Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

What is the best method of fixing the lotus letters to the boot lid. The pins on the back of my new letters don?t seem to quite align with the existing holes, although the existing holes do seem a bit filled in with all the new paint layers from the respray. The respray was done about 20 years ago but I?m only now getting around to completing the rebuild. I?ve seen somewhere that fixing the letters directly to the boot with some sort of adhesive give the best finish as muck etc can?t then get under the letters? All suggestions and tips welcome.

Happy Christmas all

Simon

Ah, the famous mouse condoms. Available from the usual suppliers and all good rodent chemists.

Simon
I think that the best way to fix the letters was to have filled the holes and painted over them 20 years ago ready to drill through to match the new letters!!
But I accept that's not very helpful.

Same principle applies now though - the holes need to match the pins and will have to be eased if you want to use the original fittings.
I'd say that no car of the period had absolutely flush lettering or badging so personally I'd go with clips.
My concern about adhesive would be cleaning the excess needed to seal any gaps.
At least we don't have to worry about corrosion at the holes!
Mark

To hold the badge pegs in the hole were metal clips before it was changed to mouse condoms.
The good thing about the original metal clips was that the letters touched the body and were not held off.
Alan

I think a combination of 'gently' grinding away the pegs on the side where they catch and easing the oles in the body with a Dremel should allow them to be fitted. This alone might make them a tight enough fit however most modern car badges are stuck on with double sided adhesive tape so use that in combination?

Several options then, I?m beginning to think some gentle dremel work on the holes followed by double sided tape then a small blob of clear silicon sealant on each peg inside the boot might be the way to go. I?m not so keen on the mouse condoms as I had used them before and found that the gaps behind the letters filled up with polish and general muck. Alan mentioned some metal clips that were used originally, as my car is a very early one it probably had these, does anyone have details on what they were and if they are still available anywhere?

I have just looked in my box of old Lotus Badges but there are no original clips.
I wanted to take a photo because they are difficult to describe. "V" shaped sleeve.The clips slide on the length of the pins and gave them a pointed shape. This guided the pins into the holes and had a wedge action.
Sorry i don't have any for a photo.
Alan

Here's a couple of pics from my Europa with original clips.

Another approach that I had some success with for fixing the letters to the boot was to use clear shrink tubing.

Cut a small length of tubing, slip over the pegs, apply heat, the tubing creates a tight sleeve on the pegs, and the letters slip into the holes with no standoff. You can experiment with different size tubing to give a secure fit depending on the size of the holes in your boot.

Just be careful to let the letters cool from the heat gun. They can get hot.

I like the original metal ones and they're available from SJ Sportscarsand then I would caution how brittle those pegs are and the alignment of the holes is critical lest they just snap off. Gordon Sauer

Make sure the holes are clear and the pegs are a good loose fit. A small amount of clear silicone windscreen sealer will hold them nicely with no damage to paint or body. I have found that the pegs on the letters, which I think are cast in Mazak, are rarely at consistent angles so a bit of accommodation is necessary which silicone allows.