The Lotus Grand Tourers

With a pending respray on the table I was faced with trying to remove the capping rail. (Roof rail to C post) Why the hell Lotus fixed it with self tapping screws behind the rear quarter light we will never know. Anyway, after searching many posts it seemed like the only way to gain access to those horrible self tapping screws was to remove the rear quarter light glass. I really didn’t want to do this, it was madness in my book. So I set about trying to remove the capping rail.

I thought I could put some pressure and break the fibreglass where the screws were but I just didn’t feel comfortable. I looked at access from the boot to turn the lower screw with a pair of pliers but that just wasn’t feasible.

So I devised a plan Knowing that any slight pressure from a hard object might shatter the glass I packed out the rail from the glass with plastic spacers. I just happened to have something of the correct width, but as long as it’s not going to give a pressure point to the glass and gives enough space it’s fine.

This then allowed me to just get to the two buried self tapping screws. I could just get a thin screwdriver on them but they were very tight and would not budge.

Next I carefully tried a 3mm HSS drill. The self tapping screws being hard soon knocked off the drills cutting edge.

I didn’t have any carbide or stellite drills long enough so I ground a “metal cutting angle” on a masonry bit. Just to add, an ordinary grindstone wheel won’t touch the carbide tipped drill so I used a diamond wheel to make the cutting edge on the masonry bit.

After some very careful drilling as so not to nick the glass I managed to drill the heads off to remove all the screws and liberate the rails.

The amount of silicon sealer behind the rails was almost criminal, if not embarrassing. I won’t be using the same method to reattach the rails. That refit story is for a later date, but I have a plan….

I never thought this task could be done without removing the glass,

So the moral of the story is you don’t need to remove the rear quarter light glass to get the rails off, unless I was just lucky.

I have pondered it for months. If anyone wants any help or guidance to do the same job just let me know.

Cheers
Keith

Well done! Post up a few photos - might help someone in the future! Looking forward to seeing the results of the respray

Pete

Has anyone come up with a sensible way to re-install the capping rails? The service notes recommend "relieving the edge of the glass" as one possibility to remove the screws holding it in place. I'm surely not going to attempt that, even with the glass out! I did take the glass out, and it had not been put in very well the last time it was removed



Only thoughts I have so far are to use an M3 fixing of some sort bonded into/onto the rail with a nut on the inside. Any other thoughts or ideas?

Neil

KAB wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 00:07 Why the hell Lotus fixed it with self tapping screws behind the rear quarter light we will never know.

I guess they didn't consider that the rail would ever need to be removed!

Excel SA wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 06:43 Has anyone come up with a sensible way to re-install the capping rails? The service notes recommend "relieving the edge of the glass" as one possibility to remove the screws holding it in place. I'm surely not going to attempt that, even with the glass out! I did take the glass out, and it had not been put in very well the last time it was removed



Only thoughts I have so far are to use an M3 fixing of some sort bonded into/onto the rail with a nut on the inside. Any other thoughts or ideas?

Neil

I’ll be interested in this as my rear quarter lights and capping rails are all removed at the moment to paint everything. Would be good to be able to refit them in a way they can be removed without removing the glass.

I'm sure it will be easier to fit the glass without the capping rail in place - I'm not sure my glass was fully bonded all the way around when I took mine out.

What about this:

Bond in a clinch stud, usually used in sheet metal, but would hopefully have enough "texture" to help it stick in place, then use a star washer and nut on the inside (rather than a nylock nut which may twist it out??).



Should there be a bead of adhesive that runs along the bottom edge that is held in place with screws?

Neil.

I did a bit of experimenting - got hold of an M3 stud - it is tiny! I then also got an M4 stud.....

The M3 is just too small for me - the comparison of the two is below - they are available in different lengths so the overall length is not an issue



This picture shows it mounted (loosely) in the rearmost, lowest position:



And this is from inside - this particular fixing comes out in the boot. I think this stud was an inch long (25mm), a shorter one would obviously be better, but the thickness of the fiberglass it has to go through does vary at the different installation points. 15 - 18mm long would probably work best. Access on the passenger side with the fuel filler in the way could be a problem.



If the studs are permanently bonded in place, care would need to be taken with part before it is fitted as it would probably be quite easy to crack the fiberglass lip - I'd be inclined to leave a nut and washer on when it was off the car. It may be possible to leave the studs loose - there are serrations that would grip in the fiberglass as it is tightened.

I also need to check how long they can intrude into the interior of the car before the fittings inside are affected.

Neil.

Any word on the best grip sealant to use on the capping rails?

Is tiger seal too strong?