Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I am trying to mount my standard S4 radiator in the correct position from scratch as there are no existing holes drilled in the bodywork for the lower mounting brackets. I have both the side pre-drilled brackets in position. The body is currently removed from the chassis. I would be very grateful if someone could take a few measurements from their car to give me some datum points for the vertical position and for and aft. I guess the two important issues are that it is clear of the steering rack U/J and that the filler clap is clear of the bonnet. A suggested measurement would be from the vertical face of the master cylinder bulkhead to the edge of the radiator itself if this is possible. Also is the rad immediately above the U/J when in the correct position? I am assuming that if the rad is slightly closer to the engine that is not a problem.

I suspect that the final installed position of the radiator will very from car to car. All the mounting brackets have elongated holes so some adjustment to the final position is possible but, if it were me, I would not drill the holes for the lower brackets until the body is refitted to the chassis and you can then check for clearances.

That said I have measured my S4.......
The front face of the radiator is 600 mm from the centre of the bulkhead. With everything now installed it's difficult to be precise but the holes for the lower brackets are approx 95 mm forward of the C/L of the body to front turret bolt and look to be pretty much on the same horizontal level. The radiator is mounted using the upper holes in the side plates (ie the rad as low as possible) to give clearance to the bonnet. It leans backwards slightly so it is parallel with the front face of the engine.


Hope this helps.

Many thanks Roger for your help. Kind regards, William

Hi Roger, would it be possible for you to also measure between the midway lower point of the bonnet opening bodywork and the radiator core itself. Kind Regards, William.

Is this what you need ?

Hi Roger, yes that's great. Armed with this dimension and if I mount the rad as high as possible without the rad cap fouling the bonnet this should be correct. I am doing this whilst the body is off the chassis because it is a lot easier to position the brackets and drill the holes. Also with the bonnet in position and can get underneath in the engine bay and check the position. Many thanks, William.

William2 wrote:if I mount the rad as high as possible without the rad cap fouling the bonnet this should be correct

Don't go too high or you may have a problem getting the bottom hose on. I have only about 5 mm clearance where the hose crosses itself and that's with the rad mounted as low as I can get it. I do have a Stromberg engine though which sits level so with Webers where the RHS of the engine is raised to clear the top of the footwell this may not be a problem.
Just a thought

Thanks for the advice, I think I will slot the brackets to allow for some fine tuning.

Is that right that all Elan radiators are supposed to lean backwards slightly or does it really matter?