Reproduction crash pad

[inxs]

I purchased a reproduction crash pad from the Elan Factory some years back, this is a fibre glass reproduction to suit an elan +2.

I am having great difficulty in making this fit and I am at the stage of some major surgery on it to get it to fit. The other option I was looking was getting the "Banks" crash pad for the europa.

Has any one had experience in fitting these or perhaps know of other suppliers?

Thanks in advance,

Darren
Adelaide Australia 50/ 0100

[bengalcharlie]

Had the same bad experience with my fibreglass repro dash pad I bought in the uk from one of the reputable lotus suppliers. I had to add some glass because the fitting was appauling. Same story with the stainless steel headers. Spent days trying to fit these till I was convinced the B..y headers were wrongly shaped and in the end I just threw them away.
I do not want to offend anyone but my experience with aftermarket parts coming from the UK are useless.
I have to admit this was in the mid- nineties so things might have improved although I would doubt it.
On the other end I do find repro parts from the USA very good i.e the cv conversion.
You would think that after more than 40 years after the plus two was launched people would get it right!!!
cheers
Robin

[Elanintheforest]

I have to agree with you Robin, the repro bits are generally rubbish. I've restored Healeys, E Types and Elans over the past 20 years, and it's the same story with all of them...get original parts where you can and refurbish.

Original crash pads do come up on ebay fairly often Darren, as there are still a lot of plus 2s being broken for parts...maybe worth trying to get hold of one of those.

Mark

[Craig Elliott]

I've just fitted the Banks reproduction in my +2 - I needed to do a lot of "fettling" (i.e. trimming the edges and sanding/filing) to make it fit and getting the covering vinyl on isn't straightforward. You need to make sure you have the right glue that will withstand fairly high temperatures and also carefully apply heat to the cover to stretch it over the curves. The end result isn't too bad and certainly better than the gap that was appearing between the crashpad and the dashboard as the old one warped. I'll post some pictures when I get chance later this week.

They do an option whereby you trim the crashpad to fit and then send it back to them for covering which would make life much easier if you're not keen on grasping the upholstery nettle!

Craig

[inxs]

Thanks all,
Looks like out with the 4" angle grinder to make a few "adjustments" to the crash pad over the week end!!

Regards Darren