Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Will this in any way fit? I'm fed up with the faded rubbish plastic surround on my 130...... help! Or have anyone got any other bright (literally!) ideas?

Cheers

Short answer is no, it won't fit without a lot of work.

The rim around the inside of the windscreen is different for the bond-in (your type) and rubber trim windscreen.

I think* the earlier rubber type screen has a thicker lip to clip the screen rubber to, so this needs to be built out in fibreglass

Niall

*I may have this the wrong way round. i.e. earlier=thinner lip.

b###*** ! guess I'll have to buy a new plastic one then..

Thor,

I have the same problem with my windscreen surround - it looks awful and needs replacing but I'm put off by owners experiences, please keep us informed as to how you get on

Best of luck

Jon

Hello friends,

This is a horrid one and I'll soon be facing it too.
I believe the screen recess on our late S130s is a lot deeper than the rubber surround cars in order to take the butyl rubber strip and plastic trim.
Lotus used to have heated jigs to bend the plastic around the screen top corners but they were broken up ages ago. The silver foil in the plastic often creases up on the inner edges but this can be overcome by hanging the trim up with a weight attached to the end overnight in a heated room.

Another sad fact is that the trim currently available is narrower than the original and may not quite overlap the body and cover the recess all round the screen.

Many restorations have stumbled here and used home-made solutions. If originality isn't important I have a photo of an interesting one if anyone wants to see it.

Jon I happen to know that PM use a windscreen fitting guy who is very good with these screens. It would definitely save a lot of trouble if you got them to do it - and since your car is there already it could be done by the weekend!

Hope this helps,

Si

Si, originality for me on the windscreen frame is less important than overall shininyess....
So let me have the picture of this alternative solution..Please

No, I'm not drinking at work, that should read: SHINYNESS

Hi Thor,

The close-up is on my home computer so I'll send it this evening if you like. The trim is very neat but the only shiny area is a silver in-fill strip. I've forwarded a general photo of the car.

Your car is so unmolested it would be a shame to compromise its originality.

If anyone else would like to see it send me your email address and I'll do my best. The car in question is a Pat Thomas restoration in regency red and silver.

Best wishes,

Si

I too have a poorly installed bonded windscreen.

Looking back through the invoices that came with the car, I found one from AutoWindscreens. It has "30% credit" taken off the total price, which I assume is compensation for such a bad job. I have also found out why the car has had "occasional dry weather use only" since it was 'fitted' in 1986 !! I think most of the carpets have dried out now since the last rainy journey....

My current solution is plenty of silicone sealant...

Matthew

Hi

For leaky windscreens silicone sealant is not good stuff to use. 3M do a special sealant for the purpose. I have a big tube of it in the garage, but cannot remember the code number. It is in a previous post if you want to look it up in the archive. If not the next time I am in the garage I will look it up.

On the screen trims, as Si says the early cars have the lip set more deeply back. I have a 71 +2s with the stainless steel surround which is probably the effect that you are after.

Good luck...

Berni

And why THE HELL did they change the stainless sorround for the completely rubbish plastic one??
Is this the Ford Classic story where Ford decided to stop production of the screen and surround Colin had based the design on?

All this gives me the suspicion that if I am planning to do anything, i.e. the non-original solution Si proposed, or a new plastic trim, it's sufficiently difficult to warrant the ordering of a new windscreen just in case? WHich is out of the question as i'm in Norway. B****cks again.

Nice to see good old anglo-saxon used by a Viking
Dave

almost six years living in beautiful(ehm..well..) Birmingham thankfully without picking up the accent has seen to my English being quite good...
(Quite fancy a Rochdale Olympic too as I've now gotten the taste for GRP after two rattly Triumphs, but that's another story)

Hi Thor,

If the Ford Classic story I've heard is accurate it puts poor old Lotus in an even more inept light; having designed the car around the Classic 315 screen and surround no one told Ford who broke up the jigs two weeks before the design was signed off. I suppose Lotus worked its way through the remaining stock of spares until the S130. The early Plus Twos had rubber with a silver in-fill strip though, can anyone shed any light?

Si

The story of the Ford Capri 335 (116E) screen surround is in the 2nd edition of Robinshaw and Ross. From what was said - paraphrased "100 spares in stock for Ford as a lifetime requirement for 7500 cars that had gone out of production in 1964"

I don't think there ever was a case of using up the very minimal Ford stock, before production commenced the whole lot was redesigned around a lookalike made by Claylastic (Claytonrite)