Bonnet Louvres

[nigelrobertson]

The grill inside the bonnet louvres on my '89 Se is loose-on opening the bonnet the front edge of the grill drops down.The other end is held in place by the bonnet insulator.
The metal grill is cradled by an inner plastic louvre which is also loose.
The entire assembly is fitted beneath the bonnet insulator.I've peeled this carefully back and it appears the plastic cradle is held in place with some kind of sealer!
I'm tempted to remove the bonnet and bore some pilot holes then use some self tappers to hold it in place-care needed obviously not to perforate the top surface
Anyone else noted this-and how have you dealt with it?

[Steve C]

I ripped the whole lot out because mine cracked as well as becoming detached ... I will (probably) do something about it at respray time although I haven't decided what yet!

[texas2201]

I got a new set at one of the donnington shows and had a bodyshop bond them in

Martin

[terry]

I replaced the mesh, with exactly the same stuff, but galvanised, 4'X3' sheet, from garden centre £2.50.

Lotus parts price Circa £70.

Fixed them to the frame with Black silicone,then bonded them to the GRP with mat and resin, finished off, coating inside of bonnet with black gelcoat.


terry

[texas2201]

I paid £25 in the Lotus sale I believe - I cannot remember exactly

Martin

[tonycharente]

The grill inside the bonnet louvres on my '89 Se is loose-on opening the bonnet the front edge of the grill drops down.The other end is held in place by the bonnet insulator.
The metal grill is cradled by an inner plastic louvre which is also loose.
The entire assembly is fitted beneath the bonnet insulator.I've peeled this carefully back and it appears the plastic cradle is held in place with some kind of sealer!
I'm tempted to remove the bonnet and bore some pilot holes then use some self tappers to hold it in place-care needed obviously not to perforate the top surface
Anyone else noted this-and how have you dealt with it?

Hello All,
Just "catching up" on posts - hence the very late reply - sorry. My own '89 SE had exactly the same problem. I removed the entire assembly with the intention of replacing it with a good one. However driving the car without it I found the cooling was a lot better. Given that I have also removed a bit of weight from the front end, I now have no intention of ever replacing it - indeed I see this as an "improvement" in it's own right! I can't see that it serves any purpose whatsoever, unless you fear people dropping things through the slots whilst parked...
Cheers
Tony