Wheel Brace and Jack Ratchet

[ceejay]

Pete, your comment re the archives "I know that the search facility is not the best"
is probably the reason why so many repeat topics appear here... I have
searched the archives info cache using different keyword strings for various things
in the past, but end up not finding what I want.

And I think that is the case with other people to, but not sure what the answer is.
Col

[elansprint71]

Col- agreed!

Let us not get on to punctuation, etc. but who are Wheel Brace and Jack Ratchet?

[ceejay]

Not sure... could be long lost cousins of Jack Squat!

[elansprint71]

Not sure... could be long lost cousins of Jack Squat!

Hey Ceejay, good to hear from you. You heard anything from Les recently? He lives on your island not far from Bullamakanka; I'm sure that you folks all know each other- heck it's an island, how big can that be! If you bump into him, tell him to check in more often, we miss his sage advice.

[ceejay]

Les, haven't heard from him for ages... anyway, which Les are referring to? Not Les Patterson the beer dribbling
alias of Barry Humphries?
Bullamakanka, sounds like that's out the Back O'Bourke a few Ks the other side of the black stump?

Yeah, lot's of Lotus identities out here in OZ, but crikey, if you live in the bush like I do,
you don't see em much. I've got a mate who has a really nice Healey 3000, (Full resto job) and he has
nearly completed a bugeye sprite resto... other blokes here are restoring old jags XK120 etc, there's another S3
elan in a thousand bits waiting for some TLC, my Bro in law is restoring an S4, and it's coming along quite nicely.
And I'm pluging away on my S2 elan rebuild in between building CV conversions for lean owners all
over the globe, which reminds me I better scoot back into the workshop and get the Denmark order assembled.
Col

[AlfaLofa]

It's time for me to get a new jack - but I can't see how Louis's red jack fits under the rear wishbone when the car is on the ground with a flat?

I've always used a scissor jack with a longitudinal groove in the jacking surface to fit snuggly under the wishbone.

Scissor jacks with a groove seem to be a bit of a rarity.

[alan71]

from the 71 Owner's Handbook.

Alan.

[Mazzini]

Hi Steve,

The jacks do come up on eBay from time to time, but sadly they aren't inexpensive. I've also heard from a couple of owners that they've heard cracking noises from the body when attempting to jack the vehicle up! Perhaps it's better to get a jack that does the job and is safe as opposed to the original item.

Best regards,

Louis

[AlfaLofa]

Louis,

My point is that the Elan Series 1 workshop manual includes the diagram I posted above which shows the rear jacking point is under the wishbone and not under the body.

It is more difficult to jack using the wishbone - but at least you don't get any suspension sag - and there will be no cracking of the body.

The diagram suggests to me (rightly or wrongly) that the early Elans were jacked up using a small scissor jack beneath the wishbones at the rear.

Is there any one out there still doing this?????????????????

[Mazzini]

Hi Steve,

I have the same workshop manual, but I always regarded that as a piece of misinformation (like the section on changing the water pump). I thought that the Lotus wishbones were too susceptible to bending to be used as a jacking point, but I stand to be corrected.

I love your S1 by the way. Is it in Carmen red?

Cheers,

Louis

[gjz30075]

Louis, there was a fellow selling, on ebay, a piece of wood, maybe 8" x 12" roughly, with a routed out section for the rotor, to be placed under the wishbone to spread the jacking load. Great idea, easily reproduced and should eliminate fears of bending the A arm.

Greg Z

[lotocone]

Hi Louis,

Paul Matty's website shows a ratchet handle in the Elan Tools section. I think there is a wheel brace listed too.

Maybe I'll see you next month.

[elangtv2000]

Greg Z - that piece of routed plywood was my adaptation of a rough version I saw years ago. I re-designed it, adding thickness, a larger routed area, rounded corners, and beveled edges. It works perfectly, and does not bend a-arms or put stress on the rear disk. My friend was producing them for awhile, and even made a special one I designed that had a piece of rubber bonded to the top for added protection for the a-arms. I've made other small refinements as well, but sadly my friend decided it was not profitable to make and sell them for a reasonable (to him) price, given anyone who looks at it can fab up their own, particularly with the rather expensive rubber and other refinements I added that result in more mill time. Trouble is, although he's got a huge CNC multi-head router that whips these out quickly, he's got to pay union wages for all of the shop time, from programming, to gluing, clamping, handling, etc.
Here are pictures of one version with rubber on the top, radiused corners, but no bevel to the edges. A useful addition, not shown, is a mark on the edge in line with the brake disk groove, which makes it easier to line up the jack pad.
I think my friend has more of the plain ones sitting around - if so, maybe he'll throw some up on eBay again.
Cheers,
Greg Tatarian
2 Elans

[gjz30075]

Thanks Greg. It's a great idea!

Greg Z

[Jason1]

A few picks of jacks for you.

The red one I bought on Ebay as a A40/ Mini Van jack it is very similar to the Cortina/ Lotus jack except for the part that goes onto/into the car, very easy to modify and a lot cheaper than a 'Lotus' jack.

Jason