Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have just finished rebuilding the rear calipers on my baby Elan. I have to say that this was the most painful / difficult job I have done so far on the Elan including a top end rebuild on the engine.

Getting the unit stripped, freeing off the seized joints with gas torch and hammer :angry:

Pulling out the old pistons :angry:

Stripping off the baked on dust, crap and rust :angry:

Fitting the new seals and dust covers :angry:

It all took an age and was fiddly in the extreme.

Go on, share your pain here and vote for your job with the most ball ache

Steve

The most difficult job is not on an Elan at all, try replacing a water pump on an Esprit with the engine in the car or doing anything at all on the engine of a turbo Esprit !

But if forced to go back to Elan problems I would vote for

1. Replacing donuts until you learn how to do it properly,
2. Rebuilding an engine once you learn how to do it properly

Rohan

The most difficult/awkward jobs in my book are:
1. replacing the top diff mounts with body still on.
2. replacing the waterpump bearings with the engine still in the car (then, after you have rebuilt the engine, realising you've set the wrong gap between the impeller and the casing :angry:, and doing it all over again. :angry: :angry: )
3. removing the entire handbrake mechanism (especially the tree), cleaning and refitting with new h/brake cable with the body still on.

Funnily enough I didn't find the rear calipers all that troublesome. I connected an old footpump to the open bleed nipple and blew the pistons out.

Next job I don't fancy is repairing the paintwork. It's covered in osmosis so will have to come off and be redone. Days of scraping - Boredom city!

Regards,

Hamish.

Fitting the screen!

Discovering that the water pump you so carefully rebuilt, leaks when everything is back together so you have to start all over again (or pay somebody else as I did)

or

Removing the rear wheel bearings after reading the short section in the factory manual which suggest you can to it at home quite easily!! I think it says something like 'knock out the old bearings" - I had to use a vertical hydraulic 5 ton press.

or

Fitting the two rear lower thackery washers holding the rear Weber carb on.

Removing the rotoflexes when ALL 12 bolts are have welded themselves into the sleeves of the rotoflexes. Stopped short of setting fire to them!
Now have sliding splines
Cheers
Tim

i have had to do all the mentioned in the restoration of 26R -- S2 -- 33 but the worst job was creating the wiring harness-----3 grueling months of yoga positions ----electrical fires and burned fingers ed law <_< ------

All of the above afore mentioned!

But the best, the restoration of a 62 Elite I purchased in boxes, installed engine and tranmission together, then the diff etc., only to find out the prop shaft will not go in with both in place, out comes the diff again!

I felt like a real nit!

Alasdair.

sounds like you fell for the same story I did-----oh yes its all there --in these boxes ----just screw it together -----the car is worth it though --closer to getting on the road ---- :unsure: btw the cut out hole on the passenger side is a big help in installing the drive shaft without removing the diff -ed law

I agree with Rohan, my vote is for the donuts UNTILL you've done it a couple of times, followed by the water pump (head on) I take my hat of to you guys who have done it without taking off the head but I still think I could do it in the same time (or less) WITH taking the head off! AND I wouldn't have oil leaks. :rolleyes:
Brian

Oh by the way Rohan, I've worked on a turbo Esprit and I know exactly what you are talking about!
Brian

Transmission change , without removing the motor, was challenging the first time. :blink: The second time was much easier.

I liken the donut thing to self abuse, the result probably justifies the means, but there are more pleasurable ways, IMO. I run cv's now.

I'd have to agree that the rear calipers were a real faff. After 14 years sitting still, they were a real sod for every reason described here. But getting the old -pistons out was by far the worst. Blow them out? No chance with mine, I had my compressor give it about 150 psi and nothing! 14 years of rust has quite a grip! I got 3 out by hammering hard with a big screw driver around the lip of the piston. Took ages but worked, eventually. For the the fourth, I ended up drilling it through the few mm that poked out, inserting a bolt and twisting it. Still took a few hours, though :angry:

Removing the rotoflexes was a pain, but the worst part was getting covered in cr*p every time I whacked a bolt - years of caked on road crud seem to want to get into my eyes - even got around my safety specs.

Next time when air pressure fails to dislodge brake caliper pistons.....use a geasegun, it will generate a lot more pressure! The hard part is trying to keep which ever piston wants to come out first in place so you can break the other one free as well. The greasegun will generate about the same pressure as the brakes would under normal use, I defy a stuck piston to resist!
Dave
lotus026

Fitting new "inner" seat runners runners as there is no clearance for the bolt and nut head betweeen the chassis and body!

Mark