Accessory Questions / Soft-Top Maintainance

[Ikemi]

Just a couple of quick questions, as it is late and I have work in the morning ... I'm never going to get up at 6:30am at this rate!

1) Does anyone know any places that stock the carbon fibre trim pieces that replace the plastic that surrounds the light controls, the heater controls and the large cover left of the headunit? Also I believe there are carbon fibre inner door panels as well. I'm sure either Eliseparts.com or Bell & Colville had them advertised on their websites, but no more! Also, are there any places that do the footwell mats for less that B&C?

2) I don't suppose anyone could give me advice on maintaining a soft top so that it looks nice all year round. At the moment the stitching is coming apart in several places. I'm hoping that a trimmer can repair the roof for me, seeing as Lotus would want it for 2-4 weeks. 2-4 weeks without a roof is not good! However the plastic lining inside is also broken, so I can see it happening again! So I'm on the lookout for a new soft top on eBay ...

However!!!

This is the first time I've owned a car with a soft top ... Are there any products or methods I should use to keep the soft top clean and looking new? Also, when taking the roof off and storing it in the S1 boot, do you fold yours up neatly? I stuff mine in at the moment, but that is due to the fact it is broken already.

Cheers! I'm off to bed

[Saied]

Ikemi said:

This is the first time I've owned a car with a soft top ... Are there any products or methods I should use to keep the soft top clean and looking new?

I bought one of the Autoglym cabriolet care packs from Hellfrauds, cost around £20. Two bottles, one a cleaner which is applied with the supplied sponge then rinsed off. The second bottle is the preservative, sprayed on once the fabric is clean and dry, paying particular attention to the seams.

Having no garage, my baby is parked outside all the time and has been pooed on quite a few times by the local bird population. The hood always comes up looking a treat, though. Rainwater bobbles nicely on the surface too, suggesting the product is doing a good job of forming a barrier against the elements.

Ikemi said:

Cheers! I'm off to bed

Git! I'm still at work until 7am.

[S Works]

1) Tried elise-shop.com?

2) As above, the Autoglym stuff is good for cleaning and water-proofing, but by the sounds of it, you're running out of options on the fixing business. Do you have a chandlers near you by any chance? They may be able to assist with the stitching, if they have experience with mending sails and covers for boats.

[jb111s]

Use renovo soft top restorer, you can get it on ebay for about 20 quid a bottle, plus protector for an extra tenner. Used it on mine, it basically repaints the roof black. Mine no longer has any white wear marks & looks as good as new again, jet black.

[Ikemi]

S Works said:

1) Tried elise-shop.com?

Unfortunately I have and they stock none of the parts I'm after ... Hangar111 had some replacement mats, which are a slightly different design, but similar price to B&C. So I'll just order some from B&C However still no mention of interior carbon trim! I've found some carbon-effect door cards on eBay, but I'm still looking for carbon-effect lighting control surround, heater control surround and the blanking plate to the left of the headunit. Might have to be eBay for all of them.

I just saw a silver S1 similar to mine with these additions at the Weston-Super-Mare Lotus meet and it looked really nice! I don't want to go overboard and kit everything else in carbon though

Thanks for the advice on the soft top products - I'll pop down to my local Halfrauds tomorrow and get some