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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Another Suspension Refresh


Phil S1

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Didn't get to go to work today....

 

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...so after spending most of the day clearing ours and the neighbours drive I found a bit of time to get in the garage. No further developments on the suspension front but I thought I'd share the story of my rear diffuser with you. I bought it some time ago now from an Ebay seller. It was a very nicely made thing but over time I have found that the black powder coating was coming off. Didn't think to take a photo of it as it was when I removed it but the problem with it is that the 2 central fins are rivetted on prior to the diffuser being coated. As the fins have flexed, the coating has cracked and allowed moisture to work it's way underneath. I have now drilled out the rivets and rubbed down the coating to remove all the loose stuff:-

 

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You can see that some of the coating has also come away at the mounting points.

I'm also using this opportunity to resolve another design fault, it wasn't possible to fit a rear towing eye without it wanting to foul the side of the fin:-

 

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Originally I had the Eliseparts rear towing eye but the one shown above is the OMP EB/573. Unfortunately the Eliseparts one decided to part company somewhere around Silverstone's Stowe circuit :rolleyes: I was never particularly impressed with it as it started rusting in no time. The OMP one is aluminium so lighter at least ;) When I refit the fins I am going to swap them over. This way the fins end up closer to the centre of the car and allow more room for the towing eye:-

 

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I am also going to use the spare hole in the eye to loosely attach it to the diffuser, probably using a button head screw with some spreader washers and a nyloc nut. That way, if I should loose the main diffuser bolt again, the eye should still be hanging on to the diffuser, albeit swinging around and making a racket in the process:-

 

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The plan now (when the weather improves) is to get the 3 parts re-powdercoated individually and assemble them again with sealant on the joint faces. Hopefully it should last a bit longer doing it this way.

If I was to buy another of these diffusers in the future I would get a bare aluminium one, disassemble it and get it anodised black.

 

 

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Your thread is most useful Phil. I finally got my parts ordered last week... still around £350 but at least there's a bit of saving thanks to Eliseparts' discount period (just doing the front first). Package arrived really quickly at my parent's house -partly my Mum's Christmas present to me and she insists on wrapping!

 

Can you recommend a supplier for POR 15? How many tins do you think I'll need for my front wishbones etc.?

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Your thread is most useful Phil. I finally got my parts ordered last week... still around £350 but at least there's a bit of saving thanks to Eliseparts' discount period (just doing the front first). Package arrived really quickly at my parent's house -partly my Mum's Christmas present to me and she insists on wrapping!

 

Can you recommend a supplier for POR 15? How many tins do you think I'll need for my front wishbones etc.?

 

Hi Keith, glad you're finding it of some use, I should've realised Eliseparts would have a sale after I'd ordered all my bits :rolleyes:

I got my POR-15 from Frosts (see the link earlier in the thread) although I believe Martin got his from Holdens. If you did all the wishbones at once you could probably manage with just one tin, but as it tends to go off pretty quick once it's been opened, then I'd say 2 tins would be about right. The only problem with that is I've not seen anywhere that sells individual tins.

Hoping to start putting mine back together again before too long so I'll be adding a few more photos as I go.

Have fun with yours :)

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Oh yes I remember you put a link in earlier now. As Martin suggested; front suspension this year (because there are components which need replacing) and rear next year. Looks like I'll have POR to spare on my shelf though!

 

I'm quite looking forward to getting going on it now, but I need a day when my drive is free of ice to roll the car out to get the front clam off!

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A bit of an update of where I've got to.

I got the diffuser back from the powdercoaters, as I mentioned earlier I had the 3 pieces coated individually in an attempt to stop moisture getting into the joints. I assembled them with sealant and used some 3mm stainless buttonhead screws and locknuts in place of the original rivets. There's a few blemishes in the finish of the coating but overall I think it's much better than it was:-

 

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I used a 5mm buttonhead with some spreader washers and a locknut to keep the tow eye captive with the diffuser should the main 8mm bolt come adrift again in the future:-

 

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I've also made a start putting the suspension back together again, the near side rear is pretty much done now apart from the disc and pads. I painted various other bits and bobs with the POR-15. The rust prevention paint that Martin used gives a high gloss finish whereas the uv stable chassis coat that I used as a topcoat on the wishbones gives more of a semi gloss finish. Apart from the wishbones I painted everything else with 2 coats of the rust prevention paint:-

 

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From the photos above you can see that I've painted the upper shock absorber mount, the aluminium spring platforms and the ends of the spring as they were looking a bit scabby, the P clips, driveshaft, rear tie rod and the upper balljoint plinth. My car also has the steel rear uprights, so I've painted them as well.

You can also see that I have a jack under the lower balljoint...there's a reason for that ;)

It states in the manual that the wishbone pivot bolts and the shock absorber bolts have to be finally torque tightened when the car is at it's normal ride height. This is nigh on impossible unless you have a 4 post lift and even then I reckon you'd struggle. The reason the manual states this is that the shock absorber mounts and the OE wishbone bushes are rubber with a steel tube insert. The insert is clamped when the bolt is torqued up and any movement in the suspension is achieved by the rubber twisting. Therefore, if everything was torqued up with the suspension at full droop all the rubbers would already be twisted at the normal ride height and subsequently would be over-twisted when the suspension was at full compression. I get round this by jacking under the balljoint, compressing the suspension, until it just starts to take the weight of the car (when that little piece of wood on the axle stand starts to come free). By my reckoning that's pretty much equivalent suspension compression as you'd see with the car on all 4 wheels.

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Good work.

 

I see that you've painted the driveshaft. Looking at the pictures, you may have to rub back the speed sensor pick-up points. I had inconstant readings on the Stack that I finally traced back to the paint on my driveshaft.

 

The diffuser is looking good too.

 

Bis.

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Looks great - I'm in the middle of doing mine at the moment. Nitrons sent off for refurbishment and one side fully stripped down ready to be blasted and painted. No pics though - digital camera is knackered at the mo :-(

 

So far everything has been straight-forward and the only noticeable wear I've come across has been a less than smooth front left wheel bearing but at least that is only 3 bolts on the S2.

 

Don't panic about the paint on the reluctor ring (the toothed speed sensor ring) just yet. I painted the ones on our Smart car and it was just fine and it uses them for a lot more than just the speedo and odometer.

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Good work.

 

I see that you've painted the driveshaft. Looking at the pictures, you may have to rub back the speed sensor pick-up points. I had inconstant readings on the Stack that I finally traced back to the paint on my driveshaft.

 

The diffuser is looking good too.

 

Bis.

 

 

Looks great - I'm in the middle of doing mine at the moment. Nitrons sent off for refurbishment and one side fully stripped down ready to be blasted and painted. No pics though - digital camera is knackered at the mo :-(

 

So far everything has been straight-forward and the only noticeable wear I've come across has been a less than smooth front left wheel bearing but at least that is only 3 bolts on the S2.

 

Don't panic about the paint on the reluctor ring (the toothed speed sensor ring) just yet. I painted the ones on our Smart car and it was just fine and it uses them for a lot more than just the speedo and odometer.

 

 

Top job Phil. Its one of the main reasons i drop the clam off. You can drop the car back on the wheels and tighten at ride height with a 3/8 torque wrench and a few knuckle joints in some instances.

 

 

Thanks for the replies.

Bis, I did wonder about painting the toothed ring and whether it might affect the speedo. I'll leave it for now and see what happens when I get it back on the road.... if this Siberian winter ever ends that is :cold: It sounds like Tim got away with it on his Smart car. It won't take long to remedy if it does cause a problem anyhow.

 

It seems like there's a bit of an MLOC suspension refresh going at the moment, with Tim, Keith and myself all at it. Anyone else out there having a go this winter?

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Hey Phil,

 

My refresh is well underway now that I have some time.

 

I am stuck on something though and would like the MLOC posse to assist.

 

Issue 1.

 

I have undone the top wishbone balljoint nut and with a couple of threads to go, the whole thing started to spin with the bolt. Which now means, no matter what I do, the bolt would not unwind any further. I have tried gripping the balljoint bolt with a pair of pliers, to no avail. Any suggestion? This is also the case with the trackrod end.

 

Issue 2.

 

I have managed to remove all the wishbone bolts, apart from one. This is the upper inner bolt that runs through the steering rack channel. The problem is, the bolt head is in the channel and to remove it, it seems that I would have to remove the steering rack? That cannot be right? Is my bolt facing the wrong way?

 

Ta.

 

Bis.

 

Picture to demonstrate issue 2...

 

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Been back to the garage and just figured out issue 2. I needed a break I think and warmed up the brain.

 

On full lock, I can just about clear the bolt! I think. I will see what I get back on the tools.

 

Bis.

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Bis,

All the balljoints have a hex socket in the end of the spindle so if it's the upper balljoint, you should have access to be able to get an allen key in there to stop it spinning.

Sounds like you've sorted issue 2 :)

 

I know what you mean about the temperature, first job I had to do in the garage this morning was a bit of plumbing. A pipe had frozen and pushed the soldered joint apart :blink: Plenty of lagging on it now so hopefully won't be doing that job again tomorrow :lol:

 

All the best

Phil

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Thanks Phil.

 

I had a look this evening and unfortunately this particular balljoint does not have the hex socket at the bottom. It has a slight indentation that is all.

 

Cutting the bolt may be my only option if it all fails :(

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Bis,

I assume the last threads were badly rusted. Are you able to tighten it back up again? If so, you could then wire brush the protruding threads, apply loads of WD40 and then try again. Failing that, with it tightened back up, could you saw / dremel / angle grind the protruding bit :unsure:

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Re: ball-joints, the shaft of the joint is tapered, you need to apply pressure to re-seat the taper which will stop it spinning, use something like a jack handle, piece of stout wood, a steel bar or similar to apply pressure while you undo the nut.

 

The steering arm ones are ok to find a purchase on the suspension with a bar, the upper wishbone you may need to put a jack under the lower wishbone to stop deflection then apply a bar to the upper if possible. alternatively you could try a small ratchet strap around the whole upright, over both lower and upper ball-joint -if you have one, to achieve the same result.

 

Brian

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It seems like there's a bit of an MLOC suspension refresh going at the moment, with Tim, Keith and myself all at it. Anyone else out there having a go this winter?

 

I'm not brave/skilled enough to do a full refresh, but my son & I did jack the car up a few weeks ago & paint all the wishbones etc in situ, just to give a bit of rust protection. One day I will get round to doing it properly, so I'm following all you lot with interest.

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