Removing a Roll Cage

[Bahamayellow]

Hello not been on here a while but I’m doing a few jobs on the Elan Sprint whilst on lockdown. I want to remove the unsightly roll cage from the car and wondered if anyone has managed successfully to get the side impact bars out as the previous owner over 20 years ago now must have put the side cill bars in when building the car. It appears a hole has been cut in the front of rear wheel arch with an inspection cover but I’ve no idea why they did that as it’s nowhere near large enough to get the bar out.

I know the benefits of having a roll cage as I race a cooper S with a full FIA cage but I only use the Sprint on the road and have been removing a number of the modifications the PO put in poorly many years ago including putting the Lotus badge at the front in the wrong place.

The Sprint is going to Option 1 at the end of the year to have some bits done to it so I’m considering getting them to take them out then and just fitting the front foot brace and packing the bars in tight until then as I don’t want to attack the car with a hole cutter or the alternative is to cut the bar in situ and remove it in bits.

Any helpful advice appreciated.

Many thanks

Mike

[Seamus]

Hi Mike,

Is it a Spyder roll over bar?

[vstibbard]

If its a Safety Devices cage it would have had a hole cut on the rear inner arch to feed the sill bar forward.

Cheers

Vaughan

[TrevorJones]

Hi Mike
If the hole looks like this then the safety devices side impact bar will come out ok.

[Bahamayellow]

Hi yes it’s a Safety Devices cage. The hole Trevor isn’t that neat and it only has one on the drivers side so I would need to cut out the other side and have no template but your picture provides a good start point. I didn’t really want to start cutting holes out of the shell as although the car looks great I think the body will have to come off the chassis so I’m tempted to secure the bar and remove it when the body is off.

Many thanks for all the comments

Mike

[Lotusian]

Mine came out through the existing holes in the front wheel arches which had been covered with aluminium plates, silicone sealant and underseal (no holes at the rear). That’s the way they went in, so I reasoned that they must come out that way as well. A real struggle involving hammer, lumps of wood and wedges, but eventually I succeeded. The car looks so much better without the rollover bar, so worth persevering.

[Bahamayellow]

Hi Ian I will have a good dig around although it won't surprise me if the PO put one hole in the rear wheel well and one in the front. Ive had the car nearly 20 years and still digging up problems. Essentially the car had a lot of money spent on it but he decided to put it all together himself which is where the problems lie. The car does now look 100% better without the roll over cage in it which was like sticking a tin helmet on a beautiful lady.

Many thanks all and I will let you know how I get on.

Mike