"Boxing in" of sills

[worzel]

Hi

I'm sure I've seen something on this in the past but can't locate it in the archives.

Anybody ever boxed in the sills on a 2 seater. Not necessarily the full length but along the run of the floor- possibly from near the seatbelt mounting to around a the front edge of the door?

Regards

John

[Maulden7]

Yes, I've done this on my S2 using aluminium sheet cut to shape around the door opening, & around the whole area that would normally be supported by the original framework.

The aluminium sheet was glassed in, & is obviously behind the trim panels so cannot be seen.

I did this because the original framework had simply disintegrated, & it was far easier than attempting to replace the frame.

The area around the bottom seat belt mounting was reinforced & a fixed nut welded in place (the original mounting nut came away in my hand with a very gentle tug on the belt - yet it had passed an MOT!)

The sheet did make it more difficult to fit side impact bars when I came to fit a roll cage with side / footwell bars (TTR type) & I had to cut a hole to feed the bars through, but probably stiffens up the whole car / chassis a little as some extra benefit.

[worzel]

Hi

Thanks for that info- and sorry for my late response to your posting.
Have bitten the bullet and boxed in the passenger side using a fibreglass "wall" of around 7mm thickness- haven't extended it up the sides but ended a few inches past both ends of the door. "Only" the driver side to do now. At the same time I also added some "meat" to the floor panels as they are flimsy to say the least.

Regards

John

[pudge2260]

Greetings All,

Work on my 1970 Lotus Elan +2 continues. Looking for measurements, metal gauge thickness and pictures of the door sill side impact members.

Mine are so far gone the front mounting plates were pretty much dust and the jacking pins are gone. Can't get a true measurement of length or mounting nut/ hole positions.

I know that I can purchase them from several sources in the UK, no one over here stocks them. I would like to try and fabricate them myself, part of the adventure.

Thanks-

[mbell]

This thread is about a different topic as Elans don't have the same side members.

Take a look at:
viewtopic.php?t=46801&f=36&start=0#p337336

The lengths should be easy to measure from the car.

Another option is to use a pipe/tube and mount brackets added rather than make a folded box section as Spyder do. Which maybe easier to do if you don't have access to a large metal bender.