Make your bootlid stay up

[BarryDalHerbert]

My 1995 S2 bootlid just about stayed up if the car was on flat ground, but as soon as the car was slightly nose up, the bootlid was down.

If increasing the tension of the bootlid torsion bars has already been covered on LEC I couldn’t find it, and it is not in the LECwiki, so here is my solution.

BdH
Tuross Head NSW Oz
14-Jun-21 14:08
[attachment=0]210614-IncreaseBootlidTorsion(40).png[/attachment]

[Saltire]

Thanks

[Fredjohn]

I added a couple of small gas struts to mine. Works a treat.

I initially tried viagra on the hinge, but it wasn't strong enough.

[dapinky]

Mine used to do the same (and as my drive was on a slope it was really inconvenient), so I took out the bottom bolt on each hinge and added a couple of spacer washers between the hinge plate and the bulkhead. Same principle as your method, just to add a bit of extra 'twist' to the torsion bar.

Then I went down the route of the 2 small gas struts (kitchen cabinet things from ebay).

[BarryDalHerbert]

My solution is more of a bodge really, but it is hiding so I am not too fussed.

I did investigate installing struts, but I could not visualise something that could be installed with mounting points that would look elegant, so I’d be interested to see pictures of what you did Mr Dapinky.

While I like the Lotus philosophy of making one component perform more than one job, they really took it one step too far when the bootlid and the soft top cover can’t both be open together.

And while I am in that area, it is downright nuts that the soft top cover can not hold itself open. Fighting with the soft top while holding the lid open with your shoulder. Really? What were they thinking?

Has anybody put struts on the soft top cover? I found that to be even harder to visualise than the bootlid.

BdH
Tuross Head NSW Oz
14-Jun-21 20:58

[dapinky]

Barry,

I'll take a couple of pictures later today (when I get downstairs!). I like it because with a remote release wired through the alarm, I can just press the button on the fob as I approach the car and the boot lid opens for me to put anything in.

As for the soft top getting in the way, I fully agree that it isn't the best of designs. I carry a piece of 2"x1" wood to prop between the lower edge of the hood and the top inner edge of the cover..... I used to just use the battery cover (as many people seem to do), but it has become too flexible over it's age and has dropped down at the wrong time (usually when I'm head first into the battery compartment!). I did look at struts, but there didn't seem to be a simple way to mount them without making up some brackets (and I didn't have the time when I was looking at the job) without fowling the folding hood mechanism/material.....

.... maybe another job for the "too do" list.

[BarryDalHerbert]

I am always looking for something to improve my Elan, and gas struts on the bootlid and especially on the soft top/battery cover would be good next projects for me. Maybe even the bonnet too.

I'd like to see pictures of how you mounted your bootlid gas struts Dapinky and Fredjohn. Please?

BdH
Tuross Head NSW
18-Jul-21 23:17

[Tuga2112]

Barry,

I'll take a couple of pictures later today (when I get downstairs!). I like it because with a remote release wired through the alarm, I can just press the button on the fob as I approach the car and the boot lid opens for me to put anything in.

As for the soft top getting in the way, I fully agree that it isn't the best of designs. I carry a piece of 2"x1" wood to prop between the lower edge of the hood and the top inner edge of the cover..... I used to just use the battery cover (as many people seem to do), but it has become too flexible over it's age and has dropped down at the wrong time (usually when I'm head first into the battery compartment!). I did look at struts, but there didn't seem to be a simple way to mount them without making up some brackets (and I didn't have the time when I was looking at the job) without fowling the folding hood mechanism/material.....

.... maybe another job for the "too do" list.

looking forward to see those pictures Dave, so i get a close up view of how your setup works, because mine holds up the lid but it doenst haave enough leverage to "automagically" spring it up when the boot release opens up the lock.

[Rambo]

I am always looking for something to improve my Elan, and gas struts on the bootlid and especially on the soft top/battery cover would be good next projects for me. Maybe even the bonnet too.

I'd like to see pictures of how you mounted your bootlid gas struts Dapinky and Fredjohn. Please

Elanlover in Canada started a group buy on this about 10 years ago Barry. Photos in post 1, more photos and instructions on page 2 etc...

Lotus Elan Central • View topic - Gas Struts/Springs For Hood/Bonnet
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=18896

PS assume when you say "especially on the soft top/battery cover" you mean the rear deck cover rather than the actual black plastic battery cover. That would be the height of both luxury and laziness

[BarryDalHerbert]

I have only just seen your response RAMBO.

Yes, rear deck cover = soft top/battery cover. Maybe I should have said soft top & battery cover?

The group buy that you referenced was for the bonnet/hood, not the boot/trunk and rear deck cover/soft top & battery cover, so not the picture solutions that I was hoping to see.

I am going to be speaking English from here on. The USAers are going to have to translate for themselves.

I didn’t know about those gas struts for the bonnet before I had stumbled across and bought a set from AliExpress about 18 months ago. I suspect that they are a ripoff of the Canadian jobbies (really, the Chinese stealing designs?). The “instructions” that came with the kit were woeful. The pictures looked like photocopies of photocopies and I am sure that the items will never fit using those pictures. The supporting metal parts need to have the L shape for their whole length because they bend slightly when being used. And they had only been installed for about two months when I had to take them off to remove the surface rust that had formed, and then paint them again.

They are still for sale, and below is the link to the AliExpress seller if anybody is still interested after my critique! Having said all of that, they did work, but paint them and then be prepared for a good deal of head scratching before installation.

Damper for Kia Elan Lotus Elan M100 1989-1999 Front Bonnet Hood Modify Gas Struts Lift Support Shock Accessories Absorber: https://tinyurl.com/4cn6cbhz

I reduced the URL from their 586 characters (!) to the above, so don’t be frightened that it is a bit suspicious-looking.

BdH
Tuross Head, NSW Australia
Tue 11-Oct-22 17:31