sprint badge front wing

[alan.barker]

i have just noticed the long sprint/championship badges on the front wings are not the same position both sides.
Passenger side the back edge of bezel is 5 cms from door opening.
Driver side the back edge of bezel is 6.5 cms from door opening.
Could someone please tell me which is correct. Then i will know what side to fill-in the holes to drill new ones.
Good job i saw this before going to the paint shop.
many thanks in advance
Alan

[AshleyPark]

6.25cm on passenger side, 6cm driver's side on mine Alan! Knowing Lotus, I suspect there's no definitive position. Just make them both the same.

[alan.barker]

Hi David,
Many thanks, i prefer to fill and drill holes before my Sprint goes to paint shop.
I've had my Sprint 24 years and never noticed each side was different but like they say love is blind lol
Alan

[elanfan1]

You could always paint them on!

[alan.barker]

You're right if i don't chicken out.
Go easy on the red Wine it's still early.
Alan

[steve lyle]

Speaking of those badges - how are they attached? How do you get them off?

[alan.barker]

To get them off the middle printed part is stuck to the plinth. Ease a blade between printed panel and the edge of the plinth. Take care or it will bend. Then you have the plinth only attached to body by two pop rivets. There are also three thin pins that slide into holes in body. In each of the three holes should be a little special clip.
When you refit with pop rivets you need long pop rivets so they go as far as possible down the holes in the grp.
Alan

[oldelanman]

I think the badges, like the boot letters, are just held by the pins on the back of the plinth and clips in the body so the pop rivets may be a later addition. A couple of the pins broke off mine years ago so I added countersunk screws and nuts to refix them .. less likely to damage the fibreglass than pop rivets perhaps but not so easy to fit as you need to get behind the trim inside to tighten the nuts. The replacement plinths available now don't have any holes in and plastic knapsacks have replaced the little metal clips in the body.

[alan.barker]

Hi Roger,
you are right. That's like on the +2 Badges with "knat's condoms" on the Pins
I think mine must have broken off the the Pins and someone drilled holes + Pop Rivets for a quick fix.
Your countersink screws sound a good idea. It will stop someone stealing them.
Alan

[steve lyle]

Thanks. I got the outer piece off of the plinth with no problem. But the plinth has no holes or fasteners visible. I can get a very thin blade behind it, but there are definitely fasteners, not glue or tape, holding it on. So I guess I need to remove the interior trim panels.

[oldelanman]

Thanks. I got the outer piece off of the plinth with no problem. But the plinth has no holes or fasteners visible. I can get a very thin blade behind it, but there are definitely fasteners, not glue or tape, holding it on. So I guess I need to remove the interior trim panels.

If there are no holes visible in the plinth and no sign of adhesive tape behind it, it's retained only by the pins on the back which are just pushed into either metal clips (original fitment) or tiny plastic plugs (modern replacement) inserted into holes in the body. To remove the plinth you need to gently prise it off, work it slowly a little at a time from either end keeping it parallel to the body as you do so or you will break the pins off the back. You might want to tape a piece of thin plastic (from an ice cream tub or similar) at either end of the plinth to protect the paintwork while you prize it up. There is no need to remove any interior trim.

[steve lyle]

Thanks. I got the outer piece off of the plinth with no problem. But the plinth has no holes or fasteners visible. I can get a very thin blade behind it, but there are definitely fasteners, not glue or tape, holding it on. So I guess I need to remove the interior trim panels.

If there are no holes visible in the plinth and no sign of adhesive tape behind it, it's retained only by the pins on the back which are just pushed into either metal clips (original fitment) or tiny plastic plugs (modern replacement) inserted into holes in the body. To remove the plinth you need to gently prise it off, work it slowly a little at a time from either end keeping it parallel to the body as you do so or you will break the pins off the back. You might want to tape a piece of thin plastic (from an ice cream tub or similar) at either end of the plinth to protect the paintwork while you prize it up. There is no need to remove any interior trim.

Or, in my case, it's held on by the pins going into holes in the body, with no metal clips or plastic plugs, but with a dab of silicon sealant around each pin. Showing once again that after 52 years and god knows how many rebuilds and owners, there's no telling what lies beneath the surface of these cars.

Anyway, I was able to get my very thin spring steel spudger/spreader behind the plinth, lever it out a bit, and essentially saw through the sealant around the 3 pins, and get the plinth off. Now I just need to do some research to find out how to get all the traces of silicon off the body, so it doesn't mess with the paint job I'll be doing.