Lotus Elan Central

I am thinking of selling my 1990 elan se because on the mot it had an advice note that the suspension had heavy surface rust.
I guess this means the wishbones need replacing.
they are priced at 350 each.
Does anyone know where to get them sandblasted and recoated.
Or is there any other solution?
When the cars worth 3500 to 4000 I am not going to spend 2x350 pounds.

Here's another solution...

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=10071

...possibly.

I am right that makes it 250 a corner!

Well you didn't say front or rear, and hey, it started out at £350 per corner, so I've just saved you £200!
And you're welcome.

can you strip, sandblast/seal and wack'em back on

seamus wrote:I am thinking of selling my 1990 elan se because on the mot it had an advice note that the suspension had heavy surface rust.
I guess this means the wishbones need replacing.
they are priced at 350 each.
Does anyone know where to get them sandblasted and recoated.
Or is there any other solution?
When the cars worth 3500 to 4000 I am not going to spend 2x350 pounds.

These cars aren't investments, you spend the money because you want to drive it not because it's "worth it", in the long run, they'll never be worth what you spend on them in monetary terms.

That said if it genuinely is surface rust and hasn' compromised the strength, you can simply clean, treat, and protect them to prevent further deterioration. I've just done mine in Hammerite and they should be good for years now.

Chris.

mnemonix wrote:I've just done mine in Hammerite and they should be good for years now.
Chris.

Chris, unless you've got a different Hammerite to me & Monty, it won't last the winter, i assure you , Dico got some good rust preventative stuff, he's away till next week, but might be worth asking him when he's back, or actually i think Monty has just done his again with a different product.

I reckon you really need to get the stuff they treat the oil rigs with. If it can stand up to the North Sea salt it will be able to stand up to local Council grit/salt. John W might know a source?

And if it is just surface rust you may be OK for a while. But remember, rust never sleeps The wishbones will probably be corroded inside as well - I'm sure someone once told me they corrode from the inside out ? Sy had a fine example of what the elements can do to wishbone metal - it looked like a very thin sliver of Crunchie with mechanical strength of a marshmallow

Those S2 owners with galvanised wishies just don't know their luck

Paul - Dico's rust protection tip is very simple and cost effective











Leave car in warm, dry, well ventilated garage and never ever drive it anywhere

Seamus,
when I refurbished my suspension a couple of years ago I used a product called POR 15 http://www.por15.com/

I was lucky that mine only had light suface rust so you would have to have a serious look at your wishbones to determine if they can be salveged before you go down this road.

As for hammerite dont waste your time .

This was the thread for my refurbishment to show you the results.

viewtopic.php?f=80&t=6181&p=69806#p69806

Mike

Paul.P wrote:

mnemonix wrote:I've just done mine in Hammerite and they should be good for years now.
Chris.

Chris, unless you've got a different Hammerite to me & Monty, it won't last the winter, i assure you , Dico got some good rust preventative stuff, he's away till next week, but might be worth asking him when he's back, or actually i think Monty has just done his again with a different product.

Oh dear really?

In my case the wishbones are very solid and corrosion is only superficial, confirmed now by two Lotus specialists who've seen the car, so the painting was done simply to protect them. How could Hammerite be any worse than the paint Lotus used originally?

The advice is taken on board though.

Clean off the rust and flaking paint with a wire brush then spray waxoil (available in spray can) all over. Use a rag for the hard to reach bits and wear goggles whilst you spray

If they`d said that there wishbone have heavy rust then i`d say there ready for the bin, try hitting the underside off the wishbone with a flat end screwdriver to see if it will punch a hole. I`ve had a rear wishbone go and it went at the weld and put the wheel in to the bumper

If they seem solid your better off removing them to clean and treat with some kind off rust killer then apply Dinitrol or POR15 or Waxoyl.

BTW it`s not exactly a Major project

seamus wrote:I am thinking of selling my 1990 elan se because on the mot it had an advice note that the suspension had heavy surface rust.
I guess this means the wishbones need replacing.
they are priced at 350 each.
Does anyone know where to get them sandblasted and recoated.
Or is there any other solution?
When the cars worth 3500 to 4000 I am not going to spend 2x350 pounds.

...
erm actually ...last quote I had for the rear bone was £385 + vat each.....that makes it £450ish to you and me.......erm so lets call it a round £900 between friends.....

Wire brush, Kurust, x3 coatings of Hammerite and a spray with Waxoyl clear seems to have done the trick for me (so far). Even so, I do the screwdriver test each year.
Good luck
Mark

Lots of good advice/tips in all the above postings......

....but to summarise....

Dont rely on Hammerite (looks good in short term)
Wayoil is good (and they do it in black aerosol)
POR-15 is better
New wishbones are better still!

Make sure they are good all the way along and all the way through.......

....finally, if you do end up selling the car, new wishbones may not make the car worth £500 more, but will make it far easier to sell

It's an acknowledged weak point on the car (due to age and material, hence the spec change to galvanised), and many people will use the fact that they haven't been changed as a haggling point (I would) to reduce the offer. If they get changed now there are 2 advantages, firstly you get a car that is less likely to end up in a hedge, secondly, when/if you come to sell, the buyer can be reasured that you have done the job properly. I'm not saying that you would, but if i looked at a car with 'tarted up' suspension parts which were not structurally sound, i would wander what else has been 'hidden' and walk away, no matter what else seemed good about it.

It was only when i actually took mine off the car that i realised how bad they had become - one seemed good on the car, the other had a small hole near the seam weld (least of the problems, but the reason i bought stainless ones). When they were both off, the 'good' one was in a shocking state in the unseen places, and probably hadn't been waxoyld because of the inaccessability, even though the rest of the arm was great.

Monty wrote:If they`d said that there wishbone have heavy rust then i`d say there ready for the bin, try hitting the underside off the wishbone with a flat end screwdriver to see if it will punch a hole. I`ve had a rear wishbone go and it went at the weld and put the wheel in to the bumper

If they seem solid your better off removing them to clean and treat with some kind off rust killer then apply Dinitrol or POR15 or Waxoyl.

BTW it`s not exactly a Major project

The waxoil prevents future rust the wire brush should remove it. I agree make sure they are sound first!

Don't forget that they might rust from the inside out; so spray dinitrol or similar inside them, too.

Hammer test every winter as well..

Jim

Monty wrote:...BTW it`s not exactly a Major project

Steady on Jay; it might not be a daunting task to a spanner monkey like you, but maybe Seamus hasn't witnessed the pleasure of working under the wheel arches before.