Body Work Progress On Elsie

[kayj_prod]

I got a chance to nip out to the body shop today to see how things are going with my car. They're making good progress and have completed the fibreglass repairs. A perfect job as far as I can see. It should be back with me within the next couple of weeks -sooner than I was expecting. I guess with this mild weather, there have been fewer people sliding into each other on ice!

 

I think I'm going to replace the decals on the back in black lettering rather than the original silver. I think it'll match my wheels and my black stone chip protectors.

 

[kayj_prod]

Funny how I commented back in January that I'd get my car back 'in a couple of weeks'. I got the base back last Friday and collected the doors today. The job looks perfect including what I thought would be the awkward cracked area around the door lock and the shoulder at the bottom of the roll bar. I've got to get a box van to collect the front and rear clams next week.

 

She is now sans rear suspension in the garage. I'm putting all the door furniture back on tonight (minus the windows as they can only back in once the doors are back on the door beams).

[Martin R]

Keith, you appear to have took to Lotus ownership with great gusto and the correct attitude. Have fun and good luck with the rebuild.

[kayj_prod]

Cheers Martin.

great gusto and the correct attitude.

Does that mean 'to prepare to spend large sums of money on her every year'?

She is going to look gorgeous when she is done though.

[Steve J]

Looks good. Don't cry at your first stonechip though.

[kayj_prod]

Just having a bit of a cold sweat moment Steve... thanks.

 

Picture of the drivers door where a lot of damage was done.

 

[Martin R]

Keith as i said, proper Lotus man with bodywork in the house. Try an Engine on that table next

[kayj_prod]

Ah, it'll be a while before I get to the stage I think I can do anything adventurous with an engine!

 

The doors have been moved up to the spare bedroom as the dining room is now taken up with my front and rear clams. I picked them up saturday morning. They look just fantastic!!! So good to not be faced with the flakey/acne ridden front and the scratched rear end. No trace of the cracks and chips from the accident.

 

 

I've got the Eliseparts number plate brackets to get rid of the horrid plastic thing. It is supplied with little plastic rivets. I'm wondering if it would be more secure with proper nuts/bolts. However, I'm in two minds if this is a good thing. If I catch the plate on something serious, maybe it is better for it to be fixed less strongly, or, if I fix the brackets securely, maybe the velcro holding my plate on would give way first anyway...?

[dobbo]

Looking good !

 

I've got the small fittings on my EP plate mount and they're been fine for ~4yrs.

[kayj_prod]

Well if they hold up for you Chris, they'll definitely be fine for me with my old granny driving.

 

Edit: By which I mean my driving style... not the age of the driver!

[kayj_prod]

I thought an update might be in order. Thanks to the weather (and a long holiday), I've been making very slow progress. Oh that and ******* wishbones and bushes. (I made a very expensive mistake here, but I'm not saying anything more about that as its embarrassing.) Anyway, all the mechanical bits are back on except for the exhaust mount rubbers which are showing signs of age- I thought it better to replace now. I even torqued the wishbone pivots while at ride height!

 

Next on the list of jobs is to finally drill out the ends of the bolts which I had to grind off from the rear clam into the alu longerons. Then I can get to putting the front and the rear clams on, get the doors mounted and the window glass in. (Not looking forward to that last job.)

 

I have to get it done by next weekend as then I'm booked up with work until July! Oh, mustn't forget the MOT and tax.

[Phil S1]

Sounds like you're going to be busy Keith, you're car will look and feel like new though when you get it back on the road. I know mine felt so much better with new bushes and ball joints....and quieter :-)

[kayj_prod]

I hope so, Phil!

Yesterday went well... Rolled the car out in to the sunshine about 10, and by 11.30 had the front clam fitted and the bonnet attached and adjusted correctly. (I'm not going to discover that it won't release fully in a weeks time- Been there, done that...) I re-fixed my new heat shield made from Nimbus as I didn't want the rivets slacking and allowing it vibrate.

 

Once that was done, I had to attack the rivnuts and bolt ends which I had had to grind the heads off all those months ago. Not an easy job. I was able to drill down the centre of the bolts for a short distance, but then the action was just enough to loosen the rivnuts grip allowing it to spin. 4 out of the 6 of these fixings in the longerons needed attention, and of course only one was at the easy end! I used a combination of mole grips, Dremel, and then further drilling to take enough of the bolt out of the top of the rivnut that it could be punched through.

 

Thanks to drizzle, I had to stop there -oily hands needed cleaning so I could go and get the white washing in too (that was a stupid thing to plan to do)! So today's first job is to fit new rivnuts, and then I hope to have the rear clam on by lunch. Then it's on to the doors and windows. I will try and take a few more photos of that stage as it seems to be an area lacking in info.

 

Fingers crossed it's a sunny day again.

[kayj_prod]

Sunday didn't go quite as planned... I had to wait ages to be able to do the noisy rivnut fitting -the downside on a Sunday of living in a very quiet village. I got on to some other bits and bobs, but it was afternoon before I started looking at re-fitting the rear clam. With the help of my neighbour, not an easy job, and I was so worried about the need to pull out the open end to clear the bonded body sections. Unfortunately, one side of the bonded section got marked as the clam slid over into place while I was checking my neighbour's side. It won't be visible with the door shut, but I'll get it painted again.

 

Getting everything bolted up and adjusted took a while, but by evening, I had all the wiring installed and checked. One thing I have left to check is the routing and attachment of the speed sensor wire.

 

Tonight, I refitted the driver's side door. What a PITA! Getting the two rear bolts in to place requires eyes on the end of the triple jointed finger tips. I think I'll be able to do the passenger side on Wednesday night in quicker time as I've got a technique now, but I have yet to have the joy of re-fitting the windows.

[Paul_C]

Looks good

 

Are you refitting the standard door mirrors or having something different?