Brake calipers that have been sitting in a field for nearly 40 years are bound to have issues. While our Lotus Elan’s were savable, it would take some work to get them apart to media-blast, paint and rebuild.
One trick for removing caliper pads is to carefully introduce some compressed air into whe…
Always great to see this coming together. Semi-inboard rear discs? Very cool. The primered frame trips me out. I understand that that is factory correct, and that your coating will not encourage water infiltration like the original, but my inner critic really wants to see a gloss black frame. Beautiful work as always. No doubt it will be a show winner when complete.
wheelsmithy, Thanks for the kind words. I too would have liked to see a painted frame, but while we do all kinds of projects at CMS and always try to something different every time, this time we really wanted to go all original. Kind of bolsters the Restoration Impossible idea and some readers have told us they don't want every car we do, to be hot rodded.
Ouch! Those look like they are really roached. Nice job resurrecting them - I have a much harder/more expensive job on my Dunlop calipered cars as the seal rides in the piston and the cylinder wall has to be pristine (I usually hard chrome and grind back to spec).
On the frames, when I want original appearance I usually use Glyptal prime which is very hard and available in a range of colours.
An alternative to the welded bolt trick is to adapted a zerk fitting to the brake line port and push stuck pistons out with hydraulic pressure from a grease gun.
Tim Suddard wrote: wheelsmithy, Thanks for the kind words. I too would have liked to see a painted frame, but while we do all kinds of projects at CMS and always try to something different every time, this time we really wanted to go all original. Kind of bolsters the Restoration Impossible idea and some readers have told us they don't want every car we do, to be hot rodded.
Yep. I get all that. But do agree with your approach 1000%. Take the worst elan in the world to the most illustrious car show in the world. True Class. This is my favorite thing you have done since the Ro-Spit. I may like the elan better. Then again, I liked the patina-ed Shelby, so what do I know? Carry on.
wheelsmithy, I am trying to do something different with every project car, so it doesn't get repetitive.
And by the way, the Ro-Spit is alive and well. My good buddy, Steve Eckerich just bought it from the guy I sold it to and has refurbished it. You will most likley see it in Grassroots Motorsports again soon.
In reply to Tim Suddard:
Awesome!
Isn't Steve the guy who ultimately sorted the rear suspension?
You are a true artist with automobiles as your canvas. I never get tired of the vicarious living. Carry On.
Wheelsmithy,
Thanks for the nice comments. Oddly enough, I used to do a lot of art and painting. I now tell people that restoration is what I do to scratch that itch.
Tim,
On the Elan rear calipers, I notice that there is a spring on the parking brake tie rod clevis bolt. That spring is not in the parts manual. Do you have the spec for that spring or a part number from one of the vendors that you used?
Thanks,
Dan
Dan, I don't have that spec, but I believe I sourced those springs from Ray at RD Enterprises. As I remember, he had them right in stock.
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