Passenger window frame rusted

[hants34]

Hi, my esprit has the eternal rot in the passengers side window frame. Does anyone know if Lotus still have their parts sales as these were often available, can't remember the price. Also does anyone know how easy it is to replace a window frame?

Many thanks

Martin

[slewthy]

If its like the S3, its tricky. The window motor has to come out, then the window. Probably best to remove the weatherstrip as there will be rust in that and finally the frame, taking care to note the spacers although a new frame is likely to have a different spacer requirement. Because it is so difficult to remove the window separately, it is recommended that it is taped up to the frame and the lot removed in one piece. Vice versa for replacement.

There is a procedure outlined in my S3 service manual, so maybe there is one for yours.

[Vulcan Grey]

Well Lotus still has the window frames in the March 2011 sale

Esprit G082U5783F Door Frame LH 132 £259.96 £95.00

Esprit G082U5784F Door Frame RH 117 £259.96 £95.00

I bought some parts from them (using the March 2011 listing) late last year no problem. I would contact Lotus aftersales and ask if the parts are still available for £95. They did have 132 of the LH and 117 of the RH...

[hants34]

Thanks Simon and Travis, I now have the know how and knowledge on where to buy the parts from and how to scare myself fitting them.

Really appreciate your advice.

Cheers

Martin

[FRANTIC FRANC]

I got my welded by a local company, cost £5.

[slewthy]

Martin,

I have just checked your parts list and the door/frame setup is essentially the same as for my S3.

I take it you have these lists? Invaluable when you cant remember if the washer goes under or over the whatsit!

I have just completed this procedure, hence my interest, I also have an important presentation to do for work, so I'm stalling....amazing the jobs I've got done today!!

[mattthesparks lotus esprit]

how did you.get on with replacing them i'm just about to start that job any pointers?

[hants34]

Hi Matt, I've not started yet as I have been trying to get hold of Lotus after sales for weeks now but with no reply to emails; does anyone have a contact who could help me to order a frame that was listed on the sales list in 2011? Thanks

Undeterred, last weekend I pulled back the rubber weather strip and cleaned up the rust a bit, removing the loose parts. This weekend, armed with a grinding disc and wire brush drill fitment I plan to give it a thorough clean then use Kurust then metal putty moulded in to place to the same profile as original, then clean up, mask the door and window and spray the frame. This is only a tempory measure until I get a new one but should suffice in the short term.

If you've started, how's it going?

Cheers

Martin

[Vanya]

I second the above post - I also mailed aftersales with a query about the frames, but never received a reply. Martin, your method describes pretty well what another bloke did to his Esprit - can't recall the homepage right now, but after he'd cleaned up the rust and sprayed over the refurbished frame with matt black it looked good as new - probably no need to replace with a new frame after that!

[Sparky]

It's a temporary measure at best. With frames as bad as Matt's, grinding would leave you with a frameless window. And you'll never get rid of all the rust anyhow.

[red vtec]

I did the rust on my frames a few years ago, took it out with a dremel, used Kurust, then primed with hammerite primer, topped off with matt black paint, not had any problems.

Bilt Hamber do very good anti rust treatments

[Sparky]

Chris, have you seen Matt's frames? The best you could give them is a decent burial.

[red vtec]

ah more like a colander?

[hants34]

A quick update for those following this thread. 'Finally' managed to get a response from Lotus after sales. Pleasant and apologetic reply from a chap called Chris Brown cbrown@lotuscars.com who confirmed that I can still purchase the frame for £95 +vat and it will be delivered to my nearest Lotus dealer if I let him know which it is. I'll go ahead and purchase along with a few other bist from the sale. Having had a chat with Geoff at Esprit Engineering who was very helpful and just carried out an excellent service and fitting of an SS exhaust, I'll probably get him to fit as it sounds quite in depth. He suggested that if I do fit it myself to make sure I get the window going up and down 'before' fitting quarter light as doing this in reverse can lead to problems with fitting.

In the mean time I'll do the previously mentioned temporary repair.

Cheers, Martin

[Vulcan Grey]

Glad you were able to get what you needed!

[eddie111S]

This is another job to be done on BiBs old SE turbo, that me and a mate have acquired. Why is it that the passenger side seems always the worst. I'm gonna do the smooth down with a grinder, then rust proof, then fill with one of the many liquid metal fillers, smooth down, then prime and repaint.

[Mike6]

Surprised that Bibs old car has rust on the window frame - never stood still long enough for water droplets to penetrate!

[Sparky]

At that speed, it's not penetration - it's injection.

[hants34]

Sorry, forgot to do a final update:

The process as previously described went well.So hesitant about spending my hard earnt on a new frame now. I'm not sure how long it would last if left outside as the car is garaged but I guess I could always do it again. Looks good apart from the slightly glossy paint but that can be flattened back easily enough.

Plenty of rubbing down and good masking was the key.

Good luck if you choose to do this, really not that bad, just take your time

[eddie111S]

Concerning BI8 LEF, I'm doing the same. One side almost done. Looks okay. Rubbing down the spray filler with wet & dry to get the smoothest of finishes. Takes ages as its cold in my garage. On my Turbo Esprit 1984 I haven't got the rubber seals on the frames. Not sure if they were fitted or just on the Stevens model and after. My window frames are completely rust free. Actually that's the point. The water seeps down under the seal and stays there. Then as these frames probably never had suitable rustproofing back in the day, they rust. Anyone who has the seals fitted should remove them, clean up treat, add primer, respray, then maybe add some waxoil (brush it in), then put back the seal. I bet people with clean frames, will find some rust under the seal starting to build. If you really want to go for it add some slicon sealent after Use a fine nozel. Get the stuff used for marine applications. Its available in black. Nothing else rusts obviously.....

Edited November 28, 2012 by eddie111S

[Vanya]

I just tried ordering a new right hand side door frame via Mr Brown at Lotus Aftersales - he said they're no longer available at the sale price. £259+20% VAT + Shipping is a bit steep in my opinion so I figured I'd check here whether anyone might have bought one and decided they no longer need it for whatever reason? 

 

Otherwise I guess I'll have to grind down mine to get rid of the rust, fill, and then repaint.

[John Brookes]

I replaced both frames on my Stevens S3 and had the quarter light windows bonded in first. Bad move as windows will not go up and down now. Any suggestions to rectify this problem?

[eeyoreish]

Has anyone bought the replacement door frames from SJ? Just wondered if they are a good match for the quality of the originals?

My LH frame has a few holes so I'm thinking to replace rather than chase my tail trying to get it welded and patched up. SJ have them for £95 + the usual vat and postage which doesn't seem so bad if they're decent...

[mdw]

I got my window frames from Bibs direct from the factory. Same sort of price 3-4 years back.  They will be the factory ones from Sjs I am pretty sure.  Lotusbits were looking at remaking the excel ones and they were going to cost many  many hundreds per side   from memory and they never got made.  I seem to remember when I bought mine the factory had 100 ish of each side left.  The fixings to the door beam is for the later esprits so its not just a straight forward swap.   Same locations but different number of washers needed but with bonding in the 1/4 glass look at a day mucking about per side to get it right. Mine came on and off 5-6 times before I was happy with them.

[eeyoreish]

Thanks Malcolm!

I managed to remove the 1/4 glass from the old frame intact so I have that ready to re-install. From what I've read the smart thing to do is to get the frame in and aligned with the drop glass running freely before bonding in the 1/4 glass. Makes sense to me so that's the route I'll be taking.

Re the mounting plates, the SJ pic looks like mine, with flat slotted mounting plates. My frames weren't shimmed, but mounted on threaded rod with a back nut and a securing nut that wind up or down the rod to align the frame. Looks relatively easy to adjust in the door without removing the frame. I see in the parts list that the first Stevens cars used frames with a 'rectangular tube' fixing so maybe that's what you have?

I see that Lotusbits have the frames for S1,2, & 3 cars but don't list the S4/Stevens. I assume they are different as the part number for our cars was Esprit Turbo onwards.

I'll double check with my Lotus dealer but I saw a post above where they had gone back to full price from Lotus. Looks like SJ might be the best option. Annoying because (as usual) I've just received an order of  'everything I need' from them this week...