Light Bar

[ColinBruce]

Today I have fitted a Light Bar to the front of my Elan which will be a benefit for evening winter rallies. I have screwed it in place with home made brackets but as yet it is not wired up.
I admit the brackets are not the prettiest but it is difficult to make them look good whilst still making sure the fixing holes will not be seen when the light is removed. The brackets are screwed to the car inside the bonnet opening and behind the number plate. If you haven't seen a light bar before you can check them out on youtube. This one is about 12 times brighter than a main beam headlight.
This winter my navigator and I hope to take part in the 2019 Col de Ruisg and the 2019 Monte Carlo Heritage Run from Clydebank to Dumfries events. Both of these are in January and we are planning to avoid getting stuck in the snow like we did in last year's Col de Ruisg. This time we'll have full snow tires. I managed to find a set of 5-spoke alloys and had them refurbished and painted white for the job. This means I can keep the original Lotus wheels good for the summer.

[basher]

A mate of mine used a light bar like yours on his 924 for racing at night and he found it to be pretty effective, so I think it will easily do the job that you are looking for. In fact most of the competitors in the race for remembrance at Anglesey were using LED lighting in a bar or other format to get them round in the dark hours rather than bolting on some old school Halfords 'spots' or something similar with a conventional bulb system.

My only thought is that it's no gift to the eye and I personally would have gone with a rally-type light pod with maybe 4 lights set in it and stuck that to the bonnet with some industrial double sided tape. Having said that, your light bar will be a lot easier to set to the correct height level in the first instance.

Sounds fun though and great to see an Elan competing. Make sure you post loads of photos and a report I'd be really interested to hear how you get on.

[ColinBruce]

Today I've had another go at fitting the light bar to the front of my Elan. My first attempt with 2 brackets screwed to the bumper looked a bit chunky for my liking. This time I have used sucker cups onto the bonnet.
I have still to work out how to get the cable into the engine bay without drilling holes or damaging the bodywork. All polite comments welcome!

7 Front - Lights Up.jpg

8 3-Quarter View.jpg

9 Side View.jpg

[Rambo]

I would suggest running the cable down the inside of the light pod module at the nearest point and into the engine bay from there. Or up the bonnet to the windscreen and in that way (clumsy) Or perhaps even under the front Lotus nose badge ?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

I would consider disconnecting the headlamp motor wires and cranking the headlamps up by hand. Then, you could sneak the light bar wires across the bar, down the outermost sucker, around the elevated headlamp pod and into the engine bay through the linkage opening.

You could even do one wire to each of the headlamp pods to keep the girth down - earth from one side and power from the other side.

I would black silicone the wires to the sucker(s) to keep them stable during the rally and away from the body so no chance of chafing.

[ColinBruce]

Hi Brit-Car-Nut. I would never have thought of splitting the cable so both wires were routed separately. This would make routing so much easier.
This afternoon I still wasn't happy about how the lights looked so I had another go...

10 Final Front.JPG

11 Final Top.JPG

I moved the light as far forward on the bonnet as possible and removed the middle suction cup to avoid a clash with the bonnet badge. I also trimmed the ends of the brackets as much as possible to avoid the headlights - there is only a couple of millimetres clearance at both ends. The revised position also means I could run the cable into the biggest shutline which is where the front edges of the bonnet and headlight meet the bumper. I'm much happier with how it looks now.

[ColinBruce]

Hi Rambo, I just noticed your post - sorry I missed it. I like your suggestion of running the cable under the Lotus badge.

[Rambo]

It looks better farther forward as you have now. And would be easier to drop the wire through the Lotus badge location, even if you have to drill another hole where the badge sits

Fully reversible too. Remove lights and replace the nose badge and no one will ever know

[Saltire]

I’m with John: fix the headlamps in the up position and go in through the pod gaps. Might affect fuel economy and noise a bit, but who cares when you’re engaging in motorsport?

Rambo’s idea’s a good one too, though.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

I was assuming the light bar would only be in place when participating in the motor sport event and you would be using ALL of the lights - the pods and the bar..

I don't know how much power they draw, but you have the headlight wires at the pods that could always be used to "trigger" a solenoid/relay that could provide a higher current to the bar when you turn in the headlights.

There are decent high current connectors out there to make it easily removable and you could re-connect the headlamp motors and stow the "bar" feeder(s) behind the pods when the bar isn't needed so the headlamps work as normal.

If it was going to be a long term project, I would put a switch in the engine bay that connects or disconnects the headlamp motors so you don't have to reach in and plug/unplug all the time.

You could get quite sophisticated if you want to be.

[Saltire]

1742929F-5FE7-4911-B665-8CF1E9F0DC19.jpeg

Good idea about the changeover switch, but why not put it in the cockpit, rather than having to scrabble around under the bonnet? Like this.

I’ll get my coat . . .

[GeoffSmith]

Or: Converting to rally mode from the comfort of the cockpit… turn on headlights and remove† fuses C1 and C2.

† What do you mean, your binnacle cover is screwed down?

[Giniw]

† What do you mean, your binnacle cover is screwed down?

lol, as for mine, no it isn't. But at least, the cover is present on the Elan!

[GeoffSmith]

It's funny, I was thinking of your racing Esprit as I posted.

[Rambo]

1742929F-5FE7-4911-B665-8CF1E9F0DC19.jpeg

Good idea about the changeover switch, but why not put it in the cockpit, rather than having to scrabble around under the bonnet? Like this.

I’ll get my coat . . .

What happens in wet mode ?

Is there something that magically tightens the window glass against the A post and intermediate seals when it rains ? Or does it just mean that when it rains you turn it to wet and get a damp right knee as per normal

[Giniw]

&

[ColinBruce]

I finally got the light bar wired up in time for the night-time rally on 30th January. I also fitted snow tyres which made a huge difference in the snow and ice in the Campsie hills. Last year with standard tyres I slithered around the corners but this time I could still push hard - in fact I had to stop 3 times to let my navigator be sick! For next time I have told him to take some travel sickness pills. (I know, I am so sympathetic).
The light bar is wired to come on with the high beam headlights but there is an over-ride switch in the dash. This switch is a rear fog-light switch which sits beside the existing fog-light switch and the hazard switch. The light is not road legal and in parc ferme it drew some unwanted attention from the police. From the 1st floor window of a cafe I saw one policeman standing right in front of the car looking directly at the light. He must have studied it for 30 seconds before calling over his colleague to discuss it. Then a third appeared and joined the conversation. There was no doubt what they were talking about but eventually they just walked away. I didn't want any more attention drawn to the light and I couldn't believe it when the race organiser asked me about it at my interview on the start ramp. The interview is broadcast via the p.a. system to everyone there!
Anyway, I got away with it and the light was a tremendous success. Is is rated at 1150W and is about as bright as you could imagine.
The event was huge fun and really got the adrenaline pumping. By far the best night out I've had in ages! (Apologies to my long suffering wife).

[Giniw]

Any video?

[Rambo]

n fact I had to stop 3 times to let my navigator be sick! (Apologies to my long suffering wife).

Only 3 times You must have been driving quite sedately Colin

PS I suspect the Polis were looking at your light bar as being an illegal add on projection on the bonnet as well as an being illegal source of illumination for normal road driving ?????

[Giniw]

They were probably just Lotus enthusiast!