Restoration of TCS

[Bart]

And so it begins, Having completed the disassembly of my '73 TCS and sent the chassis off for powder coat I got the chassis back into my workshop this weekend.

You can see in the before and after photos below, I was pretty pleased with the outcome, the guys that did the powder really worked hard to get the inside of the chassis well covered too. I also had some new steel welded into the Y section where it meets the main spine, there was some rust in this area and it had thinned out the walls a bit and since I am adding a fair bit more torque with the rebuilt motor I decided to beef this area up a bit.

I received a bunch of new parts this weekend also, so I can really get started on the rebuild. Very exciting to have the chassis back and ready to get going.

Bart.

[jbcollier]

Congratulations!

Make sure to thoroughly spray the inside of the chassis — especially the “T” section — with a non-hardening rust preventive.

[Certified Lotus]

Reminds me of where I was 2 years ago. Congrats on getting to the starting point of reassembly!

[BDA]

Looks really good! That's a great start! 

[Bainford]

Looking great!

[dakazman]

  This is like a Hollywood movie that starts in he middle. I got hooked and now I’m have to watch the flashbacks of its journey.
  That’s a lot of parts and at that rate you’ll be driving it in no time. Congrats and nice start.
Dakazman

[Bart]

I have now put the front suspension on as a dry fit, just waiting for the anti roll bar bushes to arrive, finishing the restoration of the steering rack and getting the new wheel bearings to fit to the stub axle, not very exciting pictures but a milestone for me as these are the first parts back on

Bart.

[BDA]

Looks good. Are you using the stock rubber bushings? If so, remember when you do your final assembly to tighten down the fulcrum pin nuts with the A-arms at ride height.

[Bart]

I've used polyurethane ones from superflex in the UK. I did read somewhere (on this forum for sure) that there is a risk of splitting the rubber ones. I am going to be prudent though and do as you suggest.

[BDA]

I don't think it's necessary tighten the suspension nuts at ride height with poly bushings. The compression of the nuts holds the inner sleeve of the bushing stationary and the outer cover is pressed into the suspension arm. The reason it's necessary for the stock rubber bushings is because if you tighten them at full droop, the rubber will tear when the suspension goes to full bump.  My understanding is that the poly bushings actually rotate. (do they come with grease?) I don't use them (yet) and because I can't find where I thought I read that it wasn't necessary to tightening everything at ride height, confirmation of my understanding would be a good thing.

[Bart]

The bushes did come with specific grease for poly, I used penny washers either side of the bushing, I read about (or watched Serge) a recommendation to add these washers to prevent the tube welded through the T section from damaging the bushing,