Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I asked a question on June 05 but foolishly at the end of a reply in the never ending door thread.
Foolish I expect because the question was to do with the engine bay. Would some kind person please tell me they can help? Thanks, Bill

Bill

If you let us know the question,we might....


John

How is the metal plate under the windscreen wiper motor fastened to the top of the passenger's side (in RHD) footwell?

On mine there were small plastic devices which did not look as if they belonged......Bill

Bill,

That's a great question because I'm staring at mine and I'm still not entirely clear how it's attached.

First of all, both my steering wheel and wiper motor are on the left side of the car so I'm hoping that the following applies to your car. The bracket that the wiper motor is mounted on is shaped like a triangle. One side of the bracket has a lip that comes back at a right angle from the bracket. The lip is tapered and the wide end of this lip is about 1". This 1" long section appears to be welded to a piece of re-rod that is glassed into the body. The re-rod runs from the firewall past the wiper motor to the door where it is welded to another re-rod that runs 90 degrees straight down a few inches along the body and is also glassed in.

The bottom corner of the triangular bracket appears to be glassed it to the body just above the door opening. I would imagine that the parts where the re-rod and the bracket were glassed into your body have broken loose and a PO attempted to rectify the problem with the "small plastic devices". Hope this helps.

Thanks, Frank. Just another of the variables designed to keep us on our toes! My car of course does not have the complication of the steering wheel on the left. The wiper motor has a metal band around it which fastens to a steel plate. There is a small piece of wood between the motor and the plate.

The plate fits over a hole in the top of the footwell. There are some holes around the edge of the plate and around the edge of the hole . It is the fixing through these holes which I am seeking details of.

Thanks again for all your trouble, but your car is later I think, and perhaps a bit more sophisticated as a result. Regards, Bill

Hey Mate,

I just realized that you have a +2 which has the motor mounted in the engine bay (thus the title you chose) while my car has it under the dash. Sorry.

I can tell you that I believe the piece of wood you refer to is supposed to be a piece of rubber to isolate the vibration of the motor from the rest of the car. Also, there is more rubber on the inside of the band that holds the motor on the bracket so it is isolated completely.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Dear Frank,
Thanks again! Interestingly the two bonnet catches mounted near the top of the firewall are also mounted onto small pieces of timber, each slightly shaped so as to present the catches squarely to the bonnet.

It would be better if the wiper motor was mounted on something a bit softer, but it looks original! You are correct about the rubber which fits around the band which in turn encircles the motor. Perhaps we might get a definitive answer on the mounting of the motor if we wait a bit?
Regards, Bill.

Bill,
The fitting of the motor varies. The early cars had the motor mounted on a plate on the horizontal surface under the bonnet using a period Ford mounting. The early pedal box was an exact match in terms of size so I guess they may have been similarly fixed.
Later cars had the motor mounted nearer the Servo on the vertical inner wing (and, I also understand, a bigger pedal box).
Knowing Lotus, there may be other fixings as well. These photos are of Zetec cars that I toook to help me building mine, I hope that they help.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. That is marvelous. The blue car is similar to what I have. Can you tell me please how the plate under the wiper motor is actually fastened to the body? Regards, Bill

Unfotunately not, my car is the later type. I would suspect that it bolts through the bulkhead like the pedal box.

There must be others on the forum with similar fixing?

Good luck
Mike

Bill, a few pics of my car which seems similar to yours.
The pedal box blanking plate is screwed to body with dome headed self tappers with washers under heads.
My shell was originally supplied to me with wiper motor fixed in passenger footwell which was hideous. I've moved it to position you see here on inner wing, I was going to mount it on the plate but thought it looks better here.

Also included is a proper wiper motor bracket I've just procured to replace the one you see holding the motor at present.
Hope this helps.
Kenny.

the wiper motor on my early car is mounted onto the footwell blanking plate by a saddle type clamp around the motor similar to the side mounted jobs, above, however ther is an oval block of something(wood possibly) under the whole assembly to lift it up aprox 1/2".
I'll try to post some pics another day, this is on chassis 50/017.

hope this helps

Mark

HI,Bill the blanking plate over the passenger footwell of my early car is attached with nuts & bolts.
Cheers , Brian.

My wiper motor (1969 LHD Federal) is bolted to the side of the engine compartment attaching to a nut plate on the outside of the engine compartment in the wing (fender) well.