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Spiderising the Elise

(S1 model only)

One of the great feature of the Elise is to remove that rear window and have a fully opened converted car, with the exception of the permanent roll bar of course. But as most people realise, you cannot take the rear window with you which deters most people, or can you?

The opening to the boot is around only 2 inches to small to slide the window inside, Lotus have widened it on the MK II but the rear window is no longer removable. After a little bit of experimentation I realised that it is indeed possible to take the window with you, but before we go into that I must ask that you read these warnings first and mention that I do not recommend doing this, and if you do, damage or loss is in no way my responsibility, you do this procedure at your own risk.

Warnings :

There may be some safety implications with having the window where it will be stored, though it's normally behind your head, it is in a secure place, the storage place is not secure without any additional brackets added.
Again without additional brackets the window can slip and break or it can also rest on the Alarm sensor and break that off, so be careful there.

Now that's out the way, here we go. Starting with the top image and working our way down.

Craig Diment, January 2001

Remove the roof as normal and store in the boot.

Remove any large objects from the net area and pull the drivers seat as far forward as possible using the adjuster.

Undo the rear window roof locks on either side. They click downwards then outwards.

Hold the rear window in place while you remove the roll bar body cover. Be careful the window does not stick inside the cover as it can slip out and break. Also take care of the rubber seals around the edges of the window.

Find a suitable thick soft covering for the window such as a towel (preferably with the Welsh flag on it!). Place the covering out flat on a suitable surface and remove the rear window very carefully from the car, again watching the rubber seals and being carefully not to drop it! Place in the covering and wrap it around the glass to protect the surface.

Open the drivers side door then carry the rear window being careful that it does not slip out of the covering. Slide the window in-between the rear of the drivers seat and the netting with the rounded edges of the window facing upwards and at a shallow angle. WATCH OUT FOR THE DOOR LOCK PIN, this is to the right of the star symbol in the picture. This could easily break or scratch the window. You should direct the window towards the gap behind the passenger seat and keep the whole window while sliding in, very low, as you can see in the picture. The window can go in two places, one, directly in front of the netting where it fits perfectly but there is nothing to support it and it could drop out while driving. This is where some kind of bracket system needs to be fixed in place to support the window. This is for you to work out. It can also go at an angle with the window down at the drivers side and up on the passengers side. But this rests on the alarm sensor and could break it.

Hold the window in place and slowly move the drivers seat into place, readjusting for driving later on when you are in the car. Be aware that when you adjust for driving, if the window has not been clipped in some how it could slip.

Replace the roll bar body cover, re-lock the catches and away you go.

Just be warned, this is not a full solution yet!