Front sitting to high

[Luciano1985]

Hello guys
I'm having a big problem with i cant seme to figure out so im hoping you guys may help!
My car is finaly done but im having problems with my front end,its sitting way to high than it should
I kepped the original springs and suspenssion,I used the same tire size as the car had prior to restoration
Only thing I could think of was the fact that the mechanic had the car on an elevator when he tighten the suspenssion but he told that he let it down afterwards and had to people lean on the front while he tighten the suspenssion and stil did not helped!
Im attaching some pictures ..
Everything seems in order ... I've also attached pictures of the way the car looked prior to restoration when the height was right
Any advice is appreciated
Thank you

https://ibb.co/album/BqCC90

[jbcollier]

Did they put the rear springs up front?

[Luciano1985]

Definatly not as i had them done in turns.. first the back than the front side!

[BDA]

I am in no way an expert on S2s but there sure seem to be a lot of coils on that front spring.

Where did you get your springs? What is the free length and rate of them?

[Luciano1985]

Its the original springs and suspenssion the car came with
Yes the S2 has difrent springs than the TC
I think they are the original factory ones as the car only had 36.000 km and been on the road for 6 years only!
Haven't measured the springs as i wanted to keep them only till I get the car on the road and in prestime condition
Il upgrade to a new suspenssion later!

[Clifton]

As for it being tightened properly, I wouldn't trust what someone else said or did unless I saw it happen. If the same exact spring as in the before pic, then it couldn't have been tightened loaded.   Beautiful car.

[E Paul]

Yeah, loosen the bolts and reset and tighten. Problem most likely goes away.

[rjbaren]

I had a similar situation.  45k mile car, off the road for 25 years, original shocks and springs and the car sat very high.  I know the springs were correct because I did not take apart the rear springs and shocks just the fronts.  The shop said it was just sitting too high when they put the body on again after the drive train went in.  They replaced the springs with 110 lb. 10 inch I believe, and Spax coil overs from R.D. Enterprises.  The car sits correctly now.  The rear is still on the original shocks and springs.

[BDA]

E Paul is correct. The front suspension nuts should be tightened at ride height. The reason for this is to decrease the amount of torsional compliance in the bushings so the rubber is not torn in full bump or droop.

I don't know if that's your problem, but that should be the next place you look. Sorry I missed that earlier.

[GavinT]

I dunno.
The front guard looks to be roughly 4 inches too high.
Would slackening off the A arm bolts bring it down that much? - I kinda doubt it but would love to be wrong.

Here's a comparison of before/after pics from Luciano's link.
Looks to me as if the issue was pre-existing . . at least to some extent.

Luciano,

Please measure:
Wire diameter (as accurately as you can)
Spring OD.
Count the number of active coils (ignore the ground & tapered ends)
Free length of the spring.

Won't know the free length till the spring is removed, obviously.
This will allow calculation of the spring rate.

[EuropaTC]

hmm, it does look high in the photos, the wheel arch gap looks too much for an S2. I posted an image from some early road tests here, scroll to the bottom of the page;

http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=3554.msg37541#msg37541

That's road test stuff with dimensions which are very easy to check - the front/rear bumper heights. Then we'll know for sure exactly how much it is "too high" rather than guessing from a photo.

I initially thought the springs might be wrong and get coil bound but looking at the manuals and taking your comments on board I'll discount the "wrong springs" idea.  If it is tightened on full droop then it will ride too high, again the manual states the ride height condition for checking front toe-in, and that's 6.5" beneath the chassis closing plate. (need to check that detail, memory....). 

But if the bumper heights & the front T of the chassis don't line up with the measurements, I'd slacken everything off, roll the car backwards/forwards with someone in the seat and see if that settles it down better.

It might just be that the body is high on the chassis if it's been apart ? Hence the need to check both body & chassis heights.

Brian

[4129R]

It might just be that the body is high on the chassis if it's been apart ? Hence the need to check both body & chassis heights.

Brian

Where the two bolts hold the body to the chassis at the front ikn the plenum chamber, those bolts are about 30mm long 3/8 UNF if I remember correctly. If the shell is not sitting properly on the chassis, that would be easy to see there, plus the two bolts at the base of the dashboard would have to be a lot longer, and I doubt if the seat belt to the tunnel bolts would line up.

My guess is the problem is with the springs either not seating in the top and bottom properly, or being the wrong ones.

[JR73]

The front springs and dampers could be Federal spec which would also make it sit higher at the front.

Unless you know the full and honest history of the car then it’s hard to say for certain if parts are truly original on vehicles of this age... They are the ones that were fitted when you purchased it, the before and after pics don’t look too different - as has been mentioned, loosening the nuts on the wishbone pins and retightening as per the manual with the car on the ground may get you back to the height it was at when you purchased it but tbh that looks higher than it should have been anyway.

Just for info, some considerable time ago now, a pretty well known Lotus specialist in the UK patterned the federal spec springs and dampers and sold them as the standard spec ones....without realising that there was a difference.....