Plus 2 light pods (again)
18 posts
• Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
Hi
One of my pods is catching the body as it comes up, which makes both lights stick when about 80% up. It's the bottom part of the pod catching on the lower lip of the opening. The offending pod is on the driver's side and it appears to be slightly skewed in its hole. Also a bit loose. There is a small amount of play in one of the pivot points.
Can it be adjusted easily, or is it a "full out repair" sort of thing? I could sand the lip down a bit but am very reluctant to do so for obvious reasons!
One of my pods is catching the body as it comes up, which makes both lights stick when about 80% up. It's the bottom part of the pod catching on the lower lip of the opening. The offending pod is on the driver's side and it appears to be slightly skewed in its hole. Also a bit loose. There is a small amount of play in one of the pivot points.
Can it be adjusted easily, or is it a "full out repair" sort of thing? I could sand the lip down a bit but am very reluctant to do so for obvious reasons!
-
JonB - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 2467
- Joined: 14 Nov 2017
when putting mine back together i found it is necessary to carry out a bit of alignment with the securing and pivot bolts to get the pod exactly where is needed to be in the body opening.
what i mean is don't just tighten up the bolts either side, there is a bit of backing 1 off and tightening the other to get the pod where it needs to be. Same with bonnet.
what i mean is don't just tighten up the bolts either side, there is a bit of backing 1 off and tightening the other to get the pod where it needs to be. Same with bonnet.
- davidc
- Second Gear
- Posts: 144
- Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Taking a few mm off the lower lip (where your white arrow is) & adding a bit of a chamfer will help, it can't be seen with the pod fitted & there's quite a lot of variation with the depth of the lip between cars depending on how it was trimmed it at the factory anyway. The pivots are just threaded bobbins, both in the pod & the body, so you screw the stud into the bobbin in the pod so it's just through, then pick up the tread in the body bobbin. This gives a little side to side adjustment, but fore & aft & up & down are fixed. If you have play in one of them, it usually means the thread has stripped in one of the bobbins. If you're lucky, you can helicoil the thread back to original, if it's really worn, you may have to drill out & use a thread insert. The bonnet is hinged in the same fashion & I have had to do this with one of my bobbins on the body where the bonnet spring (now removed, as unnecessary) had put excess load on the pivot & worn it badly off centre. The only difficulty was drilling the worn hole in the correct place to keep bonnet alignment correct.
Regards, Tim
Regards, Tim
- Orsom Weels
- Third Gear
- Posts: 480
- Joined: 31 Oct 2011
Imho the first thing to do is remove the special spring which is very strong.
Next remove the cross connecting bar.
This is the only way to check for wear without spring pressure.
To remove pods you need to remove the headlamp units first.
That way you have easy access to the pivot set screws which can be seized.
If the pivot threads get damaged in the pivots you can fit stainless Helicoil Inserts.
Some of the problem are often loose Bobbins that need bonding with resin and grp strands (repair explained in workshop manuel).
Alan
Next remove the cross connecting bar.
This is the only way to check for wear without spring pressure.
To remove pods you need to remove the headlamp units first.
That way you have easy access to the pivot set screws which can be seized.
If the pivot threads get damaged in the pivots you can fit stainless Helicoil Inserts.
Some of the problem are often loose Bobbins that need bonding with resin and grp strands (repair explained in workshop manuel).
Alan
Alan.b Brittany 1972 elan sprint fhc Lagoon Blue 0460E
- alan.barker
- Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 3864
- Joined: 06 Dec 2008
Maybe worth pulling out the headlight from the pod and checking that the bolts are not loose and unscrewing themselves, this could be the play you can see. cheers, John.
- AussieJohn
- Third Gear
- Posts: 462
- Joined: 10 Jun 2007
To have access to the pivot set screw heads it's very easy to take the headlamp units out the pods which are only held in by 4 self tapping screws.
Alan
Alan
Alan.b Brittany 1972 elan sprint fhc Lagoon Blue 0460E
- alan.barker
- Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 3864
- Joined: 06 Dec 2008
The original design of the headlamp and bonnet pivots was cheap and simple, but never made for long term service.
The threads in the aluminium bobbins do not survive well. The bolts are fitted in unbalanced shear, and soon wear to a tilted position which tears out the thread of the bobbin.
I have drilled out the bobbins and fitted steel bushes instead. ( I think fitting helicoils is a lot of work to retain the original design fault) I have fitted a cross tube into which the inner pivot bolts are screwed. This links the pods to lift together, as well as fully supporting the pivot bolts.
I have also brazed nuts to the steel bonnet frame to take the threaded bonnet pins, which fit into plain bushes in the body bobbins.
The threads in the aluminium bobbins do not survive well. The bolts are fitted in unbalanced shear, and soon wear to a tilted position which tears out the thread of the bobbin.
I have drilled out the bobbins and fitted steel bushes instead. ( I think fitting helicoils is a lot of work to retain the original design fault) I have fitted a cross tube into which the inner pivot bolts are screwed. This links the pods to lift together, as well as fully supporting the pivot bolts.
I have also brazed nuts to the steel bonnet frame to take the threaded bonnet pins, which fit into plain bushes in the body bobbins.
68 Elan +2, 70 Elan +2s
-
Foxie - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 1636
- Joined: 20 Sep 2003
My car has a cross member so the lights are joined physically. I's a "fail safe" model with only one vacuum actuator which is in really good condition (it's obviously been replaced). I'm not going to sweat it too much. I'll have a go at filing the inner lip back, though, because that won't entail pod removal.
-
JonB - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 2467
- Joined: 14 Nov 2017
You might want to check the pivot bolts anyway as they have a habit of winding themselves out. Same for the bonnet bolts...
-
Robbie693 - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 1646
- Joined: 08 Oct 2003
Well, I had a session last night looking at the offending pod. I took the light unit out (easy job as mentioned) and undid the bolts (two pivots and one connector to the actuating rod). The pod has a worn out bobbin with no thread and an oval hole which accounts for the misalignment that is causing it to catch on the opening lip. For now I have used a plastic insert in the hole made from the end of a Rawlplug (UK brand name for a thing that lets you screw things into brick walls) which is just the right diameter for the bolt. This seems to have done the trick.
Another problem that I left is the hole for the actuating lever bolt. My car has the wrong bolt fitted (diameter is too small) and the hole in the pod it goes through is oval. This results in unwanted free play in the pod. What's needed here is a bush of some sort, or a washer with a raised lip on its inside edge that would engage with the hole in the pod and prevent further wear. I will look for something suitable, but has anyone got any suggestions?
Finally, the pivot points. I put washers on the outside of the pod to space it correctly in the opening. One is thicker than the other. When attempting to put the bolts in, I found I couldn't hold the washers in position and kept dropping them into the nose cone. After the 4th attempt I gave up and took the pod back out. I taped each washer in position with electrical insulation tape on one side of the washer, leaving a little tail of extra tape hanging below the lip of the pod. This allowed me to get the bolts in without dropping washers or hunting for the washer holes. Once done, it was a matter of simply pulling the tail of the tape from the underside of the pod to remove the tape.
I'm not sure if the pods were originally fitted with washers, but I found this a handy approach to (re)placing them.
An unwanted side effect of spending all this time up close and personal with the front of the car has allowed me to notice more paint blemishes in the (metallic) Royal Purple finish. Grrr...
Another problem that I left is the hole for the actuating lever bolt. My car has the wrong bolt fitted (diameter is too small) and the hole in the pod it goes through is oval. This results in unwanted free play in the pod. What's needed here is a bush of some sort, or a washer with a raised lip on its inside edge that would engage with the hole in the pod and prevent further wear. I will look for something suitable, but has anyone got any suggestions?
Finally, the pivot points. I put washers on the outside of the pod to space it correctly in the opening. One is thicker than the other. When attempting to put the bolts in, I found I couldn't hold the washers in position and kept dropping them into the nose cone. After the 4th attempt I gave up and took the pod back out. I taped each washer in position with electrical insulation tape on one side of the washer, leaving a little tail of extra tape hanging below the lip of the pod. This allowed me to get the bolts in without dropping washers or hunting for the washer holes. Once done, it was a matter of simply pulling the tail of the tape from the underside of the pod to remove the tape.
I'm not sure if the pods were originally fitted with washers, but I found this a handy approach to (re)placing them.
An unwanted side effect of spending all this time up close and personal with the front of the car has allowed me to notice more paint blemishes in the (metallic) Royal Purple finish. Grrr...
-
JonB - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 2467
- Joined: 14 Nov 2017
Oh the joys of Lotus ownership....
Keep it up.
John
Keep it up.
John
-
john.p.clegg - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 5766
- Joined: 21 Sep 2003
You will need a way to restore threads to all 4 bobbins for each headlamp pod.
The pivots are the set screws turning in the threads of the bobbins laminated into the body.
The set screws are assembled from inside the pod and tightened upto their heads.
If you are lucky you will be able to put wire thread inserts in the bobbin holes to return them to threaded holes.
Or if too big maybe some sort of solid stainless inserts which are bigger.
The worst is to need to laminate new thread bobbins in place which is a very sticky job
Alan
The pivots are the set screws turning in the threads of the bobbins laminated into the body.
The set screws are assembled from inside the pod and tightened upto their heads.
If you are lucky you will be able to put wire thread inserts in the bobbin holes to return them to threaded holes.
Or if too big maybe some sort of solid stainless inserts which are bigger.
The worst is to need to laminate new thread bobbins in place which is a very sticky job
Alan
Alan.b Brittany 1972 elan sprint fhc Lagoon Blue 0460E
- alan.barker
- Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 3864
- Joined: 06 Dec 2008
Just pondering, do the pods have to be threaded? Could the set screws not be changed for a bolt and screwed into the body bobbin so that the pods pivot on the plain shank portion?
Robbie
Robbie
-
Robbie693 - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 1646
- Joined: 08 Oct 2003
18 posts
• Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
Total Online:
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests