Lotus Elise S1 - Soft Top Removal/Installation

Рет қаралды 3,602

Күн бұрын

This video shows you how to remove the soft top from a Series 1 Lotus Elise. Installation is the reverse!
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Пікірлер: 33

@danieletrosa Жыл бұрын

You should first release the tensioners in the center of the convertible top, then release the fixings at the rear, if you don't want to bend the metal!

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+Daniele Trosa yes! I learned that after getting the car home and reading the manual! 😆 🍻

@JimboCamUK Жыл бұрын

On very early cars to fit the hard top you need new cant rails, cant rail strikers and door rubbers. These came with a new soft top too.

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+James Bowers interesting.

@Life411 Жыл бұрын

Aaron, I was surprised to see how complicated the S1's soft top is. The S2s is amazingly simple and well designed. Makes me appreciate it all the more! So that wasn't you in the video was it? Was that the seller? In the Uk, or?

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+Game of Life 411 yes that was the seller, I was filming :)

@drew699 Жыл бұрын

In my experience, you unclip the rear tails & tuck them under their elastic retainers. When the hood fabric comes off, lay it on the rear deck of the car with the inside of the hood face up. Fold both tail sections in until the hood fabric is rectangular in shape & then roll it up fairly tightly so that the rolled hood will slip into the hood bag. Remove the cant rails by unclipping them from their rear mounting & then pushing them forward toward the windscreen & then just lift out, toward you. The OEM bag has separate pockets in the hood bag for stowage. The long bows are best stowed by locating the end nearest you in first & then bending or bowing the bow before locating it in to the opposite hole. Put the first bow into the top most hole, so that there is less restriction with the second bow. Everybody complains that the hood uses up the boot when stored, so don’t put your hood in the boot, put it behind the seats. Top tip: don’t use the hood, keep it in your garage. The temporary ‘shower cap’ hoods are great for when you leave the car when you are away from home. They’re much quicker to put on/take off. Ps. All early S1’s have ‘dented’ boot lids as they are aluminium. Enjoy.

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+drew thanks so much for the great detail! I guess the thing in the netting behind my seats is the shower cap. Need to figure that out next! 🍻

@rhodriarmour6140 6 ай бұрын

Get yourself an official or repro bag for the soft-top and cant rails. All packs in a stuffs behind the seats.

@HelpMeDIY 6 ай бұрын

+@rhodriarmour6140 I need to look into that!

@mikedx2706 Жыл бұрын

In a country famous for having a rainy climate, Lotus certainly dropped the ball on creating a user friendly convertible top. That thing looks like an 18 th Century tent design. If you want a good, user friendly convertible top, look at the top designed for the original Fiat 124 Spiders from the 1970’s.

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+mike dx yeah, pretty sure the design of the car was first priority, then the top was worked in last 😆

@iainmcglynn833 Жыл бұрын

Super easy by a keen owner I thought it was going to be fiddly as a Boxster driver 😎 Love the car no amount of roof drama would spoil the experience

@janolesen6045 Жыл бұрын

The Brits are not that squeamish of getting a little wet.

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

@@janolesen6045 😂

@janolesen6045 Жыл бұрын

Looks impossible, but the top bars actually also fits in the boot. A trick is also to always protect one end of the bars in your palm, then the likelihood of you scratching the car is reduced greatly

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+Jan Olesen really?? Wow, that IS impressive. But is there any reason to put them there?

@janolesen6045 Жыл бұрын

@@HelpMeDIY I may be wrong for your model with the boot lid . I have a S1 from 1999. They don’t have the internal boot lid and no boot bag. And no holes in the cabin to secure the bars. The bars also fit in the front compartment.

@Life411 Жыл бұрын

@@janolesen6045 I like the boot lid - wish my S2 had that. But I install pneumatic struts to open the lid, so I guess that's even better.

@Life411 Жыл бұрын

S2 soft top comes with a bag. You could just buy a bag to protect car from the bars. Also, the S2s bars are rubber coated entirely, so no possibility of scratches from them.

@franciscopereziglesias3954 Жыл бұрын

@@janolesen6045 what do you mean with the bars fitting in the front compartment?

@michaelskinner896 Жыл бұрын

For something so small, it's such a fiddly thing. That design was an exercise in how to not make something convenient.

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+Michael Skinner I’ll just have to make it work :)

@SuperMadpom Жыл бұрын

Don't worry about!! you'll be much much quicker with some practice - the bows will fit in the boot too they tuck in ends facing front against the top of the engine bay/boot (trunk) divider with the ends over the top of the inner arches.

@HelpMeDIY Жыл бұрын

+SuperMadpom thanks!