Lotus Elan Central

Right,

There must be quite a few of us who have bought the upper wishbone from the sales list which came with no Bushes and also would be good for those who are also fitting new parts or refurbing there suspension.

I`ve had a word with Bob and cost to produce these and since it`s the same bush for each half we only need one tooling made. Here`s a bit of the reply i got of Bob.

you would be looking at about 30 cars worth or about 120 bushes 4 per car.

The tooling costs is around the £750 but the cost to produce them is relatively low like about £3.00/£4.00 each, they are again a bonded bush

So we need approx 30 people interested to make viable. If this goes a head then the bush will be produced to Lotus ratings to match up the bushes being produced for Bobs front lower wishbones.


£750 tooling cost diveded by 30 people = £25 + £16 for 4 bushes = total cost per person £41

Once the tooling has been paid for then it`s just the cost of the bush for future group buys.

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.
4.
5,
6.
7,
8,
9.
10.

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4.
5,
6.
7,
8,
9.
10.

Monty
Will look into the other parts you may need like shims for both caster and camber, and the bolts 10.9 tensile strength and K nuts for the ball joint
I should be able to sort out the shims as they are easy and can be laser cut very accurately +/- 0.02mm +/- 0.004" .

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5,
6.
7,
8,
9.
10.

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6.
7,
8,
9.
10.

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7,
8,
9.
10.

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,
9.
10.

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,Woody
9.
10.
Cheers

Group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,Woody
9. stevieg8571
10.
Cheers

Monty wrote:you would be looking at about 30 cars worth or about 120 bushes 4 per car.

are you sure its only 4 bushes per car??????
I thought it was a 2 piece wishbone with a bush needed at each end of each piece....so youd need 4 bushes to do one side.....
just thought Id ask
cheers
G
ps have you asked if SWlotus do one?.....

As a bit of an update......

....I have spoke with bob (by electronic means!) prior to Malvern, and we had a natter today - with a set of uppwer wishbones, and a set of measuring callipers......

It appears that the bush needed (Gareth, it is only one per arm, ie 4 per car - it's just the lower one which needs a 'back-to-back' bush) is the same diameter as the lower one, and may even be one half of the 2 needed for the upper one! (Even though Lotus have different part numbers)

As such, there may be little tooling involved (as it's already been done for the other bushes), and may just need eother a longer central sleeve. or a spacer, and the correct grade of rubber.

This would make everything far easier for everyone involved (Especially Bob who has done a hell of a lot already!), and help everyones costs......

....either way, i need a set, but please bear in mind that at this stage, it is still a bit of a 'Wish List', and not to be confused with a firm 'Group Buy', as that decision can only be made by whoever is doing the donkey work

Hoping to become a group buy list.
1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,Woody
9. stevieg8571
10. Pinky
11.

1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,Woody
9. stevieg8571
10. Pinky
11. rip
12.

dapinky wrote:As a bit of an update......

....I have spoke with bob (by electronic means!) prior to Malvern, and we had a natter today - with a set of uppwer wishbones, and a set of measuring callipers......

It appears that the bush needed (Gareth, it is only one per arm, ie 4 per car - it's just the lower one which needs a 'back-to-back' bush) is the same diameter as the lower one, and may even be one half of the 2 needed for the upper one! (Even though Lotus have different part numbers)

As such, there may be little tooling involved (as it's already been done for the other bushes), and may just need eother a longer central sleeve. or a spacer, and the correct grade of rubber.

This would make everything far easier for everyone involved (Especially Bob who has done a hell of a lot already!), and help everyones costs......

....either way, i need a set, but please bear in mind that at this stage, it is still a bit of a 'Wish List', and not to be confused with a firm 'Group Buy', as that decision can only be made by whoever is doing the donkey work

Thats great if it turns out we can use the same tooling

But can i just say that this is not a wish list, if we can get 30 people (maybe less if the tooling is cheaper) then this will go ahead. I don`t want people dropping out as doing group buys are hard enough.

best laid plans of mice and men, squeak! squeak!

I have checked the top bushes and although they are close and while at Malvern I was using the memory cell they are not close enough.
The outside diameter is different by 1mm, as is the hole in the center, the top is 14mm and the bottom 12mm

Bob

bobbrown wrote:best laid plans of mice and men, squeak! squeak!

I have checked the top bushes and although they are close and while at Malvern I was using the memory cell they are not close enough.
The outside diameter is different by 1mm, as is the hole in the center, the top is 14mm and the bottom 12mm

Bob

Thats a bloody shame

Thought it would be to good to be true

Now I will need a sample bush either new or used to get the shore hardeness of the rubber used.

Also if any one has spare shims for the upper ball joint as samples, then I can get some made as the cost will be low as they only charge for the total length of the cut.
I can probably get them cut at the same time as the lower wishbone parts with the material that would other wise be scrap, I think chrome moly may be a bit of over kill but it's free and already on the machine.
The little square ones are probably the more critical as there are 4 different sizes 10.5mm to 14mm and SJ has these listed at £3.00 each and there are 4 per car, I'm thinking more along the lines of £10.00 for them all thats 16 shims. Even the caster shims are £2.55 each so that gets expensive if you replace them again I'm thinking more like 50p or less.


While on the subject I did look at the top wishbones at Malvern and thought it may be an Idea to have them galvanised.
The company that is galvanising the lower wish bones charges by the weight of the components to be galvanised so getting one set galvanised is going to be expensive BUT if we were to put them all together along with the lower ones then they are not going to cost very much to get them done, they will need the holes where the bushes fit reamed out after they have been galvanised but that should not be a problem but there will be a cost as I will need to buy a 30mm reamer.

Bob

BTW has anyone checked to see if the originals bushes are still available and if so how many they have?

rip wrote:1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,Woody
9. stevieg8571
10. Pinky
11. rip
12.

12. Upset99..I will pay for the delivery

1. Monty
2 Dico
3.BFG in the BRG
4. Jackonicko
5, whippit
6. John_W
7, Denny
8,Woody
9. stevieg8571
10. Pinky
11. rip
12. Upset99
13. Alan C

I am confident that we can get a better price on this side of the Pond if there is a sample available?

bobbrown wrote:Also if any one has spare shims for the upper ball joint as samples, then I can get some made as the cost will be low as they only charge for the total length of the cut.
I can probably get them cut at the same time as the lower wishbone parts with the material that would other wise be scrap, I think chrome moly may be a bit of over kill but it's free and already on the machine.
The little square ones are probably the more critical as there are 4 different sizes 10.5mm to 14mm and SJ has these listed at £3.00 each and there are 4 per car, I'm thinking more along the lines of £10.00 for them all thats 16 shims.

I have a few camber shims if you still need them, not sure which size they are - bought a few in the days 'before Bob' from Lotus IIRC
Send me a PM with address and I'll get them to you

Cheers,

Dave