Lotus Esprit S3

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Lotus Esprit S3

• Front Suspension Dismantling

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Picture shows nearside suspension prior to
dismantling. The car is resting on axle stands
positioned under the crossmember. A wooden
packing piece is used to protect the chassis
just visible to the right of the steering rack
boot. The anti-roll bar has already been detached
from the chassis and opposite suspension link.
DAMPER TOP MOUNT
WISHBONE PIVOT
SPRING DAMPER
WISHBONE
STEERING RACK
TOP BALLJOINT
ANTI-ROLL BAR
BRAKE DISC
HUB
BRAKE CALIPER
BRAKE BACKPLATE
HUB NUT DUST CAP
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Prise off the steel cap that protects the
bearings from dirt ingress
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With the split pin removed, the hub nut can be
undone. It should not be tight.
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On this car, the braking system had already been
drained and new flexible hoses were to be fitted.
Here, the rigid line coupling is undone with a
13mm spanner to allow
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the flexible line to be detached from the
chassis bracket. A 15mm and a 17mm spanner
will be required.
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The flexible line can be detached from the brake
caliper in the same manner. Use a 19mm spanner or
socket to loosen and remove the two bolts
securing the caliper to its mounting, and remove
the caliper.
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With the caliper removed, the hub nut can be
removed to allow the hub and brake disc to be
lifted off. The inner grease seal has
been prised from its recess
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and here the bolts that secure the brake
backplate are being removed with a 13mm spanner.
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Removal of the two lower bolts (14mm) allows the
brake backplate and the steering arm to be
removed. The front bolt has a nut on the back
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and will require the Nyloc to be held whilst
the bolt is undone.
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With the backplate and steering arm removed, the
brake caliper mounting plate can be lifted off.
This method saves having to disturb the track rod
end if it does not need replacing.
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Remove the trunnion mounting nut and bolt
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and the two bolts that clamp the top wishbone to
the top balljoint (not shown but should be
obvious). Then the upright can be lifted away
from the lower link. The trolley jack is easing
the load off the trunnion and top balljoint
mounts to make extracting the bolts easier.
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With the trunnion out of the way, it is now
possible to gain access to the anti-roll bar end
nut (a Nyloc) with a 19mm spanner. It may well be
fairly seized.
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On this ARB the rubber bushes are completely
wrecked. Note the two washers (one with a tapered
side to the centre hole) and the distance piece
(tube) through the centre of the bushes. It is
also possible to make out a crack in the Nyloc
nut!
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Loosen the upper and lower damper mountings, then
install a pair of spring compressors (not visible
here). The spring can then be compressed
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Once the spring is under a degree of compression,
remove the damper top mounting nuts and bushes,
prise the damper out of its upper mounting and
compress it down into the spring. Picture shows a
large spanner being used as a lever to push the
damper down.
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With the spring and damper disengaged from their
top mountings, the spring can be simply lifted
off the lower link. Removal of the damper
lower mounting nut and bolt will allow the damper
to be extracted from the link. Note that although
there is a rubber spring seat in the
top mounting, the lower end of the spring sits
directly on the lower link platform.
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Removal of the pivot bolt and nut will allow the
lower link to be removed from its
mounting. Similarly, the two halves of the top
wishbone can be removed once their pivot stud is
extracted. The bodyshell has holes in the
foot- wells to allow access for sockets, drifts
etc. Note that the pivots may well be rusted into
the bushes and/or the chassis.