Closing panel door access

[johnj]

I took the door card off today and found I am missing the closing panel door access rubber pieces. I assume Lotus thought they were important. Do I need to buy the proper Lotus part or will some rubber do. If a piece of rubber will do how thick should it be?

[Tuga2112]

your confusing me

rubber grommets are in place to cover access locations, for instance the window stop bobin, or some other nuts and bolts.

the access panels in the door. are made of plastic. (or possibly fibreglass.)

structurally speaking both are irrelevant.
they may add a little level of protection from dust... which IMO is irrelevant considering the doorcards are enclosed anyways... not to mention the weatherseal at the top ends up in bits and letting all water in unless you replace it.

they 'may' have some effect as far as sound insulation. and for that purpose you may want to put something (anything) to cover those holes... however if your conserned about noise insulation there is a hell of a lot more to do to the car. starting with good seals all around the door and hood, and ideally changing the stuff under the carpets. (search for 'outriggers' in the forum and you may find more details and possibly learn about something that you may want address)

[chrism]

Yep I'm a bit confused too...Are any of these those your closing door access rubber pieces?



If it's the bleuy-grey 'end-cappy' thing in the middle of the pic they're available on eBay (for mega£ imo...)

ps I found that you only notice it's missing when you put the door card back on...

[Giniw]

Hi, I don't have these?!
Is it an S2?

[johnj]

Sorry to confuse. I went to the parts book Table 10-15a door shell / beam assembly and hinges parts 30 and 31 and copied the description of the part. The rubber covers for the big holes in the door.

[Fredjohn]

Try googling the part number, or putting it in the sjsportscars.co.uk website and see what results you get.

[johnj]

Sj sportscars only has one of the parts. I have never seen the covers but hoped they were just a piece of rubber matting and I,could buy the right thickness ,whatever that is, and shape it to fit.

[chrism]

Mine's a '90 SE and they're just bits of thin black plastic held in place with Sikaflex and self-tappers:-



After removing the self-tappers they're easily removed with some plastic 'prise' tools - and the black Sikaflex resticks itself back on to provide a water-tight fit on reassembly.

[dapinky]

Ah, we're talking about those parts!

Now I know what you mean, I can tell you that they are unimportant for the function and structure of the car - but they doo keep water out a bit, and noise etc.

In the past I have made them out of fibreglass with good results, and I have used plastic sheeting (thick polythene) as a temporary fix with gaffer tape to hold it in place.

The 'proper' things are held with a thin bead of butyl rubber strip so they can be removed and replaced, but silicone sealant would do the job - and a few self-tapping screws to hold it all still. They don't get seen, so don't need to look perfect - just enough to do the job.

[johnj]

Thanks all. I had hoped it would be something like a piece of plastic that I could shape as it would not be seen.

Chrism on your picture to the left of big rubber part is a grommet that looks like it had a raised area in the middle. Is it a push in piece? I have a grommet there but there is no center. I assume I need to fill that in. I would not have known without picture. Thanks

[chrism]

Yeah, I've got a similar grommet a bit further to the left out of the original pic between the speaker and smaller square that has a pushed in centre like you mention:-



As dapinky says, it's not hugely important as long as water isn't coming in. I presume there's some sort of screw behind it? A small strip of insulating tape could cover it if you're worried...

[johnj]

I'll try the tape over the grommet