Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi everyone, I hope some of you may have encountered this, and can enlighten me.

I have (hopefully!) posted a picture with this question. It shows a series of hexagonal stopped holes (they don't extend right through). These are on the rear LHS of the "lip" the bonnet sits on when closed, ie. the LH rear corner of the bonnet. Mine is a RHD car, a very early S2.

The holes (6 of them) are precise hexagons, and I have no idea what they're for, or why the factory (I assume) put them there. They do not seem to have been reproduced on the RHS.

The first impulse is to just fill them and paint over when I complete the body restoration, but if they're a feature (and not a fault!), I'd like to leave them there.

Grateful for any and all help.

I'm fairly confident that these where added by a DPO at some point to attach nuts for a fixture of some sort (bonnet holder ? reinforcement ? also race pin holders are often installed near this area, though usually a bit more to the outside - but there would more likely have been one on the other side, at least at some point) , a photo of the complete bonnet like below, if original, would help figure out the location and possible purpose, but I bet this is not Lotus original

nmauduit wrote:I'm fairly confident that these where added by a DPO at some point to attach nuts for a fixture of some sort (bonnet holder ? reinforcement ? ) , a photo of the complete bonnet like below would help figure out the location, but I bet this is not Lotus original

Its in the car body shell in the lip on the firewall that the rear of the bonnet rest on not in the bonnet itself.

I agree its not original ( or if original its a one off) as i have never seen anything similar and dont really understand what it could have been used for. it looks like a series of nuts may have been moulded into the fibreglass during a repair for some reason and then later removed

cheers
Rohan

You normally have the electric control box below there. I’m wondering if it is a fixing for an enhanced fuse box holder or similar.

Not factory I would have thought.

Regards
Richard

rgh0 wrote:Its in the car body shell in the lip on the firewall that the rear of the bonnet rest on not in the bonnet itself.

I agree its not original ( or if original its a one off) as i have never seen anything similar and dont really understand what it could have been used for. it looks like a series of nuts may have been moulded into the fibreglass during a repair for some reason and then later removed

yes, I figured that in case of a holding bracket or race pin of sort, chances are there would be confirming traces on the bonnet above it if original...

No, they are totally factory original, here is a pic of the ones on my early S1.5. and I have seen others on S1/2 cars.
(BTW. the bonnet above is my bonnet as I can tell from the two rollers I fitted to attach the springs to)

There is an old post on this topic - the thought is that these indicate the mold the piece came out of and they are repeated on other panels and spots on the central body molding -

cabc26b wrote:There is an old post on this topic - the thought is that these indicate the mold the piece came out of and they are repeated on other panels and spots on the central body molding -

live and learn they say... now I sort of recall that thread on orginal tooling so still alive (barely)

thank you for the precision !

Yep, every day is a learning day !

I’ll get me coat.

Regards
Richard