Anoraks & anti-roll
Paul excitedly collects old Lotus parts for his front suspension and brakes
‘I have to use as many original parts as I can to register my ‘bitsa’ Seven’
Becoming a real classic car anorak is something that can sneak up on you. I’ve suffered from mild anoraksia since about the age of 12, but early Lotus cars can provoke quite severe cases of this highly contagious condition.
There are two reasons for this: first, they were often built to an owner’s requirements using whatever was available on that particular day, and second, nearly all have evolved through updates, restorations and compulsive tinkering in the intervening decades. This means there is a huge amount of variation from car to car, and as the main sport of the anorak is arguing over the rights and wrongs of tiny, mostly inconsequential details, a Lotus can provide almost limitless opportunity for heated debate.
Quite how much I have been overcome by anoraksia since starting this project was made clear by the expression on various friends’ faces when I told them about the welding on my front brake backplates. As PC readers, you’ll be fascinated to learn that prior to July 1959, Lotus used to weld Standard-triumph backplates onto BMC centres in order to get the particular combination of brakes and wheel stud pattern they wanted. The original drum brakes I got from Mike Brotherwood had been welded this way, which meant that what looked like bodging was in fact genuine Lotus bodging, genuinely bodged by Lotus at the original Hornsey factory that stood very near to where I now live.
Now this may be hard to believe, but there are people who don’t find this information quite as exciting as you or I, and have even responded with unhelpful comments such as ‘Please stop talking about your Lotus all the time’ and ‘Why haven’t you got a job yet?’.
Expert tips
No matter. The brakes were rebuilt with new cylinders and link pipes, but the shoes were nearly new so could be reused, and the drums appear in good condition – I hope they won’t need replacing soon as Lotus drilled these for the different stud pattern. The car uses Standard 10 uprights, which are essentially the same as the later Triumph Herald-type used on Caterhams.
New trunnions were fitted, and following a tip from friend Seth about leakage on modern trunnions, I used epoxy to seal the bottom caps
so the gear oil would stay in. Beautifully brazed new wishbones, new top arms – which contain the top balljoint and are therefore consumable items – and an original Lotus anti-roll bar were all supplied by Mike.
The wishbones needed the bushes pressing in, and here I can offer a top tip: if your vice was bought for £20 from an autojumble and has clearly been welded up before, don’t try to use it to press in suspension bushes or you will have to explain to vice co-owner Seth that you’ve broken it. Borrow a hydraulic press instead.
I also managed to tear the rubber boot on the top balljoint when wrestling the damper and spring into place – luckily, a new boot was only a few quid and easily replaced.
In my previous Staff Car Saga (PC, September 2018) I explained how I’d managed to accidentally pack one of the spring retainers for the front in the box with the rear dampers I was returning to Spax, but Spax popped a replacement in the post.
Springs are Faulkner race items and came from Demon Tweeks. I have opted for 125lb/in, which is slightly higher than the original 110lb/in but I am intending to carry a bit more weight up front as part of my engine plans.
The front suspension set-up is an ingenious design first seen on the Lotus 12 single-seater that uses the anti-roll bar as one half of the top wishbone, the bar pivoting in machined alloy blocks mounted on the front of the chassis. Decades later, wider, grippier tyres would show up the compromises in the design, but it works well on the early cars if the bushes are all in good condition and the anti-roll bar clamps greased.
I have to use as many original components as I can if I wish to register my ‘bitsa’ Lotus via the DVLA’S Reconstructed Classic scheme, and the front suspension is now as correct as it can be with only consumable and safety-critical parts replaced. The drum brakes won’t stop the car as well as the Herald disc brakes that were fitted on later models, but that’s a trifling concern compared to being able to point out my backplate welds to interested bystanders, and if I have an accident I’m sure my anorak will protect me.