Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi All

Does anyone know if the elan doors have any adjustment top to bottom as I have a bigger gap at the top on drivers side causing the hood to not seal properly and the door seal not touching at the top of the door frame


Cheers

Geoff

The bolts that hold the nylon pivot pin stubs have large holes that they fit in and big washers, which gives a measure of adjustment of the door fitting in the 2-seater.

Very fiddly to get right.

Item 2 in this picture is the casting with the big holes.

Also bear in mind that the nylon pivot pins, ( item 3), can be moved up, or down, and then locked in place.
This alters the gap top and bottom.
But as Bill says, "fiddly to get right".
But then, it wouldn't be in the Lotus tradition if it was easy and anyone could do it !

Ralph.

You remove the #4’s with a socket. #3’s have a 1/4” square hole that a 1/4” driver will fit into. Retract the top one, and extend the bottom to raise the door. You’ll then likely need to reposition the latch striker as well.

Up/down isn't nearly as fiddly as fwd/back or in/out. Those involve repositioning the #2’s, and is pretty much trial and error, in my experience.

Thanks guys for the drawing and help

I will take a look. I don’t need a lot of movement to get it rt just hope there’s enough

Regards
G

MACCA.GLM wrote:Thanks guys for the drawing and help

I will take a look. I don’t need a lot of movement to get it rt just hope there’s enough

Regards
G

Going by experience, you will almost certainly make it worse before you make it better.

Suggest you read this thread before you start adjusting the doors.
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=24489

.......and this thread. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=19282&start=

Well, too late for me, I took it all out prior to the respray.

I'm wondering if I should refit the doorshells empty first; that is, without the window mechanisms but with the door seals in place. I won't be able to sort out the latch position but I can see if the shut lines are reasonable. Strikes me this'll be much easier with just the shell as it weighs almost nothing.

Not long and I will be moaning about not correcting the door line where it sticks out thanks to a wonky mould in the factory..

JonB wrote:Well, too late for me, I took it all out prior to the respray.

I'm wondering if I should refit the doorshells empty first; that is, without the window mechanisms but with the door seals in place. I won't be able to sort out the latch position but I can see if the shut lines are reasonable. Strikes me this'll be much easier with just the shell as it weighs almost nothing.

Not long and I will be moaning about not correcting the door line where it sticks out thanks to a wonky mould in the factory..

That’s what I did.

When i remove the Doors i only remove the top special "locknut" on the " top hinge "only" that locks the "nylon pivot". Slide a 1/4" square bar up inside "nylon pivot" to FULL DEPTH . Unscrew TOP "NYLON PIVOT" completly from alloy cup/ bobbin.
Top of door will move outside body and you lift door away.
When you refit door slip bottom pivot into bottom bobbin. Swing top of door inside bodyline and screw up " top nylon pivot" into top bobbin cup untill no play in door.
Simple
Alan

The nylon screw pins in my S3 project were seized solid in the hinges, even the 1/4" square holes were chewed up by previous owner attempts to remove them. The only way I could remove the doors was by loosening the hinge securing bolts. I ordered 4 new pins and eventually drilled out the old ones.
The new ones were also very tight to screw in so I ran a 3/4" UNF tap through the hinge to clean the threads. The nylon pins and their locking screws are now very easy to adjust. If you have the doors off, and the pins are very tight, I would highly recommend doing the same.

This is the Kit for Elan Hinges Pivots.
Grind extend 1/4" drive on Socket Extension full depth of Nylon Pivot.
You then tap into Nyloc Pivot FULL DEPTH.
The Pivot will come unscrewed.
If you need to replace Alloy Pivot Cup in body laminate a square of grp like me.
You can then scarf /taper this into body hole.
Have fun boys
Alan

For a worn alloy hinge cup bobbin Alan describes the correct, proper, long term fix.
But see this:
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=44818&p=319306&hilit=+Hinge#p319306

In this link I describe a fix (bodge really) that so far has given a number of years regular use with minimal wear, so avoiding cutting the old bobbin out and bonding in a new one. For me that’ll wait until the car is off the road for a refurbishment.
Malcolm

I have found that a square bar from a UK domestic door handle is just the right size for dealing with the nylon pivot screwing/unscrewing, using a typical ratchet socket set, via the bottom hole at the front, inside wall of the door.

Extending the square section on your 1/4" socket extension the Tool is already there in your Socket Set.
I unscrew top Pivot so Door is supported by bottom Pivot and doesn't scrape the Sill.
Easier to refit after painting and no damage.
Alan