Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Excuse my ignorance, but it appears some discussion is about the stabilisation or torsion bar connected to the front suspension, and others seem to be discussing the aftermarket roll bar installed in behind the seats to protect the occupants in a roll over, which I have seen plated or polished aluminium. As I cannot speak French I cannot tell what has been discussed in those posts.
Ian

merci mais il s'agit bien de la barre stabilisatrice de la suspension
j'utilise GOOGLE TRADUCT pour vous comprendre et traduire vos messages car je ne parle pas du tout votre langue !

For the benefit of our English-only readers, the google translation service is at: https://translate.google.com/

But several of the Internet browser program will translate each page on the go, I'm not sure how that would work on this website though as it is mainly English.

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The best way to get a precise Google translation.

Enter the message in the source language box, observe the translated text, REVERSE the translation (by clicking on the two-way arrow icon) and read the translated version again. If that does not correspond to what you want, simplify the source language, delete the idioms, for example. Repeat the process several times until the reverse translated version matches what you wanted to say. Then the translated text will be quite accurate.

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Le meilleur moyen d'obtenir une traduction Google pr?cise.

Saisissez le message dans la zone de la langue source, observez le texte traduit, REVERSEZ la traduction (en cliquant sur l'ic?ne des fl?ches ? double sens) et lisez la version traduite ? nouveau. Si cela ne correspond pas ? ce que vous voulez, simplifiez la langue source, supprimez les idiomes, par exemple. R?p?tez l'op?ration plusieurs fois jusqu'? ce que la version traduite invers?e corresponde ? ce que vous vouliez dire. Ensuite, le texte traduit sera assez pr?cis.

Easy way to avoid embrittlement and have good corrosion resistance and nice finish is to use Electrolysis Nickel plating process.

The following picture show this plating on the wishbone of my 26R.


In case of antiroll bar, it would allow the bush to slide on easily as well.

V

There are two different nickel plating processes; Electrolytic Nickel plating uses an acid bath and current source and can cause embrittlement leading to fractures. Electro-LESS nickel is the chemical deposition process which is safe for suspension arms, with NO risk of embrittlement. I would (and I do) only use electroless nickel on my suspension parts. It also works very well on headers as it plates inside all the pipes and holes (if they are clean).

Di-Chromate Zinc coating is generally safe, and should not cause embrittlement. This is the coating used on high strength grade 8 bolts, but it does not provide very much corrosion resistance and can soon look scruffy. Electroless Nickel is best, but be sure to mask off and threads as the nickel will plate inside the holes and if a threaded hole is not masked with a rubber plug, for example, then a rod-end may not fit in the thread after plating. Electroless Nickel typically adds 0.0005" to 0.001" thick, even coating. Epoxy is an excellent option. Lotus hand painted frames and suspension parts with medium gray enamel back in the day.