New Door Handle Escutcheons: Everywhere but North America

[nyssa7]

Much as I hate the "I concur/me too/etc" posts, mine arrived today and look great. Big thanks to everyone who made this happen

[daveA]

Hi

Mine arrived today my thanks to all involved in this group buy

daveA

[wayne]

I'm pleased that after all of my delays the parts are finally arriving. Also good to know upto now people are happy with the parts

I would be interested to see how they look fitted and if you have had any problems fitting them
They took a but of tweaking to install but nothing when compared to the Kia part....

I know my set looks a whole lot better than the cracked, puke coloured ones that I used to have.

Oops. I tried to attach a before and after pic but seemed to have posted too many pics recently?

Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.

Anyway. would still love to know if there are any problems / comments with fitting, colour match, etc

Many thanks

Wayne

[Denny]

Received mine yesterday and very pleased with them. Good quality and match. Many thanks for arranging this.

[JohnB]

Received mine and George Guthrie's today. Very pleased with them. Many thanks to all involved in arranging this group buy. Excellent.
John.

[smudge]

Cheers,
mine arrived yesterday, brilliant service from conception to delivery.
Many thanks all,

Smudge

[Brit-Car-Nut]

I've only just spotted this group buy - are there any sets still available for the UK?

Mark: You have a PM!

[tte200]

Received mine today. Very happy with them a big thanks to Wayne and all others involved in arranging this
Excellent job.

[alan e]

picked mine up from the post office today and fitted them with no problem at all they also look great thanks to all for the hard work put in to this group buy.

[John_W]

Wayne, BritCarNut, dapinky,
Thank you. My package arrived today (including headlight fixings, so thanks to Geoff and Caryn also). I have not fitted them yet, but I am mightily imparessed by the quality and finish of the escutcheons. Very well done.

A LEC group buy classic without a doubt. Those who did not put their names down will weep and there will be gnashing of teeth (from those members who still have their own teeth).

Thanks,
John

[Brit-Car-Nut]

This Group Buy is winding down and there are a few members that haven't responded or paid.

If you are on this list, PM me and let me know if you want out or when you will pay and what your real name and address is.

Any that say " Address received" don't need to send their address again.

If you have recently paid, THANK YOU, but still send me your name and shipping details plus an indication of how you paid and when (we want to find the payment receipt).


Dave Eds
DavidW
Erod
ex-exige
ex-exige
Gazza
Hatters - Address received
Jeemy - Sorted
jeffm - Sorted
Karl Martin - Address received
markv - Address received
pjw12
Woody - Address received

Thank you to everyone for making this possible.

Wayne will appreciate getting back the full payment he advanced to make this happen.

[racerstev]

Has anyone fitted these yet? Mine are giving me a hard time.

Steve

[Ladythorpe2]

Recieved mine this week, a big thanks to all involved with this group buy.
GW

[ashm]

Received mine this morning - fantastic work guys, brilliant. Thanks!
Adam

[wayne]

Has anyone fitted these yet? Mine are giving me a hard time.

Steve

Hi Steve.

I think alan has fitted his ok

I fitted mine with a bit of tweaking. Probably no more than the Lotus origionals that I removed.
Certinly alot easier than fitting the Kia one. I chickened out trying to prise them in into position on more than 1 occasion.

Have a look at brit car nuts picture of the rear side of the door card. it will show you were the lugs are trying to fit. here

I think I opened the handle fully and kinda pushed the rear edge downwards whilst wiggling the handle...... Or something like that.

They did take a bit of force to get them in there. They should be alot more flexible than the old ones.

Maybe putting a radius or chamfer on the end of the foot would help them over the step?

What problems are you having? I would be interested to know if anyone else has had any problems fitting them? (or if any one else has fitted them)?

[JohnB]

Has anyone fitted these yet? Mine are giving me a hard time.

Steve

Fitted the N/S one today and had it done in about 2 minutes, no problems at all. Better colour match too I think.
Very pleased.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Has anyone fitted these yet? Mine are giving me a hard time.

Steve

Steve: Sorry if this is excessive detail, but I thought it might be helpful in fitting the escutcheons.

History

The original "Lotus brand" escutcheons had to be modified to fit any door. The tang or lug upright was flush with the edge of the escutcheon. That upright had to be notched to allow the escutcheon to fit in the opening.

I realized this after I had collected around 6 sets of used escutcheons and none was the same around the hooked foot (tang or lug). When I got a BRAND NEW one from DBE (still in the sealed Lotus package), I was amazed to find that the upright was NOT NOTCHED at all.
http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/es ... tcheon.jpg

There are several other pictures of the notching process here:
http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/ex ... ooks-1.JPG
http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/es ... ooks-2.JPG
http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/es ... ooks-3.JPG

When I got the NEW KIA escutcheons, they were completely different in that area.
http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/es ... eon-rb.jpg
See the longer "foot" on the KIA escutcheon?

http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/es ... s2-lug.jpg
Here is the escutcheon I got from ratman's S2. Still hand notched, but now more circular.

http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/es ... 20back.jpg
This is the KIA escutcheon installed. They lengthened the foot to reach the metal reinforcement and curved it to make it easier to fit (Wayne didn't find that to be useful)/

We tried to re-design the replacement more like the Lotus original system but with the upright notched as closely to the average notches on my collection, Waynes originals and the new KIA part.

Another point to make is that the escutcheon needs to be shimmed away from the door at the screw area. Since the door cards are not exactly the same width, Lotus added a few washers to the screw boss to keep everyone from overtightening the screw and breaking the outer lip off or pulling the screw hole area thru the escutcheon (Amazingly, the parts guide doesn't list the washers, but my 20,000 mile Elan has them and so did the S2).

I have samples of these mistakes if anyone wants the pictures..

http://www.lotuselanm100usa.info/lec/s2-spacer.jpg
There are TWO washers, glued together and glued to the screw boss. Together they measure 0.120 inches or around 3mm.

To figure out exactly what you need, you should get a few thick washers 0.5 inch OD, #10 ID and 0.06 inch thick and slide them on the screw before assembly. Use more than two so the escutcheon sits away from the door card. Measure the gap and remove enough washers to have the escutcheon at the right depth and the screw holding the escutcheon (and washers) tight to the door. This will remove the stress that has broken them over time.



The fit:

I have FOUR door cards from two cars. One is a set with the same date and info on the backside (same run). The other two came from Steve M.'s car and are not from the same run. They have different dates and codes.

When I tested the first pair of escutcheons that I received, the matched pair of the door cards had no problems with the replacement escutcheons. One side of the second set fit fine and the other wanted to rock and not sit flush. I looked carefully and decided the upright had to be fettled as did the lip of the door card. On that one, the "foot" of the tang or lug didn't want to go up on the metal reinforcement and that held the escutcheon toward the front of the car.

You need to look at your old escutcheon and see if you can determine what was done to make it fit. Maybe that will give you a hint as to what you need to modify. I hope it is just the upright tjhat needs to be narrowed.

You said your's was not flat. Since they were both made from the same 3D drawing, check both to see if they are not a true set. It is always possible that the one you are fighting was warped when it was removed from the mold. Let me know your findings. I have a few spare escutcheons if you think your escutcheon is the problem.

Good luck!

[alan e]

Yes i fitted both escutcheons with no tweaking req and no problems as johnb said 2 minutes a side you do have to pull the handle open wide and then slide the new escutcheon over it is tight but just like the old type are.

[racerstev]

What I saw on mine was a curve on the bottom (lower or longer) side that didn't match the door panel or the old
escutcheon. It would not lay flat. This could be due to what seems to be a problem with my car, seems it has either
been in extreme heat from the sun or in the curing oven after a respray. All my heater vents are deformed as a result
this could have warped my escutcheons as well. I'll give the other side a try tomorrow hopefully with better results.

Steve

[wayne]

Steve.

I compared the reproduction to a spare that I have here (I never got my origionals back).
The radius is definatly different on the rear part of the reproductions.

I had a closer look at mine this evening. The back edge does seem to stick out slightly. but on mine it's more on the top edge. lower edge seems good.

Check your emails I have sent you a few pics of mine fitted and the different radius.

Which side was causing the problem? How did the fit on the other side look?

I believe tha parts were made by scanning only 1 side (r/h) and making a mirror immage for the L/H part.

Anyone else having alignment / fit problems?