Rear light drainage holes

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dancroft1984
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Rear light drainage holes

Post by dancroft1984 »

Is it possible/wise/necessary to drill a couple of little drain holes at the bottom of the rear lights? It's not clear but I think one might have a little moisture in it. I know they're upside-down SD1 items, so presumably don't have one already.
I'm talking about just popping a couple of 3mm holes in the coloured plastic with them in-situ, not removing them.
1985 Lotus Excel dug out of a hedge

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rbgosling
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Model: Lotus Excel SE
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Re: Rear light drainage holes

Post by rbgosling »

This post includes a photo of the filth inside my lens when I decided to crack it open and re-paint the silvering. Pretty filthy. But they weren't full of water, so what water/mud got in must have been evaporating faster than it filled up, no doubt helped by the heat of the filament bulbs (although some have been replaced with LEDs).

If you are going to do this, you'll need separate holes for each light, as there isn't much opportunity for water to travel between them. If you do it without removing the lens, the holes will be visible - I'd be tempted to remove the lens so you can put the holes in the bottom where it won't be seen. The bumper needs to be removed, but as my post linked above says, that is really pretty easy.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

dancroft1984
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Re: Rear light drainage holes

Post by dancroft1984 »

Thanks Richard, I think I'll go the whole hog then, but at a later date. This weekend is clutch and/or pedalbox weekend. Wish me luck!
1985 Lotus Excel dug out of a hedge

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MetBlue
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Re: Rear light drainage holes

Post by MetBlue »

Good luck with clutch / pedal box work.
My clutch was right in the carpet when car purchased. The bridge in the clutch pedal bends in a high mileage car. removal of pedal box is only solution. I documented somewhere on the forum. I'll do a search and post link when found.

Edit with link viewtopic.php?t=12565
Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Alan_M
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Re: Rear light drainage holes

Post by Alan_M »

The new replacement ones I got from Lotus already have holes drilled in them and with the original River holes filled with silicone. So no problems drilling some holes

dancroft1984
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Re: Rear light drainage holes

Post by dancroft1984 »

MetBlue wrote: Wed May 22, 2024 20:43 Good luck with clutch / pedal box work.
My clutch was right in the carpet when car purchased. The bridge in the clutch pedal bends in a high mileage car. removal of pedal box is only solution. I documented somewhere on the forum. I'll do a search and post link when found.

Edit with link viewtopic.php?t=12565
Tony
That's brilliant, thank you Tony. I've seen a couple of sources about removing/replacing the pedal box, but was struggling to find something that detailed repair of the box itself rather than swapping in a new one.
1985 Lotus Excel dug out of a hedge

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