Headlight pods

[Enright]

Well my Elan looks a mess at the moment - both headlamp pods are off and in the kitchen!

I decided that it would be best to remove the complete assemblies, and it would also be much warmer to work on them indoors!

The mounting brackets were very flaky so I've got some smooth black Hammerite and will be restoring those too.

It was a nasty surprise to find how stiff all the little control rods linking the pods to the motors were.
And the hinges too.
This stiffness must be putting a huge amount of strain on the motors.
So these are all coming off too.
Every one is being freed-off and lubricated with copper grease.
As are all the screw threads.

Oddly this means that the original job of changing a few screws hasn't even started yet!

I'll post pics later.

[Enright]

That took ages!

It's not that it's a difficult job, it's just that there were loads of little fiddly bits to do.
I suppose I should also question how worthwhile it was cosmetically: the screw heads will only be visible when the lights are up (meaning it needs to be dark enough to require them in the first place), and the bracketry is all hidden by the bonnet!

Ah well, I feel a lot better for doing it as I'm now much more familiar with the mechanism, and know that should never seize up or put undue strain on the motors.

Dave's comment that the 20mm are too long is spot on.
I found that M4 x 12mm is absolutely fine all round.
I haven't bothered with washers, but may change my mind as it would now be very easy to do.

Here are a few before and after pics for entertainment...

[Enright]

One thing I'm concerned about is the amount of corrosion on the main beam reflectors, particularly the LH one.
I couldn't do anything about this.
While scraping the rust off the back of the worst one, my screwdriver went straight through it!
Does anyone know if these are a standard unit used on any other vehicles, or if you can get the reflectors replaced anywhere?

Anyway here are a few more pics...

[Enright]

Last couple showing the completed job mounted back on the car...

[Monty]

Well done neil,

Have u got any play (up & down movement) in the pods when there rised? mine shake whilst driving, so when i come to strip the head lights i`m ging to see how to solve this as i`m sure i`m blinding other motorist at night i no there are adjustment that can be made according to the manual, just wondering if u`ve got any input on this?

[Enright]

When you consider that the pods are mounted on two fairly weedy hinges and a complex pushrod mechanism, it's no surprise that they bounce around.
Especially when you then realise that each lens is mounted to the pod by 3 x 2" long screws and springs!
So there's no play as such, but you'd be surprised at the weight of the units (probably 5kg each), so their mass can't help but overcome the flex within the mounting system.

[Monty]

There should be no play in the pods, if i rise mine i can lift the pod another at a guess 10-20mm. Think it`s more to do with the adjustment actuator arms and not locking out so it`s more stable. I`ll have another read of the manual when i come to strip the headlights.

[Enright]

Well I'm glad you asked, because I just went outside to check, and was was rather embarrassed to find that after I took that last photo, I'd forgotten to switch the lights off again.
So I had to bump start it!

Oh well, an excuse for a run round the block I suppose!!!

Anyway in answer to your question, no there's definitely no play, but the mechanism does flex.

I would advise visiting the SW Lotus stand at Donington - they sell loads of those ball joints and actuator rods cheap.

It could be that Lotus always expected them to fail at some point.

[RobsLotus]

Mines an early car ,with cast alloy lamp housings.Plenty of ss packing washers required.As i only use the car May to Oct , took black paint off and polished.The cars silver so looks cool with this finish.Cars prior to VIN6300 had folding type,alot changed to single pivot later type,by lotus.but in 4 years ive had no problems with them.