Lotus Elan S3 SE - Hood Frame

[bethanknights]

Hi everyone,

I posted forever ago when I was at the very beginning of the journey of restoring my dads Lotus Elan S3 SE. I'm pleased to say that 3 years later the project has made huge progress due to the unbelievable help from a friend I met through work.

But we need a bit of help.....

The original hood frame is missing the driver side 'window bar' not quite sure what to call it. Its the part that pivots on the hood frame/sticks and clips onto a bobbin on the screen frame. Ive attached a photo of the side we have got.

We were wondering if anyone has one of these we could buy or maybe know where we could get one? A whole new hood frame if around £450 and I would like to try and reuse the original if possible.

Or has anyone ever just fabricated their own, and if so how easy is it?

Thanks in advance!

[ericbushby]

Hi,
That same top tube was missing on my S3 when I bought it.
I could not find `D` section tubing at the time but Sue Miller provided a piece of the round tubing that replacement hood frames were being made out of then.
The rear end I could do just by flattening the tube and drilling it. The windscreen end was made by silver soldering a plate on the end and then cutting the fork. By using a separate plate I could offer it up many times until I was satisfied with the fit before soldering it on.
It is a case of making a mirror image to the one you have.
No one would ever notice that the tube is round instead of D shape because the hood is on at the time.
It has now worked well for twelve years.
Good luck
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[bethanknights]

Thanks, thats helpful. Looks like a bit of creativity required.

[oldelanman]

The correct D section steel tubing is available, not sure if the dimensions are the same as the Elan frame though.

https://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/produ ... frame-tube

https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1482-hood-bar

https://www.completeautomobilist.com/ca ... hood-frame

[gentry74]

not sure if buying from a US vendor makes sense for you... but RDent.com has an original hood frame for sale. If you click the "garage sale" button in upper left of their website. I went there looking because I thought I had seen a damaged hood frame...but now I think it was a damaged rear boot tray that I am recalling. This also seems like the kind of part you could locate from a damaged car... since you just need that one section. Have you already posted in the wanted section here?