1970 s2 0453R Reassembly

[dakazman]

   No more polishing!....maybe !  I’m still opening bags of parts but I think it’s safe to say done to polishing. Chrome plating, maybe . Ouch, on the tail light assemblies $150.00 each and it will ruin the light reflection lens. I need to figure out a way to pry up the swedged tabs and remove. It looks like those tabs were pressed down. Later the drive axles and lower links will be chrome plated.
   I sold my Mazda 13 b  engine today so more Lotus parts to buy. 😀
 
The shocks are not original , they have a shorter spring and I picked them up on eBay and at least the mount studs are on them. All that can be changed later after I drive it. I have read about different setups but will let a few experts drive it to offer advice. You can be on the list!  Wesley and Paul both have many miles logged in there cars. I can get it in the ballpark but it may not be in the right state.
 
   I pulled out a complete A/C with all the electrical components , harness from an Mazda RX 7 that I will sort out and add into the lotuseuropa harness. Air conditioning is a must. I also have its oil cooler system.
Dakazman

   

[dakazman]

   What a gross miscalculation of time to reassemble all the sidelights with all new gaskets. I can’t believe what it takes to change a lightbulb. I don’t know if it would have been easier with some broken in gaskets. I have about 19 photos going thru the assembly. Key items , clean all bulb contacts and socket. Test the socket with a new bulb before assembling. The smaller lens is wedge shaped, high side to center. Patiently stretch the gasket over the chrome bezel. Have a beer afterwards, you just did 2 in 4 hours , mounted.
   I can’t wait to mount the front but with a shroud that is riveted in a huge hole
Dakazman

[Certified Lotus]

Everything takes at least twice as long as you expected. My last estimate of 100 hours to complete my rebuild got blown out of the water the closer I got to completion. Your in the home stretch with each part going back on the car.

Chrome axles? Your going to be cleaning those daily after each drive. Which leads me to a little story about an early Porsche 911 I bought. I was looking for a 911 that was built in the last year of the air cooled engines. Found one locally after a year of searching that a scientist owned. Less than 12K miles and looked like it had just come out of the showroom floor. The owner interviewed me for about an hour on the phone wanting to know what type of sports cars I had owned and then came over to my house to see the garage space I would put the Porsche in. We finally went for a test drive and upon return to his garage (which by the way was nothing special) he opened the rear engine deck lid, got two beers out of the refrigerator & gave me one while he sat on a rolling stool with a box of Q-tips and proceeded to clean the entire engine compartment of road dust. He did this after every drive. Some how I convinced him I would take equally as good car of his car and was able to buy it. The car was in such perfect condition I was a total nut about keeping it that way. It really drove me a bit crazy. I finally sold it at a higher price then I paid for it and promised myself never to be that fanatical about a car again. Well, maybe.......

[jbcollier]

I guess you can Chrome the half-shafts if you like.  Will mean lots of cleaning as Certified mentioned.  I would not Chrome the lower links as they are.  Chroming enbrittles the base metal.  It might be ok but I wouldn’t take the chance.  You could make up new ones that are stronger and chrome them.  Or, better make them up from SS and polish them.

[dakazman]

  That’s further down the road. Up north, N.J, , I had a truck driveshaft shop that made up anything you wanted and balanced it . Not much industrial fabrication shops here in Florida . Just waiting on another inner bearing and for room in our freezers for the haft-shafts. To much holiday cake and ice cream. Wife may not be onboard with car parts in her freezers. 🙁

  One other question is on the cam bolt, lock-tite or antisieze?
Dakazman

[jbcollier]

There must be a four wheel drive community in Florida.  If so, there will be driveshaft shops somewhere near by.

[dakazman]

   Finishing up these blinker assemblies and testing, but ,finding the specified preservative seem impossible to find but I finally found it. The assemblies all tested perfectly. Attention to details 🧐
Dakazman

[SilverBeast]

Does it work on LED's too?😁

[dakazman]

Absolutely.   

 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥

[dakazman]

  I assembled one side of the rear suspension. Scale of 1-10  a high 8. 10 being the hardest. The other side is in the freezer . tomorrow I will give it another try of pressing the inner bearing installed.
I haven’t had this many tools out in a long time . BDA you’d be proud. Certified working on the ground is for the birds. getting the 150 ftlbs of torque was my biggest problem. Trying not to use my shoulders which have a 30 lb restrictions.

[BDA]

Well done, D'man! That 30 lb limit on your shoulder certainly would make it pretty difficult to get the proper torque! A long cheater bar is your friend! That's the biggest torque you'll have to deal with so the rest should be easy, right?

Is that a wrap on your lower link and half shaft? That's pretty nice looking!

[dakazman]

Thanks you! BDA, it should hold up pretty good also.  I missed  painting the half shaft section by the hub I had a rubber tire tube over it to protect it , mainly when I had half a universal done. My leg/calf and ankle muscles still work with the cheater bar. 🥵
  The wife still hasn’t seen the half shaft in freezer , I may be safe till tomorrow.
Dakazman

[Certified Lotus]

Nice work Dakazman! Looking good. I like the black “carbon” look better than silver but I’m not sure how long a wrap will last. As BDA said, use a cheater bar. I have two of them for different applications. You would be surprised how many times I have used them.

I hide my metal bits in the freezer in the back and put frozen food in front of it. My darling wife had no idea. When it came to heating things up in the oven I knew that would be crossing the line as there would be an oil or metal smell.......I used the gas grill outdoors which worked fine.

[dakazman]

   I was thinking about using a heat gun, comments? I may spray a few coats of clear on the wrap. It is the same stuff I used on dirt bikes and it lasted at least thru a few spills . Speaking of bikes my daughter surprised me with another bike for her collection.
Dakazman

[Certified Lotus]

Don’t use a heat gun! The heat spread will be uneven and you will crack something. Heat the entire part uniformly in an oven or gas grill.  I used welding gloves and a large pliers to handle hot parts.