Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Good morning,

Has anyone managed to find a windscreen rubber for an S3/S4 which actually fits! Everyone I have tried from the usual UK Lotus parts suppliers are incorrect. The angle in the bottom corners is made at 90 degrees rather than (I guess) 100. Consequently it bulges out when fitted. I spoke to one suppler who said they are all now made at 90 degrees.

I have thought about making my own but cannot find the correct section, I believe the original one had a "flap" which ran around the outer seal edge onto the bodywork? Examples I have obtained for the Lotus supliers had this "flap" but I cannot find who originally made the rubber, Baines have a seal which appears correct but the slots for glass and bodywork are the wrong size.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

David

This issue has come up before, it seems it's never been addressed by the suppliers.

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=34192

My screen rubber is original and needs replacing so I'll be interested if you find a solution.

The seal in the post below is from macgregors in Canada. It's sold by the length. No miters.

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=50939

That seal looks very similar to the one sold by Baines in the UK. I obtained a short section and the glass slot appeared to be too big and the body slot too small. Did you manage to get it to fit ok?

I have yet to finish installing it. The glass is in, just waiting on a hot sunny day to do the filler strip install. And tires to roll it into the drive.
It was difficult to get everything into position. it was my first glass install, and done solo. For the slots, are you referring to the width or depth?

The width. Compared to the (incorrect 90 degree) seals I brought, the slot for the glass looks too wide and the seal has to fit over the body and windscreen trim and looks too narrow. However, I hope I am wrong!

There are two versions of the glass rubber as used in both metal an fberglass bodied cars. For fiberglass bodies, the slot that fits the body is wider than that for pinch weld metal bodies. While fitting the front and rear glass for my Sabra GT, I was able to find a roll of the wider slot rubber. That rubber also is the same as used on Elans and Plus 2 rear glass as well as front and rear glass on my Elva coupe. Unfortunately, the company where I found the rubber, is no longer in business. The locking strip is much easier to find as it is the same for both rubbers, and was used on older Chevrolet trucks.

The body slot is .087 wide and the glass slot is .288 on the MacGregor supplied seal. Ish. Best guess is this is the 'steel' version. I will update how the trim strip install goes when the Sun gods shine upon me.

The body slot for the COH Baines version is 1.6mm or 0.062 wide so maybe you do have the fibreglass version? I contacted Baines who said they did not have any tooling to make the seal with a wider slot but said they might have made the tooling for someone else in the past.

Hi,
I know Sue Millers are not 90 degrees as I have one in my garage, and according to Paul at Chris Neils, neither are his. Maybe you got an old stock one?

cheers

I can confirm the SM seal, at least the one I had, was 90 degrees. Shame because Sue is great and very helpful. I also spoke to Tony Thompson who did not have any stock and suggested I go to Sue. However, he also confirmed they are made at 90 degrees and suggested I cut it to make it fit correctly. I did not think Christopher Neil was still selling Lotus spares. I cannot find a web site or spares number.

davidj wrote:I did not think Christopher Neil was still selling Lotus spares. I cannot find a web site or spares number.

This is what was Chris Neil website.
https://www.oakmeremotorgroup.co.uk/
and this is the parts Dept.
https://www.oakmeremotorgroup.co.uk/aftersales/parts

Thanks very much for the link. I gave CN (now Oakmere group) a ring but unfortunately they did not have a seal in stock either and have an order time of 3 months. Back to square one

Any other suggestions anyone?

Thanks in advance.

davidj wrote:Good morning,

Has anyone managed to find a windscreen rubber for an S3/S4 which actually fits! Everyone I have tried from the usual UK Lotus parts suppliers are incorrect. The angle in the bottom corners is made at 90 degrees rather than (I guess) 100. Consequently it bulges out when fitted. I spoke to one suppler who said they are all now made at 90 degrees.

I have thought about making my own but cannot find the correct section, I believe the original one had a "flap" which ran around the outer seal edge onto the bodywork? Examples I have obtained for the Lotus supliers had this "flap" but I cannot find who originally made the rubber, Baines have a seal which appears correct but the slots for glass and bodywork are the wrong size.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

David

Hi David,
Just wondering if you ever found a satisfactory seal ? Still need to replace mine and would like to get one that fits correctly.
Thanks
Regards,

Follow up on the Macgregor seal. The trim strip went in without issue. I mitered the corners of both the seal and trim to suit.