Lotus Elan Central

by **Gazza** » Tue 24.04.2007, 10:25

Bobface

You have a PM

Gazza

by **garymb** » Tue 24.04.2007, 23:57

Paul.P wrote:Gary, do you go near GST Performance in Newmarket ?, excellent guy called Gerald runs it, as used by many on here !. 01638 661144

thanks all for your help.

I think I'll get along to Hangar 111 soon-ish. Having taken a look under the back I'm a bit concerned about the state of the wishbones. They look pretty crusty externally so god knows what state they are in if they rot from the inside out. I may be panicking unecessarily as it passed an MOT fairly recently, but as we all know that can be rigged. If there is a major problem I'll be having some hard words with the guys who sold me it (no names no pack drill at this point.) I'll let you know how I get on.

by **mikeydude** » Wed 25.04.2007, 22:50

I replaced both my back calipers and bled Laura to within an inch of her life, plus I wound in the pistons and pumped the pedal prior to using the hand brake.....and still the hand brake is crap.....I look for pubs that have flat car parks ..not easy in Lancashire.

by **mikeydude** » Wed 25.04.2007, 22:53

muley wrote:
garymb wrote:What a great site! I came here as a new owner intending to ask a couple of questions and found the answers already-- firstly about the hissing and slightly heavy steering (sounds as though that is pretty normal for the Elan) and about the brakes which as someone said seem 'barely adequate.'

While I'm up to some fairly minor mechanical work I think upgrading the brakes might be beyond me. Also I'd like to get the chassis checked out. From what I can gather the wishbones can go and generally getting them waxoiled is recommended. Currently I have no idea what sort of condition the chassis is in (she has done 77k) Any suggestions as to somewhere in my area where I might be able to get these issues checked out? (near Woodbridge, Suffolk).

All suggestions welcome!

Jim

Far from it, replacing the front calipers with hi-spec takes an afternoon, it's a diy job!

Sorting the suspension is essential....you must do it! otherwise your elan will fall to bits in a couple of years,

I bought a sand blaster.....only way to gat rid of the rust....then on a warm day (or make sure you heat up with a heat gun ..otherwise water condensation will form on the metal). paint all the thin suspension parts fronts and rear with hamerite (it does not come off if you do it right!..despite what others may say).

When painted...The the box sections must be filled with waxoyly (god only knows if that's how it's spelt).....I took out the rear clip for the brake pipe for one side of the suspension...the other side needs a small hole drilling n the top side a the inner most part then using a tube attched to a waxoil (tried a new spelling) can fill the entire bix section with the good stuff. then fit a plug.

The fronts are easier....they have plugs already.

Here is another elan tip.....there is a steel fabricated sort of inner sill thing that is so so prone to rusting and unless you take ot he seats and carpets you will never see it...this is due to the poor design of the elan hood which
allows water to flood into the foot wells, I only discovered this whern I decided to change the carpets recently.

by **mikeydude** » Wed 25.04.2007, 23:12

Oh, It's a great site sure...but don't be lulled into a false sense of security...this site is infested with ego trippers, jokers and *$%&£)$*% ers! that would rather promote their own sense of importance than just helping out people like yourself...god forbid for instance that you don't see a previous posting relating to your posting...otherwise you will be jumped upon for certain by...shall we say "regulars"

by **ailwyn** » Wed 25.04.2007, 23:59

mikeydude wrote:this site is infested with ego trippers, jokers and *$%&£)$*% ers! that would rather promote their own sense of importance than just helping out people like yourself...

It's a good job your here to save us all then :lol:

Probably my naivety, but what word can this possibly mean - *$%&£)$*% ers - none of the words I know fit... although I think the closest I came to was helpers. :-D

by **Paul.P** » Thu 26.04.2007, 07:18

mikeydude wrote: paint all the thin suspension parts fronts and rear with hamerite (it does not come off if you do it right!..despite what others may say).

Mikey, would you care to elaborate on this please, i had all my suspension parts bead blasted spotless, used the Hammerite Special Primer & 2 coats of normal Hammerite Smooth, & it started to come off within a few months, please tell me how you did it properly ?

by **Paul.P** » Thu 26.04.2007, 18:22

mikeydude wrote:Oh, It's a great site sure...but don't be lulled into a false sense of security...this site is infested with ego trippers, jokers and *$%&£)$*% ers! that would rather promote their own sense of importance than just helping out people like yourself...god forbid for instance that you don't see a previous posting relating to your posting...otherwise you will be jumped upon for certain by...shall we say "regulars"

Mikey, i can only presume you had a few beers :smt030

, or a bad day , or someone has really upset you

by **Monty** » Thu 26.04.2007, 23:02

mikeydude wrote:Oh, It's a great site sure...but don't be lulled into a false sense of security...this site is infested with ego trippers, jokers and *$%&£)$*% ers! that would rather promote their own sense of importance than just helping out people like yourself...god forbid for instance that you don't see a previous posting relating to your posting...otherwise you will be jumped upon for certain by...shall we say "regulars"