Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi All,
I have a '71 Elan +2 that I am restoring. This car came to me without a headliner or bows. I have found the clips that hold the Bows in. What I need is pictures or drawings of what shape these bows should look like. I have purchased a headliner and bow material from Paul Matty. It has 5 slots for bows and I can only see 4 places for bows on the car. Any help would be great. I have a '69 +2 with it's original headliner and I don't want to pull it down to see what the bows look like. .
Great site. I found the '69 on this site.

Thanks, Paul
'71 +2
'69 +2
'65 S-2

Paul,

The attached photo shows the rear 3 mounting points for the headliner supports on a late +2 (one with five supports). Unfortunately some cars have 4 and some have 5, I think but the photo shows where the less obvious one is on the rear roof pillars.

The supports are tubular steel (fairly soft) a bit like metal brake pipe but possibly of a bigger diameter. Unfortunately mine are back on the car so I can't measure or draw them out. Also all four or five are different so replicating them may not be easy... You need to make the curves in the supports nice and even otherwise the headlining will look odd and possibly wrinkled. I guess the aim is to get the headlining as close to the roof as you can.

You should also see the ends of the screws that hold the rain gutter to the roof in the photo. It's a good idea to make sure that these don't leak. Take the screws out being careful not to damage the edge of the guttering and put some silicone sealer in the holes before putting it back together.

Good luck!

Craig

Hi Paul,

I have two old five rod headliners complete with bows and only one car to put them in, so I have one spare set. Where are you? Contact me if you are intrested.

If not I can take some pics and post them.

Chris.

Hi Paul

I have my +2 in bits at present. Attached is a photo of my bows I took so I can remember which way 2 put them back. Realise this may not help much as you can't see the size!! I could possibly photo each bow over a square grid if that would help. Some of the other posts may give you what you need though.
In my car the fitments to hold the bows to the roof edge are simple piano wire stubs held in by a M3 countersunk or similar size screw set set.

If you want me 2 I can try and photo the rods over a square grid maybe able 2 do that over the weekend

Hope this helps best of luck

Bob

Thanks to all you guys for the help, pictures and advice. That's great .
I live in Western Washington State. On Whidbey Island. I need to figure out how to get that on my stats. Born in Lincolnshire, England. Love this site.
Thanks, Paul

Hi Paul

I have taken a picture of my head lining rods against a background of 2cm by 2cm major square graph paper. Quality is a bit low but can only up load small file to the site

If it is any help I have a slightly higher res picture I can e-mail 2 U if it is of help

rod set is from my 1973 +2S 130

hope this helps best of luck

bob

Paul
Just a thought the following listing is on eBay UK. Lister seems to have two listings, one with the bows. Can't make out if four or five rod though. Says only ships in UK though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lotus-Elan-2-Head ... _500wt_922

Hi Stu

Looking at the picture I reckon there are 5 Bow (Bar) " visible creases" so it looks like a standard set for a +2 to me. Bearing in mind that installing involves gluing around virtually the entire edge of the lining to the body the condition could be less than perfect at the edges. this may not be clear in the photo.

think I would like a look before buying

regards

Bob

I suspect it will be a s*d to fit as it appears as if the excess headlining material has been trimmed away - once it's been fitted you trim the excess material off and you only leave 5mm or so glued to the door and window frames...

C

Bringing up the subject as I have lost, in the shuffle, the headliner bows for my S130. Could someone please tell me the;
type of material (ie steel, aluminum, malleable or hardened etc..), diameter of tubing, bend radius, profile shape, length of bow etc.
I would imagine they were all the same and the bend was the same on both passengers and drivers side but I'm not sure.
Please enlighten me.

Regards
Greg

For an early +2, with 4 bows. They are steel, appear to be similar to the tubes the wiper rack runs in. I was able to straighten one of mine easily by hand (if you have ever straightened a ski pole you'll know to warm it by rubbing it with you hand for a bit first << just couldn't think of another way of putting that bit )
Mine had surface rust, so wire wool then treat with a rust treatment. I have wrapped them in white insulation tape - to minimise chance of rust stains. I will take photos (+ measure the tube dimensions) of all the component parts and post up as I'm pretty close to fitting my headlining, but am procrastinating as it's something I just don't want to get even slightly wrong

My '70 is the five bow version. All are symmetrical side to side, but all five are different shapes and lengths. I'm traveling for the next three weeks, but if someone hasn't already done it by the time I get home, I can trace the shape of each on butcher paper for a pattern to send your way.

Looks to me like you could form them from steel fuel tubing. 5/16 or 3/8 sounds about right, but again I'm not able to measure them for a bit.

Thanks for the responses. I will wait to hear from you regarding the bows
Greg

I made Bows from Kunifer pipe for brakes very easy and no rust problems. Bend carefully with your hands no problem. There is a choice of different dias.
Alan

Firstly, this is from a "4-bow" car (early +2).. in case it is helpful....

I took some measurements with a dressmakers tape, using elastic bands to hold it in place. I measured the length of each "bow" inside and outside of the bends. In all case the difference was 15mm, so add this to the dimension given to give the outside length.
1105mm, 1090mm, 1085mm, 1075mm
I do not (yet) know the order they go in front, to back...
I measured the tube OD at 8.17-8.38mm (probably a bit oval in places). 8.25mm seems to be about right, bear in mind I have these wrapped with insulation tape.
The wall seems to be 0.76mm thick (same caveat).
[not sure why I'm measuring in metric - but it is a lot easier for my brain to cope with]


I forgot to mark which bow is which length in this picture (doh!). The included fastener is much bigger than the original which was the single piece type. the screw is identical (but SS) to the original (no 6 I think), I have painted the head in body colour.
The large squares on the graph paper are 1cm with 1mm divisions.

The wire supports are original, with bends as I found them on the car.