Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have fitted a new loom to the +2S I am restoring and am now in the area between the radiator and nose with all lamps connected and with loose cable to tidy up. Does anybody know please if there is a preferred way of routing and attaching wires to the headlamps ? I want to avoid fatiguing the wires as the headamps go up and down. When I dismantled the car the wires from the pods were taped to the cross tube, and the rest was just loose in the nose. Is this the normal method ? Any replies gratefully received, Thanks, Dick

Thats how mine was for 30 years since i had them apart to free off the pivot bolts and rewire them!
Took them apart again a couple of years ago for a rebuild and put them back in a similar way.
If you think about it the centre of the pivot mechanism has the least amount of movement as long as you can avoid the wires being twisted and flexed in a very short length, you also need to avoid getting the wires caught up in the pods etc as they travel up and down.
I have remade my harness with heavier cable for the halogen bulbs and run it to relays inside the car so as to reduce voltage drop and cut the load on the 40+ year old dip switch!
I have also used some diodes so that i can flash the headlamps when the dip switch is in the dip position, something that has annoyed me for 30 years!

Thanks vxah for your very helpful reply. All noted inc. the advice fitting relays for halogen headlights - I will have to do that. I have been on a detour fitting the headlining - took me as many days as a professional would hours ! Happy and no wrinkles./
I tried taping the wires to the cross tube, but found that I got all the bending at the point where the short loom out of the headlamp bowl joined the main loom. In order to remove the bend at that point and spread the bending over a longer length of wire I have made up and fitted a "lifter" as in the attached photo. It looks to work OK but time will tell. Thanks again for your advice, much appreciated.Dick