Lotus Elan Central

Here is a small project ,not for the purists. The worst problem owning an old car is RUST !. I once owned a white MGA before they were valuable but I decided to get shot of it when the colour changed to brown and cream of is own accord. That was my first love for Lotus. Glass fibre body and only a backbone chassis to rust which is replaceable if absolutely necessary. OK Colin Chapman did save cost by not galvanising the chassis but that was corrected from the Excel onwards. I was really impressed when I stripped my salvaged Elan, the chassis was like new and had a sort of stove enamel finish. I see the Elan's Achillies heel as the four suspension setups. The rich bitches and mega-mechanics amongst us replace everything with stainless steel, but for those who prefer driving to laying on their backs(under a car)but worry about which MOT exam will their car fail on rusty suspension arms THIS IS FOR YOU.

I took off each wheel in turn (after jacking up and additional support) greased every piece of rusty metal on the suspension (NOT THE BRAKE DISCS OR PADS) Grease kills rust like nothing else unfortunately you cannot paint on it. Do this once a year, it only takes about two hours and you will prolong the life of those rusty components indefinitely. Hence more DRIVING and less GARAGE BILLS.

PS Did you know the Elan M100 has the VIN number stamped on the chassis under the rear wheel arch (offside I think)

Not exactly a project is it mate, more like maintanence

The M100 chassis isn`t galvanised and i certainly wouldn`t use grease to use as rust treatment are to protect other parts as grease will just hold the s**t coming off the road. There`s other products that are design for the job Dinitrol, waxoyl

http://www.frost.co.uk/how_do_i_explained.asp?hdID=10

Some interesting comments Monty and good to have an alternative point of view. I can't agree that this should not be considered a "minor project" changing a punctured tyre is a project to some people and I hope the appeal of the Elan is wider that just Petrol heads, It certainly deserves to be.

I did not mean to imply that the Elan chassis was galvanised only that the protection had much improved. A full description can be found in Mark Hughes book Page 128.

I understand that there may be more high tech treatments than grease which have varying properties. My reason for suggesting grease is it readily available and easily understood by the non-tech minded, and contrary to what you say a light smear soaks into rust and kills it more effectively than anything else I have used. The surface dries and repels rather than attracts.