S4 Bonnet Release (I had a good idea)

[Bob]

Hi,
I am in the process of changing the dash on my S4, the bonnet release braket was a bit iffy so I thought to myself why not put it onto the dash the same as a Sprint. I am now trying to do just that. Like all things Lotus seems the best laid plans have a Lotus floor. I need to extract the inner cable in order to pass it through the hole in the dash, however I cannot get the inner out, is the Sprint different from the S4, would apprecdtiate any help?
Tks
Bob

[martinbrowning]

Bob,
Not sure whether the S4/Sprint release is the same as my Plus 2 but......the inner cable passes through the bulkhead into the passenger footwell. There is a fixture on the end (inside the car) which must be released. The inner cable will then pull out without a problem. Hope this is of some help - if not, then just ignore me!!!

Regards

Martin B

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

"Assuming" that the S4 & sprint are the same!
The far end of the inner wire is fixed by a clamp with a grub screw on the inside of the passenger bulkhead hidden behind the glove box.
Being there it is difficult to locate & work on, especially when trying to tension the inner cable.
A pair of mole grips ("third hand") is handy here.

By the way, I had the same thoughts as you & made a suitable hole in the dashboard for the hood release & ditched the rather weak bracket that was screwed into the bottom of the dash.
Looks good & is nice & solid.
But just remember that if you need to remove the dash you will have to disconnect that wretched inner cable from behind the glove box, a horrible job.
Also, ensure that the inner (piano) wire has no kinks in it before trying to re-fit it into the outer sheath.
The end of that wire just loves to get caught up in the spiral wound outer sheath, which with little effort can force the spiral to separate making the job more difficult or even necessitate a new sheath cable.
If you stick to the original solution all you will have to do is unscrew the bracket from under the dash.
No unthreading of the wire or re-adjustment required.
Sometimes they did get things right on our Elans, even if the solution was a bit fragile.

Hope all of that blurb is understandable
Cheers
John

[bcmc33]

Hope all of that blurb is understandable

John,

None of what you've described has any resemblance to my car.
The cable simply exits through the bulkhead almost in-line with the pull handle and is attached to both catches, but fixed only to the passenger side catch.
Very simple idea, but often difficult to get both catches moving exactly in sequence.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Deleted because I did an edit but my laptop had a hiccup providing two slightly different responses.
Sorry.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Hope all of that blurb is understandable

John,

None of what you've described has any resemblance to my car.
The cable simply exits through the bulkhead almost in-line with the pull handle and is attached to both catches, but fixed only to the passenger side catch.
Very simple idea, but often difficult to get both catches moving exactly in sequence.

Brian, in my S4 the outer sheath does all of the moving to actuate the catches.
The far end of the inner wire tensions the whole assembly via the previously described & difficult to reach clamp.
Please note that I have discriminated the difference between the piano wire inner & plastic covered spirally wound outer sheath
Final adjustment is achieved with the threaded adjuster sleeve positioned approximately in the middle of the outer sleeve.
You know; the one that rattles around on the cam cover & wrecks the paint
All of the tolerances; springiness, that component's pre-tension & the relative height adjustment of each clip can have an influence on the release point of each clip.
Not having the patience to completely resolve this problem, noted by yourself, I have to manually help my cars bonnet to release itself.
So far as I know, my cars mechanism is original apart from the previously described modification & if you also have an S4 I think it should be the same.

Cheers & have a good Sunday
John

[Bob]

Hi,
Thanks for all the help my cable end seems to have been soldered thus I cannot get it. I am going to try another solution, Have a dash made with a slot just below where the hole should be, then I dont have to remove the cable inner.
It will mean the S4 is off the road awhile longer but hey thats Lotus non driving for you.
If anybody has a bonnet release assembly from a Sprint and want to part with it please PM me.
Tks
Bob

[bcmc33]

So far as I know, my cars mechanism is original apart from the previously described modification & if you also have an S4 I think it should be the same.

I clearly missed the point of the thread - I thought Bob wanted to copy the Sprint arrangement.

[Bob]

That was the good idea

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

That was the good idea

So to clear my befuddled brain.

S4 (normally) has the pull toggle mounted in a steel bracket that is fitted to the underside of the dash?


Sprint (normally) has the pull toggle fitted directly into a hole on the dash?


The run of the cable & the bonnet retaining clips are the same for both?


The inner wire end is clamped via a floating metal clamp on the inside of the bulkhead on the passenger side behind the glove compartment?

[bcmc33]

So to clear my befuddled brain. I'll make every effort.
S4 (normally) has the pull toggle mounted in a steel bracket that is fitted to the underside of the dash? YES

Sprint (normally) has the pull toggle fitted directly into a hole on the dash? YES


The run of the cable & the bonnet retaining clips are the same for both? NO & YES


The inner wire end is clamped via a floating metal clamp on the inside of the bulkhead on the passenger side behind the glove compartment? NO NOT ON MY CAR

On my car the cable exits the bulkhead in a straight line from the pull handle position on the dash. It then passes through the driver's side catch, loops down parallel to the bulkhead and then rises to the passenger side catch where it is fixed.
When the handle is pulled the passenger side catch moves and the driver side catch moves in reaction to it.