my car was missing the hardware for lifting the engine cover with the boot lid. i ended up making my own out of carbon fiber. what did lotus ill equip you with in your cars?

I've never seen a single Esprit with such tackle fitted...

interesting. so do you lift away that heavy lid just to check the fluids?

Mine has string, just one side. It was there when I bought the car.

Is there any clever solution?

Mines has two loops of string either side and some nifty little fittings that they go over once the lid is up. Looks like original fitment and several people have commented that they haven't seen both intact before.

Cheers

I got em too, all intact, but i still lift the lid out anyway.

My Sport 350 doesn't have any such thing. It just has the engine cover. You have to lift this to see the engine and check the fluids.

Not on the GT3 either, perhaps they done away with it at some point ?

Yes... mine's the same as Jussi's - one on one side... I still prefer to lift it out anyway.

thanks for the big round of responses. here is a photo of my solution. i think it's better than lotus could have done.

Hope nothing on a V8 GT either. Have to lift out the cover to get at things (such as the access is from the top)

Phil B

i forgot to mention that my system doesn't need to be detached when the boot is closed. it is exactly the right size to lay flat until needed again. in other words, when you open the boot, the engine cover follows. probably could have been done with string, but it wouldn't be pretty.

Hey Teigan! Send me a kit!!

Lucas.

i'm not sure it would be the same kit for an S-vehicle. the federal-G engine cover already had the reinforced nubbins on the fiberglas to accept the D-rings et al. the linkage itself is just a strong spring covered by a carbon fiber tube and a quick release clasp both ends. if you want to gather the bits yourself, then i'll post the measurements i used. you may have to adjust them accordingly for your own car, and maybe drill 4 holes. i hope you do take the trouble to build one, because it really makes everyday usage easier. looks swift too when the bonnet opens/closes. will post video if requested.

Think they realised that if your in need of going into the engine bay there's more work to be done than just checking the fluids! Easier without, as I'd be unattaching them every 5 minutes to get my head in there!

using a spring as a stress reliever, i'm able to use a 6" lead. this raises the lid high enough to get more than my head in. only time i completely remove the lid is to examine or work on the bits nearest the pivot point. i've installed flourescent lighting in the engine bay walls, so visibility isn't a problem. i agree with you, that it helps to get the lid out of the way when doing major work. however, most of the time you only need to pop it long enough to feed the gremlins, and it's an extra bother to lean the cover somewhere safe. furthermore, when away from the garage, it's a bit more elegant to have the cover sort itself, rather than personally balancing it on the pavement like some pedestrian chinese acrobat.

Hmmph,

I use a Lotus badged Umbrella to hold the lid open

But any long cylindric object will do...

Edited September 1, 200519 yr by jimmybondi

the umbrella is very avengers. i think i'll make a proper umbrella bracket for under the bonnet. if i sew it out of kevlar, it could deflect bullets too.

Mine has clips to hold it down so they would either need to be permanently removed or the whole thing wouldnt work.... would be potentially useful to have a stringy thing I could just loop around as and when needed to hold the cover up?

I recall seeing them once or twice but seriously in the dim and distant!

the hangers work with the lotus lockdown clips on or off. although when the lotus clips are in place, the boot only lifts 70% the available height. i check/adjust things in the engine bay so often that the lotus clips are never locked in. the ones on my car are very picky about exact placement of the lid, and takes some wrangling to lock down. for people who think the lotus clips function smoothly, my linkages can easily be removed and stored when the lid is locked into place. i locked down my lid before a road track event, and used the quick release snaps to remove my linkages within seconds.

Of course you don't always WANT the engine lid to lift with the tailgate.

Say, for example, the car is on fire and you are trying to save your golfclubs...

I'm embarrassed to say I hold up my trunk with a pole, and to hold up the engine cover, large plastic zip ties so I can adjust them and get new one very easy. My string attchments broke long ago, Sad HUH?

Cool stuff - I've got the old string just on one side.

Geoff.

..., the car is on fire and you are trying to save your golfclubs...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

how are you able to do this? i failed to get a full set of clubs in there. maybe if i took them out of the shoulder bag, but the graphite shafts would get dinged unprotected.

Hmmph,

I use a Lotus badged Umbrella to hold the lid open

But any long cylindric object will do...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That Lotus umbrella sounds really stylish B)