CHASSIS
All the relays, wiring, pedal box, etc. were removed. The bay was scraped and sprayed with flat black paint. The components were electrically checked and reinstalled. In retrospect this was not the best choice. It's almost impossible to prevent overspray (when painting the body) from entering the engine bay and depositing a thin layer of paint on everything.
By this time I was ready to take on a bigger job and I was getting rather depressed looking at this filthy old thing in my garage. (It was too much work to look at!)
So I purchased a used workshop manual from someone on the net and proceeded to pull the chassis. As I remember, the manual does not show all the connection points holding the chassis to the body. Be sure to remove the seat belts and the two bolts by the gas tank (bolted to the strut towers.)
After removing ALL the bolts I raised the body up slowly about 1 inch front to back so it didn't twist too badly. The rear strut towers have to clear the underside of the boot compartment. I removed the rear tires and lowered the suspension on to small dollies to increase the clearance. Somewhat unnerving to see the body raised that high only supported by cement blocks. Rolled chassis out. Lowered body and placed on dollies. Rolled body out AND COVERED. Too much work to look . I rolled the chassis back in and started on that.
The frame was in remarkably good shape. There was slight rust on the sills where water had collected. Apparently the tub filled with water and seeped out where the seat belts bolt to the chassis. Started scrapping down the frame, it was covered in a tar like substance which I'm sure saved it from turning to dust. Rest of frame was like new.
Starting at the front I pulled and checked the steering rack. I replaced the boots. The shocks were fine but the rubber bushings had deteriorated. It turned out to be cheaper to buy new shocks. Since normal spring or strut compressors won't remove the springs, I built a spring compressor from threaded rod and plywood. (This worked well.) I repacked the wheel bearings and painted everything but the springs black.
Working towards the back, I found play in the right rear wheel bearing and decided to replace the bearings on both sides. Getting the hubs off was a b****. (The only job I needed a mechanic's help with!) A small propane touch won't get the hubs hot enough. Even renting a hub puller from Dave Bean didn't work. You need a BIG torch for this job. To reassemble I placed the bearings and axle in the freezer before assembly. However, watch for too much condensation during assembly. The struts are airtight and rust may form.
Bought and installed new drive donuts. These can be quite expensive, $50 to $75 apiece. They don't install easily. They crack. They're not a good design.
My father always liked Rustolem paint. So that's what I used to paint the frame-- but it was probably a bad choice. Paint is too brittle and tends to flake-off.
Brakes were a real problem. Removed calipers. Most of the pistons were frozen in. Used the clutch master cylinder to apply hydraulic pressure to the calipers. To the seized pistons I let the calipers heat up (in the hot Dallas summer) and dropped ice cubes into the center on the pistons. Then I applied pressure. Worked great. Apparently Lotus made a change to their calipers about the time this car was built. The left side is an old style caliper while the right side is new. This, of course, required another rebuilding kit.
The flexible brake hoses connected to the calipers were all plugged up so I ran a wire through them. They work but I'm concerned that the rubbers bad and my contaminate the rest of the system. I need to replace them before I fill with fluid. When removing the pistons always insert some wood between the pistons before applying pressure. All the pistons will need to be replaced eventually.After it's running I'll have a better idea of what it needs.
I purchased two servo repair kits but will probably not install. Changed the stock .875" master cylinder to .75". Won't know for a while whether this is the correct bore.
At this point the chassis was finished., with fresh black paint and silver springs. So I wheeled it out and covered her up.
Last Updated: March 1999
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