Lotus 7 S4 1974: light restoration and modification

Lotus 7 S4 1974: light restoration and modification

Author
Discussion

S47

1,325 posts

179 months

Tuesday 13th December 2011
quotequote all
you need 2 litre capri 'self adjusting' drums and shoes, just make sure they are the self adjusting drums from early Mk1 Crapi, beleieve also used on 2 litre corsair, - can anyone confirm corsairs drums are similar to 2litre crapi's.

Farlig

632 posts

151 months

Tuesday 13th December 2011
quotequote all
I'd check that one - looks like an English axle to me which I believe then indicates it's from an Escort - the Capri came with the Atlas no???

Edit - Have you any more photos of the axle esp the diff area?? On second thought's I'm not sure if it's an English (but it's certainly not an Atlas) - Caterham may well have used / specced a Morris Ital unit, which I'm not familiar with..

Edited by Farlig on Tuesday 13th December 22:43

S47

1,325 posts

179 months

Wednesday 14th December 2011
quotequote all
It's an english axle fitted with the larger 9" Crapi self adjusting brakes.

Farlig

632 posts

151 months

Thursday 15th December 2011
quotequote all
ahh... wasn't aware of that ;-)

In any case, I'd bin them & go for a disc upgrade...

S47

1,325 posts

179 months

Friday 16th December 2011
quotequote all
Sierra Caliper/Rear Discs weigh more than the Crapi drums, and IMO are a waste of your £'s, the drums on rear are fine especially if you use Ferodo vg95 shoes.
If you Have modern Alloys the discs look better through the wheels thoughsmile

Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Saturday 17th December 2011
quotequote all
Thanks guys,

Currently leaning towards changing to disk. Main reason is that I dont like drums. Easier to adjust etc. i will make an descision before xmas.

Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Monday 19th December 2011
quotequote all
Its going to be disk smile
The cost of replacing the drums will be 50% of a full disk kit.

While I am in there I want to replace all the bushings.
Anyone know where to source a full set? Any list of article numbers? I also need for the front...


S47

1,325 posts

179 months

Tuesday 20th December 2011
quotequote all
Redline in UK can supply all the S4 bushes. I believe they own the rights to re-produce all S4 parts. Word of warning when you phone up Redline be certain to ask that they have all the ones you want in stock [FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY - ask the guy on the phone to go check that they do actually have them in stock coz he's an effin liar]. The guy at Redline is well known for accepting your order, then you'll have to wait [sometimes for as long a several month's] before receiving them, this is really really frustrating. It's happened to me on several occasions. Though if they have them in stock you'll get them straight away. If they don't have them in stock Then re-post on here and I'll give you another supplier.
Oh just another thought should you need any Suspension parts [wishbones ARB etc] be sure to ask that they've been made to original OEM spec, Redline supplied me with an S4 ARB which wasn't, - it broke - I was lucky not to be killed in the accident it caused - you've been warned!!
Hope this helps
Mal

Edited by S47 on Tuesday 20th December 13:54


Edited by S47 on Tuesday 20th December 14:00

Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Friday 23rd December 2011
quotequote all
Thanks Mal,
I didnt know of Redline, but they confirmed that all bushings are in stock and that the can be shipped right away. I will post reaction time here smile

Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Ordered all bushings for front and rear for the S4 from Redline. Received all today, so they were very quick indeed. Price incl shiping was £180. So my experience was very good.
Now I am waiting for the rear disk kit to arrive. Quess I'll start working on the S4 during the first week of jan.

Farlig

632 posts

151 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
quotequote all
Have to agree with Kghaas here - I'd go for the discs for simplicity of set-up & maintenance. There's a reason drums are pretty much extinct now, though on these lightweight cars the efficiency of a well set up rear drum cannot be argued with...

Without having weighed the individual components I can't comment on the weight difference of discs vs. drums but I'd be tempted to steer clear of the heavy cast iron sierra calipers in favour of some light alloy jobs...

I'm currently researching the different options to upgrade my S3 - here are a few...
http://www.burtonpower.com/bkesc12.html
http://www.spcomponents.co.uk/gpage6.html
http://www.arrowautoengineering.co.uk/page5.htm
http://www.motorsport-tools.com/escort-mk2-rear-br...

Not sure where I'm going to end up but it will be with an ally caliper whichever one I go for ;-)

I'd be interested in what you end up choosing and your experiences Knut together with any other feedback of anyone who's gone down this route...

Cheers,
Neil.



Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
quotequote all
Hi Neil,

I have ordered a set of brakes from http://www.arrowautoengineering.co.uk/page5.htm
The smallest set with Alloy callipers. I should be getting them within a week or two.
I will post pics and my assessment of the kit.

I will also weigh the complete disk Vs drum setup so that we can put that discussion to rest once and for all smile

Currently not much happening, but will take out the rear axel this weekend and prepare for bushing and brakes.

Farlig

632 posts

151 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
quotequote all
Cool!
Awaiting with interest ;-)

mickrick

3,700 posts

172 months

Thursday 5th January 2012
quotequote all
Are you happy to fit Calipers made in China? eek

I can recommend these Guys.
http://www.bgdevelopments.co.uk/

If you look at the "Fine and rare" section, you'll see a project they did for me.
So I can recomend them first hand.

Regards,
Mick.

Farlig

632 posts

151 months

Thursday 5th January 2012
quotequote all
I did wonder about those "LBN" calipers - as you say they're Chinese... but in coms with handy andy of Arrow, he mentioned supplying BMW calipers... I didn't get into the gory details on these as I was more looking at his kit without calipers and then getting a set of wilwood or similar 4 pot sierra replacements... Which did you end up with Knut?

Mick - I've seen the project you refer to & whlst this looks the complete dogs bks, it would be logistically rather complicated for either Knut or myself as we're in Norway - it's long way to travel with a trailered car (or send the axle, which I'd guess they'd need to get the kit right) plus the customs hassle etc as Norway is outside the EU...

I'm leaning more & more to an off-the-shelf kit for the LA disc upgrade to avoid complications...

Edited by Farlig on Thursday 5th January 15:09

Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Thursday 5th January 2012
quotequote all
Never thought of the LBN calippers to be Chinese. I assumed they were second hand from some other car. I don't have any second thaughts about that. The Chinese makes some realy good stuff, but also some bad stuff... My worst experience in car parts quality are American....

I guess that Andy which supplies these have checked the quality since he does most of the upgrades for the customers.
Anyway: The stuff is in the mail and we will just have to wait and see. As I said; I will post details and impresions.

As for the bgdevelopements guys: Relay nice project but way out of my league. Remember, the S4 is more or less a locost. I am keeping it that way smile


mickrick

3,700 posts

172 months

Thursday 5th January 2012
quotequote all
Fair enough I never thought about logistics. I know what you mean though, it's difficult enough for me living in Mallorca, and I don't have the hassle of customs.
I'll be back over at the end of the month with a suitcase full of parts. Good job Sleazy Jet doesn't have a weight limit on hand luggage!
I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at the cost of some of the AP stuff though. I did choose some bloody expensive stuff for myself, but some of the stuff I thought quite reasonable.
For example some of thier two pot billet formula car callipers are about £180+VAT Not bad when you consider the quality. I do think a two piston calliper is enough for the rear.

Yes I think you can probably get some good stuff from China, I guess I have had bad experience though, as I spent quite a bit of time working in Taiwan on a Yacht project, which has probably left me a bit judgmental. Mention made in China to me and I shudder!

Anyway, nice project, keep the updates coming.smile

Regards,
Mick.

pipnjones

111 posts

148 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
What a fascinating project. The size of the project is out of my league and out of my comfort zone, but it is lovely to see the effort you have put in. Maybe something for my fifth project (after i do four easier projects!)

Kghaas

Original Poster:

173 posts

150 months

Monday 16th January 2012
quotequote all
This is relay not a big project. Just take it slow and learn by doing. That's the way i did it.

As for progress, there is not much happening. Need to do some other work on the Porsche so the Lotus is being a bit neglected.

But I did receive the stuff from Arrow engineering. So far i think it looks really good indeed. The calipers are alloy and really light! Haven't had time to take all parts off the rear axle, so no weights yet. The kit looks very complete!


The caliper





The only modification needed to fit the kit is that you have to reduce the drive shaft flange down to 130mm. Since I don't have a lathe, I just used the grinder. 3rd gear on idle kept the flange spinning at an ok speed. 7 minutes on each side and voila!. Maybe not as accurate as an lathe, but way more effective. Tolerance is within 0.2mm


So now rear axle is ready for a good cleaning, disassembly and paint before i put the stuff back on.

I also had a problem with one of the bars. The bolt is rusted together with the steel center of the bushing. I will see how I go about that later.



Edited by Kghaas on Saturday 19th January 13:33

Farlig

632 posts

151 months

Wednesday 18th January 2012
quotequote all
Looking good Knut - watching with interest before I shell out for my own brake upgrade - thanks for sharing & being the Norsk guinea pig :-P

The kit looks really nice but has handy ground off the "LBN" and painted the calipers?

Edit - just checked the Arrow site & your calipers are not quite the same casting as the "LBN" jobs - do you know the manufacturer?

Edited by Farlig on Wednesday 18th January 20:30