[calilot]

Hello,

Maybe somebody can tell me where I can find a fairly priced door hinge bushing for a S1. I see prices from $10 to over $50, just amazing for such a small part. Or is there any compatible part from another car / manufacturer ?

Thanks!

 

[maxvelocity]

just out of curiosity where are located?
Where have you been looking or buying your parts?
Reason I say this when I doing a lot of things that required a lot of parts or had multiple cars or projects many times I would try and establish a relationship with a particular vendor or person. If the difference was not too great, rather than trying to go for the cheapest part I would buy from certain vendors or support their business. There are also suppliers that are better with parts for certain models of Lotus cars.

 

[MyLOTUSGarage.com]

Hi,
We are a licensed Lotus dealer located in Winston Salem, North Carolina offering new, original ewuipment Lotus parts on the Internet. We will be happy to supply the door hinge bushings that you are seeking. The part number is:

C079U4189F
Please visit us at My Lotus Garage

 

[maxvelocity]

It is a small plastic/nylon part and if you want it right away and cheap remove the part and take it to a place like ACE hardware or another hardware store that has a lot of drawers of stuff and a good hardware staff. I have bought similar type of bushing for a few dollars. You will probably find a close match or if you are lucky an exact match. Someone at LEW have even found a suitable replacement in bronze. The original part might be in mm so you might have to drill or shave off for a tight fit.

Other than that for vintage Lotus parts I usually talk to Ray at rdent.com

Good luck

 

[Tony K]

A close fit won't work with the door bushing. It's a pretty exact part; too thin (by a few thousandths) and the door sags, too thick and it won't fit, etc. If you shave something to fit with anything less than a machinist's precision, you may have issues.

I've bought the bushings from a few sources over the years, and I've received two slightly different sizes (by only a few thousandths) of otherwise identical bushings. One was no good (too small); the other was perfect. Can't remember where I got the bad ones from. Not sure if the slightly small ones were from a later Esprit and incorrectly identified as suitable for an S1, or just defective.

If you just have a sagging door, try to get by with just adjusting it; replacing the bushings is kind of a big job if you're not already taking the door apart for other purposes (you pretty much have to disassemble the whole door to move the beam to clear the curve of the outer shell).

You can get more adjustment out of the door as-is by slotting the lower mounting hole in the body another millimeter or two toward the rear of the car (but don't do more than a few mm).

YMMV . . .

Cheers,

Tony K.

 

[maxvelocity]

C079U4189F is the part listed for an S3

B079U4189F is the part listed for an S1

I'm not sure what the difference is.

I would disregard my previous post and go with the recommendation of Tony k as he has the hands on S1 knowledge. That being said if you really need the bushing I would then go talk with Ray at RD enterprises as he has the specific parts lists for the S1 so maybe ask him these questions. I used to use him a lot when I used to dabble in the older cars. So Tony where do you get your parts or think he should get the part? Call the ball as I defer to you as its been a while since I have bought parts for the older Lotus cars

Cal H

 

[calilot]

Thanks everybody,

I just read about a parts place in Australia that sells the bushings for under $10 a piece, more like what's a 'normal price'. If I have to take the whole door apart to get the bushings out as mentioned by Tony I might wait with that undertaking.....Anyway, keep your ideas coming in, I am sure I am not the only one with that particular issue and it will help everybody else too reading about it.

Uwe