Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I noticed the plate that the motor mounts to is bent to the rear of the car, in the upper left corner, as
viewed straight on. The picture hopefully shows the bend, although it is more severe than shown
in the pic. Problem is, I don't think it can be straightened due to the upper flange (red arrow) that
is there, I'm sure, to provide rigidity. I've tried to form it back to a vertical plane but it won't budge.

So the question is: is this mounting plate normal or should it be perfectly vertical, ie, straight?

I found this on our forum and it looks better/straighter than mine. Maybe I just need to put more force
into straightening mine... Hmmm.... Still would like confirmation.
Thanks

Greg, don't know if it helps, but this is the one on my Sprint:


Maybe yours took a wack when it was out at some point? e.g. dropped & landed on that edge?

Just realised that your windshield wiper motor is the older boxy design.. different bracket... but you wouldn't design something wonky like that... I would flatten it out & square up that corner bend.

Thanks Phil. I'm now sure that the car took a whack at that point because I also found the
door check tube is bent also. And I found one of the mounting studs for the wiper motor
also bent.
Straightening the mounting plate is going to be a challenge with very limited access. Unlike
our Sprints where the flange is smaller and pointed to the rear of the car, this is a large flange
and points to the front of the car. I've tried using my 15" (huge) channel locks but to no avail. The upper flange is large and preventing the bending back. I just need to think about this for a bit.
Thanks again.

gjz30075 wrote:Straightening the mounting plate is going to be a challenge with very limited access.

There's no way to remove the bracket from the car?

Definitely distorted... Look in this thread for a picture of how it is supposed to look - https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37606&p=258203

And here from the Sow's ear thread:
https://lotuselan.net/forums

That bracket has to bolt to the body... look on the rear side face...

Phil, the bracket is welded to the re-bar lattice, as best as I can tell. Good pictures there, thanks!

I **might* cut it off (that's the easy part) and possiby spot weld it back on veeeeerrryyy carefully. Or
come up with some nut and bolt arrangement to secure.

Hi Greg, just an idea here. Rather than cut the bracket off at the lattice, and risk disaster when you weld it back on, could you cut lengthways along the 90 degree angle? By losing the strength of the angle you can then flatten to shape both pieces with hammer, dolly, vice grips etc. You then have the choice of rewelding along the angle, or perhaps insert another piece of angle and secure with fasteners.

Mike

Oh, great idea Mike. Thank you!