Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: My S1 on Friday,February 03, 2023, 08:32:58 AM
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I need to fabricate a close-out strip panel between the backlite seal and headliner/roof but I'm struggling to grasp the logic of the ventilation system in general. If there is a close-out strip panel in place, how does the cabin air find it's way out through the exhaust holes below the trailing edge of the roof?
Also, does anyone have any good photos of what that panel should look like on an S1? Does it glue in place, clip or screw in?
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There is no such panel, just the headliner and the back-light seal. Any panel would block airflow.
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I believe the Twin Cam has a cardboard or plastic panel with slots cut in it to let the air through.
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JB is right there is no 'panel'. I tried getting a photo, but unsuccessful on my S1. There is a gap between the vertical fiberglass window surround and the headliner. You should be able to get a fingertip into it. My S1 has some rectangular metal 'sleeves' about 1/4" high above the center of the window. I think they are there to maintain whatever minimal airflow the design was.
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I have a tcs and I reupholstered it and put in a new headliner. There was and is a cardboard form behind the vinyl to define the air cutouts just above the rear window. It's funny why I remember because I made mine without the cutouts to stop through air because I have ac, and didn't want to waste the cool air.
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I agree with both Pfreen and Silverbeast. my TCS also had a cardboard type insert that was slotted for the vents.
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Sorry if I've introduced some confusion. I believe MyS1 was talking about an S1 (unsurprisingly!). I'm sure JB and SwiftDB4 will be correct that there isn't one on an S1. After all they have experience of S1's and mine is only of the TCS.
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I can say exactly the same about TC/S Europas, as in, no clue. The S1, however, did not have a trim panel above the rear window.
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Pfreen and or Tony, Would appreciate any pictures you may have of a TCS showing this area upholstered. Also interested in how the headliner terminates at the windshield, A posts, etc.. Thanks
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I suspect I’m hearing a buzz from mine so I’m curious how it is attached. Any insights?
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Pfreen and or Tony, Would appreciate any pictures you may have of a TCS showing this area upholstered. Also interested in how the headliner terminates at the windshield, A posts, etc.. Thanks
Headliner and A pillar trim are just folded over the flange and glued in place. Crude, I know.
I used black door edge trim to finish it off and lock it in place on the headliner; on the A pillar, to keep it looking a bit more 'substantial', I filled in the pillar with expanding foam (sorry, no photos), trimmed it flat, then just wrapped the upholstery (actually a couple scraps of Connolly hide I had left over from my Turboesprit interior recovery before Connolly went out of business) around the flange and glued in place.
Front of the dash pad, I trimmed back the fiberglass to fit (freed up the vinyl cover first...), when it was satisfactory, I folded over the vinyl trim, and used more edge molding to clamp the edge.
See photos below of 693R...too damn cold (-4 here in Fall River), so NOT going down to the garage to grab a photo...)
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Interesting. The S1 parts manual does not call out a close-out panel. It looks awfully "unkept" as is. I plan to replace the headliner if I can find the original ribbed material. Then I will try to cap the back edge of the cloth with a strip of something so that I don't see the ragged edge of the HL material. I'll make sure that there is a gap for air flow of course.
Does anyone have a source for the ribbed headliner fabric?
Would one of you TC owners mind sending me a picture of the "new improved" closeout panel with the slots?
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This is from a 73 TCS. Can't guarantee it's original, I've only had car since 2019
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This is from a 73 TCS. Can't guarantee it's original, I've only had car since 2019
That's the original. It's captured to hold in place under the rear window rubber extrusion.
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Pfreen and or Tony, Would appreciate any pictures you may have of a TCS showing this area upholstered. Also interested in how the headliner terminates at the windshield, A posts, etc.. Thanks
Here you go kram350kram. It appears to be made of something harder than cardboard but not as hard as Masonite. I pulled at mine and it started to come off but I wasn't ready to look at it as carefully as I should before pulling any harder. It doesn't appear to be attached with clips but rather just wedged up there but I'm obviously guessing about that. Mine was covered with matching vinyl by the interior shop I gave my car to (they did a great job!) but as you can see, the vinyl appears to be glued on rather than wrapped since you can see the edge of the vinyl. It's a little wavy and is quite possibly the source of the buzzing I sometimes hear in my car. It's on the (growing) the list of things address.
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Thanks gentlemen. Those pictures are very helpful. I guess that is one of those finishing details that did not make it into production early one. I may try to simulate the TCC part even though it is not original S1 material. Please forgive me purists.
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Thanks to all, perfect pic's showing the vent slots and A pillar. Great pictures!
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The S1 has a double panel above the rear window. The roof extends past it. Behind the panel are the rear air vents. The original headlining is not available. I used a foam padded headlining. This leaves enough room for air but the area looks finished. Because mine was hacked up, I lined my interior with black vinyl upholstery (seats leather). Originally the fire wall is just smooth bare fibreglass painted semi-gloss black. Here are some photos of mine in that area:
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-WDCSZWG/0/be2d1010/X5/IMG_5940-X5.jpg)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-kJL57Bj/0/9bb6465e/X5/IMG_5939-X5.jpg)
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Looks as though the block-out panel that Silver Beast has is made of ABS. Should be easy to copy. Thanks.