The problem

I can’t remember how long my driving light has been broken.  I suspect it is nearly the whole life of the car.  It does not affect the MOT and garages say that the front clamshell needs removing to replace it, so my thinking never got further than a heavy sigh.

A little while ago I got so cross with my losse engine cover that I started searching the web for a solution.  I soon found one and surprised myself by fixing it pretty quickly.  Thanks to the lovely people at SELOC who had compiled instructions from their experiences I had very clear outline of what to do.

First steps

My only issue was at the start.  On the Elise S1 there are plastic screws holding on the grill.  I have spares that I have gathered over the years so cut the heads off mine using a Stanley knife.  Both (and I was forewarned after the first one) shot in to the undertray.  At least I assume that they did because I could not find them anywhere.  I guess they will kick around for ever like the Maglite torch that some engineer dropped when it was being manufactured and was pulled out years later.  The clunk-clunk-clunk as I went round corners had mystified me for some time.

Double check you remove the right lug.

After getting the grill off, it was plain sailing.  I snipped off the upper outer lug with pincers, and used the same tool to break off the screws in the other lugs.  I assume that they are for a later model Elise, which is no doubt easier to work with.  I checked and checked again that it was the correct lug.  I imagine it comes off to make it easier to put the new one through the hole. The only step I took issue with on the guide was to put Vaseline on right at the start.  It got in the way  and I kept smearing it around (which annoyed me) so I wiped it off and added it at the last minute.

This *just* fit the bolt, which came in useful later.

I cut the slot for the nylon screw using a junior hacksaw.  It was a perfect fit after a little filing.  This helped when fitting it over the screw later since it was fiddly and it helped me that the light could hold itself in place whilst I changed grip.  I was replacing the springs with stainless steel ones.  The springs are stiff enough that compressing them with a screwdriver is not that easy.

I found it easy to replace at its full length

The guide says that you need to cut down the lower outer screw to fit it.  I had no problem getting it in at its full length and also found that once it was in place I could turn it with a long thin screwdriver even when the light was fitted.  The red tape was to protect the paint from the screwdriver when the screw was far out.  Not that the paint is in its first flush of youth after 14 years.  The bulb in the old light appeared to be dead so I replaced it with the new one, but that didn’t work either.  Luckily a magic wiggle of the lead seemed to sort it out.  I hope it lasts.

In this photo it looks a bit wonky, but it is fine.  Happy days.

I fitted plastic covers to the lights which will hopefully prevent another broken light.  I rather regret buying the full fitting kit because I could not face taking out the other light just to replace some springs.  I had no idea what the washers were for either.  I am very happy to finally have the car looking its proper self again. A big thank you to the people at SELOC for their time to make the guide.  They said it would take an hour if you took it slowly and this is exactly how long it took me.