Rear caliper grumbles

[Saltire]

Well, I’m feeling proper grumpy tonight. For some time, I’ve had a slightly weeping bleed nipple on the OSR caliper. I nipped it up several times since I first noticed it, but it comes back after a while, so I decided that Something Must Be Done

At the time of looking, I couldn’t get one from SJ or SW Lotus, so I tried Rock Auto, and found a Cardone equivalent, part no 184328, as recommended on this illustrious forum, and for a very reasonable price. So I ordered, and it was duly delivered at the beginning of July.

Wifely decrees have meant that I’ve only just got round to fitting it. And it doesn’t. Fit, that is. The handbrake cable attachment is completely different, because the original has a stop cast into the caliper body, and the replacement doesn’t. Changing the handbrake bracket over doesn’t help

So, what to do. SJs now have them in stock - at a price. Alternatively, I could get Bigg Red or - preferably - my friendly local engineering firm to repair the original, but the Elan is my daily driver at the moment and being without it for a period would be a problem.

[dapinky]

Jonathan,

Something like this will keep you on the road for now - it uses a rubber 'o' ring to seal against the calliper, and then the new nipple screws in.

Alternatively, judicious use of a drill will re-cut the seat and not damage the threaded portion...... not easy with the calliper fitted though.

I understand exactly the issue with the handbrake levers...... clearly, you need to use the existing lever on the new calliper, and then fabricate a 'stop'...... there is a write-up from many years ago for the way that it could be done... http://www.lotuselancentral.com/repair/ ... aliper.pdf

Alternatively, using the old lever and a blob of chemical metal to make a stop, then painting it all black works a treat

[muley]

I have been running with a "stopless" OSR caliper for a couple of years.

The only side effect seems to be excessive lever travel, according to the MOT tester

You could fit the stopless one as a temporary measure, whilst you get the old one machined
Rgds

Jim

p.s. I am bracing myself for the incoming flaming!.

p.p.s. That bigredd repair gizmo is a clever idea

[Saltire]

Jonathan,

Something like this will keep you on the road for now - it uses a rubber 'o' ring to seal against the calliper, and then the new nipple screws in.

Alternatively, judicious use of a drill will re-cut the seat and not damage the threaded portion...... not easy with the calliper fitted though.

I understand exactly the issue with the handbrake levers...... clearly, you need to use the existing lever on the new calliper, and then fabricate a 'stop'...... there is a write-up from many years ago for the way that it could be done... http://www.lotuselancentral.com/repair/ ... aliper.pdf

Alternatively, using the old lever and a blob of chemical metal to make a stop, then painting it all black works a treat

Thanks Dave, much appreciated and as I suspected. I hadn’t picked up on the old thread, though - that’s really useful.

The practical part of me says the chemical metal approach is the simple (and cheap) way to go, but my engineering brain is revolted by the idea So I think I will take it up to Kevin at KMB in Cirencester and see what he can do. Fitting the new one on a temporary basis, as Jim suggests, is also a sound ideal thanks Jim

[Saltire]

IMG_1866.jpeg

And now for some summer

Come the winter, I will sort out the leaky nipple

[muley]

FWIW my Elan passed it's MOT today with a stopless OSR caliper

In fact, no issue with the rear brakes.

The fronts were a different (advisory) story.

[Tuga2112]

500 miles in 3 years.... i am disappointed

consequently. did you get your pod lift module fixed with the mosfets i sent ?

[Giniw]

I noticed the same and so I rebuilt mines with a few parts from the reconditioned ones.
The reconditioned pistons were actually badly scratched (at least one, can't remember) so I discarded them (or it)
I must have used a few parts obviously, notably the yellow check valves which were actually the right ones on the reconditioned calipers (not just a plug but a complicated parented valve, although I am not sure whether it makes any difference to be honest)

At the time I also reconditioned the pistons internals (the "non serviceable" bits. I have a few photos of it but I still need to post them here on the wiki.)

[Saltire]

500 miles in 3 years.... i am disappointed

consequently. did you get your pod lift module fixed with the mosfets i sent ?

My bad, Joao, I should have said. Mea culpa.

Arrived, installed, worked perfectly. Very many thanks for your help!

[dapinky]

I know that there is a 'pdf document somewhere on the website showing how the GM callipers needed to be modified to work correctly with the Elan (Jim ), but for the sake of filling this post up a bit, I modified my new one yesterday and it isn't at all hard.

It simply needs a bit of metal welding on to the old handbrake lever, so that it 'stops' when the metal hits the mounting bracket (so different to the Elan, where the stop is on the caliper casting), the same as the "wrong" lever already does.

I looked for a chunk of 5mm steel to modify, but then decided that it would be far easier to chop the relevant bit off the brand new lever which was going into the bin anyway, and weld it all together.

As always, a picture is worth 1000 words, so here you go:-

1.jpg

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5.jpg

6.jpg

[Giniw]

Nice!
(you would lose a few points of originality in a concours d'élégance, though lol)

[Tuga2112]

Nice!
(you would lose a few points of originality in a concours d'élégance, though lol)

i dont think anyone looking into competing concours would be considering anything but original lotus part when one is avaialble (even if its lower quality than the replacements this forum comes up with [heater matrix valve comes to mind] )

i have a long list of "non original" modifications to my car which would make it lose points no end. yet i believe my car to be far more practical (and fun) with them than without.

[Giniw]

Sure, I was just pulling his leg

[dapinky]

Anyway, I would loose far less points by doing this modification for a new unit, than I would by fitting Hi-Spec (or other) callipers........ maybe I should take it off the car again and tidy up the welding so the judges won't notice it????

[Giniw]

Seriously now, are the judge really knowledgeable about the cars they are evaluating? (I never attended such an event, and find it hard to believe they know so well any random car)

[dapinky]

Seriously now, are the judge really knowledgeable about the cars they are evaluating? (I never attended such an event, and find it hard to believe they know so well any random car)

I was once asked to be a judge at a National Triumph Show (probably some time around 1994 or 5), so I travelled half way across the country for a weekend. There were 3 judges, and we were all considered to be "fairly knowledgeable" about the cars we were to look at, and were given a score sheet for each of the 40 vehicles.

A quick walk-round individually meant that we each chose our own 'best 3' for the final - and there were no duplicates amongst our selections (if you think about it, we *should* all have picked the same 3 cars).

So we had to try to convince each other why "our" selection deserved to win.

3 classes, 3 winners, 3 runners-up, 3 highly-commended.......

It took over an hour! I was concerned with the mechanical presentation, one other judge was only interested in originality (even though one class was for 'modified' cars, one for 'original' and one for 'restored' ) and the last one wanted it to look perfect in the details..... even down to things like all slots in the screw-heads facing the same way.....

..... I'm glad my own car wasn't allowed to enter!

Since that day I have never entered a 'serious' car show, or judged one - and never will. Even at the 2019 Castle Combe "Elan 30 Anniversary" I refused to have anything to do with selecting my favourite car (as did Clemo), so we sent Mike and Barry off to pick their favourites, and no-one was ever going to get upset at that event if they didn't get a mention anyway - but some people take it all very seriously, and it is no longer for the entertainment of the audience, which I think is a bit of a shame.

[Tuga2112]

i remember what Pinky is describing. i was hoping for some for of recognision for all the work i done in mine, but judges are not looking for the delta in the car, they are only looking at the end product.

i think it was a very good call for both to stay away from the judging process. far better to have a couple of external people who are familiar with the cars but not involved in the comunity directly to made the decisions. i dont think anyone would have reason to claim favoritism.

i recall driving in thinking my car would have the highest mileage or at least be in the top 3.... it was not even in the top 10... but when i came across a beatiful silver SE with 230k (MILES) that certainly was a humbling experience...


i guess im not going to ever get any awards for my work... but i will stick to my claim to enjoy it more than anyone else..

[Giniw]

Thanks a lot for the insiders explanations, this was interesting!

a beatiful silver SE with 230k (MILES)

Amazing

[Geordie]

I know that there is a 'pdf document somewhere on the website showing how the GM callipers needed to be modified to work correctly with the Elan (Jim ), but for the sake of filling this post up a bit, I modified my new one yesterday and it isn't at all hard.

It simply needs a bit of metal welding on to the old handbrake lever, so that it 'stops' when the metal hits the mounting bracket (so different to the Elan, where the stop is on the caliper casting), the same as the "wrong" lever already does.

I looked for a chunk of 5mm steel to modify, but then decided that it would be far easier to chop the relevant bit off the brand new lever which was going into the bin anyway, and weld it all together.

As always, a picture is worth 1000 words, so here you go:-

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

4.jpg

5.jpg

6.jpg

Hi
What are the GM rear callipers I keep hearing about of and where do you purchase them from
Thanks in advance
Geordie

[dapinky]

Hi
What are the GM rear callipers I keep hearing about of and where do you purchase them from
Thanks in advance
Geordie

The ones I fitted to mine are Cardone 184327 & 184328 https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 04&jsn=509

However, I notice from Rockauto.com that they have no stock of 184327 - which is listed for the Rear Right of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (1989) 3.1L (but fits the Rear Left on the Elan).

As such, if I were buying today, I'd get NUGEON 9717269A & NUGEON 9717269B as a pair....... £35 each (plus VAT and delivery)