What car is this boot lock originally from?

[Chancer]

Absolutely, Chapman probably chose inexperienced people and from other fields than automotive and aircraft for that very reason plus they would be easier to mould into the Lotus way of doing things.

Its actually a mistake to specify current automotive Equipment, its cheap, readily available, mass produced and the makers will often deal with a specialist company like Lotus but when that current model gose out of production like the Ford Consul Capri then they aint going to make radiator grill trims for small fry like Lotus for any price.

Not a problem for Lotus because they continually Evolved the design or made new models, S1, S2, etc, but for a company like Caterham that want to continue producing what is still today very close to the original offering they are having to pay a fortune to have things made in small batch quantities that were designed to be made economically in mass, their inventory costs rise all the time whilst the motor manufacturers have carried none at all (just in time delivery) for d?cades. The S4 seven had to be dropped and the S3 resurrected because Weathershields did not want to continue making the screen pillars and sidescreens and threw away the tooling.

You might not be able to find the exact filing cabinet handle for originality but you will find still plenty of compatible T handles with the right fixing centres and shaft dimensions.

[elanfan1]

I once specified the cone shaped rubber bonnet stop from a Triumph Herald on a very exotic hugh end security product

In a former life I was a Security Surveyor for a major insurer so I'd be interested to know what that was, you have me intrigued. I've still got what I think is the very first type of alarm remote signalling from an alarm system. It used to dial 999 and then an actual vinyl record would play a message along the lines of 'Police, Police, Police - this is an automated alarm signal from ' and it gave the persons name and address. amazing how things have moved on.

[Chancer]

This:

http://www.divyainfotech.net/generalima ... estile.jpg

Not sure how to copy and post images.

Seemingly they are now made in India, even back in the 80's there was only one remaining glass bender company that we could use and they had been in the same factory for 100's of years which will now have been swallowed by the olympic stadium.

No problem getting glass bent, Triumph Herald bonnet stops or rotoflexes in India

[CBUEB1771]

Absolutely, Chapman probably chose inexperienced people and from other fields than automotive and aircraft for that very reason plus they would be easier to mould into the Lotus way of doing things.

Not sure I can agree with this given that Chapman brought highly experienced people from the automobile and aircraft industries such as Ron Hickman and Tony Rudd. If you need to do a lot of design and development on a shoestring budget then relevant experience is very important. Of course the move to Norwich was designed to get manufacturing away from the industrialized Midlands and the high labor costs.

[pharriso]

The S4 seven had to be dropped and the S3 resurrected because Weathershields did not want to continue making the screen pillars and sidescreens and threw away the tooling.

The S4 was dropped & the S3 re-introduced because the S4 was bloody ugly & no one bought it!!

[The Veg]

Absolutely, Chapman probably chose inexperienced people and from other fields than automotive and aircraft for that very reason plus they would be easier to mould into the Lotus way of doing things.

Not sure I can agree with this given that Chapman brought highly experienced people from the automobile and aircraft industries such as Ron Hickman and Tony Rudd. If you need to do a lot of design and development on a shoestring budget then relevant experience is very important. Of course the move to Norwich was designed to get manufacturing away from the industrialized Midlands and the high labor costs.

Maybe a few Hickmans and Rudds at the top of the department to keep it all on track, but a bunch of cheep young scrappers doing the grunt-work?

[stevebroad]

Going by the build quality of my shell I am inclined to believe this.

[LI-599]

Hi all,
check closely the boot lid handle on the new thread " never restored", and you will see that it is not the same as most S4's with one long handle, but has 2 short symetrical ones as in this thread.( more confusion)
Cheers
Ian

[fatboyoz]

Ian,
In regard to the other thread " Never Restored" referring to an early S4, I made the comment that it was the same as my early S4, 45/8152. I also have the same boot lock handle with symmetrical handles. Looks like Lotus was either looking for more cost effective parts, or just changing as available parts dried up.
Cheers,
Colin.
P.S. One of the more obscure parts on my S4, was a leather (pull) tag attached to the glove box to aid in the opening of the lid.

[wotsisname]

This handle was fitted to the +2 of 67/ early 68 (pre S model)... so not surprised to see one on an S4 of a similar age...

[saildrive2001]

Symmetrical handle on my 69 S4

[stevebroad]

Update on lock sale. I listed it on eBay and it sat at ?4.30 until the last 2 seconds when it jumped up to just over ?26!

I have listed a few more pieces. The steering column support bracket is up to ?37, a S3 door hinge is on ?3.20 and a rather tatty but usable nylon door hinge adjuster has a bid of ?1.99

Everything on a Lotus has a value to someone.

I am in the process of going through all my parts bins to see what else I can sell.

[gjz30075]

Steve, what's your ebay i.d.?

[stevebroad]

Hi Greg

steve-broad