plus 2 wheels on "baby" Elan

[CBUEB1771]

Dan, I believe the part number will begin with a 36, versus a 54 for a +2. Others will hopefully confirm.

Greg Z

The +2 is Lotus Type 50, not 54, hence parts first introduced on the +2 will start with "050". Picky, picky, picky. Interference with the outboard end of the lower control arm happens with alloy wheels, not the pressed steel wheels. The issue with allow wheels is that the rim section is much thicker and the added thickness must all go in the inner radius and clearance to the control arm goes away.

[toomspj]

I have plus 2 wheels on my S4 using the standard hubs. 175/60 - 13 tyres clear bodywork fine, 185 tyres are a challenge and require maching the inside of the wheel to reduce the offset slightly (about 3mm).

The biggest issue (and it applies to almost any alloy) is the clearance at the rear on the wishbones. There are several solutions:

1) Machine the inside of the rim. Needs a good size lathe, and you are obviously taking away meat from the alloy, but they are quite thick. I've done this for the race track and never had a problem, but not sure if I'd be bold enough to do it for use on the road.
2) Take an angle grinder to the bolt head and wishbone end and put a chamfer on it so that it clears the wheel - you may need to do a combo of this and the skimming of the inside of the rim.
3) Make the wishbone and upright about 5mm narrower - cut and weld for the wishbone and a quick mill (or angle grinder if you're in butchering mode) for the upright.

I've also found that some alloys are a better fit than the plus 2's. Revolution 4 spoke's can be got relatively cheaply and seem to be made to a tighter tolerance, likewise compomotive but they are more expenxive.

It can be quite a lot of work and for my road going Sprint I've stuck with the steel wheels cos I think they look nicer!

I've included a pic of two Elans - mine is the red one on 185/60-13, while the Green S4 is on 175/60 -13. Both are using +2 style alloys with standard hubs and standard bodywork.

Paul

[toomspj]

The green Elan is actually an S1 shell.

[paddy]

I fitted Minilites and, like others, got away with a chamfer on the bolt heads only - but only after replacing the old hubs with new ones with less runout. With the original hubs it would have needed 2 or 3 mm more, which would have required chamfering the ends of the wishbones as well. So check this before making any decisions.

Edit: I should say that these were bolt-on hubs and I guess the knock-ons are less prone to distorting in that way.

Paddy

[Jens]

What would be the advantage of first fiddling around with your suspension and/or the alloys just to make them fit? Or is this just something vaquely aesthethical? I, for one, wouldnt like driving around with home-built suspension that whas altered with an angle grinder, not to mention the fact that I wouldn't be that keen on driving around on wheels where some of the meat was taken away to make them fit the altered suspension....
But hey, that's just me.

Still, my question remains, what is REALLY the advantage of first fiddling around with springs and hubs just to make the +2 wheels fit?

Jens

[RedS4]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but the wheels on my S4 are 5 J x 13's (knock-offs) - wider than standard but not the 5.5 of a +2. Any idea what they might be from - or are they customs?

[upnorthelan]

Thanks for the advice everyone,
Looks like I'll start the search for a set of wheels and go from there.

Mike