1) Front Suspension. The handling is frankly shocking - steering wheel adjusts the angle of lean rather than the direction of travel.
1a) New Shocks. Will ask at Vx, but even if not NLS I suspect price will shove me firmly down the Bilstein B4 route.
1b) New Springs. If not Vx then what's recommended? I suppose I could use LC spec springs :-)
1c) New Top Mounts. I think these are standard Carlton so I should have these in the stash.
Sooo. Here we go - This is what I ended up with :
1) SACHS-312294 SHOCK ABSORBER
2) QH-QCS6061 SPRING, 164MM DIAMETER, 14.25MM THICKNESS, 380MM LENGTH
3) VX-90236601 RING,DAMPER,FRONT SPRING,LOWER
4) VX-90217221 RING,DAMPER,FRONT SPRING,UPPER
5) VX-90223655 SEAT,FRONT SPRING,UPPER - POWDER COATED
6) VX-9184897 BUMPER,SHOCK ABSORBER (USED WITH LOWERED SPORTS CHASSIS)
7) VX-90125125 BOOT,RUBBER,PISTON
8 ) FEBI-03374 (VX-90288206) SUPPORT,SHOCK ABSORBER
9) (VX-90121275) BEARING,BALL - (SUPPLIED WITH FEBI SUPPORT - INA MARKINGS)
10) VX-90251921 STOP,UPPER (REUSED)
11) VX-90223654 STOP,LOWER (REUSED)
12) (VX-90393422) STOP,LOWER (ABS LOTUS CARLTON SPEC)
13) VX-11096171 x2 SCREW, HEX HD M12x1.5x55, STEERING KNUCKLE TO SHOCK ABSORBER STRUT
14) VX-11094488 x2 NUT, HEX, M12
15) (VX-90251985) X2 SUPPLIED WITH SACHS/BOGE STRUT
16) MEYLE-6160605575HD DROP LINK
Comments1) I decided to go with the Sachs Shock absorbers since the belief in these parts is that they are the OEM equipment and hence will produce the closest to standard ride. The other option I considered was the Bilstein B4. However, even though I ordered the Sachs part, what actually came was the Boge 32.M84.F. No Idea if these are better, worse or the same.
2) Spring choice was my biggest problem. All the aftermarket ones list different lengths for left and right sides of the car. This may be correct for LHD (European) cars, but RHD UK spec cars were different to their continental cousins and used the same springs on both sides. The springs that came off my car had Brown-Brown paint marks both sides, were 360 mm long and made from 14.5mm wire . Haynes (3510 section 10.1) claims Brown-Brown were fitted to 6 cylinder cars with air con from 1998 (so sounds correct), and are 373mm long with a 24 N/mm spring rate.
The Quinten Hazel listings on eBay list the QCS6061 as being made from 14.25mm diameter wire and 380mm long. Other options are available, but they seem to use 14mm wire and are 360mm long. Thinner wire will almost certainly produce a softer spring, and I certainly don't want it any softer than it already is. So I plumped for the QCS6061.
When they arrived I measured them. They were 373mm long (not 380mm - but 373 is what Haynes says Brown-Brown should be) and were made from 14.5mm wire. The discrepancy in the wire diameter may be due to the paint/powder coating, but since they actually measured the same as the springs I'd taken off then I'll go with it. They're 13mm longer than the springs that came off - perhaps the old springs have sagged - they are 17 years old after all.
12) On the Lotus Carlton, the designers changed the lower stop washer from the standard 90223654 to a larger diameter one, 90393422. This stiffens up the top mount a lot. However, the standard 90393422's have a habit of punching through, so thicker versions are available to Autobahnstormers members. That's what I'm using here.
Anyhow, throw it all together and you end up with this :
Hopefully that's Section 1 - The front suspension - complete.