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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Another Suspension Refresh


Phil S1

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Brian, they would be a piece of p**s to make. If i was still at my last place i would make them myself. However my current hospital employment does not have the equipment. I will post a pic up tomprrow.

 

I will also price up a bit of nylatron to make them, i think that might be the best material :)

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if they're easy then i've no problem giving up a few hours one evening/weekend. Got a lathe and mill to play with, lathe slightly poorly but still working...

 

check Ebay for material too, sometimes it's least hassle to pay a bit extra to have it delivered to your door, If you find material on ebay and make a drawing i could buy it, machine to your sketch and post to you. Or you could get material and old one to me (via post or come over) and i'll copy it.

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Yesterday, I finally got all my bits back on the car and appropriately torqued up and thread locked. I kind of regret not having nice shiny dampers and springs so it really looks refreshed, but hey, the bits which needed doing are done. I've done everything correctly but I'm still at little bit nervous for the first time it gets driven, this being my first such project.

 

My job for today is to start on removing the old headlamps and mountings so I can fit my new ones and get the clam back on the car. Then it is MOT time, geo -somewhere/somehow- new front tyres and clap.gif

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Phil, excellent job as always. Ive just started taking mine apart after removing the front clam. There was a bit of play in the ARB.

 

Mine has the motorsport ARB with the 5 adjusting holes. One of the nylon ARB bushes is cracked. £43 for a couple of blocks of nylon :blink: Also one of the drop links is completely shot. Ive a feeling this is going to get expensive.

 

You probably already know but Elise-shop are pretty good for cheaper drop links although it's worth painting them before you fit them because they soon go rusty otherwise. Apparently you can also use BMW ones although they are slightly shorter I believe, I think they're off the rear of a 3 series tourer but don't quote me on that :D

As regards the bushes, I'm sure Brian will sort you out with something for less than £43 :tup:

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Phil, sorry for the slight thread hijack but a pic for Brian as promised.

 

No problem Martin, the way I see it, it's all relevant stuff for anyone doing a refresh in the future.....assuming they can ever find this thread again that is!

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[quote name='Phil S1' timestamp='1298402210' post='210248

 

...assuming they can ever find this thread again that is!

 

I think it may well run for another couple of years. :P

 

Seriously Phil it has been a good read and very informative.

 

I am very impressed with your geo rig. Have you considered hiring out your services with the rig and your expertise ? My geo seems ok at the moment ( set by Steve Guglielmi not long ago ) but will no doubt be knocked out with a pothole before much longer.

 

RUSS.

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It could last and last! ...but yes, thanks Phil. Couldn't have done what I've done without this and Martin's thread and I've learnt a lot from doing it.

 

 

On the subject of geo, I'm a little confused about how the adjustments are made. I get how the toe in/out is set at the TRE, right? I can only see that the camber is set by shims at the hub carrier. Similarly, castor is through the placement of the washers/shims at the wishbone pivots isn't it?

 

If I put everything back on mine as it was taken off, surely castor and camber must be the same as before I took it to bits?

 

Maybe I'm missing something obvious... in which case I shall strike my forehead with my tyre blackened palm.

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In a perfect world it would go back exactly the same, however if the bushes have been changes and the new ones have less complience, or the size/manufacturing tolerences vary they they could be offset slightly relative to the old ones then it could affect all (camber/caster and toe) by some, perhaps insiginificant, amount. Also there is clearance on the bolt holes in the chassis and in the bushes which may alter the positions by only a few tenths of a millimeter but it could all stack against where things were previously.

 

All theoretical and you'd be unlucky for anything to be a mile out.

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Keith,

Your absolutely right, provided you put all the spacers and shims back as they were taken off then as Brian says you'd be unlucky for anything to be a mile out. I can testify to this with mine in that the camber didn't require changing at all although the alignment did need some fine adjustment. It was fine too, as I was unable to detect anything at all in the handling department when I drove the car for a while immediately after the refresh to 'settle' the new components. That said though, the alignment, particularly at the front, deals with such small measurements it doesn't need much in the way of difference between old and new bushes, balljoints etc to throw it out slightly.

 

Russ,

I've done a fair few geos for mates now. I'd never make a living hiring out my services though, it takes me a very full day to check and adjust a car, admittedly there are quite a number of Martin's famous tea breaks involved along the way :D

Purely checking the geo isn't a problem it's making changes that takes the time, especially if some of the nuts and bolts prove troublesome to undo. The other design flaw with my rig at the moment is it's only designed to fit S1s :P

Seriously though, if you want to be a guinea pig and see if I can make an S2 sport190 fit my rig and you can spare a whole day to do it you'd be welcome sometime. My spare time's a bit tight at the moment but the offer's there if you'd like.

 

Thanks to you both for the kind comments by the way, good to hear mine and Martin's threads on this have been of assistance.

Phil

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