S1 Eyeball Vents

[My S1]

Has anyone ever attempted to remove the chrome rings from the eyeball vents?  I have a great plastic plating outfit that could re-chrome them but I am hesitant to try and remove the rings for fear of damage.  Is there by any chance a rebuild kit for the foam rubber perimeter gasket?

[Kendo]

Assuming that removing the movable part was easier, could your plater mask the rest so they plate only the ring? Also, if you go to the plater, you might look inside the front turn signal warts. I found all of the internal reflective plating flaking off.

[bjthomp]

I don't know about removing the chrome rings. I'd have to take a look at how the eyeball is put together. I'm pretty sure I removed the flap portion of the vent in order to replace the foam. The foam, actually a piece of circular neoprene, is sandwiched between two halves. The halves snap together and can be carefully separated. The neoprene can be fabricated from a mouse pad, or something similar, with some scissors and a gasket punch of the correct size. I'll look to see if I can find my old, disassembled vents.   

[jbcollier]

I don’t think the S1 came with chromed trim on those vents.  Don’t recall seeing them in any period photos, and mine certainly weren’t.

[My S1]

I'll try to find some thin neoprene, thanks.  The rings seem to be a press fit possibly with a snap lock.  Don't believe my guy could mask them in a way that the chrome would stick.  Parts that I've done in the past are tricky.  They need to be primed with paint first then the chrome needs to encapsulate the part so it does'nt flake.

[jbcollier]

Thanks for the photo.

[Nockenwelle]

The eye balls were taken from the Renault R8 / R10. Both a chromed and a black version exist on those cars (see picture below). All the S1 and S1As that i have came accross had the chromed version. But I wouldn't be surprised that Lotus used the black version on the later S1Bs.
@My S1: Your vent looks fine to me, just the right amount of patina.

And there is another sports car using those vents, the Lamborghini Miura. Which might help to get a new set of neoprene rubber. You can buy a replacement here - just pretend you are driving a Miura :-).
https://store.stickyrxrs.com/products/lamborghini-miura-hvac-vent-replacement-foam
(Please note that I've not dealt with them)

[My S1]

Klaus, great information.  Thank you.  I'll grab a couple of those Miura gaskets pronto.

[Hachille]

Hi
The ones in my car were also in poor condition.
I inserted a polished stainless steel washer. The result is correct.

[TurboFource]

Nice work Hachille !!

[My S1]

Outstanding machine work.