by Phil Zamlnski
I started out by saying, "I can rebuild the Seven front end". Everyone, including myself, who has owned a Seven for several years, looks at a Lotus Seven and is taken aback by how simple it is. And, in principle, I agree. But looking at the number of parts in the Seven's front end (see picture below), I was surprised when the parts count totaled about 65 parts per side.
The rebuild started out easy enough. The larger parts were dropped off to be powder coated: that turned out to be simple. Just drop the parts off at Neil's powder coating outside DeKalb; and pick them up... done. All the other parts are easily available from Dave Bean or JAE... these venders have been very helpful.
But when preparing for assembly, there as not enough bench space to lay out all the parts. Rubber parts, brake stuff, bearings, and bushings. And then there are the parts that were already packed away; some of them came from the MG Flea Market, such as the lower trunion bushings, and the steel/rubber bushings. The lower trunion alone has 2 bushings. 4 metal washers. 2 rubber "0" rings, and a metal sleeve for the bolt to go through. A nut is needed for the bolt too.
The cleaning process for the original remaining parts is also time consuming. Not only must all the parts be very clean, but all the threaded holes need to be chased using thread tap. Bolts must be treaded too. A thread tap or die is the only way to get that "old" stuff/dirt removed. And, don't forget to throw out all the used nylon lock nuts and replace them with new ones. Do not forget to remove the powder coating from where the bushing are pressed either.
All the parts for just one side are shown in the picture below. The only thing missing from this picture for one half of the front suspension is the SPAX shock absorber and the sway bar. Oh, and the sway bar mounts. And the steering rack. And the steering rack mounting blocks; they are the heavy duty ones. It seems like the list goes on and on. Oh! I forgot the bearings and races. Oh! I just noticed that several other parts are not in the picture. Nuts. The parts list seems to never end. Enough is enough!
