Lotus Elan Central

Well we share the same windscreen and if it's good enough for one of the greatest Supercars ever, then surely it good enough for the Elan? , I'm certain some of you will totally disagree (some may even be horrified and call for immediate execution ) , however, this modification is so simple to reverse and put back to normal that making a slice of toast would almost take more effort . It is still using the exact same wiper mechanism, but I have fabricated an additional part which now makes it wipe the complete screen with a single wiper arm, so basically its a Single Wiper Conversion.

I like it for a couple of reasons, it makes that area between the windscreen and bonnet look a lot cleaner and neater, I never liked the shape of the left side wiper with the angled part, you can also add a wiper arm from another vehicle which lets you raise it for cleaning the glass, it always annoyed me not being able to raise the Elan ones, And its a feature of my all time favourite and the most beautiful car ever built, the F1, but most importantly I can now save money on wiper blades as I only need one .

Here is a little video I made to show you, its only a few seconds as there is only so long you can watch a window wiper going back and forward!.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... l=84503534

The first car I bought with my own money when I started working after university was a Subaru XT Coupe. It too had a single wiper arm but it also had a cool gear system in it that moved the arm over to the right or left as it worked to increase the travel and get better clearing on the windshield. This video shows it but you have to watch very carefully at the base of the arm to see the gear system work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5spzqiLkrUI

I'll et you could find one of these around and make the wiper work even better.

Looks like an interesting Mod, what's involved and how effective is the single wiper in heavy rain conditions. Really like to see a bit more info on this as it could be a great Mod, I hate the fact my current drivers side wiper travels off the screen in even light rain conditions

Someone just added MORE lightness to their Elan! Nice

Jamie does it again

Hey Jamie that's a great mod to windscreen wiper.

I'm also in total admiration of your guitar playing ,you are brilliant. I've been a fan of the Quo since the erly 70's , you just nailed every song on those clips on youtube .

mike.

Its not a difficult mod to make, in fact it is actually really easy to do, once you have the parts anyway, the hardest part was working out how it could be achieved and then working out how to fit the fabricated part so that it would sweep the full screen equidistant both sides and park exactly where I wanted it.

As for its effectiveness, it cleared the screen perfectly and fully with a watering can pouring onto it, and the difference in speed from the time it would take in comparison to both wipers I estimate at less than half a second with the stalk set at the first speed, virtually unnoticeable.

Combine that with a modern wiper arm with a stronger spring, slightly longer reach, and a hi-tec wiper blade I cant foresee any issues even in heavy rain.

The hardest part of doing it is drilling one 5mm hole, the rest of the fitting can be performed by anyone who can loosen and tighten a bolt! , and the only thing that needs removed from the car is the two wiper arms , that's it.

If anyone wants to do it I can supply the kit, which includes the fabricated part, a modern straight wiper arm and blade, with the same diameter splined fitting as the Elan, and with stronger spring (which exerts a bit more pressure on the wiper blade) , and the all important instructions on how to fit it. I am not looking to make any money from it, only cover the cost of the parts and the time spent fabricating, and postage and im happy with that, 25 quid and a fiver postage. Remember as well, this mod changes nothing on the car, it can be reversed in a couple of minutes with no effect to anything.

Peter Stevens thought it was good enough for this....

Next mod on the list... A relocated steering and gear change setup with 1 seat in the middle.

Mike_H wrote:Hey Jamie that's a great mod to windscreen wiper.

I'm also in total admiration of your guitar playing ,you are brilliant. I've been a fan of the Quo since the early 70's , you just nailed every song on those clips on youtube .

mike.

Cheers Mike!, Do like a bit of guitar playing right enough, I built both of those Parfitt / Rossi replica Telecaster in my big shed . Cant beat the Frantic Four eh, a lot more going on in their tracks than they are given credit for, 3 chords my rear end! .

Very nice, you have a pm

I Love it Jamie!

Perhaps the deflector needs replacement as well! Now it pushes the blade on for the swipe on the drivers side, but for the rest of the movement i is the wong way around

Hi Henk-Jan!, I Cant see the deflector being much of an issue, the F1 has a similar set-up with the deflector, combined with a newer arm with a stronger spring as well it would have to travelling hellish fast in the rain for it to lift I reckon. It would be easy enough to put a deflector on both sides though.

I have actually used a wiper arm without the deflector now as it looks neater. ( I doubt my car will be out in many rainstorms anyway ).

The best way to improve the look is to simply remove the wiper arms completely. There was an Elan running around San Diego in exactly that shape. Tells you how much rain we get...

nice! but... not realy an option for the Netherlands then

No wipers and Rain-X treatment always worked the treat for me!

Agreed - I can't recomment Rain-X highly enough. I used it on all my cars but it works especially well on the Elan's steeply raked windscreen, it just streams up and off.
The only slight issue is that as it wears out, you need a bit more draught to achieve the same effect, so you can be encouraged to drive a bit faster.
"Sorry I was speeding ociffer, but I was just blowing the rain off my windscreen as my Rain-X is running out (bet you haven't heard that one before)!"

Great job - looks interesting to me.
is it really that easy?
PM me if you are in a position to supply
Thks

peterthelotus wrote:Great job - looks interesting to me.
is it really that easy?
PM me if you are in a position to supply
Thks

Absolutely, so easy to fit you wont believe, The Elan is back on the road and I have been out in all weathers this week and it performs great, no issues at all, it sweeps well at both speeds in fairly constant rain and vision no less impaired, doesn't reach quite as far up in the very right hand top corner obviously but you are only seeing the sky at that part, if you are an avid birdwatcher or plane spotter its not for you , I was a bit dubious about it as well to begin with but I really like it, I put a dead straight wiper on it and its pretty neat, don't think I will be changing back to the originals, great that you can lift the wiper right up to clean the screen or change the blade as well.

Rain X works a treat but back back on topic, when Jamie does a central seat conversion 3 seater, then i'll buy another Elan, get too it Mr !

I'm really surprised that not many people have jumped on this very easy to do (and cheap) modification

Jamie did mine last night at his house and it works a treat. Showed it to the boys at Bo'Ness and they were well impressed.

I'll post up some pics soon. Thanks Jamie

No problem Mark, was good to have a wee blether! . Still have a couple of these left if anyone wants one, so simple to fit you wont believe, and can be returned to standard even easier in less than 2 minutes .