Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Technical Articles and DIY tools and tips => Topic started by: Keith A on Thursday,January 14, 2016, 11:33:49 AM
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I spent a jolly Sunday removing doors and still have my sanity, I've enclosed some notes and pictures. Keith
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Nice write up. :trophy:
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Thanks, it was a really happy Sunday evening I can tell you -)
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I have fitted Banks brass retracting hinges to 3755R. It makes taking the doors off again very easy.
They are expensive but worth every penny.
Alex in Norfolk.
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Thanks Alex, I'll look into those,I have SS replacements but not fitted, thanks for the heads up. K
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A brass round lug is screwed up and screwed down from separate brass fittings top and bottom on the door. They remind me of a brass ballcock in a cold water storage tank. You need large spanners 1 1/4 if I remember, to tighten them up in the correct position to get the door closing correctly, but once the fittings top and bottom are set in the right places, the door can be removed very easily by a square 1/2" top and bottom which screws in and out and it is locked in place by a large lock nut.
To put the door back, just screw them back in top and bottom, and if you have left the large nuts in their places, the door will not need any adjustment.
When taking the door off, I lay underneath, and put 4 cushions on the concrete to lay the door down when it was released.
You can do up the two square 1/2" lugs top and bottom by hand until they locate in the holes in the door surround, and then the door will self support. Then lie underneath and do up the square 1/2" lugs but you have to reverse the spanner every turn, as with 4 sides, there is not enough room for the spanner (wrench) unless you cut it down. I used WD40 on the lugs to make them easier to initially locate them in the holes by hand tightening.
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Sounds far to easy for a Lotus ! Thanks for the info, an easily removed door makes any internal work so much easier, Cheers, K
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I have Richard's hinge set also and they are very nice. I found it helpful to get a 1 1/4" deep socket (usually 1/2" drive) and use a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter with a 3/8" ratchet. I made a wrench out of flat steel to grab the flats that end up between the door and the body. I wrapped it with tape so it didn't scratch the paint.
I confess that my doors still need some "fine tuning" but the do close and lock so I'm pretty happy. I found it required a lot of trial and error. I doubt that the original style hinges are any easier and suspect they are harder but I've never tried working with the original style hinges.
As 4129R said, once you have the door aligned, it's a simple thing to take it out and put it back which just leaves a small amount of vertical adjustment to get back where you were. Very handy! And they won't rust!
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I just went on Banks' site and looked them up, they seem a lot easier fit, Thanks guys, K :beerchug:
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Great job and nice write up. They PO left a nice blob of bondo in there for you.
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I think they had shares in the company it's all over the place !