elantrikbits.com    

HOME

LINKS

About

S2-CV-Install

Front Suspension

Wind Blocker

Sump Baffle

Front Suspension Rebuild - Modifications.

Having driven the élan S2 for well over twenty two years, you would be forgiven to say that it is not as sharp as it was when it was first restored, over time, things begin to change, suspension bushes wear out, springs begin to sag or lose their properties, things just get loose & tired. So a full rebuild of the front end was well over due.

After dismantling and checking all of the suspension components, the following items were reconditioned or replaced. 

Suspension Bushes: Red lurethane bushes were installed throughout the car more than twenty years ago; surprisingly there were only three that required replacing. If you are familiar with lurethane, you would understand that it is about the best compound to use in suspensions, it has unique elastic properties, and I personally would not use anything else.

A complete set of new stainless steel spacer tubes were machined to replace the old mild steel spacer tubes which had rusted, and were in bad shape.
Note: The spacer tubes control the amount of preload applied to the lurethane suspension bushes, very important if you want the bushes to perform at their best.

Lower Control Arms (Wishbones) were strengthened with an additional boxed & swaged metal strip gas welded to the open flange side, adding additional strength, arms were then sandblasted, undercoated, and sprayed glossy black. (See image at bottom of page.)

                             

Eibach 114 lb coils - Spring Retainer collars - adjustable platforms.

The Original Springs were discarded in favour of a set of new Eibach racetech coils, original springs were rated at 75lbs, the Eibachs are rated at 114 lbs, they have less working coils which means they wont coil bind like the old units did. The Eibachs sit over Koni special "D" shocks. Note: Coil binding can cause considerable damage to the front spring towers, it is not unusual for the top closing/holding plate on the spring tower to part company if it receives a decent impact out on the road, and I've seen it happen.

Koni Shocks with Eibach coils and adjustable platforms
fitted along with lurethane bushes. "C" Spanners are required
to adjust platforms.

Koni Special Special D shockers/dampers, call them what you will, are fully rebuildable, and the damping rate is also adjustable (but not while in the car). New threaded steel barrels were machined along with aluminium adjustable platforms, locking collars, and top spring retainers. With a little trial and error the optimum height for the threaded barrel was arrived at, which was tack welded to the koni shocker body, yes, the koni's were dismantled before any welding was carried out, (Special tools are required). Red lurethane bushing material was used in all suspension and shock mounts.

Shocks - coils - wishbones installed.

Adjustable Tubular Upper Control Arms (Wishbones) were fabricated to replace the non-adjustable original pressed metal units. The purist may scoff at adjustable suspension, but it is the only way to go if you want to dial in your suspension for competition or rapid road driving, adjustable wishbones coupled with adjustable spring platforms will allow optimum suspension settings, in short, it allows the ultimate set up, but having said that, for best results, the suspension should be aligned and set up by a front end specialist who understands high performance suspension settings and employs optical or laser wheel aligning equipment.

Front suspension at full droop (Car sitting
on workshop floor stands).   

I guess you want to know; was the rebuild worth the time, expense and effort?

You betcha, I thought the élan handled pretty well before, but now, the road holding is sharper than ever, the elan feels more precise and far better to drive, the suspension does not crash out over sudden road depressions, the uprated springs are not harsh, in fact they provide superior handling characteristics and quite a supple ride, the front end alignment and desired settings were made easier with the adjustable wishbones & spring platforms. In effect, the suspension rebuild has transformed the elan.

Like to learn more about upgrading the front suspension on your elan?
Contact us on the about page. 

Read why we chose eibach coil springs for this project.
http://www.eibach.com.
Australian Suppliers Of Koni & Eibach Products.

 

Copyright elantrikbits.com 2006. All rights reserved.