Lotus Elise / Lotus Exige. Manual - part 14

Lotus Service Notes Section BR

Page 11

BR.7 - REAR CLAMSHELL

The rear clamshell is a one piece composite moulding incorporating both rear wings, the engine bay

aperture, rear transom and integral luggage bay. The clamshell is secured to the chassis and other body
panels by threaded fasteners for ease of service access and body repair.

To Remove Rear Clamshell
1.

Remove the soft or hard top roof (including Exige) - see sub-section BR.1

Remove both rear wheelarch liners;

Elise: Remove the rear window shroud - see sub-section BR.2.
Exige: From within the cabin, remove the two screws above the rear window securing the top edge of the
clamshell to the rear bulkhead. Remove the two cant rail latch plates from their brackets on the roof
hoop. Peel off the weatherstrip seal from the clamshell flange.

From inside the cabin, remove both seats and the full width trim panel from the rear bulkhead. From the
access thus provided, remove the fixing securing the front end of the clamshell to the 'B' post above the
engine bay air intake.

Elise: From inside the cabin, release the fixings securing the engine lid hinges to the rear bulkhead, and
withdraw the engine lid complete with hinges.

Boot floor to subframe

Engine lid hinge
fixings

b317a

Fixings to sill
panel and grille

'B' post fixing
from inside
cabin

Lotus Service Notes Section BR

Page 12

Release the six (USA market) or eight (other cars) screws securing the fuel filler neck to the clamshell.
Withdraw the filler neck from the clamshell aperture, noting the earth braid secured to the roof hoop
backstay. Keep the filler cap fitted to minimise vapour hazard.

Remove the air filter box intake scroll, and from inside each rear wheelarch, release the air intake grille
fixings, and the two screws securing the clamshell to the waistline joint of the sill panel. Withdraw each
grille from its retaining clip.

Remove the battery and feed the battery cables through the clamshell grommet. Disconnect the rear
harness and rear lid switch harness from the area behind the battery, and feed through the clamshell
grommet.

Remove the rear diffuser panel.

10.

From inside the luggage area, release the two screws each side securing the boot floor to the subframe.

11.

Unhook the washer bottle.

12.

Withdraw the clamshell from the car, noting any spacer pads fitted on the subframe.

13.

Refit in reverse order to disassembly with the following notes:

Shimming of clamshell floor mounting points:

It is most important to maintain a gap of at least 7mm between the phenolic resin heatshield rivetted to

the underside of the clamshell boot floor, and the exhaust muffler corrugated heat shield bolted to the sub-
frame. The corrugated shield must touch neither the muffler, nor the clamshell mounted shield, or heat dam-
age may be caused to the clamshell.

On factory build, the subframe is marked adjacent to each of the four clamshell mounting points with the

shim thickness required. Shim plates are available in 1mm and 2mm thicknesses. If a new subframe is being
fitted, or the markings are not visible;
-

Use a straight edge across the clamshell rear mounting points on the subframe, and measure down to the
muffler heatshield. Sufficient shims need to be used to bring this dimension to a minimum of 7mm.

With these shimplates fitted, trial fit the clamshell and if necessary add further shims to optimise the fit of
the clamshell with respect to sill and door shutlines.

Measure the shim gap at the boot floor front fixing point.

Remove the clamshell, fit the required shim plates onto the subframe and refit the clamshell.

BR.8 - DOOR MIRRORS

The manually adjustable, plastic housed

door mirrrors, are mounted via an injection
moulded plinth to the door shell. A spring
loaded ball and socket arrangement provides
a means of mirror adjustment, and a sprung
attachment of the mirror housing to the pivot
socket allows for the mirror to move forwards
or backwards on accidental contact, in order
to reduce the potential for personal injury or
vehicle damage.

Mirror housing

b240

Mirror glass & surround

Lotus Service Notes Section BR

Page 37

Replacement of mirror glass

The mirror glass is contained in a plastic

surround which is clipped into the housing in
order to provide for convenient and inexpen-
sive replacement. To remove a glass, pull
back the boot between mirror and plinth, and
carefully prise the inboard edge of the mirror
surround from its retaining clips. Working
around the mirror periphery, continue to prise
the surround from the housing taking care not
to damage the paint on the housing. Press
the new glass/surround into the housing until
all the retaining clips are engaged, and repo-
sition the convoluted boot.

Note that convex glass is normally fitted

to both sides, but certain markets, including
the USA, use flat glass in the driver's side,
and passenger side USA mirrors are convex
and etched 'Objects in mirror are closer than
they appear'.

Replacement of mirror assembly

The mirror assembly locates in the plas-

tic injection moulded plinth via two spigots,
and is retained by a single screw tapping into
the lower spigot. To remove a mirror assem-
bly, use a cross head cranked screwdriver, or
similar tool, to remove the screw recessed into
the inside face of the mirror plinth.

Replacement of mirror plinth

The mirror plinth incorporates tapping

plates to accommodate a single screw into the
top leg, and a pair of M5 screws into the bot-
tom leg. The plinth is secured to the door outer
panel with access holes for the three screws
provided in the inner panel, cosmetically con-
cealed by adhesive patches.

Note that a magnet may be required

when removing or refitting the rearmost screw.

BR.8A - DOOR SHELL BRACKETS

The composite door shell is fitted with various steel brackets bonded to its inner surface in order to mount

the shell to the door beam and also to mount hardware components such as the latch and window lift mecha-
nism. The brackets are bonded to the SMC door structure using ITW Plexus adhesive. If, for whatever reason
a bracket should become detached, the following procedure should be used to re-secure:

Remove the failed component from the door.

Prepare the bonding surface of the component using emery cloth.

If the bracket does not already have holes drilled in the bonding surfaces, use the illustrated examples to
add 6mm holes to the relevent surfaces and provide the adhesive with a good keying feature.

b242b

Socket head screw

Adhesive patch

Mirror mounting plinth

Mirror assembly

b241a

Mirror fixing screw

Page 12a

Lotus Service Notes Section BR

Page 13

Prepare the bonding surface of the door panel using coarse emery cloth and clean with Betaclean 3900
(A100B6008V). It is not necessary to remove all existing adhesive if this is securely bonded.

Apply a liberal quantity of ITW Plexus MA 920 adhesive (A117B0209V) to the door panel, and within a
maximum period of 4 Minutes (a longer open time will degrade adhesive performance) position the
bracket and ensure that the adhesive is extruded through the keying holes. Remove excess adhesive
which would interfere with any door functionality. Secure the bracket in position for a minimum of 30
minutes to allow adhesive to cure.

Re-assemble door and check for correct function.

If a latch mounting bracket needs to be rebonded, it is recommended to fit a cup washer A117W4192K
diagonally opposite (i.e. to the latch top mounting screw) to that already used on the inboard lower screw.

BR.9 - DOOR BEAM & HINGE

The door shell is bolted to a hollow section extruded aluminium alloy door beam, hinged at the front end

to the ’A’ post, and carrying the door latch mechanism, via steel brackets, at its rear end. The front end of the
door beam is welded to a second extrusion which forms the rotor of the door hinge. The hinge stator (or hinge
bracket) is bolted to an outrigger on the chassis, and incorporates two cylindrical bearing housings fitted with
maintenance free pivot bushes.

Door hinge adjustments

In order to provide for adjustment of door shutlines, the door hinge may be adjusted in two ways:

Height of the hinge, its fore/aft position, and the pivot axis angle (to control the front/rear height align-
ment) may be adjusted after slackening the hinge bracket fixing bolts. The tapping plates for these bolts
are linked in vertical pairs and are captive, but loose, within the chassis outrigger, and allow for some
vertical movement. Horizontally slotted fixing holes in the hinge bracket allow for fore/aft movement.

ii)

Slotted shim plates fitted between the hinge bracket and chassis, allow the in/out door front edge align-
ment to be adjusted in steps of 1 rnm, and by varying the shim pack at the top and bottom pairs of fixings,
the vertical alignment, as viewed from the front, may be adjusted.

Ensure that the clamping load of the hinge bracket to the chassis is not corrupted by the shim plates

bearing against the body. If the surrounding body stands proud of the chassis door hinge outrigger, use a
suitably cut down shim plate to act as a spacer between the chassis and the adjustment shim pack or hinge
bracket.

Exterior lock/finger

Window rear guide

Shell to beam

grip bracket

channel bracket

front lower bracket

6mm holes

b347

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