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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Another Suspension Refresh


Phil S1

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Inspired by Martin's refresh guides I thought it was time mine had a bit of tlc in that department. I'm taking plenty of photos as I go so I can remember where everything came from. I think Martin's guides pretty much cover everything but I thought I'd post one or two photos that might be of interest.

 

Suspension off:-

IMG_7854.jpg

 

I'm fitting new balljoints, OE bushes and anti roll bar rubbers.

To remove the anti roll bar, once the arch liners are out, there's an aluminium plate rivetted to the crash structure that also has to be removed by drilling out the rivets:-

IMG_7827.jpg

 

The top front wishbones have a number of washers fitted with them to adjust the caster angle so you need to make a note of where these all fit:-

IMG_7837.jpg

 

I used the Eliseparts tool to remove the balljoints and pressed the bushes out using sockets, similar to Martin's guide. As the bushes are all being replaced, it makes it a lot easier if you drill half a dozen holes through each bush before trying to press them out.

End result is this:-

IMG_7863.jpg

 

My wishbones weren't as rusty as some I've seen on Seloc but I decided to have them and all the brackets and anti roll bar stripped and replated, before painting them with POR15.

If anyone local to Derby is planning on doing this then I can recommend Nuns Street Plating

They charged £60 + VAT to do the lot and turned them round in 4 days. End result is what you see below:-

IMG_7882.jpg

 

The anti roll bar was the most badly corroded. I had assumed it was a solid bar until I removed it. It's actually a tube with the ends flattened. The problem with this is that the fluids get inside so I've drilled a small hole at each end to allow it to drain. I've since squirted a load of WD40 inside and let that drain out too. I'll need to plug the holes before painting, perhaps with a little self tapper, not sure yet.

Next step will be the painting, I ended up ordering the POR15 Chassis Painting Kit that Frosts sell. It comprises 6 tins, 3 of which are the rust prevention paint, the other 3 are the UV stable top coat. The top coat isn't really necessary for the suspension as it barely sees daylight but I thought it might give a better overall finish.

That's as far as I've got for now.

Big thanks to Martin for his advice and guidance so far.

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Phil, any idea what that plate does on the ARB ? Is it just to keep the crap out ? A few pics of what actually holds it in when you put it back would be good. Is the ARB easy to remove ? Ive got to sort my front out this winter. Im not doing it till the tax runs out at the end of Jan though. Just in time for the really cold weather in the garage.

You are possibly the only man fussier than me on MLOC by the looks of it. Im not sure if that is a compliment :lol: Have fun and thanks for sharing.

 

Edit, the caster adjustment washers are a B####rd to get back in. IIRC you can put the bolt in the wrong way to get them lined up and then put it in the right way from inside the car HTH

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caster adjustment washers; b****** to fit. Mental note. Check.

 

Look like I've got another useful thread to keep an eye on for when I start mine!

 

I was wondering about the rubber bits on the ARB too. Apart from cosmetics, is there any other reason to remove the ARB Phil? (If I'm under there and it is important to do, then I'll add it to the list!)

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Martin,

I think you're right, the plate probably is just to keep the crap out, I've read on seloc where people haven't bothered to refit it but I'll be putting mine back on. I'll make a note to take a few more photos in that region when I do. The plate is held by 3 rivets, 2 you can see in the photo, going into the crash structure, the other one is in the shadow of the anti roll bar and fits into the chassis bulkhead. Once the plate is off, it reveals a slot in the crash structure that then allows the anti roll bar to drop down.

Thanks for the tip about the washers, they were pretty tight to remove so I can imagine they're going to be fun to get back in :rolleyes:

 

Keith,

I managed to pick up a couple of new rubber mounts cheap off ebay and as mine looked to have a fair few cracks in them, thought it was worth doing. As it turned out, the exisiting rubbers weren't too bad so I wouldn't say it's important to do. I was surprised how bad the anti roll bar itself was though, the middle section that you can't see until you take the front undertray off was worst. Strange considering it's the bit that sees the least amount of road muck :unsure:

 

Anyway, back to the garage, I think it's time for the second coat of POR-15 :D

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Inspired by Martin's refresh guides I thought it was time mine had a bit of tlc in that department. I'm taking plenty of photos as I go so I can remember where everything came from. I think Martin's guides pretty much cover everything but I thought I'd post one or two photos that might be of interest.

 

Suspension off:-

IMG_7854.jpg

 

I'm fitting new balljoints, OE bushes and anti roll bar rubbers.

To remove the anti roll bar, once the arch liners are out, there's an aluminium plate rivetted to the crash structure that also has to be removed by drilling out the rivets:-

IMG_7827.jpg

 

The top front wishbones have a number of washers fitted with them to adjust the caster angle so you need to make a note of where these all fit:-

IMG_7837.jpg

 

I used the Eliseparts tool to remove the balljoints and pressed the bushes out using sockets, similar to Martin's guide. As the bushes are all being replaced, it makes it a lot easier if you drill half a dozen holes through each bush before trying to press them out.

End result is this:-

IMG_7863.jpg

 

My wishbones weren't as rusty as some I've seen on Seloc but I decided to have them and all the brackets and anti roll bar stripped and replated, before painting them with POR15.

If anyone local to Derby is planning on doing this then I can recommend Nuns Street Plating

They charged £60 + VAT to do the lot and turned them round in 4 days. End result is what you see below:-

IMG_7882.jpg

 

The anti roll bar was the most badly corroded. I had assumed it was a solid bar until I removed it. It's actually a tube with the ends flattened. The problem with this is that the fluids get inside so I've drilled a small hole at each end to allow it to drain. I've since squirted a load of WD40 inside and let that drain out too. I'll need to plug the holes before painting, perhaps with a little self tapper, not sure yet.

Next step will be the painting, I ended up ordering the POR15 Chassis Painting Kit that Frosts sell. It comprises 6 tins, 3 of which are the rust prevention paint, the other 3 are the UV stable top coat. The top coat isn't really necessary for the suspension as it barely sees daylight but I thought it might give a better overall finish.

That's as far as I've got for now.

Big thanks to Martin for his advice and guidance so far.

 

 

Phil why paint them the plated finish looks great. ??

Just doing the same on my Exige S ready for 7 rounds of Lotus Cup UK next year.

Took the wish bones off today and pressed out the ball joints. Also replacing all the wheel bearings and track rod arms.

The castor shims are a B###ARD. Little tip from the boys at JSR, super glue them together before re fitting, will definately be trying this tip as it took me a day per wishbone last time I did this little job !!

Lots of other winter jobs to do to get the car ready for the racing season

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Okay, I've now given all the newly plated bits 2 coats of the POR-15 rust prevention paint. Pretty much as it said on the tin, it took about 2 hours for the first coat to become touch dry at which point you need to put the second coat on. The paint covers really well so I think I'll leave it at 2 coats, especially as I will be following it up with the POR-15 chassis coat.

In answer to Balboa's question, the plating looks good and is basically as it was when it came out the factory, but seeing how that's rusted over time I still think some paint on top won't go a miss. Good tip about the superglue by the way :) :-

IMG_7885.jpg

 

IMG_7887.jpg

 

I also took a few more photos for Martin showing how the little cover plate fits around the anti roll bar although I guess this may be different on an S2? In the first photo, I've put the cover plate back in situ so you can see the 3 rivet holes. A clipnut also secures it on the bottom edge, along with the undertray:-

IMG_7889.jpg

 

Now the same photo with it removed:-

IMG_7890.jpg

 

A bit blurry but this one shows the 2 capscrews that secure the aluminium clamp around the anti roll bar. The lower one is easy enough to undo but you'll see that the upper one is within the channel of the extrusion making it a bit more awkward. Lotus have thoughtfully put a hole in the adjacent web, through which it's possible to pass an allen key but there's next to no room to turn it :rolleyes: I ended up using the allen key with a littlle ratchet spanner to turn it:-

IMG_7892.jpg

 

Last photo for now shows the bits laid out on the floor. Notice the lower capscrew has a large washer whereas the upper one has to make do with a small washer as there's not enough room:-

IMG_7894.jpg

 

Monday morning looming again so probably won't get much done till next weekend now :(

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I have a new Adjustable ARB to fit and i was reading the eliseparts fitting guide, it says

 

"If you car has an aluminium plate riveted to the bottom of the crash structure drill out the rivets and remove this plate to enable the old ARB to be removed. Re fit this once the new ARB is installed (although I find this piece superfluous)."

 

Eliseparts

 

HTH

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Phil, thanks for that. Can you get behind the plate to put a nut on ? I was thinking a small S/S pin and nylock nut would allow it to be removed easier next time ?

Martin, That sounds like a good idea to me, maybe some little stainless buttonheads with a nyloc. All it would mean is you would have to remove the front undertray to access both sides but you're going to have to do that anyway when wanting to remove the anti roll bar.

 

I have a new Adjustable ARB to fit and i was reading the eliseparts fitting guide, it says

 

"If you car has an aluminium plate riveted to the bottom of the crash structure drill out the rivets and remove this plate to enable the old ARB to be removed. Re fit this once the new ARB is installed (although I find this piece superfluous)."

 

 

Eliseparts

 

HTH

 

Superfluous or not, I'm refitting mine ;)

 

Phil, i knew there was something i had forgot. Have you read this ?

 

http://forums.seloc....ge=1#pid4636411

 

It might be worth buying a tin of ACF and giving the hardened inserts a good soaking whilst you are there.

 

Yeah I remember that thread Martin although I didn't notice anything untoward when I was dismantling it. I'll have a closer inspection and as you say some ACF50 wouldn't go amiss either :)

 

After seeing how the temperatures were forecast to plummet this week I decided to get the POR-15 chassis coat applied last night so all my wishbones are now finished, ready for installing the balljoints and bushes. The chassis coat is a bit thicker in consistency than the rust prevention paint and dries to a semi-gloss finish rather than the high gloss in my earlier photos. Still pleased with the results though. I've only used one tin of each so far, although there are various other bits on the car I still want to paint, like the rear uprights and driveshafts so I may yet break into another tin or two.

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Christmas has come early for some - I'm sure you said this job was something to fill in the time between Christmas and the new year, at this rate you'll be done well in advance. How about i drop mine round if you need something to keep you occupied at Christmas, cleaning it will fill most of that timelaugh.gif

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Christmas has come early for some - I'm sure you said this job was something to fill in the time between Christmas and the new year, at this rate you'll be done well in advance. How about i drop mine round if you need something to keep you occupied at Christmas, cleaning it will fill most of that timelaugh.gif

 

Yeah I do seem to be a bit ahead of schedule, the plan is to have everything clean and ready to re-assemble over the Christmas break. My new balljoints and bushes arrived from Eliseparts this morning so that's something elsed ticked off. Just been seeing what assortment of nuts and bolts I need to be get in stock from the local fastener place so hopefully I'll get them tomorrow night. Still plenty more cleaning and painting to be done yet though ;) plus when the suspension's back together there'll be the geo to do along with it's service.

 

Thanks for the offer of your car by the way, I'll be more than happy to use it whilst mine is off the road...might even give it a wash :P

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I have a new Adjustable ARB to fit and i was reading the eliseparts fitting guide, it says

 

"If you car has an aluminium plate riveted to the bottom of the crash structure drill out the rivets and remove this plate to enable the old ARB to be removed. Re fit this once the new ARB is installed (although I find this piece superfluous)."

 

Eliseparts

 

HTH

 

When I built my race car the notes didn't say the above so I was left pondering what to do...So there is a plate that bolts over that area too, so I just cut it out!

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Well it was absolutely freezing this morning and clearing the 4 inches of snow that appeared overnight delayed me somewhat. Way too cold to paint anything so I fitted the bushes and balljoints instead. They all went in without any drama but there are 3 different types of the OE bushes and you need to make sure you fit them in the correct positions. There are 12 cream coloured bushes, 2 more bushes the same size but black and then 4 short black bushes. You can just about make them out in this photo:-

 

IMG_7895.jpg

 

The next photo will help explain it more clearly and I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it but basically, all the bushes in the upper wishbones are pressed in from the outside in whereas those in the lower wishbones are pressed in from the inside out. The exception to this is the rear lower wishbone forward mount which has 2 of the short black bushes (one from each side). The other peculiarity is the front upper wishbone rear mount position where the black standard length bush is fitted. The photo shows all the wishbones and bushes laid out in their correct orientation with front being at the top of the picture:-

 

IMG_7898.jpg

 

I used some red rubber grease to help them on their way in which seemed to do the trick.

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