Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all.

Can anyone confirm the size wipers on a 2 seater S4 Elan please.

I've just come to fit the wipers and it would seem i have some how got a few sizes? (i've managed to get them mixed up with some from other cars )

So i have 10" arms with 12" blades........12" arms with 12" blades....... 13" arms with 12" blades......... 13" arms with 14" blades (think they may be be off my +2).

They are all Brushed stainless with Chrome spline elbow/fixings (which i presume is correct) and they all crank in the correct direction.

Thanks.
Chris

Chris, my S4 has 14" blades on 12" arms, that's 12" overall max length. The S3 I've been helping my friend with has 12" blades on 11" arms, they leave quite a bit of the upper screen un-wiped. We tried 14" blades on the shorter arm, but they fouled the screen rubber at the bottom before they had completed full sweep. I'm sure I've read somewhere that the longer items were fitted from sometime in 67/68, so both may well be correct, in true Lotus fashion

If you don't mind me asking, how do you find the wrap around on at the bottom of the screen in the parked position?

I've just spent the last hour messing to see which seem to fit best and the longer the blade the more it tends to stand off the screen (but that may be because old Arms/blades)

I found a couple of pictures of the wipers fitted before i removed the screen and just going through rigging them up until i find a winner, i'd guess my car had 13" arms and 12" blades (just going off the old screen scratches and the picture below) That said i may give the 14" Blade a dose of WD40 and see if i can get it to sit against the screen a bit better just to get some more area covered.

Try some speedblades..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Vehicle-Parts ... SRCHX:SRCH

John

I have speedblades on my +2, Do you find they whistle over about 40mph?

No,I find they're great,they do tend to stick out of the windscreen right at the edge ( just a little) but they don't lift and flutter at speed ( maybe that's why they're called Speedblades ? )...

John

I have speedblades on my +2, no whistle but they do stick out from the screen on the extreme curve, as do the Trico's on the Elan, but mine park to the left hand side, which means the missed part of the screen doesn't really matter, the drivers side blade is in contact with the screen throughout it's full sweep My friends S3 parks on the right hand side & the missed part of the screen is a pain, right in your line of view, & we haven't found the answer yet, we're looking at possibly getting new arms & changing the park position.

john.p.clegg wrote:No,I find they're great,they do tend to stick out of the windscreen right at the edge ( just a little) but they don't lift and flutter at speed ( maybe that's why they're called Speedblades ? )...

John

I'm not 100% sure it is the Wipers on the +2 that make the noise but when i drive the car with them removed i don't get the noise. They don't flutter and you don't really hear the whistle with the windows up but when its nice and cruising it is a bit annoying.

Might buy a new set and see if that fixes it.

Orsom Weels wrote:I have speedblades on my +2, no whistle but they do stick out from the screen on the extreme curve, as do the Trico's on the Elan, but mine park to the left hand side, which means the missed part of the screen doesn't really matter, the drivers side blade is in contact with the screen throughout it's full sweep My friends S3 parks on the right hand side & the missed part of the screen is a pain, right in your line of view, & we haven't found the answer yet, we're looking at possibly getting new arms & changing the park position.

Thing is i'm not really planning on using it much in the wet (i have a +2 for that ) but i'm sure there will be times i get caught out which is why i'm trying to get them as reasonable as possible without looking too out of place.

Grizzly wrote:Thing is i'm not really planning on using it much in the wet (i have a +2 for that ) but i'm sure there will be times i get caught out which is why i'm trying to get them as reasonable as possible without looking too out of place.

I've been "caught out" on a couple of occasions where the heavens have quite litterally opened & also been caught a few times in more usual 'summer' showers & have found the Elan wipers to be perfectly OK, the only thing I do sometimes wish they had was an intermitent facility, but then the same applies to the +2 I've added some pictures of them at each end of their full sweep & the passenger side blade not following the screen at park, so you can judge for yourself if they look right or wrong. All I can say is they are as they were when I purchased the car & they are not something I feel I must 'improve'