Driving Lights in a "Non-PreWired" Elise

[slaughtr]

I would do anything not to remove the clam. There must be a way to reach it, a wire hanger, or like I said, a spring loaded grabber (I got mine at Sears).

The lights hang beside the brackets with the bolts entering on either side. Make sure you took the grill off, right?

[Samurai]

I have a grabber, and it can not pull the wire and it can't really do anything with what is holding it up (I can't really tell what is holding it.

I took the grill off and have the brackets mounted on the crash structure and I was trying to get the lights, with the new brackets to mount to the bracket on the crash structure. The instructions for these things is a joke and my car must be special.

[slaughtr]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I have a grabber, and it can not pull the wire and it can't really do anything with what is holding it up (I can't really tell what is holding it.

I took the grill off and have the brackets mounted on the crash structure and I was trying to get the lights, with the new brackets to mount to the bracket on the crash structure. The instructions for these things is a joke and my car must be special.

One thing I think I remember (although I could be wrong) is that they provide the brackets for the lights in case you do not already have brackets on the car. Maybe thats the problem? Are you trying to use an extra set of brackets that aren't necessary.

I agree, the instruction are a joke. Speaking of which, when it tells you to install the relay under the passenger side, it's not, it's just to the driver side of the A/C under the dash, just put it in the only open site.

[Samurai]

No my car only had 2 holes in the crash structure, and no way of mounting the lights without the brackets. Like the tutorial in the thread.

[waydui]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Still no luck on the wire... it looks like I am going to have to remove the clam to get to it.

Here are some pics of my install and where I found the connector. It was a real PITA!

I really hope you don't have to remove the clam. That's major!

Hope the pics help.

Regards,
Wayne

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by waydui

Here are some pics of my install and where I found the connector. It was a real PITA!

I really hope you don't have to remove the clam. That's major!

Hope the pics help.

Regards,
Wayne

I actually used those pictures, before this began. The connector is about in the same place, but my arms are too thick too reach that far in. The connector looks to be ti3ed up on one of those plastic connectors, but it is hard to tell.

[richw350]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I actually used those pictures, before this began. The connector is about in the same place, but my arms are too thick too reach that far in. The connector looks to be ti3ed up on one of those plastic connectors, but it is hard to tell.

Mine were taped just out of reach. I had to take a knife and carefully and slowly cut the tape. I could then pull the cable to me.

[waydui]

Originally Posted by richw350

Mine were taped just out of reach. I had to take a knife and carefully and slowly cut the tape. I could then pull the cable to me.

+1 for mine.

I used a mirror and a flashlight to actually find and see the connector. I then used a long X-Acto knife to slice the tape and pull out the connector.

Regards,
Wayne

[Samurai]

How many taped sections did you do? I already cut one section, but it is still hung up further in.

[richw350]

Originally Posted by Samurai

How many taped sections did you do? I already cut one section, but it is still hung up further in.

Mine had 1 piece of tape per side. It was wraped around another cable pretty tight though. It was wraped around the other cable ~3 times.

[waydui]

Originally Posted by Samurai

How many taped sections did you do? I already cut one section, but it is still hung up further in.

IIRC, I had at least 3 tape sections. Each piece of tape was 6-8 inches long.

They clearly did not want this thing to come loose in the course of driving the car!

Regards,
Wayne

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I looked at the mounting brackets and I do not see how the lights mount to them. Are they different (right\left)? Is there a spacers that need to be installed between the brackets and the car?

Get some kid with smaller arms to reach in there. One of mine pulled free, the other required the unwrapping of some tape.

As for the brackets, the mounting bracket that comes on the lights must be removed, and replaced with the one supplied by Lotus. This bracket mounts to the bracket that's attached to the clam. Early cars didn't have this bracket attached, and, in my case, I had to mount the bracket that came with the kit. The photos in the beginning of this thread should show the proper brackets...

[Samurai]

I took the light bracket off the lights and attached the new ones. My car did not have the brackets attached to the car either, so I attached them too. I then went to put the two brackets together and the crash structure will not allow the holes to match up. I can get the out holes, light side, to line up though I can get the bolt in. The other, towards the center of the car, has a piece of the crash structure in the way. The welded on nut will not allow it to slide up into position.

I may have to wait until July to install these...

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I took the light bracket off the lights and attached the new ones. My car did not have the brackets attached to the car either, so I attached them too. I then went to put the two brackets together and the crash structure will not allow the holes to match up. I can get the out holes, light side, to line up though I can get the bolt in. The other, towards the center of the car, has a piece of the crash structure in the way. The welded on nut will not allow it to slide up into position.

Do you have things assembled like in the photo in this post: http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/show...66&postcount=5 ?

The bracket on the light is mounted with the nuts to the rear. The bracket on the crash structure hangs down so that you slide the light bracket up behind, and insert the screws from the front.

If you are hitting the crash structure, you might want to loosen the bracket mounted to the crash structure, let it drop down lower and then tighten it in place. That should allow the light bracket to clear the structure.

[ZAMMY1]

at this point i notice that my brackets are mounted, i've released the two sockets so they can hang down the front. (i have the front clam off....that's another story)
where do the two cable/sockets go, will it be obvious when fitting the clam back on the car?
there must some space where people can thread the cables down with the clam on.
thanks, sam

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by ZAMMY1

at this point i notice that my brackets are mounted, i've released the two sockets so they can hang down the front. (i have the front clam off....that's another story)
where do the two cable/sockets go, will it be obvious when fitting the clam back on the car?
there must some space where people can thread the cables down with the clam on.
thanks, sam

There is maybe an inch of clearance between the clam and the crash structure. The wires are routed across the top of the crash structure, and just drop down and plug into the driving lights. I think I just pushed any excess wire back up between the clam and crash structure, but it's been a couple of years so I don't remember that detail.

[Roger]

I finally got round to installing mine yesterday, but not without some bad words, despite the excellent advice in this thread.
The first problem was getting the connectors out. The passenger's side was easy, but the driver's side connector was well inside the clam, and had hung up on something. I got all the tape off, then wiggled and jiggled and cussed, then jiggled and swore some more and it finally came free.
Installing the relay and switch was easy - mine's a later '05 with the switch wiring in place, but mounting the lights was also a pain. I'm not sure if the crash-structure brackets, which are pre-installed, are mouted a fraction high, or if the clam sits a bit low, but there was no way my thinnest, spindliest 4mm nut driver would pass between clam and light, particularly to access the outer screws.
However, I could make clearance by pressing the lip of the clam up, and then by good fortune I pushed up underneath the bottom of the clam (the bit that grounds on high kerbs) and space appeared.
At this point, though, I was running out of hands. One held the light, another the nut-driver, and I needed a third to lift the clam to give clearance. With much trepidation and extreme caution I slid my trolley jack under the clam, with a bit of 5/8" plywood to spread the load, and gently jacked up the clam about 1/8 to 3/16" - just enough to get the screws in and tightened. There was enough "give" to allow me to do that, and when I lowered the jack, all was well.
Thanks again Tim, Randy & Co!

[drstvk]

Hey Roger and anyone else,

Are these lights still available. I've always wanted to install a set on my early 05, but haven't seen them for sale anywhere. I could always call one of the dealers, but anyone know if they are available online anywhere?

Thanks

And thanks for the info on the install. I'm not sure if I have the balls to jack up my clam.

Steve

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by drstvk

Hey Roger and anyone else,

Are these lights still available. I've always wanted to install a set on my early 05, but haven't seen them for sale anywhere. I could always call one of the dealers, but anyone know if they are available online anywhere?

Thanks

And thanks for the info on the install. I'm not sure if I have the balls to jack up my clam.

Steve

Available through the dealers or eBay only AFAIK. I got mine at a great price from John at Fox Valley Motor Cars.

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by drstvk

And thanks for the info on the install. I'm not sure if I have the balls to jack up my clam.

Hopefully, you won't need to jack up your clam - I didn't need to.

If you have a very early (i.e. non-"pre-wired") car, then you probably don't have the mounting nuts pre-installed either (again, I didn't). In that case, you have to use a bolt and nut as described in the beginning of this thread. Later car were supposed to have the "nut-zerts" already installed in the crash structure to make it easier.