I need to replace the front shocks on my S4 Elan. I am not looking to make any modifications to the standard setup & the car will only be for road use. What is the latest thinking on suitable shocks? Are Armstrong units available?
I don’t know about Armstrong units but here in UK, Koni inserts are available with separate springs - not the combined unit which was used before. We’ve just come back from a trip round India where we had the shocks set too stiff and this meant that the wishbone bushes were overloaded and wore out. If you do get adjustable units - don’t make the same mistake!
Never regretted replacing the originals with Konis.
The crash, bang, wallop I was getting with the, admittedly tired, originals turned into a controlled thump which hasn’t altered in the 20 years since they were fitted.
Was very impressed with the precision of engineering. Without the spring installed just the weight of the rod was sufficient to have the rod slowly sink into the shock if you held it upside down.
Ralph.
I thought I had read some comments in the past about Koni’s being a little to stiff & were only acceptable on the softest setting. Allison & Ralph how do you find the stiffness & are your’s adjustable?
The adjustment on the classic Koni dampers is for wear only. They should be set at the lowest setting until they wear to a point they don’t feel as effective on bump/rebound.
They must be removed from the chassis. Perform the adjustment per the instructions. The manual can be downloaded directly from the Koni website.
I recall the fitting instructions being quite clear on this point.
You weren’t meant to "adjust’ or otherwise mess with them when you installed them, but fit them as they came out of the box.
This made perfect sense to me.
Lotus, and Koni, had worked out what is appropriate for the car, being an unmodified road car, and my driving is hardly of the calibre that I can second guess them, ( like to think it is but getting real for a moment…).
Had they been absolutely appalling I guess I might have been tempted to start altering things but in reality they were so much better than what I was used to that I left them alone and haven’t since wanted to change them.
As has been stated the adjustment available was to compensate for wear, not for me to try and get the handling better than Lotus could manage.
If I could have done that I would have gone to them and got a job… 
Ralph.
I’ve had Konis on the front of my S1 for 30 years and they have been fine and don’t seems to have worn out at all. However the eye bushing at the bottom mount has worn out and I can’t fine a replacement. Does anyone know where to get a couple of these? The shock has an eye OD of about .8" and takes a .5" bolt. I have contacted Koni but they sent me the wrong bushing and are having trouble identifying the right one.
John, I have the same problem with the Konis on my +2. I ordered new lower rubbers from Koni US. The ones I got were too big in dia. This is what they said was the listed for that shock. I have ordered a pair of the stock ones from Susan Miller. I have not seen them yet, so I do not know if they will work. If they do not work, I guess it is time for make my own with a spherical bearing as used in race car shocks.
Bill
Dave Bean stocks armstrong, spax and koni. Catalog has a good run down on which to choose and why. Scott
Interesting info, Bill.
I’d be interested to know if your bushings from Susan Miller will fit and then, if they are successful, how to get in touch with Susan Miller. Also, how are the spherical bearings, if you go that way, attached to the shock?
I called Koni-NA back and they asked for a photo of my shocks with dimensions which I have sent to them. That was last Fri so I hope to hear from them soon.
I do not know when the stock bushing are going to get here. They are coming with a shipment of engines. I looked at the bushing that Koni sent me. This is the wrong Koni part # 70 52 25 010 0. Maybe they send the wrong ones, but they did not take these back. They looked the same, but the OD of them were too big. In fact the inter steel bushing OD was the same size that I needed overall.
The spherical bearings are held in with C clips. The next best thing is to use the steel inter bushing and use a sleeve of polyurethane.
I have essentially resorted to that, Bill. I want to get the spring/shock in place so that I can get on with assembling the rest of the car. I used the steel bushing core and slid three layers of bicycle inner tube over it which makes a nice tight fit in the shock eye. I had to grease it up with soap to stuff it in there. It would probably not last very long if I were to make it a permanent part but I hope to get the right bushing from Koni or elsewhere someday. Incidentally, Koni sent me what sounds like the same bushing that you got.