Lotus back on the road

At long last the Lotus is finished. I took some time off this week to get it done.

Installed the LH backing plate, steering link, caliper mount. Packed hub bearings, installed hub.

That all went without a hitch, but there are always things that take a lot longer than they ought to. Installing the new tie rod bellows (the English call them gaiters) was a battle. These are genuine, made in England replacements. Problem was, they were a tight fit on the inboard end. I wasted a lot of time getting them on.

It was now time for paint. Having already washed the frame cross member inside and out with POR-15 Marine Clean and waited a few days for it to dry, I stopped by Thursday afternoon to brush on a coat of Metal Prep to some rusty places, especially on the bottom where it attaches to the body. Mostly it was still good from the last time I painted it. When that was dry I applied a generous coat of Rustoleum.

On Friday, with the paint dry I could finish attaching the new brake lines. Very nice set from Dave Bean. Next I used the shop's dandy vacuum brake bleeder on all four wheels, making sure to keep the master cylinder topped off.

I decided to take some time to raise the rear spring mounts. I did not want to make a mess of the handling so I just raised them 0.75 in. I also adjusted the new front spring to match the RH side.

Spring length

Front, free: 10 in.

Front, mounted: 8.25 in.

Rear, mounted: 12.5 in.

I decided to soften the front damper settings from 22 clicks clockwise to 15.

The last time I went through the front suspension I tightened everything with the car on the jack stands. I was told that this was why the front seemed too high even with the AVO shocks at their lowest setting. This time I used a pair of jacks to lift the front wheels until the body was clear of the jack stands before tightening everything. Pulling 50 Ft. Lbs. with the car teetering in the air was nerve racking.

The last thing to do was treat the inside of the frame cross member. Paint was out of the question because of over spray, and brushing would be useless. I chose to blast it with LPS-3. I lost two of the little red tubes inside the frame until I figured out than the cool WD-40 top could fit. I emptied the entire can in there. After shooting the LPS-3 I cleaned the area around the openings with naphtha, then covered them with black Gorilla 200 m.p.h. tape. At that point the car was ready, but I decided to sleep on it. Sometimes something will come to me after I get away from the job at hand.

Today, nothing new came to mind so I put on the wheels, took it off the jack stands, and went for a test drive. I like the softer shock settings but that needs more tweaking. Brakes are good, but the pedal is still lower than I like. Need to adjust the MC push rod. Steering is a bit stiffer, but with new ball joints and tie rod bearings this should be expected. Suspension worked fine. The front is a little lower, but still not as low as I would like.

Nice to have the car back on the road in time for All British Car Show at the end of the month.

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Lotus tie rods

Yet another short session today. But the good news is that the shop was even open.

First order of business was to remove the tie rod end bearings. Easier said than done. I had to use a really big crescent wrench across the top and bottom of the bearing and a long 3/4 open end on the lock nut to break the nut loose.

In the midst of that battle I was distracted by the arrival of a very nice BMW, a Z4 M coupe. I offered to trade for my E9 but the owner turned me down. Just as well. The trunk is too small to store the junk in my van.

Before I forget I need to record the number of turns to remove the rod end bearings. LH 22, RH 21.5. Surprisingly similar.

I wanted to remove the tie rods for painting and to lube the ball and socket, but the RH was so tight (yes I folded back the locking tab) that I decided it was not worth the risk of breaking something else. I ended up cleaning and painting in place, after slipping a sheet of plastic over the ball and socket to keep it clean. Same for both sides. After studying these photos I realize I should touch up the frame here, too.

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Lotus lower links, part 3

I'm calling this part three because last week counts as part two.

During the week I got two more parts shipments, a nice set of anti-roll bar drop links from a Lotus Europa list member and four new bushings from Dave Bean Engineering. I also purchased front brake lines from Bean, having done the rear when I replaced the hub bearings.

On Thursday I stopped by the shop after work to spray the links with black Rustoleum. On Friday I went back for a second coat even though it was raining. For whatever reason -- I suspect the humidity -- I got runs. Oh well, the links are not out in the open.

All I did to the Lotus was replace the bushings and touch up the paint. Even that consumed most of my time slot. I plan on taking at least one day off to do the whole job.

After that I sanded down the filler applied to the E9 nose last week. In the process I exposed a joint where the lower nose section is joined to the upper. This could be from the factory, as these panels would be difficult to form in one piece. I spent the last thirty minutes treating the exposed metal with POR-15 Metal Ready and filling with Technifill. I did not have time to get a last picture.

Lotus back on the road

Next Sunday is the Honolulu Century Ride so I won't be working on cars. All the more reason to get the Lotus back on the road today.

After putting the rear wheels on I decided the LH brakes were a bit too tight so I removed the drum and turned back the adjuster a couple of turns. The wheel turned easily after that, but it will take a lot of handbrake pulls to adjust it back. I miss the old MG way.

With the rear finally back on the ground it was time to lift the front and repair the peeling tape. The best place to lift the front is at the frame. The trick is to get under the anti-roll bar. The shop's floor jacks are pretty standard, too high to get under the bar. The solution is to use two jacks. Use the first to lift the nose just enough to slip the second under the anti-roll bar and under the frame cross-member.



The tape was easier to repair than I thought. After cutting away the damaged tape and washing the area with a wet rag I just tore off strips of 200 m.p.h. tape and stuck them lengthwise to cover the brake lines. While doing that I noticed that I need to get some Rustoleum on the frame nearby.



The car started right up and passed its safety check with flying colors. Nice to have it home again.

Lotus rear hub bearings, pt. 5

It's been awhile since I wrote anything. Mostly this is a result of a crazy busy schedule, but health issues have played a part, too. This week, both are back to almost normal. Another reason is that I have been working on the Europa's left rear wheel bearing, which is a repeat of what I just did on the right side. On top of that I am busy re-learning the Smalltalk language and a new version, called Squeak, my goal being to teach a class of high schoolers. This is in conjunction with the Open Slate Project.

Something not a distraction but noteworthy is news that my eldest son has flown the coop. Gone away to California to make his fortune. He got a job a bazillion kids want, to be a game designer at Upper Deck. That business segment has seen some rough water this past year, so I gave him a pep talk about being on the team that turns things around. I wish him and the company all the best. He currently has a blog up about his adventures; don't know how long it will stay up.

Last week I got the trailing arm off the car. A bit of a snag getting the forward brake line off, I ended up disconnecting the top. For some reason, corrosion most likely, the long bolt that secures the lower link to the hub carrier was hard to remove.

Today began with pressing the drive shaft out of the bearings. It provided a first-hand example of the value of this blog -- I could go back and review the press setup I used on the other side. I tried to do it myself, but juggling the part and four long sockets was too much, so Carl gave me a hand.

I was going to jump right in on the universal joints until I realized that paint was on the critical path. I set aside the drive shaft and instead knocked the bearings and seal out of the hub carrier, cleaned it in the solvent wash, then did the whole long clean and prep drill on it and the trailing arm in preparation for paint. As I recall, last time I painted the inside and outside of the trailing arm on different days. Today I did both, inside first. Once again my solution was to pour Rustoleum straight from the can into the trailing arm, then turning and twisting to coat the inside. Messy but effective. After hanging up like a smoked ham for an hour the paint stop dripping out the end, and I sprayed it and the hub carrier. They will be ready to assemble next week.

Even if I get everything put together next Sunday I will not be able to drive the car, because the Loctite has to set overnight before putting a load on it. Maybe I can take a day off this week and at least get the hub on. Too bad that step happens so near the end.

Lotus rear hub bearings, pt. 2

Happy Father's Day!

When I got home from the shop today I was treated to the most fantastic dinner, made all the better by having both my sons there. There was Kirin beer, steak, pepper cured bacon, two kinds of sausage, tomato and artichoke salad, summer squash, and rice pilaf. Dessert was a mocha chocolate pie. There are very few restaurants in Honolulu that could match that meal, at any cost. Pattie really outdid herself.

If there is one thing you can count on when working on old cars, it is that everything takes much longer than it should. By the start of today I had

• Removed the entire trailing arm


• Pressed out the drive shaft


• Removed the hub carrier


• Removed the bearings and seal


• Painted the trailing arm and hub carrier with Rustoleum


• Replaced the brake hose


• Pressed in the new bearings and seal


• Mounted the hub carrier


• Installed the driveshaft into the bearings

Last Week I was ready to install the trailing arm when I decided to grease the u-joint. Simple. Only I could not get the grease gun fitting off of the nipple. The effort ended badly, as it so often does with old cars, when the nipple broke off. Up to that point I had decided against replacing the u-joints, but they are twenty years old and rather stiff, so that was the last straw. I ordered new bears from Dave Bean.

Today I figured I would spend an hour replacing the bearings, then continue putting things together, and at the end of the day I would face the problem of having two cars to drive home. Not a chance. By the end of the day I had one u-joint installed. Getting it apart was such an ordeal that I am glade I did not attempt it on the car, as I had planned. The big time killers were broken snap rings, cracked outer races, and filing the gouges created while taking it apart.