Sunday, May 15, 2011

Lotus lower bolt in place

This was a battle I did not see coming. The new bolt came last week (thanks Dave Bean!) . I expected it to slide right in. No gamelan yesterday due to graduation, so I figured the car would be rolling around by the end of the day.

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The bolt went in maybe an inch and stuck. Thinking it was just snug I gave it a tap. Stuck hard, could not pull it out. I had to resort to my bolt pulling setup; this time I took a picture.

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I tried to run a 0.5 in. drill through the tube. This got stuck, too. I could turn it with pliers and it felt like a burr. The pliers were slow going. At this point I would have used an electric drill, but there was no room -- the bottom of the nose hangs too low. I wasted most of an hour with the pliers with no light at the end of the tunnel. Then I asked Carl. Turned our the shop does have a right-angle drill.


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After a substantial amout of drilling the hole finally got free. The bolt still needed some help from a hammer, but it went clear through.

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I installed the lower links and the upright. Getting the anti-roll bar installed was a trick, but despite all the bending it fit perfectly. The backing plate is next and ready to go. I do not see any more road blocks.

posted from Bloggeroid

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