Hood seals

[Dave_B]

Hi All
I need a new hood. I contacted a well known supplier today for a quote. They aren’t doing M100 Elan hoods currently because they always replace the seals and can’t get them. They did say that they are expecting to resume fitting hoods later this year as one of the suppliers they deal with is getting new seal kits developed/manufactured. Does anyone know about this? I suspect, to do the job correctly, then I need to replace the seals - I have the tears in the hood where the frame rubs against it and do have some leaks from the hood. It’s stopping me from using the car as much as I might otherwise. Any insight on the subject would be useful. Thanks.

[Simon_P]

Any insight on the subject would be useful.

Only drive on dry days!

The seals have always leaked so the first advice is to carry a towel to put on your leg.

Then it is a question of identifying the particular leak reading up on the solutions and making some adjustments to improve the situation. Where is it leaking?

The holes are solved by patches on the inside.

[Dave_B]

Thanks Simon. I was rather hoping someone would know about the proposed manufacture of seals. I’ve had the car since 1992. I’m not a dry weather only user - that’s not possible in the North West and North Wales where the car has lived for the last 29 years! My hood started leaking as the seals degraded and I did try to understand what Jamie had used as that may be an option. I understand the limitations of the original foam seals so am wondering if these new seals will be like for like replacements or rubber alternatives. I do want to change the hood to eliminate the rear tears and take the opportunity to refurbish the frame and the elastic. My car is in fine fettle otherwise. Completely original apart from Lotus wheel centre badges replacing the original silver ones. It’s never been on the road between September and March in my ownership and so has been spared any salt spray too. If anyone does know about the remanufacture of seals it would be good to know. That way any of us looking at hood refurbishments can plan accordingly.

[TrevorB]

I suspect that there would be plenty of owners interested in who is manufacturing hood seals. Have you asked the hood supplier who the seal manufacturer is?
We might be able to arrange a group buy with them.

[Fredjohn]

The original seals will never be remade as the manufacturing process is environmentally toxic and now illegal. Originally made in Canada and all moulds were scrapped years ago.
The only current options are Jamie's made from rubber door seals from a scrap car(Honda? FTO?) or old stock popping up on ebay.

There is plenty of history on here about attempts to get them remade. A quick search using the search facility will reveal the massive expense required to fund any redesign and remake. And insufficient volume to recoup these costs at an acceptable price.

Modern technology could of course overcome these issues, but don't hold your breath.

[GreasyJoe]

Was wondering has anyone tried using silicon mould kits to reproduce them?
There seems to be all sorts of available materials that might do the trick.
I’ve got sealed OEM seals though don’t think all. Need to check as only had the car and the parts it came with for a month but crossed my mind to look at taking moulds prior to getting them fitted in the bear future.

I contacted Dave The Trimmer at cranfield recently to see if they did hood replacements for m100.
Said they did at £1200 plus vat and if any additional seals required they would be additional cost. Didn’t say if he could get the seals though but they deal with every make and age of car so you never know.