SciroccoEV

I'm going a slightly different route in the end. I've decided to replace the anti-roll bar bushes with a spherical bearing, the same one that's used in the trunnionless conversion, an NMB ABWT10(R). The lack of compliance in the shperical bearing means the anti-roll bar can do a much better job locating the lower arm under braking and gets rid of the short lived bushes. To do this, I've machined a housing for the sheriacal bearing and used a piloted hole saw to open up the 3/4" hole in the suspension arm to accept it. I've just got to weld the housings in and make up the top-hat bushes that mate the anti-roll bar to the bearings.

My 1981 S3 has been converted to an Afla Busso V6 by a previous owner and I'm sorting some problems with the clutch. It had been standing for quite a while and when I tried to drive it around to the workshop, the clutch was stuck. Starting it in gear freed it off, but the bite point was very low. It was initially just about driveable, but started to drag and I was only able to select gears by stopping the engine and then restarting in gear. I managed to not get stranded in the middle of the street. The setup is an Alfa dual mass flywheel and clutch cover (a mix of 164 and 166, or possibly 916 parts) with a Maserati Merak clutch plate. The previous owner found it quite heavy and ended up with a cut-n-shut Chevvy truck slave cylinder (1-1/16" bore). This is probably oart of the low bite point problem, since the travel is going to be reduced compared to the stock 7/8" bore. I thought they'd welded the lugs on crooked, but it looks like the release lever fulcrum is slightly bent to one side. It has the top mounted cylinder with return spring. From what I can work out, the stroke of this cylinder is much more limited than the later side mount style, so to get enough travel, it has to fully return, hence the spring. The also means that the freeplay gets eaten up as the clutch wears. I decided to check if the freeplay was excessive, but had a real struggle getting the spring unhooked. Eventually I managed it by packing it out with penny washers. To my surprise, there was not only no freeplay, but the clutch was preloaded. Having backed it off, I fully expected the clutch to fail to release, but in fact the bite point was slightly improved. The excessive return spring tension had me wondering about the position of the release arm and I'm now thinking that the Alfa clutch may not have the same stack-up height as the Lotus setup. I may have to make a spacer, or modify the release arm slightly. If anyone has a measurement from block face to clutch cover fingers, that would be most helpful. As it is, I think I'm going to have to pull the gearbox and investigate the release arm being off centre.

Since the car has finally made it into the workshop and is up on the lift, it's probably time for a little update. I decided these links were too much work to repair and whilst up at Lotusbits, bought a sound pair of much more readilt available and cheaper Elite/Eclat lower links. As I suspected and Mike confirmed, they're pretty much identical, apart from the lack of a spring platform (that I don't need anyway). They're only handed by the anti-roll bar bush cups, so swapping the links side for side (adding new cups) presents unworn holes. Lotusbits sell CNC machined replacement cups, but they're £20 each +vat. I was either going machine some myself, or machine a simple press tool, but I'm now looking at converting to a seperate tie-bar, with the anti-roll bar being removed of that duty.

I measured the stroke as being the same (approx. 70mm) and will be using an extended top mount.

I don't have this problem to contend with. My Esprit is an S3 and my Grand Tourer an Excel. However, I have looked at this bearing problem for someone else. A pair of taper bearings (15126/15250X) with ground spacers between the inner and outer races looks like a possible solution. The OD is a match and the ID slightly smaller at 1.25" (1/16" or 1.58mm). The stub axle can probably be reduced to this size without problems, but the inner races could also be modified. This is more common than you might think. It's the usual solution where a shaft has to be increased in size to take a torque load, but there isn't room for a corresponding increase in bearing OD.

This is the problem with my driver's door handle. It can probably be plastic welded well enough to function. All of the pivot points in the whole handle and latch mechanism were binding, which probably resulted in excessive force on the paddle being needed.

That slotted screw is evidence of a previous repair, it would originally have been a mushroom shaped pin, peened into the arm. If you carefully pry up the seal, you then have clearance to tap out the pin that retains the paddle. You then at least can see if you can repair it. Drilling both parts and installing small steel pins might work. If you can find a good paddle, you can swap it over. A similar style of paddle is used on the Lancia Delta and someone has uploaded an STL file to Shapeways, so you can order one in 3D printed Nylon. There's no CAD file publically available for the Lotus/Toyota parts, so one would have to be created. I've had motorcycle alternator coil bobbins 3D printed by 3DPrintUK from CAD I created.

The factory brake hardlines on my '85 Excel are definitely Copper. Far too soft to be a Copper Nickle alloy (ie Kunifer). The downside of copper is work hardening and becomming brittle, but if it's well mounted and not flapping about it shouldn't be problem.

I've recently been stripping down a bunch of Excel, Elite/Eclat and Esprit lower links. They all use a bonded bush, with inner and outer steel sleeves. Your picture looks like the bush has de-bonded from the outer sleeve, unless it's some form of polybush conversion.

OK, lets try it this way...

Lower link modified for air ride. I'm putting the car back on coils and will convert to post '85 (adjustable platform) dampers, which means I can just remove the original platform to make the repair easier. Cutting the MIG welds for the inner reinforcement was pretty easy, but there are a couple of spot welds that put up some resistance. There is some wear in the anti-roll bar holes, so I may swap the links side for side when I make the new reinforcing plates.

I've built several kitcars/specials over the years and know the Triumph suspension parts well. The Vitesse and GT6 are only a little lighter than an S3 Esprit, but carry an Iron block straight six right over the front suspension, so I doubt they put significantly less weight on the front. The dampers have an intergral spring platform, so all the suspension loads go through the bottom mounting bolt. The Triumph pressed lower wishbone is made from a similar thickness of steel to that of the Esprit, but it only uses a single layer, whilst the Esprit uses two. I'd say it's more than adequate to take the load from a coilover conversion.