replacement lower wishbones all round

[harvey]

I have a 1990 elan se turbo, my local garage has just passed the mot again for the second year, but has advised me to have all the lower wishbones front and back replaced before the next mot, my question is, are these parts still available if so where from ? how much will they cost? also can they be repaired or refurbished? who by? any help much appreciated as I think I need to plan this one carefully.

Harvey

[basher]

Just noticed no-one gave you a response on this.
It's not going to be cheap. All the parts are available from S J Lotus. Rears will be in the region of 500 quid each after vat postage etc.
Fronts are made up of a hefty lower link £338.62 exc vat each and a triangulation link at £215 each exc vat. All of these may not need replacing but I'm doing mine at the moment and where the lower and triangulation parts link there is a u shaped channel of metal that rotted out that I had to deal with.

As I said the front wishbones are quite hefty bits of metal. It is entirely possible that you may be able to take them off, shotblast or cut out the rust, and repair or plate any rusted bits. The are hollow so once you have finished put waxoil in the cavity and coat the outside in a fairly tasty rust treatment and fix it that way. They may be too far gone for that.

The backs could also be done but the metal is generally thinner throughout - you may finds is all patching and precious little original metal.

Have you got some photos?

[epipete]

At the risk of being ostracised, if you can identify those components that need replacing to keep you on the road it may be worth asking Douglas Valley for prices if budget is a major stumbling block!

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Pete: Nobody should be ostracised for going wherever they have to so they can keep the car on the road. Douglas Valley Breakers (Steve Strange on eBay) has a USED 1991 left rear wishbone (A100D0087S) for sale on eBay for £235.20 VAT included and free shipping in the UK. An important note is it is an early plain metal arm, not the new design galvanized arm you get from Lotus. A NEW GALVANIZED one from Lotus comes with NEW bushings and is 419.76 + VAT + Postage. It would be smart though to make sure any USED arms is in good condition as they rust out and are easily twisted in an accident. The wishbone for the other side (A100D0088S) is the same price from a Lotus Dealer, DVB doesn't have one listed.

The fronts have several major pieces:

Upper wishbones come in two parts: LH front arm: A100C0149F is £54.91. The rear arm is A100C0148F at £54.91 and RH front arm is A100C0150F and is £55.01 . The rear arm is A100C0148F at £54.91
(the rear arms are the same for both sides)

The LH TCA is A100C0133S at £327.60 The RH TCA is A100C0132S at £327.60
The LH TCA Strut Assembly is A100C0135S at £118.78 . The RH TCA Strut Assembly is A100C0134S at £118.78

The LH RAFT is A100C0119F at £66.77 . The RH is B100C0118F and it is also £66.77
The latest numbers B100C0119F / B100C0118F don't exist in the price book.

All of the numbers are from the current parts and price books at Lotus. All prices exclude VAT and necessary postage. Ironically, most of the prices have a SP designation which means they are reduced for final sale.

You will have to verify which bushings do NOT come with the assemblies as I know the upper arm bushings did not come with the federal arms I bought a while back. They will add to your costs.

DVB has a chunk of front suspension listed that looks to have a raft included with a shock/spring for £39.50. I didn't try to figure out which side it is.

Any or all of the metal parts could / might be repairable, but as they are critical to keeping the car safely on the road should be handled by a professional fabrication shop.

I hope this helps.

[harvey]

Hey Guys thank you for your informative replies, you have confirmed my worst fears on pricing. I really want to save this car as I have already had her painted and she runs like a dream.

After further investigation of the rear lower wishbones it appears that it is only the paint and protective coats that have fallen away, from what I can see the metal is still very solid no holes etc.

I was looking at a earlier thread where these parts have been cleaned up and protected with hydrate 80 I am going to go down that road, the only thing I am not sure about is if I will need to take the suspension to bits to do it or repair in situ?
..
I cant really justify spending in excess of £2000 to replace all the parts with new.

Silly question but if any one has any s/hand parts out there at a reasonable price I will be happy to re-use them. he says hopefully.

Harvey :

[lotuska]

I bought a load of bits from a guy breaking an Elan not far from Milton Keynes, when I left the car still had all of the suspension. I didn't need any suspension so didn't look, but as he was going to put the car back on the road and circumstances prevent him from doing so it might be worth sending him a email via ebay.

The original listing was:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281141406046?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649