Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi, I am having trouble fitting the larger steering rack gaitor on my Plus 2, the rubber will not go over rack without a part of it folding in. I have been under the car most of the day without success. Looking on you tube at different cars, they simply just push on. On the Plus 2 the diameter is a fair bit smaller than the rack, it was sourced from a Lotus spare dealer.
Any suggestions welcomed as I still have the other side to do?

I had a time on my Elan, too, until I created something to help. I created a sliding "funnel" out of a gallon milk jug. I cut out one side of it and rolled the piece into the shape of a funnel. Punched a couple holes in each side and ran string through the holes - this gave me something to pull on to extract the funnel. They were arranged so that pulling the string also forced the funnel narrower. I ran the string through the gaiter, then put the wider end of the funnel over the rack and the narrow end in the gaiter (well greased). It took a little manipulation to get it all in place right but once setup the gaiter slid right over and the funnel pulled right out.

EDIT - found an old post I made on the subject that includes a few pictures...
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=42020&start=15

I warmed the gaiter in hot water for a while and then I turned the gaiter inside out at the inner joint end so that when it was pushed up against the inner joint it was the bellows part of the gaiter touching the joint. I then pushed the gaiter firmly against the joint and also pushed the inside out part straight again and it flipped straight over the inner joint into place.
I have only ever needed to do this once but someone else tried it and it also worked for them.
It may seem impossible to turn the gaiter inside out but once you get it started it was ok
I hope this makes sense
Ed

Many thanks for the quick responses. I tried the turning the gaitor inside out method as the diameter increases and it only took five mins to get on with a bit of massaging. Roll on the other side now.
Thanks again and Happy New Year.