Lotus Letters

[Everett Stephens <ever]

OK, I will claim the honor of asking the first REAL question.. (heh
heh)

I have new L O T U S letters for my trunk. Bean sent me little
plastic 'mouse condoms' that he says fits into the drilled trunk hole,
and the letter pegs fit into these and hold securely.

Well, the pegs do not fit. the drilled holes are roughly 3/16", and
the pegs are maybe 1/8+ in. also, the pegs have a lip of about 1/16"
to keep it from going too far... which will hold the letters up off
the boot even if I could fit them in the existing holes.

PO had siliconed letters to boot, so don't know how they were
attatched previously... not to mention how to get to the backsides to
put any type of clip on them...

Suggestions?

["seiichi-horie"]

Bon soire. My name is seiichi-horie from Japan.

Did you open too much a hole greatly?

I think first, fit letters.
and follow pate from the inside.
In the last,to attached 'mouse condoms'

[Citromike]

Everett,

You can goop a little silicone sealant on the back and stick the letters back
on the trunk.

I tried the factory approach and it works if all the holes are exactly the
right diameter (freshly drilled), or if you fill the holes with touch-up
paint you may be able to get them to stick.

But why take a chance. I say just glue them on.


Mike Roeder

[sprinterdave]

The plastic "condoms" should fit tightly when the letters are pushed

into them. I had no problems with mine. The letters are only just off the
boot lid, hardly noticeable.
Dave

--
David Shiers

[jimfixit]

had the same problem
I ended up using the "condoms" in about half the holes and the other stayed
in without a problem. Guess the holes were not drilled to perfection
jimbo

[rodbean]

Everett,

Yes, this is a good question. The answer is that you don't need the
plastic things and, unless you really want to drill out the holes to 1/8,
you can use them for something around the house (or maybe for Elan door
upholstery screws).

But you do need the little lip on each peg. You push the letter in to
engage the lip(s) and make a nice tight fit (it says here).... provided you
haven't drilled the holes out.

Rod

[Everett Stephens <ever]

You're my hero! As soon as I find a garage big enough for my 70 Elan
and my 91 Elan, I hope to add a later-model Caterham! Did you build
it or have it built/buy used?

how do you like it? Does it compare anyhow to the old Elan? I know
it really won't compare to the 91 Elan.

I most likely will do the silicone thing. I am a bit paranoid about
driling bodywork.

Cheers.

[types26/36]

The problem here is that the original tiny steel clips that slipped over
the studs on the back of the letters & emblems are no longer available.
These tensioned the studs in the holes and fit flush so there was no gap
between the letters and bodywork. The parts you were sold are in my opinion
an unsatisfactory substitue.

The back side of the boot lid outer skin is pretty well inacessible on the
Elan S3-S4, but you might be able to dab a bit of silicone onto the studs
with drops on a screwdriver offered through the access holes on the inside.
A less satisfactory option would be to obtain double-sided emblem affixing
tape from an autobody supply shop and stick the letters down directly to
the paint.

Randall
Seattle