Lotus Europa TC trunk lid grill attachment

[Pfreen]

Does anyone have a preferred method of attaching the two engine cover grills to the trunk lid.  I have tried various glues with mixed results and it doesn't look very good.


Paul

[FranV8]

I haven't tried it (mine are still attached!) - but I wonder how Sugru would handle the challenge.  Or even just black silicone sealant?

[EuropaTC]

When I last did the rear deck I added some small "shelves" underneath that the grilles can slide into, stopped from coming out by a small screw.  Originally mine were just stuck into place with something black and flexible, probably Tiger Seal or it's equivalent. Even the headlights on the Elise are fixed in place with that stuff, you don't need very much and once it's stuck, it's stuck !

Brian

[Pfreen]

Brian,

What did you make the shelves out of? I was thinking the same thing and was figuring out what to make the shelves out of.  Fiberglass would be difficult to do I think.

[BDA]

After reading Brian's post, I thought I might make "shelves" from strips of fiberglass sheet (you can make it by laying the glass on a piece of glass). You can cut them out and glass it in the form of a 'U" to go around the screen and figure some way of capturing it in it.

[andy harwood]

Glassing in elevator bolts may be a solution.
https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/1122804;jsessionid=tYK91hzoCB9fF0ltWJ4xPl8U.b9408a77-0eb9-3dd2-aa63-3c743b855037?r=~|categoryl1:"600000 Fasteners"|~ ~|categoryl2:"600001 Bolts"|~ ~|categoryl3:"600009 Elevator Bolts"|~
From the YH group, this file is about installing sound proofing, but the bolts appear like they would do the job neatly.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/LOTUSEUROPA/files/Engine%20Bay%20Soundproofing/

[Lou Drozdowski]

The original screens were bonded onto the deck lid...after refinishing the screens with some paint, I used the same bonding agent as I used for the windshield...Silkaflex . A small bead should capture the entire outer edge, then laid into place. 

[EuropaTC]

Brian,
What did you make the shelves out of? I was thinking the same thing and was figuring out what to make the shelves out of.  Fiberglass would be difficult to do I think.

Two shelves of thin aluminium sheet, about an inch or so wide & glassed into place.  I had the advantage that the rear deck was off the car for respray and so it was easy to do. The front end is closed and limits the forward movement of the grille, the rear is open ended and holds the stainless set screw which stops movement.  All painted black.

It's an overly complicated method and gluing with sikkaflex/tiger seal/etc would be the way normal folks would do the job.  I'd taken them off for respray and wanted them to be easily removable so they or the rear lid paint could be touched up easily.  (I'm retired, I can waste my time on such things.....        )

Brian

[HelpMyLotus]

What about a tiny amount of JB weld.  Just enough to hold but stay out of sight?  When would you ever want them to come back out?

[BDA]

This is a stale thread but in case somebody's still interested, I made some screens from stainless steel wire cloth that poke out of the holes in the boot (similar to what some S2 owners have done). I attached the screens with clear silicone glue. It's very heat resistant and I expect that it would be pretty easy to take off if you needed to.

[Pfreen]

I went the elevator bolt method combined with screen retaining clips. It works great, except the distance from the screen to the trunk insert is quite short so be careful about that.  What is good about easily removable screens is if you was or compound your car, it is difficult to get excess wax/compound out of the screen if you can't remove it.

[BDA]

Here are some pictures of my boot screens. I may re-do them because I think I can get them to stand out a little better and be a little neater with the glue, but overall, I'm pretty happy with them. I think the stainless steel gets lost a little in the white of the car. They would probably look better on a darker car.

[andy harwood]

That looks great, BDA!

[Gmg31]

I bumped into a fellow member at Silverstone last year who had amazing individual grills on his car which he had made from stainless steel.  We swapped contact details and he made me a set.  Each one is bonded in with epoxy resin.  I think I may still add the originals underneath for extra rain security.

[andall]

Mine are currently held in with self-tapper screws from the outside. They look crappy and have cracked the GRP. Banks Europa recommend polyurethane sealant (windscreen stuff or similar).