Wheel arches: liners, rusted fixings, tyre rubbing and extensions

The short version

• Front liners were still orderable in 2017, but the price had gone up a lot. Owners also found second-hand ones, with difficulty.
• Owners said a badly holed liner is not worth repairing. Small holes were patched or melted together.
• Rusted-in liner screws are common. Owners cut or ground the heads off and refitted with well nuts or jack nuts, stainless bolts and copper grease.
• A tyre that seems to rub is often a sagging liner, a wide tyre, alignment settings or tired shocks, so check those first.

Finding a replacement liner

• In 2017 an owner had spent 18 months looking for a second-hand front liner and not found one. He asked whether Lotus Elise liners would fit and the thread did not answer that. A dealer said new fronts could still be ordered (see Parts above). Another member sorted him out with a second-hand one.
• In 2020 an owner with a 12 by 6 inch hole in a front liner was told it was not economically viable to repair. One owner said he threw his away and was lucky to buy replacements, which he said are rare and expensive. Another owner pointed him to members who sell used parts, and said someone in the Facebook group was making composite liners.

Patching a damaged liner

• An owner suggested buying MGF liners and cutting them up to patch, or using any old arch liner as the donor.
• Another had patched and pop-riveted his.
• A third said that for small holes, melting the plastic together with an old soldering iron had worked on a few of his.

Rusted-in liner screws

In 2011 an owner could not remove the rear nearside liner because the screws were rusted in and penetrating spray did not help. What the others said:

1. Cut or grind the heads off. Two owners suggested a Dremel or an angle grinder. One who used a grinder said to spray the screw with water now and then, or the heat melts through the liner. He would now use big-head fasteners instead.
2. Or grip the screw. One owner got his out with locking pliers clamped on very tight and turned them. The inside of the bolt just rounded off when he tried it normally. Another suggested a small "super wrench" type extractor.
3. Get the remains out. One owner who had done it said the metal fixings ("scrivets") are probably rusted into the fibreglass. Tapping what is left of the screw into the bodywork loosens the fixing, and it can then be waggled out. He recalled that on the front, the only bolts are the rear ones, and the front three are plastic. That was from memory, so check your own car.
4. Refit with something that won't seize. Owners used:
   • M5 well nuts (the rubber-bodied expanding type), covered in copper grease. One said they work very well in the enlarged holes left after the rust and crumbling fibreglass are cleared out, and that full kits are sold on eBay. An owner said not to build up the holes first, because the well nuts expand to fill them.
   • M5 jack nuts, fitted with the proper setting tool.
   • Rubber fixings in place of the metal ones, with stainless Allen-head bolts, stainless penny washers and copper grease.
5. Fit the well nut with the liner. An owner's tip: assemble bolt, washer and liner, then the well nut, finger tight. Push the well nut into the hole and pinch it up until it will not pull out. It stops the well nut dropping into the sill.

One owner suggested cutting round the plastic with a knife to free the liner and gluing it back afterwards. The owner who recommended well nuts also said to use copper grease because of dissimilar metals.

Tyre rubbing the arch

In 2008 an owner fitted 7J by 16 inch ET20 wheels with 205/50/16 tyres on the front. They rubbed in hard cornering and through dips, though the same wheels had not rubbed with rear-size wheels on the front. What other owners said:

• Tyre size. One said 205s rub where 195s would not. Another worked out that a 205/50 is about 10 mm bigger in diameter than a 195/50. Other owners ran 205/50s on fronts with no problem, and one with 205/45s on ET26 wheels said they touched slightly on the inner arch at full lock.
• Offset. An owner with the same set-up said ET20 gave 6 mm more clearance per side than ET26 and a 12 mm wider front track, and enough clearance for a 205/50 Kumho on the inside. He warned that 205/50 tyres from different makers vary a lot in width and rolling radius, which also matters for the ABS, so check the maker's figures.
• Liner sag. The same owner said you should not rub the liner at the top, and if you do, check whether the liner has sagged. Another said his 205/50s were fine except on reverse full lock, where they caught very saggy liners.
• Shocks, bushes and pressures. Other owners asked about tyre pressures, the condition of the shocks and anti-roll bar bushes (worn parts increase roll), and corner weights. The owner with the problem said his shocks rattled a bit.
• Alignment. Aggressive negative camber was mentioned as a cause, as one owner had trouble on the inside of the rears with too much. The owner had his settings reset towards standard and still thought the handling was sloppy afterwards. The owner asked what the standard settings are. The figures are on Wheel alignment.
• Mud and debris. Dirt picked up by the tyre and scouring the liner can look like rubbing. Look for real rub marks with the wheel off before changing anything.
• Heat gun. Another owner said someone had suggested softening the liner with a hot air gun and reshaping it slightly. He had not tried it, and nobody in the thread said they had.

Sizes and wheel choices are on Road tyre sizes and choices.

Arch protectors

In 2006 an owner fitted a set of arch protectors bought from another member. He said they probably protect a little, but he mainly fitted them because they finish the arch and are on the Lotus cars. They weigh very little and took 15 minutes to fit. Another owner asked whether they were the Lotus ones with different hole positions. The thread did not answer that and the photos did not survive.

Arch extensions

In 2014 an owner wanted wider wheels and asked who could make fibreglass arches that look factory. The thread turned into a debate about looks. What was useful:

• One owner said any fibreglass body shop could make them. Another suggested a firm that had built arches on a drift car.
• Opinions were split between bolt-on arches (visible screw holes) and moulded, blended ones. One owner with the bolt-on kind said he preferred them because blended arches remind him of cracked filler and bad paint. Others said the bolt-on holes look unfinished, and that blending is a lot of work. A set that had been painted was said to look much better.
• One owner said he already ran 265 tyres at the rear and would stay with that. Another asked how wide the owner was thinking of going. A third warned that changing a staggered factory wheel set-up and offsets that much needs thought.
• One owner with a similar bolt-on set, fitted to another car, said they cover 295/30R18 rears well.