Lotus Elan Central

by **PaulN** » Thu 22.09.2005, 09:15

Hi all

Im getting my wheels respayed by a mate in a paint shop to get rid of a few stone chips and just wanted to make sure i went about getting the wheels off correctly.

Ive had a look at The Jacking Point advice in Repairs and see that it would be best to jack the car up via the outter points and maybe put the stands on the flatter inner ones.

Can anyone tell me an easy and safe procedure to get the car up and all 4 wheels off? Im a little concerned about having either the front or back up on stands while jacking the other end up. :shock:

It should only be over night so im also tempted to ask nicely to my garage and get it on their 4 point ramp.

Thanks for any help

PaulN
Elan S2

by **clemo** » Thu 22.09.2005, 12:28

when i do mine i jack at the front where the wishbone meets the fixing joint and the same at the rears...
i have (when taking all wheels off) put the car on beer crates to avoid paint damage but axel stands are just as good!
DO NOT use the front progeron as a jacking point... this will be shown on the underside of your car where ATS KWIK FIT have bent nice round holes in it ...

by **PaulN** » Thu 22.09.2005, 13:17

clemof1 wrote:when i do mine i jack at the front where the wishbone meets the fixing joint and the same at the rears...
i have (when taking all wheels off) put the car on beer crates to avoid paint damage but axel stands are just as good!
DO NOT use the front progeron as a jacking point... this will be shown on the underside of your car where ATS KWIK FIT have bent nice round holes in it ...

Cheers for that.

Is it best to jack each end up with one or two trolley jacks?

I dont think its been to any of those tyre places, will other ones have the similar skill in producing those nice round holes? LoL

Thanks again

PaulN
Elan S2

by **Doug** » Thu 22.09.2005, 19:35

i would not leave the car up on trolley jacks as the pressure can leak and overnight they could retract down all the way :shock:

use the outer jack points and shove some jackstands under the inner support points -- that's the RIGHT way to do it . . .

by **PaulN** » Fri 23.09.2005, 08:52

Doug wrote:i would not leave the car up on trolley jacks as the pressure can leak and overnight they could retract down all the way

use the outer jack points and shove some jackstands under the inner support points -- that's the RIGHT way to do it . . .

Cheers Guys

Thats Exactly the info im after. If "Doug the Great" says it, it must be ok.

One last thing, is it best to make some kind on wood support block for the trolley jack or will the standard cup be ok?

Cheers

PaulN

by **M100 TWO** » Fri 23.09.2005, 09:19

Do not use the cups directly on the jacking points, one way is to use a socket that fits over the bolt between the two small lugs, place in the center of the cup. The rear jacking pont, the channel conecting the rear wishbone location points place a block of wood on the cup, there will be little weight at this point all the weight is on the front two jacks and jack them all at the same time to get an even lift

by **PaulN** » Fri 23.09.2005, 09:32

M100 TWO wrote:Do not use the cups directly on the jacking points, one way is to use a socket that fits over the bolt between the two small lugs, place in the center of the cup. The rear jacking pont, the channel conecting the rear wishbone location points place a block of wood on the cup, there will be little weight at this point all the weight is on the front two jacks and jack them all at the same time to get an even lift

How many jacks do i need? LoL

Let me get this right, are you saying jack the whole car in one movement, by using two jacks, one at each end?

Isn't is ok to do the front, put it on stands then sort the rear out?

I know there can be problems if you jack one corner up, put an axle stand in place then do the other corner.... some cars dont like that!

Sorry im asking alot of questions, just dont want to post in a week or two titled "My Body works all cracked".... or worse.

Cheers

PaulN

by **M100 TWO** » Fri 23.09.2005, 10:03

no three, two at the front, one at the rear in the middle of the car for a three point lift that is the safe way to proceed IMO

by **clemo** » Fri 23.09.2005, 10:08

as above..
the cup WILL damage the car....
also check that your trolly jack fits underneath as well !!
i drive my car up on breeze blocks/ railway sleepers to give better access..
and i know monty has remade some ramps for his..

by **PaulN** » Fri 09.12.2005, 11:34

Morning All,

Well after a month or so of arranging, and putting it off i decided to get the wheels repsrayed.

I ended up doing one side then the other. For information if you take off the rear wheel, put on the space saver then jack up and remove the front the rear space saver is actually off the ground so half the car can be jacked up by using the front jacking point only.

I wouldn't recommend it just in case though.

Painted the calipers and gave a few bits a clean while the wheels were off.

Heres a before and after with the Calipers:

So now i have lovely brand new alloys and nice red Calipers!

Just need to sort out the clear font indicators and get some cream mats! Got some French Ivory carpet left from our house so might get them tailored into mats.

Thanks for the help above, will post a few more pics of the shinny beast soon.

Cheers

PaulN

Website · by **theelanman** » Fri 09.12.2005, 12:55

and youve brought your car in for the winter too!!! how nice!!!!
well I dont know anyone with a laminate floor in their garage so I'm presuming the cars in the kitchen!!!!
lol
cheers
G
:lol:

by **PaulN** » Fri 09.12.2005, 13:21

lol

Its not laminate! Doesn't everyone take their cars in during winter? What did you think i meant when i said tucked up for the night? :wink:

How you doing anyway?

Got the gear knob fitted but it moves a little, still not got around to sorting the handbrake since the wheels have been off.

Cheers

PaulN

by **Candles** » Tue 20.12.2005, 14:30

Back to jacking and underneath access:

Does anyone have a cheap, home solution to lifting the car up by a few feet to enable seated access to things like the exhaust? I can't be arsed to dig a pit, but have a reasonably high garage so was thinking of some kind of mini-ramp. Clemo's railway sleepers seem like a good one. Any other solutions? I'm not buying a garage style lift!

Candles.

by **Sy V** » Tue 20.12.2005, 17:20

What! No access to the motor club anymore Candles?

by **Monty** » Tue 20.12.2005, 18:28

I used halfords ramps and made another set of smaller ramps out of timber to get the clearance required.

by **Candles** » Wed 21.12.2005, 07:56

That's pretty good. Have you ever lifted the back at the same time? And how about if I wanted to go a little higher? Would it work with a few bricks under the ramps?

by **Doug** » Wed 21.12.2005, 09:51

where's Matt with his link to the thing that you bolt onto your car and then roll it 90 degrees onto its side to work on the bottom . . .

by **Monty** » Wed 21.12.2005, 11:57

Candles wrote:That's pretty good. Have you ever lifted the back at the same time? And how about if I wanted to go a little higher? Would it work with a few bricks under the ramps?

Nope but i`m sure if u lifted the back up equally on both sides with 2 jacks then use axle stands or another set of ramps under the wheels that would be fine. How high do u want to go LOL, i`m not sure i would put bricks under the ramps as the ramps tend to slide when trying to get the car up. Be careful :roll: