An old friend - diary of a Lotus owner [pic heavy]

[Corranga]

More progress today, but i'm an idiot and forgot my camera.

I fitted mirrors, both doors, some seals, sorted the rear clam wiring loom out properly and got the

It still needs the glass put in and the rear clam fitted, but they say they'll have a go at that, then i've got the grill, fog/reversing light, interior and probably some other bits that i've forgotten!

Chris

[bertieduff]

More progress today, but i'm an idiot and forgot my camera.

Doh! I hate suspense!

[Rag_It]

Awesome! Cannot wait to see it round Dundee soon.

[smee]

Great work, and you're not taking your time about it, very impressed. Also agree about you sticking with the orange indicator lenses they go well with the green.

[Corranga]

Ok, so the camera was with me this week. Last week I fitted the doors and some other bits. This week was to be door seals, finish off fitting bits to the rear clam, and if possible, get the rear clam back on.


Looks a bit lonely without a back, still 2/3rds of a Lotus is better than no Lotus at all right?


I also fitted Rota's last week, with some dark wheelnuts. That is, Rotas with a little Lotus added. Thanks to Bob van M for supplying wheel decals, i'm really liking the Rotas for now, though I know they aren't to everyones taste. The *might* be replaced in the future with standard AWIs but since my set are in a bit of a state, they'd need as refurb first.


It's like a Lotus with a bib


Door seals fitted and looking good, and importantly, at a fraction of the Lotus cost! I'll post a how to / what I used type tutorial thread later. Sneak preview of a rear clam there too. Bolted on and seatbelt refitted.


More to come...

[Corranga]

...and here it is. A rear clam! The brake and reversing lights fitted later in the afternoon (see a couple of pics further down) it's finally starting to look like a whole Elise again. Ok, so it took me about an hour to put the 4 exhaust bracket bolts in, laying upside down, bits of car falling on me and in a pile of body shop dust. It's not as easy as these photos make out! It's a real challenge to duralac the bolts and not get the nice new paintwork covered in yellow crap!


It becomes more difficult when you realise you're missing bits, like the throttle cable nipple/solderless nipple that makes the boot release cable work (thanks Dan/Rich H). Hopefully my boot will still be open when I get back to the car. You can see a couple of the relocated clam bolts here, into the chassis longerons via M8 alloy rivnuts. Really impressed by how well these work!


Following that, I cut the (outer) boot cable to the right length, if you ever plan to do it, remember to remove the inner first. Then when you put the inner back in, stick a bit of grease on it, goes through better and (fingers crossed) means it won't be as likely to seize / rust / break. I left the inner cable at it's original lenth snce the end is soldered, meaning when the missing nipple is replaced, it'll slip in easier :p

Boot lid fitted, looks like a good panel fit, though I cant close it to check properly


...and with fog/reversing lights in, fuel surround and cap refitted


Not a great pic but following the time it takes to duralac / fit all bolts and tightened them, slacken them, change alignment, adjust the door pins, then again, then again... I thought i'd post it! It also fittingly shows the lack of interior (next weeks job...) and lack of window in the drivers door.


So hopefully next week will be getting the interior in, make any other adjustments needed, fit the front grill, maybe go for a drive...

Chris

[DaveG]

The silver wasn't really doing it for me and it was getting a bit rough around the edges.
Glad you approve, and that you're not posting "what have do done to my old car" type post. I remember feeling a bit sad when I saw one of Erica's old mx5s and it was bashed, not sure how i'd feel if I saw a transformation like this

Nah, not at all. Happy it's in good hands! You're doing a great job, can't wait to see it when it's all back together.
Nice wheels too!

D

[StiflerMR2]

That colour looks stunning

Glad it's coming together at last, hurry up and get it finished!

[j2 lot]

Coming together nicely- loving the colour.

[renmure]

I went in to see it in the flesh today.
Looks absolutely awesome.
I actually went to the wrong bodyshop... twice, and each time they sent me off in the right direction as soon as I mentioned the "green lotus".
I guess all the sprayers and body folk in about a mile radius must have been in to look at it.

[ChrisG]

Chris,

Good to finally see the car and meet you at the weekend. My Dad had been telling me about the cars progress but I hadn't been in to the workshop for a while.

Obviously I'm biased but the finish of the paint looked first class. The colour suits the car too. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Looking forward to seeing it complete.

Chris G

[VXJON]

[Corranga]

Good to finally see the car and meet you at the weekend. My Dad had been telling me about the cars progress but I hadn't been in to the workshop for a while.

Obviously I'm biased but the finish of the paint looked first class. The colour suits the car too. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Looking forward to seeing it complete.

Thanks Chris, the car looks great and the finish is first class, all the guys have done a great job and your dad has been great with different bits of advise and is really passionate about his work

Your car looked pretty mean, really suits the darker blue too. It kinda surprised me how much I liked the blue tbh since bright green and white are more common and were both short-listed for my car. In fact, the final decision for me was Triumph or Ford green!

I'm a bit late with Saturdays progress, just resizing pics now, will post shortly.

Chris

[Corranga]

So, progress from the weekend. There wasn't much to do I suppose, though anyone that's ever tried to adjust windows on an S1 will tell you that's a bit of a job in itself. Mine are now missing some bits that bolt to the inside of the door bar and look like they are supposed to stop the window going too far up. I removed the most frontward ones as they seemed to prevent the window going high enough to touch the seal on the hardtop. This might be why the car has always leaked?! I hope they don't do a more important job!
I also filed the adjuster holes slightly larger to let me line the window up better, hours later...

A couple of carpets make all the difference. It's looking a bit more civilised and a lot more complete! Velcro'd at the front of the footwell of course.


Is that a seat in there.....?


There's 2 of them


I've not been convinced by the look of scandal cars with black/red seats, so didn 't really think that my red leather would go well in a green car, plus my seats and sill pads were a bit tired, and they were original spec s1 seats, so a bit like sitting on the ground, but with a bar below your legs! Green was the order of the day, and a slightly different look

Really pleased with the way they've turned out too!


Hard top and sill pads fitted.


Sitting in the car for the first time was amazing. Seeing that bright green out the windscreen and on the door interiors, combined with missing the car a bit, and looking over to the passenger seat and seeing the Lotus logo...



It's all coming together, just the rear grills, door interiors then paint protection.



Then once that's all done, I need to wire in my non-s1 spec heated seats

Chris

[Edin430]

STILL waiting for that guys number for you, sorry! Hopeless I know.