Hard Top Owners... Need Help NOW! Identify this part please...

[doma]

Hi,
I ordered a new (removed from a newly delivered car) hardtop from a dealer after bidding on it on ebay. I received the box today and to my horror it arrived partially opened. Seems to be a very poor tape job. It looks like I'm missing a piece ... but maybe not! There's a piece with three bolts in it, that was included. There's four screws for the for corners and the two metal brackets and the two little eyes with pegs. Plus the tool.

(Incidently, one of the bolts is heavily damaged and its screw stripped ... making the roof unable to be fastened ... but that's another matter for another post and I have yet to discuss it with the dealer having just opened the box tonight. It appears the bolt was destroyed when the roof was attempted to be removed from the car. Post on that later.)

What I need your help with is ... what goes here? (see pic below) On the reverse side of the roof from the three bolt holes there are two bolt holes spaced about 6 inches apart. Is something supposed to go there? Am I missing a piece?

Thing is ... I read my owners manual and I don't see any steps regarding this piece.

Hard top owners ... please let me know if I'm missing a piece or if those bolt holes in the roof are supposed to be left unused!

thanks-
-dominic

[Baysailor]

That is where the rear center brace goes. It was added to the roof on newer cars to correct the bulging that was happening on some roof panels. It should have been included.

See this post for a picture of it:
http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/show...6&postcount=13

[smicker]

The newer hardtops have a piece that fastens there to (I think) keep the roof from bowing upwards. I have an early '06 that doesn't have this modification so I don't know what the actual piece looks like.

--Paul

[JMY]

There's another piece that covers those 3 bolts after the hardtop is secured to the car. It looks like a long piece of cardboard covered with the roof felt material. Its there just for looks and to keep your head from scraping against the bare metal.

There also should be some small felt pads with velcro behind them that cover the rear bolts on the hardtop.

Edit: I am wrong... you say you have the piece with the 3 bolts, doh!

[doma]

Hi -
Okay, this roof is for a my 2005 elise (# 0038 ... one of the first yellow cars in the US so very early). From what I'm hearing ... it's not needed on my car? Is that correct?

Edit: more exactly, I mean to ask, if this roof was also from a 2005 car would you expect the part to not be included?

thanks!-
-dom

[Gizmo3000]

Originally Posted by doma

Hi -
Okay, this roof is for a my 2005 elise (# 0038 ... one of the first yellow cars in the US so very early). From what I'm hearing ... it's not needed on my car? Is that correct?

Edit: more exactly, I mean to ask, if this roof was also from a 2005 car would you expect the part to not be included?

thanks!-
-dom

if it's got those threads, then it must be a roof from a newer model
how could an 05 roof have them??? (mine sure doesn't!)

I'd hit the seller up for it. - since it's a fix that was corrected from 05 and 06 models.

Plus if you ever choose to sell it to someone in the future, you'll have the part!

[doma]

Okay. Thanks for the info guys! I'm hopeful the dealer will make it right. The box arrived partially opened so I'm worried this piece might have falled out during shipping.

-dom

[raggedy1]

Hey Dom, mind if I ask what you paid for the top???

[uclacyc]

Dude, I think that I saw you with the soft top.

Nice color.

Also, for those (like me) that don't have these two holes and have the bulging mentioned in the Made a bracket to fix the roof bulge thread, this is a mod that is covered by warranty and will be done by the dealer. The dealer needs to order the drilling template from Lotus, and they need to ship it back the same day, so you have to coordinate the schedule with Service pretty accurately.

There used to be one drilling template at each Lotus dealerships, but after the dealerships ruined too many hard tops by drilling the holes through the top, Lotus is very cautious about sending these out.

[doma]

Ugh, Randy, get yourself a new server. These 1am ET lags are killing me.


Nope uclacyc, I've got a Saffron Yellow (no solar yellow offered in 05 I think) and was nowhere near Bear creek road on Saturday. Sorry!

Andy: No need to ask ... check the ebay auction itself (there are no secrets in the digital world): Ebay Link to auction

[uclacyc]

That's too bad.

Btw, those two rectangular pieces with the Velcro, that your thumb is pointing to in the picture, are kind of weird to put on. You don't want to try to slide it on. You want to push the Velcro hooks hard against the fuzz. They lock better that way. Otherwise, when you drive along, you will hear things falling.

[doma]

Yeay! The remote dealer is mailing me out a replacement bolt for the one that's chewed up. As for the missing piece I asked you all about above... turns out it was not included in the sale (aparently it comes with the car, not the roof (??)) and so did not fall out of the box during transit.

I'm gonna need the bad corner bolt cut, drilled out, then the threads retapped. Anyone know what that might cost me? Ballpark? Are we talking 10s or 100s? Should I ask a local dealer to do it, or a machine shop?

thanks-
-dom

[Baysailor]

Originally Posted by doma

Yeay! The remote dealer is mailing me out a replacement bolt for the one that's chewed up. As for the missing piece I asked you all about above... turns out it was not included in the sale (aparently it comes with the car, not the roof (??)) and so did not fall out of the box during transit.

I'm gonna need the bad corner bolt cut, drilled out, then the threads retapped. Anyone know what that might cost me? Ballpark? Are we talking 10s or 100s? Should I ask a local dealer to do it, or a machine shop?

thanks-
-dom

That is a bunch of bull... the back center piece comes with the top. There is absolutely no use for it in the car without a hardtop. That being said, there are plenty of us running around with the older version top that had no rear bracket at all and have no problems.

Is it a front corner thread that is damaged or the one into the metal bracket in the rear? If it is the front, you could try using a Helicoil insert. They work very well and you could do it yourself.

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by Baysailor

That is a bunch of bull... the back center piece comes with the top. There is absolutely no use for it in the car without a hardtop.

+1. Get your bracket. It does not come with the car. Comes with the hard top only. If you have any trouble getting the bracket from the dealer that sold the top to you, PM me the contact information for the dealer and I will take care of it for you.

With the hardtop you should have 4 other pieces. 1 and 2: two velcro attached pieces that cover the rear side metal brackets. 3: long cover for the front with bolts in it already that attach into the front three holes. 4: the rear bracket that like the front piece has bolts in it (2 of them) already to screw into the rear holes to keep the buldge down. It is somewhat of an L shaped bracket that hooks onto the undersurface of the roll hoop and screws into the rear of the hardtop.

[Baysailor]

On another note... I notice your car is Saffron Yellow. Is this top Saffron or Solar yellow? Being a new style top with the rear center holes, I would think it would be Solar Yellow (Solar Yellow has very small metallic flake in it).

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by doma

I'm gonna need the bad corner bolt cut, drilled out, then the threads retapped. Anyone know what that might cost me? Ballpark? Are we talking 10s or 100s? Should I ask a local dealer to do it, or a machine shop?

thanks-
-dom

Personally I think you should ship it back to the seller unless this was advertised to you as a "not new" item. You shouldn't have to pay to get this fixed as they sent you a bad piece.

[doma]

Originally Posted by RoadDad

Personally I think you should ship it back to the seller unless this was advertised to you as a "not new" item. You shouldn't have to pay to get this fixed as they sent you a bad piece.

That's not an option because there's no time left - my track day at Thunderhill (with a club that requires a hard top on Elise's) is comming up. The dealer has contacted me again and is sending me the missing piece along with a new bolt. Only question now is where to get it repaired. SVAG? Boardwalk? Misc Machine Shop?

thanks-
-dom

[doma]

Originally Posted by RoadDad

Personally I think you should ship it back to the seller unless this was advertised to you as a "not new" item. You shouldn't have to pay to get this fixed as they sent you a bad piece.

The top is an SY. I've confirmed that it matches my car. And, oddly, it has the bolt holes.