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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