Lotus: Lower LH inboard link bolt

My goal for yesterday was to finish as much as possible without the replacement bolt or tie rod bellows, to include painting the front of the frame. Didn't come close. I spent three hours getting the bolt out.

The process was simple. Put thick, oversize 0.5in. washer on first, so the force is applied to the tubing that the bolt passes through and not the frame. The tubing extends about 0.5in. from the frame. Add some 0.5in. drive sockets as spacers, one or more of those robust washers and a plain 0.5 x 20 nut. As the nut pulls tight the end of the bolt should be coming through; do not torque with less than a nut's thicknesses or the threads could be damaged. Tighten until about 0.5in. of thread extends, then disassemble and add more spacers.

I honestly thought I would only have to do this once or twice for the bolt to break free. It never did. I thought that the bolt would spin free, it never did. The torque was high enough to cause me to switch from a standard ratchet to one with a longer handle. Not that the force was really high, it was the repetition that was killing me.

I spent over three hours on this endeavor. Sure, some of that was spent searching for odd ball spacers -- an old ball bearing outer race worked well. Midway through, the bolt threads started to go bad and I had to clean them up with a die.

There was not much to make the bolt so tight. A grove where it extended from the frame. A little corrosion where the bushing went. It IS a precision fit, and maybe those things were enough. But I think the problem was the bend. This sifted the center of force well off center.

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Bent lower inboard link bolt

Worked on the Lotus today. Goal was to get the LH suspension built up same as the RH. First challenge: my funky spring compressor. Turned out the solution was easy, remove the short strap, cut a couple feet off the long strap, and use that to tie the ratchet to the spring. Worked great. Exiting when tension is released because it lets go with a bang.

While I was attaching the lower links I discovered the front lower link was cocked aft. A closer look revealed that the bolt is bent. This is the 10 in. long 0.5 in. bolt that runs through the frame. So I ordered a new one from Dave Bean.

I also worked on the anti-roll bar. Clamped the end in a big vise, and me and Carl pushed and pulled. The shock mount hole needed to move inboard 1.5in. Got it.

Had to drop the front bottom cover plate to work on the suspension bolt. Looked for rust, didn't find much. Will hit it with Metal-Prep followed by brushed-on Rustoleum. Oh, and all that hardware needs to be replaced, with stainless.

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Lotus RH suspension mostly done

Last week was the UH Manoa Gamelan concert so no time to work on cars. On balance, Dave Bean shipped my shock and anti-roll bar bushings, so today I had all the big stuff. I still only had three hours today, so if I want the car on the ground in time for All British Car Day I need to take a few days off from work.

Recently I bought new grease to pack the hub bearings, but I still needed gear oil for the trunnions and new zerk fittings, so I stopped at Redline. They had the oil, but no zerk fittings. Why is it always little things are what hold you up?

The guys on the Europa mailing list recommended liquid dish detergent to lube the bushings, so I brought along some. Hard to find plain dish soap! I expected a battle but they went together easily. I gently clamped the bar in the vise and used the jaws to backup the bushing.

While working on the bushings I noticed the angle of the bend at each end was different. Not the little bend, the big one. Probably a side effect of the crash impact. I won't be able to set it straight until the shocks are in place, because I need to know the distance between the bottoms of the shocks where the bar attaches.

I finished assembling the RH upright -- the steering link and backing plate. Greased up the hub bearings and added the hub. Couldn't do the tie-rod because I still don't have the steering rack bellows.

Since I got the new shock I thought I'd spend what little time remained getting out my home-made spring compressor. Made an interesting discovery. I have to compress the spring to even get the top mount point even with the top of the spring, but the nylon strap will not fit between the spring and the mount. Catch-22. That will take some thought.

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Lotus RH upright

It's amazing what you don't know.

I was talking to Ken at Dave Bean about my springs, and he said that at 10 in. I was already low. Then he asked me if I had tightened the inboard bolts with the suspension in static ride position. I knew I had to do that with the rear lower links, but not the front. Duh. That saved a bunch of money!

Still waiting for parts (shock and anti-roll bar bushings) but I went ahead and assembled both uprights. Attached the upper ball joints, and lower trunnions, with new rubber bushings for the trunnions. Coated the inside of the trunnions with gear oil -- same Red Line 75W90NS I use in the transaxle. Applied light grease where upright contacts rubber seal. Note: trunnion with LH thread goes on LH side of car. Why would that matter, with so little rotation? Another note: fill trunnions before putting back on the road.

Removed the old brake hose, which was a fight. Loosened the lower inboard bolt, so that suspension will settle.

Installed the RH upright. Used my hardware on the ball joint instead of what came with the kit from Moss, because mine looks like better quality. Did use their bolt on the bottom, because for whatever reason I had used the original the last time I had it apart. Would have done the whole thing but the steering links needed another coat of paint.

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 parts painting

No photos today because nothing photogenic happened. Cleaned (media blaster) the other caliper mount and both backing plates. Sanded the LH upper links. Shot everything with Rustolium Primer followed by grey or black depending on the part.

Discovered I need new steering rack boots. Could not loosen tie-rod ends, shot with PB Blaster. Need to pick up small can of black Rustolium.

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Lotus spring compressor

The goal for today was to experiment with the cargo tie down spring compressor idea recommended by several list members. I picked up a pair of 1,000 lb. ratchet cargo straps from Home Depot -- I chose the ones with hooks thinking they would hook onto the springs. Well, that didn't work out. The hooks are too big to fit between the coils, as well as the gap between the spring and the shock body. Besides, even if the hooks fit the springs are too short. So, I tied the straps to the springs. Easy on the long end, just use the end without the hook and use a double half hitch. The short end took some creative threading, with only enough room for s single half hitch.

The ratchets worked, but not quite enough to get the collar off. I think the knots were pulling into the take-up winch. I could compress the spring enough before reaching the next click, so I asked a buddy -- Mike, working on his Miyata -- to help out. He pulled and I grabbed the collar with pliers. My advise: do not grab the collar with your fingers.

The ratchet worked well enough compressing the spring. When it comes to uncompressing this technique leaves something to be desired. All you can do is fully rotate the ratchet and pull on the release. Bamb, it lets go all at once. Good thing I had the end tightly clamped in the vise.

The result: my front springs are 10" long. I plan to get shorter, stiffer springs to get the nose down where it belongs.

I got the upper links off last week, so after the spring was done I pressed out the bushings. I was going to press in the new ones but the paint needs touching up. I also wanted to get a second coat on the anti-roll bar, and a first coat on the steering arms. I did the bar and the arms, but ran out of time to finish the upper links. Next time.