Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I was recently working on some doors from a very original late Sprint and saw, for the first time, felt and those stick on type anti vibration pads. The felt was the same type that is under the carpet and glued on the upper inner parts of the door outer skin. The anti vibration pads were across the same surface on the lower part.
I have just copied this on my S4 and it has made a difference. The doors sound nicer when they close and also on the road it seem less noisy both travelling and when going over bumps. I can only figure that Lotus perhaps did this on later cars.
Has aanybody else encountered this?
Also added some draft strip to the bulkhead were the bonnet closed to help centre it. This had made a difference as I had rubbing marks on the bonnet and bulk head.
Mike

Yes, I have come across the materials you wrote about Mike. As you know, I only have late cars, so you may be correct in your theory that only later cars were fitted with sound deadening material, I do not know about early cars.

I found that the material was not as thick as under carpet stuff, maybe half the thickness. And the anti vibration material was like a thin spongey type of material, and that is stuck to the door underneath where the 2 lock rods slide. Without it, the rods rattle and vibrate like hell. There should also be anti vibration pads, about an inch square, fitted underneath the window cables

Leslie

Hello Mike,
could you post some pictures ?
Mine ('69 S4) came without any ...

Regards
Guillermo

I have a very early S4-Sprint and i didn't have anything stuck to the outer skin but i did have these two squares stuck to the door inside under the door pad, i also have two or three small squares of felt stuck under the lock rods (plus of course the vinyl covers over the top of the window motors assuming to stop rain getting into the motors)

Thanks for replies. The felt I used is as photo. Also see the anti vibe stick on pads. They are 500mm x 200mm. from Ebay. Yes, Leslie you are right I think the felt was thinner on the ones I saw but it gave the idea. The anti vibe pads were very like the photos without the pattern. May have had a dot pattern, cant recall. Effectively I have felt and pads on probably 85% of the door skin. Not just near rods etc. Inside the actual door chamber.

I am sorry I have no pic's as the doors are now back together. Even if not it would be hard to show.
I put two of the anti vibe sticky pads across the bottom of the inside skin of the door outer. This left a gap above which I cut felt at about 200mm by 500mm and used contact adhesive. It was a bit of an art spraying it in the doors. I then set the felt above the anti vibration pad as high as I could get it up to the top section curve of the door. Cut holes for door handle bolt. This kind of replicates what I saw on the late Sprint earlier in the year.

Good point about the felt behind the rods.
Got all the pads on the window wire system. Seen many.

Mike

.

I went for a proper run out yesterday and the car is definitely quieter with the door mods and the under bonnet felt I also added. Well Pleased. Now I am alone with the straight cut gear noise. LOL
Mike

I remember reading a road test once that commented "shutting the Elan doors sounded like throwing a cheap cardboard suitcase down a flight of stairs". That the sort of comment Jeremy Clarkson would make these days

Lotus probably read the same road test and tried to do something about it in the later Elans

cheers
Rohan