Rear Brakes on a lotus elan +2 S130 from 1972

[handi_andi]

Hiya
I have replaced the rear pads, both the main and handbrake, but can not get the handbrake tight enough. I appreciate that the handbrake cable could be stretched, however, when I replaced the pads the rear discs did look uncannily thin. I have just checked the workshop manual and can not see what the recommended minimum thickness is for the rear discs. So before I go to the expense of buying a set can someone tell me the recommended minimum thickness please.

If I do have to replace them the workshop manual makes it sound like an easy job, which given it is is a lotus means that it will not be. Hence I was wondering if anyone had any good pointers. The car is running on a spyder chassis and looks like it has some sort of CV or UJ type conversion on the rear shafts. I have not ascertained which yet as I have not taken the protective rubber booties off to find out, but it certainly has UJs at the inboard end! I have looked through the receipts that came with the car and have a receipt from 1984 that states "To remove old drive shafts cut out bolts etc and fit two conversion kits in rear axle", cost for kits was ?178.42 with only ?20 to fit them, those were the days! Intriguingly I also have a picture of a conversion with an outboard UJ but an inner rotaflex coupling, and have to admit the disc in the picture looks very thin indeed.

Cheers

Andy

[mikealdren]

Andy,
The original Spyder conversion retained one donut as Hookes joints don't allow for any plunge (longditudinal movement along the drive shaft). This was in the days before good UJs were readily available.

Not sure about the disc thickness but if they are corroded/grooved I would replace them. You can usually get a good idea of the original thickess from the inner edge of the area where the pads rub, if there is much of a step here, they are worn. The outer rim tends to rust so it is not a good guide.

The handbrake is actuated by rods, not cables - if you have cables, it may be some form of conversion. This was always a weak point of the car and things need to be in good shape to pass the MOT (see lots of earlier posts). One thing to bear in mind is that the rods get bent. If they are not straight, the initial movement of the handbrake is all taken up in pulling the rods straight. They are not very accessible but make sure they are straight first.

When I last changed discs (a long time ago), the replacements were not good, make sure you have them seated cleanly and check the runout.

Good luck
Mike

[ppnelan]

Just looked at a new Lockheed one - NEW thickness is 9.8mm, MINIMUM thickness is stamped 8.7mm.

By the way, Mike, they all have cables between handbrake 'lever' and rods...

Matthew

[mikealdren]

Very true, I'd forgotten about that, it's a while since I've touched mine (it's been off the road for years and I've just started rebuilding) but I have strong memories of trying to minimise free play in the rods, the tree on the rear of the chassis and the fittings at the calipers.

Mike