Drill, rain and the on going saga.....

[Chris49]

For a change my car has leaked like hell, there is some much water in her that the foot wells are now puddles, I have lost 2 reports to the tune of 20 hours of work, my ipod is drowned and now not working, a book, and a flooded head unit.

SOOOOOO hacked off, so heres my question has anyone drilled into the footwells to provide drainage (has anyone had a problem half this bad?)

Thanks to Martyn for offering to help me try and correct the windows this weekend, but sadly if this fails there will be an S1 Type 49 for sale in the classifieds soon, seriously I'm that sick of this and I want my old car back, its turning into the least enjoyable experience I've ever had.

I could actually cry right now, but I've got to work through the night to replace my work.....

[ara2312]

Sorry to hear bout this mate - not a lot I can say to help, luckily mine isn't that bad (although im yet to see if im driving a swimming pool home tonight). Have you got a shower cap to throw across as a short term fix?

[MiniDiva]

piooly is the king of leaky S1 roof issues...so I hear!

[Chris49]

I will get a shower cape if I decide to keep her, but its the principle that it just shouldn't leak this badly. I've heard Pooily is pretty handy might Pm him.

[Gooby]

The trouble with drilling holes in the floor, it will also let water in. Piooly used to manufacture a seal kit that was ment to be very good, very reliable and best of all cheap.

[S Works]

Sticking a showercap over the top of it when the rain's really bad will keep the worst out. Any idea where it's coming in from?

[Chris49]

It has to be form one of the corners in the window but I just can't figure out where, judging by the drips I'm thinking the front.

[S Works]

Common problem when it's really pissing it down hard Chris. The showercap will solve it (when stationary) because it just stops the rain getting in at the front corners. I know how frustrating it can be, but you can sort it. Adjusting the windows 'might' work, but it really depends on how good the roof fit is to start with.

[Chris49]

It just seem everytime it even showers my car suffers heavily, I know I sound like a whining kid but its my baby and I'm mortified thats its not the dream to own that I thought it would be for all those years.

[Ikemi]

Sorry to hear that Chris ... Not good! I believe the S2 Elise does not suffer from a leaking roof, or at least not as much as the S1! So if the worse case scenario happens and you do decide to sell your Type 49, you could always opt for a S2 Type 49 and remain in Lotus ownership!

I haven't had many problems with mine, which is amazing, as there is a large hole forming in the top front of my canvas where the stitching is coming apart. Therefore I'm either thinking about having the roof refurbished or purchasing another one second hand! I'm also thinking of purchasing a hard top second hand (Most sell for £500-600 on eBay) ready for the winter months!

Your best bet in future is to keep a towel in the boot of your car ... and keep all your expensive/important possessions in the boot too! This is what I do - It's the only place guaranteed to stay dry

Edited by Ikemi on Wednesday 15th August 00:14

[fleetelise]

I do not think that the hard top offers much more water-tightness than the soft top, it will still leak in the corners.

Ikemi - I read your other thread about having your soft top refurbed. If it's any consolation I looked at a lot of S1s when looking for mine and they all had the cracks in the plastic strip same as yours (in fact the one I bought has the same). The only one that had a perfect plastic strip on the roof turned out to be a Cat D write-off!!

Stopping the leaks at the corners of the roof is matter of making sure the roof is dead centre when fitted, making sure the windows are up as far as you can get them...and hoping! I'm sure I read a thread, either here or on SELOC where people had made little mods to their roof to stop the corner leak. It boils down to sewing a little extra flap onto the two corners so that it hangs down over the window - only a small flap, a non-Elise person probably wouldn't even realise it was there. Another thing people do is to put a little rubber strip over the front corners of their windows to create a seal.

I've done a search and found this by Lotus-Max of the SELOC forums, but there are loads more threads on this subject.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/maximillian.allen/1.j...
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/maximillian.allen/2.j...


Good luck, I think I will have this battle over the winter.

[DsDetective]

My S1 type 49 never leaked a drop until the window broke when it froze in Winter. They "fixed" the window, but ever since then it leaked like a siv. I ended up selling it and getting a 111R which never leaked even in the worst thunder storms.

I hope your 49 isn't the one I used to have... It was still my all time fav car though (when it was dry, warm, and the throttle wasn't sticking!)

[Chris49]

My throttle has only just stopped sticking thanks to a new alloy throttle body!

It isn't V** DVG by any chance?

[DsDetective]

Mine was a W, so I don't have to feel guilty!