Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Due to my previous owner’s laughable way of dealing with a too-short windhield support rod/spoke, I am in the process of reshaping the fiberglass that forms the upper part of the windshield frame. Because of this, I no longer know what the original clerance was between the fiberglass and the riveted overhanging aluminum plate above. That plate and the slot below it, of course, retain the stiff front edge of the hood (“top”in the US) and so represents a compromise between security which calls for a shorter slot and ease-off-use which might favors a taller one. Would anyone with an Elan that is original in this area please measure that clearance?

Thanks,
Alan Watkins

Hi Alan

I have measured a gap between the aluminium plate and the fibreglass windscreen frame of 4.0 - 4.5 mm (0.150 - 0.175 inch). probably the important thing is that the edge of your hood (top) fits in the slot. If you have a hood (top) you can measure the thickness and set up the gap accordingly.

When I restored my car and came to fit the hood (top) I wished that I had done a dry run looking at this gap before riveting the plate in place.

There is also a groove in the top of the windscreen frame which the hood edge fits into, difficult to measure beacuse it is covered by the aluminium plate.

If you need any more dimensions or even photos just ask.

HTH

lotusfan wrote:Hi Alan

I have measured a gap between the aluminium plate and the fibreglass windscreen frame of 4.0 - 4.5 mm (0.150 - 0.175 inch). probably the important thing is that the edge of your hood (top) fits in the slot. If you have a hood (top) you can measure the thickness and set up the gap accordingly.

When I restored my car and came to fit the hood (top) I wished that I had done a dry run looking at this gap before riveting the plate in place.

There is also a groove in the top of the windscreen frame which the hood edge fits into, difficult to measure beacuse it is covered by the aluminium plate.

If you need any more dimensions or even photos just ask.

HTH

What groove are you referring to Mike ?

I’m only aware of the slot between frame and aluminium plate.

Regards
Richard

Richard

Having gone and looked again I can confirm that there is no groove, it's an optical illusion caused by a shadow. To describe it again the top front of the windscreen frame is flat but at the back, where the aluminium plate is fixed there is a step which must be the 4 - 4.5 mm dimension I gave.

Thanks, Mike; that’s exactly what I was looking for. The hood is about 4.5 mm uncompressed and 3.8 mm when squeezed so I think that will wor fine. The step that determines that dimension is a little variable on my car due to the distortion cause by the PO cranking down on the spoke nipple, hence the uncertainty.

On my S4 the slot varies from 0.15" in the middle, 0.10 along the edge from the middle, and up to 0.20 at the ends.

The fiberglass and plate are original. But, it has been dismantled and reinstalled once, recently for paint.

There is enough flexibility in the plate that the minimum slot size of 0.10 can enlargen for the hood (top) leading edge to be inserted.

So relatively consistent with the previous posts.

Middle:

End:

Between middle and end

Glad to hear it works at 0.1”. Since I’m installing it with screws into rivet nuts I may go for a smaller gap and then shim it if that’s too tight.