I recently purchased a NOS Weathershield brand of the soft top sunroof correctly sized for the Plus 2. They also supplied for the Elan Coupe in a smaller size. The Weathershield was the Lotus Canada available product when the cars were new; understand was a different supplier in other markets. From looking around the 'net, apparently the Weathershield was also known as variously the Britax, Sunway and Sunway II.
Donât have the Weathershield Elan and Plus 2 call-up sizes handy right now, but from my notes the Plus 2 uses 22" X 30" in Weathershield brand; sorry canât remember if this is the roof size or the hole size. The soft cover lips over the roof by about 1" to 2" each side/end I think to prevent any rain water getting into the rail area.
Looking above at the posted Webasto dimensions for Elan FHC and Plus 2, bit curious Plus 2 appears narrower than FHC, so a bit of checking seems in order? I remember when I was reviewing available products that the Weathershield seemed smaller that the Webastoâs I saw on 'net photoâs, but looks like it will be OK for me (wonât be using the back seats anyway). I suspect you can use a variety of sizes (within reason) if you are getting from a donor car. Thinking critical issue is to make sure the sides of the roof panel do not extend to the curved portion on the roof sides, or I expect it would leak. From memory, the instructions call up setting the front edge of the cutout ~9 1/2" back from the leading edge of the roof; might help selecting in length of donor car roof.
Weathershield appears to be very similar to the Webasto, but I have not compared them side by side. The seller included the installation manual, maintenance manual, some vintage sales material, and a magazine article detailing installation in a 60âs style âBoogie Vanâ, which is kinda funny.
I have not installed it yet. The kit and literature is with the body tech now. If this material would be of help, perhaps I could retrieve it from the body shop and scan it. PM if this is wanted, but would take me a few weeks to get done. Maybe some of the install recommendations will help you scope the job out a bit.
Edited post to add this link, which has some install manuals on it:
slidingragtops.com/1.html?sm=70991
The Weathershield kit includes two steel flat stiffeners that are to be installed at the front and rear frames. The front one is pre-notched to line up correctly with the front latch mechanism; the notch is actually placed slightly off centre, and appears to be a pretty critical dimension. The stiffeners are to be attached to the sides of the roof structure at the door opening area, running side to side and attached to the front and rear of the sunroof frame using supplied fasteners. The stiffeners are flat band steel, and are thin enough to easily form to the side to side roof curvature and rest on the door frame.
The examples in the instruction package assume a steel door frame, which makes attachment of the lateral stiffeners pretty straight forward with screws. For the Plus 2, we figure the stiffeners can be glassed in place to the Plus 2 roof structure and door frame.
Figure it will all be stiffer than stock when buttoned up, as the assembled sunroof frame is made up from a set of four very robust extrusions, with the front and back attached to the lateral stiffeners. Without the lateral stiffeners installed and attached to the door frame I could easily see cracking issues because of the added weight of the sunroof assembly (15 lb at a guess?). Curious if folks have similar stiffeners in their Webasto installs; might be good to add if not included in the kit or donor car.
My roof (without the sunroof) presently has extensive cracking across the entire roof panel, so I am kinda winning a bit by cutting out the roof. They were going to be a lot of work to repair correctly.
Anyway, if you notice this type of lateral stiffener in the donor car, suggest taking measurements to note offset from centre line of the front rail notch, and consider removing them for sizing or re-use on your install.
If your donor car has a relatively flat roof think it best. Appears the side rails have to be formed by the installer to the slight front to back roof curvature on the Plus 2; they are straight as supplied new. Figure best if used ones have had very little or no manipulation for installation in the donor car. MGB-GT strikes me as a great donor candidate. Unfortunately I donât have the Weathershield sizing call-up handy, which is by brand/model of car, and might provide some donor car suggestions. Forming of the side rails appears to be critical to prevent leaks. The rails are quite stiff as they act as the slide track for the roof panel.
When you remove the roof assembly from the donor car, recommend taking very exact measurements of the existing cutout. My supplier was able to provide me with a paper tracing of his metal cutting template, so we expect to not have a big issue getting the correct hole size. I believe this is a very critical measurement to the overall strength of the roof, leaking, etc. Our plan is to cut and gradually grind to fit to get it right. Issue is if hole is too small the roof will bind, to big and the roof will cock sideways in the slides and bind. Front to back dimension obviously important for latch to work correctly. They really stress these points in the instructions, and include adjustment instructions in maintenance manual, so expect this is a common problem.
Seal material for the sunroof frame appears to be self adhesive rubber. Should be easy to find a substitute and trim to fit. Donât have instructions in front of me, but mentioned using âdumdumâ as a sealing product at rails as well. Assume this is some sort of elastomer filler/sealer?
I purchased new pre-sewn headliner material from Susan Miller. You need to specify the number of rods in your headliner to order. Took a while to supply as she probably sends out for sewing. She also has the material by the yard. One needs to specify Lodestar or the perforated material. Note that if your liner is in OK shape you are probably way ahead of the game, and might be able to trim to fit the sunroof opening without removing it. This is an important consideration because the front and rear glass have to be removed to properly install new headliner material, so great if you can avoid this step! Not sure how this would work if the lateral stiffeners are being installed; might be able to drop the headliner sufficiently without taking the front and rear glass out.
I have had to remove the headliner completely, and note that the fuel vent lines and their body grommets were in terrible shape and need replacement. Maybe this is causing the fuel odor problem mentioned above?
The pre-sewn headliner might not be the best way to go; I had ordered prior to the sunroof idea. Stock headliner installs with side to side rods, sort of like an old covered wagon from cowboy movies. We think these rods will need to be cut and attached to the sunroof side rails, and finessed into place. This is how it is recommended in the instructions, but specific attachment method will have to be figured out when we do the job.
It might be easier to just get the loose headliner material, trim to fit, and figure out a different attachment method along the sides. I have plenty of loose Lodestar, so we are going to play this part by ear.
Was thinking that changing the inner sunroof liner to Lodestar would be a cool look, but as my roof kit is new I am not going to bother. This looks doable if your donor roof is stained or whatever, but some sewing by a trimmer would probably be required as it fits with rods in sewn pockets.
I had one of these roofs âback in the dayâ on an Alfa Berlina; large roof opening with essentially flat steel roof. I had no leakage problems in eight years of ownership, daily driver in all kinds of Canadian winter and summer weather. When I had it installed in the '70âs at a trained glass shop it was done easily in one afternoon, so not all that bad I guess if one knows the tricks. Long time ago, but ~$400 comes to mind. Allowing for inflation, etc., seems like current pricing is similar but still admittedly pretty spendy.
The gentleman I bought the Weathershield kit from used to be the Canadian distributor. Retired now, pieced the kit together with stuff he still had (assures me this is the last one he can put together). He trained all the installers across Canada. He says with the instructions it can be done by owner, but the first time takes a while and to be patient. Highly recommended finding someone who has done it before if you are getting installation done; this is not an option for me so I guess we will see how it goes.
Will post when we have done the job, hopefully early summer. Will try to take some progress photos as well.
HTH