Newbie question

[Lithopsian]

Lots of pretty replacement steering arms out there, if you're pushing the boat out   Although they're just a chunky lump of steel so however bad they look probably still qualifies as surface rust

[Andy wright]

And the 4th corner now removed. And yes, I needed my airsaw to cut the bolt that secures the upper rear wishbone . Seized solid in the bush. And exactly the same on the other side for some odd reason. I have also managed to remove the screen and the glue that held it in place. But now signed off for Christmas: that is banned from the garage for a few days . 

[Andy wright]

Steering arms, spot lamp brackets and rear upper ball joint holders now de rusting nicely in a tub of Bilthamber Deox-c . All the other stuff will go for blasting and powder coating. Long list of parts needed from Eliseparts now constructed and I have decided to frighten my Barclaycard to death with a pair of Spitfire rear toe links . In addition, brake caliper paint also ordered( I plan  to strip and rebuild all the Calipers as Eliseparts have the pistons, seals , guide pins etc ) Oh, and whilst the clamshell is off I will take the guidance offered on here and change the radiator. Perhaps as well this Elise was cheap, because I think I will have spent £3000 on parts by early January. 

[Lithopsian]

Those bushes can't have been helping the handling.  Or the ride!

[Andy wright]

On the contrary, I think they helped hugely in making it pretty awful. 😀😀I am quite looking forward to rebuilding the suspension with nice clean powder coated arms and new bolts, bushes, bearings etc . However, in the meantime I need to put the interior back in place and bond in the screen. Then remove the radiator and housing .

[DeanB]

I didn't powder coat my arms, the thinking being that I have never seen powder coating on suspension that hasn't chipped.  When it chips the water gets in and it rusts.

There will always be little stones flicking up. 

[Andy wright]

The trick with powder coating is to blast and then prime, then coat. Agreed that suspension items will get chipped. Enamel would be an option by extremely expensive and even very good paints like POR 15 are not immune to chipping. The Elise wheel arches are particularly hostile places, given how well the rest of the underside is completely sealed via the flat tub floor, the front and rear undertrays and the diffuser. In addition, the wheel arches are liners do a good job of sealing off the wheel well, so the suspension is all thats left in the rain and road dirt. 

[Badger02]

I spoke to Bilt Hamber last year and they advised that if you are going to powder coat the wishbones, make sure you etch prime them 1st

[Andy wright]

Agreed. 

[Andy wright]

And the next stage. Bilthamber Deox c works nicely on fiddly little bits as can be seen. Dash top and interior now back in place . Just waiting for the Betaseal adhesive and the screen can go in. The Bilsteins that I bought second hand from a very nice chap in Florida arrived today . Yes, today . Ordered them from him on about Dec20th. Astonishingly rapid delivery. 

[Andy wright]

Another day, another few hours spent underneath the Lotus. Still doing the really s#*##y jobs of cleaning the front and rear arches where the suspension used to live and removing the rear brake pipes between the hose and a Union that makes the junction between that piece of pipe and the long front to rear section that is buried deep inside the sill . I will make up a couple of new bits of pipe tomorrow and reinstate them. The hoses look pretty new and are clearly aftermarket braided ones . But, frustratingly, neither end floats so to reinstate into the caliper, the hose needs to be fully removed, wound into the caliper and locked, then routed and fed through the chassis mounting bracket and then reconnected to the brake pipe. At the rear, that is easy but at the front, the pipe to hose junction is difficult to access. Grrrr. Anyway , moan over , photos below. Oh, rear diffuser. Yes. In three bits. Lotus must have had a reason for using steel pop rivets in the aluminium sheet diffuser. But the corrosion around each and every one of the little sods was the inevitable consequence. Anyway, etch prime to follow, then some black paint and lacquer , aluminium rivets and some fresh edging trim and the back end of the car I think will look pretty reasonable. In fact, by the time I have finished, being underneath it will probably be the cars best feature . ( Spitfire toe links arrived today which was pretty quick service from Seriously Lotus) 

[Lithopsian]

Is the front brake pipe across to the passenger side OK?  On the S1, it is notorious for rusting through.  Luckily, access is quite good.  By Lotus standards!

[Andy wright]

That one is ok. I made the new rear bits earlier this afternoon and also dragged out the offside drive shaft and its bearing support for a clean , de-rust and paint. Fresh gearbox oil whilst I am at it 

[Andy wright]

And today’s joy was radiator removal. The fan supports were just about reduced to powder. And the foam has seen better days. And the wiring loom covering is pretty rough too so a bit of work to do here. I plan to replace the rad and its hoses but I am tempted to replace the heater hoses whilst so much is dismantled. I wouldn’t mind taking out the heater matrix but I think the servo is in the way, which is a bit of a shame . And if it wasn’t for the fact that the Speedo gets its signal from the ecu, which in turn gets its signal from the ABS unit via the wheel speed sensors, I would kick the ABS system into tough and re -pipe the master cylinder ( unless anyone on here knows a neat dodge to get a speedo signal ) 

[Oakman]

Hi Andy,

On the S1 there is no ABS but there is a toothed ring like ABS has that allows the speedo sensor to read the revolutions.  

They're known to pack up on S1's (I've recently renewed mine) and no doubt on S2's.  I don't know for sure but I wonder if you don't need to be concerned of it working in conjunction with the ABS ?  

No doubt someone on here will know.

Paul