:Is the inverted shock absorber intended?

Ha! I'm embarrassed to admit I was blindly putting things back the way I found them and never even questioned that it was opposite typical. I'm looking at pictures and manuals now and confirmed they were not intended to be inverted. Thank you!

SENC wrote:

Craven wrote:Is the inverted shock absorber intended?

Ha! I'm embarrassed to admit I was blindly putting things back the way I found them and never even questioned that it was opposite typical. I'm looking at pictures and manuals now and confirmed they were not intended to be inverted. Thank you!

Well the car came from Australia, gravity must work upside down there

SENC wrote:

JonB wrote:Is that a single rod for the top wishbone? What prevents it moving fore / aft under braking? I see the ARB (sway bar) but its bush will have some compliance.

Designing the ARB as a component of the top wishbone was CABC adding lightness!
]

No, it was like that on the control arm of the McPherson strut that he copied. See 1950s English Fords.

Mazzini wrote:
Well the car came from Australia, gravity must work upside down there

It was to minimise unsprung weight.

Donels wrote:It was to minimise unsprung weight.

Mystery solved. When I pulled one out to flip it over, I found the bushing on one end 2mm shorter than the other. So, I suspect at some point in the past the shock bushes were replaced but put on the wrong ends, and instead of re-doing they were mounted inverted (the longer bushing won't fit in the lower a-arm).

I think I can see from a 2008 picture I have they've been inverted for quite a while. Since my initial goal has been to make the suspension and brakes safe enough to drive it (carefully) to get a sense of what else it needs, and suspecting I'll need to have the dampers rebuilt or replaced in the near future, I'm reinstalling inverted for the time being.