"B" Post Caps - ROUND 2

[L8apex]

Thanks, I'll have to put the B caps on my "spare parts to obtain" list. Cash is short right now, I have to replace my brand new Toyo T1S tires right away.
What a horrible tire they are for an Elan. The worst tire buy of my life. Great sticky rubber with horribly soft sidewalls. I've tried many different tire pressure setting and they have not been much help.

[Tyger]

Well, like they said, Lotus used whatever parts they had available to get the cars built, including swapping parts from one car to another to get one finished and on the dealer's showroom floor.

OK, I could sort of see that during the "transition" period, but once you've made the decision to go to a new version, and you've got a batch and started to install them, it seems to me unlikely you'll be going back to the old-style, unless you have some very serious inventory issues, and it's not as if it's a very complex or expensive part.
I would be curious to hear from those who actually have the old-style caps on their Fed Elans. I'm guessing there are very few.
Anyway, thanks for making such a nice replacement version, in BOTH styles!

[Brit-Car-Nut]

A good percentage of the 89 - 91 UK / Europe cars have the early design caps, so we have sold about an equal quantity of each design.

The "B" post covers are different for each design, so people with the early design would have to replace a lot of other pieces to swap up to the later design. That is why we had molds for both designs made.

During the transition at Lotus, They might have run out of the Trim panels and reverted to the old ones that required the early caps. Lotus put VIN numbers on a lot of the parts as they were assembled and my car has multiple "different" numbers on things like the r/s headlamp pod, front bumper and the fuel door - those I remember because I asked them why. The answer was "we were out of fuel doors and needed to fill a US shipment, so we borrowed the door from another build. They didn't have any idea why the headlamp pod and bumper were switched.

The person to really thank is Wayne. He funded both the escutcheon and post caps projects, I just helped with coordination, supplying the original samples to be copied and the suggestion to change the attachment for the later ones. He is working on a few other parts, but the manufacturer is giving him a rough time and not sticking to their quotations.

[Tyger]

The person to really thank is Wayne. He funded both the escutcheon and post caps projects, I just helped with coordination, supplying the original samples to be copied and the suggestion to change the attachment for the later ones. He is working on a few other parts, but the manufacturer is giving him a rough time and not sticking to their quotations.

What other parts is he working on?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Replacement tail light outer covers, some of the door window weatherstrips, seat protectors in Carbon Fiber, door sill plates, air vents and digital clocks for the Turbo model. He also offers headlamp motor pellets but they are available from a lot of places in the US including myself and Fiero/Firebird specialists around the US. For UK buyers, his price is very competitive.

[wayne]

Thank you for everyone that has supported this project. All parts have now been sold.

[Tyger]

So these and the B-post caps both sold out at the exact same moment? Hmm.