Dashboard to gear lever clearance distance

[bob_rich]

Hi Folks

Could someone out there who is rebuilding, or has rebuilt and maybe kept a record, confirm , on give an idea of the clearance to the dashboard lower edge form the gear stick centre. Before I go 2 far I just want 2 be sure that when I have rebuilt the dashboard it will fit OK without all the electrical being jammed against the heater. I have attached a picture showing mine at 1" (25mm) and behind the dash (not yet assembled) there seems 2 B enough space for the wiring and stuff. For the switches I think I will have to use flags rather than straights on the 1/4" spade connectors--other than that all should fit

Thanks in advance

Bob

[elanfan1]

Looks far too close to me. From memory i reckon there must be at least 2 inches of plastic centre console between the edge of the hole for the gearstick let alone allowing maybe another 1.5/2 inches radius of the hole to the centre of the stick.

Looking at that picture I reckon if you put it in first you'd struggle to have a gap between the gearknob and the dash.

[john.p.clegg]

Bob

Looks too close to me also? I'll go and measure

John

From the face of the dash to the centre of the lever (in neutral) I have approx 3"

[bob_rich]

Thanks both most helpful.

I have taken a further picture with the gear stick temporarily in position. I am rebuilding the car (december 1973 +2S130) from the ground up. The transmission, body, Spyder chassis, are the "original" as I got it albeit rebuilt and /or repaired. The engine is a replacement L block twink that replaced the decked 711M based engine with the twink head . It was clear that when I got it it had had some front damage in its earlier life but it did drive OK for around a year B 4 I started the rebuild. In neutral the horizontal distance from the dash to the bottom of the slender part of the gear stick is around 3.5" (88mm).

I could put some shimming between the engine mounts and the engine mount brackets as there is perhaps 1/4" to 3/8" I could get it back further but is this necessary? Not sure it is but would welcome comments.

cheers thanks in advance 4 any help

Bob

[john.p.clegg]

Bob

I should have said 3" from the spigot to the dash,not the actual gear lever.....best try putting it in 1st,3rd and 5th (if you've got 5th)

John

[alaric]

Hi. You should have a right angle bracket that bolts to the top of the chassis onto the bolts that go through the body and chassis. There are two variants of this bracket. When I'd lost mine I bought one from ebay, that put the dash too close to the heater box. When moving house I found the original and was pleased to see it positioned the dash correctly. Hoorah I said to myself - of course there were other problems to come... Happy to provide pics - I have the same car - actually mine's the 5 speed so a different gearbox could be involved - but I think the cars are the same.

Sean.

[JJDraper]

A few pics of my recent rebuild. The dash wiring is not that bulky, using the same loom as yours by the sound of it. The Dash fits hard up against the heater diffuser duct and the metal brace. At the top mounts, I slipped in a couple of washers between the dash and the bobbins to ease the congestion.

All fits snugly, but I don't have dimensions, although the pics may help.

Jeremy

[bob_rich]

Thanks one and all

With the gear lever as in my second post I can readily select 1st and 3rd gear. The car was originally a +2S 130 5 but a rebuild ( after a bad accident) by one of the PO's around 20 years ago it got swopped over to the Ford 4 speed box and the Spyder chassis. My car had a home made bracket for the bottom of the dash which was not very good ( bit of old Dexion angle and some large clamp washers) and I plan to make a better one. It seems to me that my set up is closer to standard in terms of dimensions that I first thought and all the pictures have proved very useful.

The reason behind the careful check on the dashboard position is I plan to fit more fuses in the fuse position (10 off modern blade bank) and do my own wiring loom. Blade fuse holders R a Tad deeper so just needed to check carefully.

thanks again one and all

cheers

Bob

[alaric]

Hi. I think I am missing the 'Bracket - Facia Mounting' which is shown as item 18 in section PA of the parts manual, lotus part number 050 B 1184. I've never seen this bracket so don't believe it's lost - just wasn't in the boxes of bits when I bought the car. I have item 20, 050 B 0239. It looks like it's just a plate to keep the wires up away from the hot air. Here's a pic that was posted by TeeJay (Trevor) in an earlier thread:

Dash bracket

Should this be fitted to a '72 +2S130/5? I have a large fibre glass deflector that's part of the heater box and not shown in the pic. If so and if anyone has one that they're willing to part with please let me know.

Thanks.

Sean.

[rdssdi]

My +2 "non S" has the fiberglass deflector on the heater box. The dash is attached to the bobbins with a simple "L" shaped bracket.

Bob

[alaric]

Thanks. So you appear not to have the metal bracket / deflector. I'm sure in some of the photos it is there with the fibreglass deflector. Ah the joy of Lotus...

Regards.

Sean.