The Lotus Grand Tourers

I'm in the process of replacing my front spoiler (the GRP section) with one reclaimed from another car. So far I've stripped the "new" spoiler from the old bumper and am prepping it for spraying, but there's a fundamental design flaw (IMNSHO). The brackets on the spoiler, which are used to bolt it to the bumper on the rear edge, are only held in place by a couple of strips of GRP and, on the current spoiler, the GRP has come away so that the rear edges of the spoiler stand proud of the bumper.

I don't think any amount of glass and resin is going to prevent this happening again - so here's the question - should I put in a few pop rivets to make the brackets more secure ? Obviously, this affects the "clean lines" of the spoiler, but it probably won't be very visible to anyone but a real purist.

Your votes count!


P.S. - any views on how it will affect high speed stability ?

I voted not to rivet but I'm not sure exactly where you mean.

After hitting speed bumps my spoiler drooped at rear at the point it meets the front wheel arch.

The rear of the spoiler is held by a hidden bracket bonded to the inside surface...is this the bracket that you want to fix with a rivet straight through?

I tried rebonding but it kept failing so what I've done is added an alloy bridging strip to the inside edge of the wheel arch to hold the spoiler up. I think I used self tapping screws but you could use rivets.

You don't notice the alloy strip (its about 1 X 0.5 inches IIRC) as its on the lower edge of the wheel arch (inside).

Lotus-e-Clan wrote:
The rear of the spoiler is held by a hidden bracket bonded to the inside surface...is this the bracket that you want to fix with a rivet straight through?

That's the one - It's U shaped with two side pieces which are "bonded" to the main spoiler assembly with two very thin pieces of GRP, I'm contemplating drilling through these to fit pop rivets.

When I holed my spoiler on a dropped kerb earlier this year I faced the same problem Angus.

I'd seen another Excel with a rivet holding the spoiler bracket on and didn't like the look of it so I decided to at least try to re-bond the bracket the way Lotus did.

I used a generous amount of Chemical Metal (available from Halfords) to glue the bracket back onto the spoiler and five months later it's still in place.

I have just repaired mine and i thought about riveting the brackets back on, then i thought if i catch the spoiler i would rather the bracket come of on the inside than rip the outside of the spoiler. also filler always cracks around the rivets

This is also on my to do list as my spoiler is held on by 2 woodscrews with washers.
No it does not look nice.
But rivets would also spoil the originality of the car - don't do it!
They'll make a mess of the spoiler the next time you touch the ground anyway - at least the brackets are concealed.

Is the spoiler GRP or RRIM? The parts manual says that the bumper from my89 on is A089B4944K RRIM (polyeurathene) but the spoiler A082B4939K material is not identified. If it's RRIM then polyester resin won't bond nearly as strongly as polyeurathene, nor will it be as resilient to bumps becasue it's relatively brittle.
Or should I say should the spoiler be RRIM or GRP - I can't see anyone producing an aftermarker RRIM part.

Interesting that the spoiler is an 82 part number not an 89. Is it borrowed from an Esprit surely not.
Maybe a typo?

Regards
Bill

The spoiler changed, later ones have a 2 inch rubber one,below a bit below the bumper, self tapped/inserts to this GRP skirt.

I've got an old kn*ckered early one FOC if anyone wants to use it.

Terry

I think there could be a misunderstanding as to which spoiler we are discussing. The one in question is the post 89 large front spoiler where the plastic bumper is cut virtually in half and a grp spoiler is pop riveted to the rest of the bumper. the problem is there are brackets inside the grp section with captive nuts welded on them. They are held on by some glass fibre paste that breaks under strain the pop rivets will have to be fastened on the outside of the spoiler through to the brackets on the inside and be filled over so as not to be seen. Not to be mistaken for the little grp spoiler lip underneath pre 89 models