Now the wishbones are on and the bolts all torqued up… …I moved on to assembling the rest of the front end. As usual with these things ‘refitting is the reverse of removal’. The ball joint plinths need fitting to the ball joints first. I used a bit of copper grease here to help prevent […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting Front Wishbones and Shims for Maximum Caster
Having read a little about Elise wheel alignment it sounds like the best thing to do is to get as much caster angle into the front hubs as possible. More caster angle means increased weight and ‘feel’ in the steering and should increase grip at the front when cornering. The available caster adjustment on an […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting Elise Parts Nylatron Anti Roll Bar Bushes
While I had the rest of the suspension apart I figured I may as well replace the 20 year old rubber anti roll bar bushes with something a little better. So as I was already ordering a list of parts from EliseParts.com I went for some of their Nylatron ARB bushes. The bushes and grease […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting Caliper Brackets and Pressing in Drive Flanges
Just a couple of bits to assemble before parts go back on the car. The rear caliper brackets need to be fitted to the hub carriers before the drive flanges can be pressed into the bearings. This is because access to the allen head bolts is restricted when the drive flange is in place. With […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Preparing All Parts for Reassembly
After a lot of dismantling, cleaning, painting and a bit of assembly of parts it’s finally time to start fitting parts back onto the Elise. There’s quite a few parts though which includes a fair number of nuts, bolts and washers. So first I took the time, with the help of my glamorous assistant, to […]
S1 Elise – Removing and Refitting Headlamp Covers
The headlamp covers had been fitted with the usual sticky black butyl type adhesive so removing them wasn’t a big problem fortunately. It just requires a little bit of heat to soften it then once I had an edge lifted with my fingers the covers peeled off quite easily. Most of the adhesive was left […]
S1 Elise – Refitting the Headlamp Brackets
While I had the Elise apart for the suspension refresh I was on the lookout for anything else that might need some attention. I had already noticed the dirt that had got behind the headlamp covers and that one side was letting water in so I was going to have to deal with that. What […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting New Ball Joints
If you happen to have arrived here looking for info on how to replace a ball joint with the wishbone still on the car then check out my other post here. Having fitted the Elise Parts wishbone bearing kit I could move on to pressing the new ball joints in but just before getting stuck […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting Elise Parts Wishbone Bearings
To be honest I couldn’t see or feel much wrong with the original rubber wishbone bushes, they didn’t have any excessive movement and hadn’t aged badly. But to properly prepare and paint the wishbones they had to be removed so some replacements were required. I had a good read about the various replacement options and […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting New Wheel Bearings and Lacquering the Hub Carriers
After a few days wait my mate Steve turned up with a box for me. 🙂 I’m really happy with the colour, it ties in nicely with the original red seats in the car and means they will stand out a little under the car. Though nobody else is likely to ever see them I […]