Wing Mirror fitting

[toyroom]

My right side door mirror was so loose it was wobbling and rotating about the axis of its stalk. I was fully prepared to remove the door trim in the hope of tightening whatever was loose when I discovered that the door mirrors are held on to the car by a hex drive grub screw hidden beneath a bezel which slides up the stalk towards the mirror to reveal the screw. This was easily tightened and the problem solved. The bezel is black plastic and moved by hand. It is slightly tapered and so only able to be seated properly in one particular position. To expose the screw, simply hold the mirror stalk as you would hold a toch and jiggle the bezel around a bit, slowly sliding it up the stalk. I hope this saves somebody a fruitless journey behind the door trim !

Edited August 12, 2007 by toyroom

[talon]

Good to know, both of my mirrors seem a little loose!

[Bibs]

Hey John

Nice tip. Would you like to add it to the wiki?

[Katie]

I have always thought that wobbly wing mirrors was a classic V8 fault.

[Loose Cannon]

Fantastic advice; my mirror went all floppy today after going over a nasty bump, thought I was going to have to strip down like Paul C, broken frames etc etc, would never have looked for a poxy little allen screw.

Unfortunately I taped the whole mirror up as a temporary roadside measure, and lost a fingernail of paint taking it off , but I'm still not worrying too much now there isn't an afternoon of swearing and broken clips to look forward to.

[kyliesmith.com]

Yip had to do this om my 89 quite a few times its a common fix.

[jeff_hooper]

It's not the wobbly mirrors you want to worry about... Its the water in the oil in your engine, the broken 5th gears in your gear box, the chewed up first motion drive shaft, the slipping clutch, the sticky waste gates and the rusted out fuel tanks..... That you want to worry about.....!!!

Sorry, just jealous that its wobble mirrors that you spend your time on as its about 10th on my priority list.....

Honestly, if it wasn't for its F1 legacy 'Lotus' as a viable business would never have got beyond the 1980's....

Its the first car I've owned that I don't give a damn for stuff such as poor operating electric windows and poor door opening and closing - I'm spending all my time chase after all the serious faults that affect performance and just keep the pile of c..p road legal!

It's a great hobby for someone with lots of spare time... I run 5 cars and I'm semi-retired and the Lotus need 4 times more effort and money that any of my others cars and that's after 3 1/2 years ownership experience.. I'm really not convinced the pleasure is worth the excessive effort. The performance is outstanding when it works fine. But your just waiting for the next fault....

Jeff H

Ps. Most fun as a daily driver VW Golf GTI Mk2. Bought in 1992 - still fun to drive, cheap to run, totally reliable.

Edited May 12, 2008 by jeff_hooper

[Iconic Ride]

I have always thought that wobbly wing mirrors was a classic V8 fault.

The main rear view mirror (in the cabin) was the one driving me batty when I first acquired the car. The "rubber bullet" was just shy (about a tenth of an inch) of making contact with the windscreen, and so lacked the ability to dampen out vibrations---especially at low idle speeds. The attachment screws were already tight as a drum, so no adjustment was possible. I purchased a black hard rubber "faucet washer" (package of 10, $2.10 USD) 1/4" size, shaped like a miniature "donut", and carefully inserted the bullet in the donut hole. This arrangement holds the faucet washer in place against the windscreen, dampens out the vibration completely, and actually looks like it belonged there in the first place!

I am now marketing the remaining 9 washers as Lotus part # A000U1234F, available COD or Paypal at the discounted Lotus price of $57.99 each, plus shipping---just kidding...

Cheers!

John

[Loose Cannon]

Most fun as a daily driver VW Golf GTI Mk2. Bought in 1992 - still fun to drive, cheap to run, totally reliable.

Conversely I sold my GTi because I was spending every weekend fixing stuff, the Esprit is loads better. Maybe you've just got a crap Esprit like I got a crap golf....time to sell and move on?

[BobG]

Message for Jeff and anyone else with similar woes:

Surely the sheer pleasure of driving such an incredible machine, both in terms of handling, poise, communication, noise and outright power far outweighs the inevitable issues associated with a hand built low production British super-car.

I drive a BMW 330 Club Sport daily; it never lets me down, always starts and performs identically day after day but does it deliver the same pleasure and adrenalin rush?

Rgds

B

[Iconic Ride]

I'm with you, Roberto! I used to think that my BMW M Coupe was the "piece de resistance" for sporty driving. I have driven it exactly twice in two months since acquiring the Esprit. Who needs "reliability" anyway?! Where's the challenge in that?

Besides, I can't imagine a BMW "forum" quite matching up to the camaraderie of a "low production car" like the Lotus. Owning an Esprit is a vehicular "near religious experience" for many of us.

Cheers!

John