Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi

How are the footwell carpets in the Plus 2 attached to the side panels? Mine are a bit floppy and not fixed at all.

Also, where the door seal is, does the carpet go underneath the seal trim (and be clamped down by the trim)? It looks like this is the case, but my carpets are frayed at that point so I can't be sure.

For a 68 +2, [on mine at least] the front footwell mats have 4 press stud type fasteners on each side. You may find the holes if you look underneath. 2 are where the foot-well turns upward into the wheelarch, 2 just forward of the seat runners.
The rear footwell carpets seem to have just two fasteners each side toward the rear of the car.
The side carpets are tucked into the door seal [I have yet to do this, but I believe a gentle shave and a rubber mallet are called for ] Mine are also glued onto the sound proof / underlay except for the bottom inch or so.

OK, I'll have a go at that. There's a gap at the moment, looks right tatty.

I cut mine from a roll, using the remains of the original carpet + self made templates (used the picture in the parts list). I left the sides (verticals) long enough to sit on the floor, tucked under the horizontal carpets. I may well use the dogs grooming tool to take a bit of pile off before forcing the door seals over the top.

I have a late +2S 130 and here are some photos of a spare set of original footwell carpets. You can see each carpet front and rear is fastened in four places. So far as the side carpet is concerned it is tucked inside the seal. You might need to trim the edge slightly to get a neat fit.

The clips are still readily available if a bit of a pita to fit. https://paulmattysportscars.co.uk/produ ... tener-set/

Sue Miller provides a full set of fasteners with the carpets she makes up for Elans and +2s.

...and I'll be buying a set at some point, if I can decide what colour. I have the Oatmeal interior but I don't like the carpet. It looks kind of dirty, even though it's clean. I wonder if a black carpet would be better?

I have used Vinylkote (http://www.kolorbond.co.uk/vinylkote-pa ... ther-vinyl) on several occasions to change vinyl & leather interior colours, going from oatmeal to black would be no problem at all, I've actually gone the other way successfully & the results are permanent . If you have the fabric inserts in the seats, there are dyes for this, but I've never tried them, the fabric is usually knackered & needs replacing anyway, & there are good carpet dyes for the bottoms of the door cards. This one claims to do both, https://www.fabricspray.co.uk/shop/upho ... abric-dye/
(Should you fancy a complete change, of course )

A top tip for persuading the door seal over the carpet is to use a filler spreader to guide it. push the spreader into the seal & use it like a shoe horn to guide the seal over the carpet, pull it out & move along a bit at a time. I find I seldom have to shave the carpet using this method unless it is a particularly deep pile.

Regards, Tim

Re Vinylkote.. I'd try it but am a bit worried that it will wear off or become scratched. The oatmeal colour is very light, so any such damage would be painfully obvious.

On a separate point, could it be used to restore the headlining (to white)?

JonB wrote:Re Vinylkote.. I'd try it but am a bit worried that it will wear off or become scratched. The oatmeal colour is very light, so any such damage would be painfully obvious.

If applied correctly, it won't wear through or scratch off etc, it isn't a surface paint, it leaches into the vinyl & goes very deep. It does genuinely change the colour. As an example, I have a Morris 1100 with very light green vinyl. The drivers seat was knackered & I couldn't find vinyl in the correct shade, so changed a good dark navy blue seat to the light green with Vinylkote which they matched specially for me. After several years & much use, there is no sign of blue coming through anywhere, even where the vinyl is now showing signs of age & use. You do have to thorough with prep, but it is a permanent change. Oatmeal to black should be quite straight forward, light to dark requires far less coats than dark to light.

JonB wrote:On a separate point, could it be used to restore the headlining (to white)?

I don't see why not, wouldn't be the nicest job cleaning, preparing & spraying it in situ though

Regards, Tim