S1 Suspension rebuild - Wow what a change!

[paulwakinshaw]

Well after a few weeks of suspension parts lying round in my flat and the local Lotus Specialists workshop I have finally had all of the work completed.

The aim was really simple; update all of my suspension as after 7 years it was finished. The ball joints were knocking, toe links were worn and the wishbone bushes were beginning to near the end of their useful life. After some discussions with forum members and my Local specialist it was decided that nylatron wishbone bushes were going to be the best replacement as they give less movement than the original bushes and help to keep the Geo in check when aiming at track use. Next was the toe link option, did I go for the Lotus standard or an uprated uniball design?
The answer from almost everyone (even my Lotus dealer!) was to go for the uprated uniball design as it offered improved safety if nothing else. Having an early S1 with Aluminium hubs I had to take the strengthened design and after seeing them fitted I doubt anyone could break these.

Ball joints were replaced like for like with new ones and I also replaced the anti-roll bar droplinks like for like too. I opted to keep the standard anti-roll bar but used nylatron bushes here too to keep things in order.]

Fitting was too ambitious for me to attempt so my local specialist, Jude Performance Services did the work. Dan stripped down the suspension so that I could get the wishbones off to a sand blaster for cleaning and zinc coating. These were one of the most corroded parts of the car, although they are made of heavy gauge steel the corrosion was beginning to get over the top. The local sandblasting company, Betablast, cleaned them up and coated them with a zinc based powder coat to resist further corrosion. Back to Jude Performance Services for the rebuild and on the whole things went back together really well. The only issue being the anti-roll bar nylatron bushes. When these were tightened the bushes seemed to grip the bar and cause some nasty knocking noises on even the smoothest of road surfaces. On further inspection we found that the bushes had a smaller diameter hole than the bar itself, but after rubbing down the bar a little to remove some paint the bushes fitted really well. Finally Steve Butts Supplied some new damper mounts to make the car sit a little lower to the ground, approx heights are now 110mm front and 120mm rear. The brackets are really well made in stainless steel and have made the car look just that little more aggressive not to mention that handling will have improved too.

The Geo was setup by F1 lotus in Newcastle, Jude Performance Services will be able to do this from early next week once their new geo kit arrives. The handling of the car is now so much better on all levels. Under normal driving almost all of the knocking and banging noises have gone and the car seems much less floaty over uneven road surfaces. When pressing on the car feels much more stable and during cornering the car is more planted to the road and turn-in is much more precise. This work has complemented my S2 damper and springs really well.

A big thank you to Dan & Ian at Jude Performance Services for all of the work, again a top job. As usual these guys have done wonders and I would not hesitate to recommend them. They are located in Gateshead (near the Metro Centre) and have now moved into their new bigger workshop, all Lotus/Sports Cars are catered for from a service to a complete rebuild. To contact them email. [e-mail]

Thanks to the rest for all of their help too:
Ian at Eliseparts.com. www.eliseparts.com
Steve Butts. Contact through www.seloc.org under the name SteveB
Chris and Craig at Formula 1 Lotus. www.theformulaonewebsite.co.uk