I used to get the bus from outside the club back to my stinking student flat I shared. I remember one day standing at the bus stop and a grey S1 Exige passed me, and I remember thinking "WTF is that, an elise on drugs?!", and that it looked pretty cool. I hopped on the bus and did my usual 50p ticket scam for a fare across town and though about it frequently and never saw another one for a few years.
Fast forward to when I was in 4th year I worked solid and hardly went to uni, and bought my first S1 Elise. I have had a few Lotii over the last 4 years, but the day that S1 Exige passed me stayed with me as one of those "I need to get me one of those" things.
Today, when Phil rolled my newly finished car out the carport I felt the same way as I did when that S1 Exige passed me as I waited for the bus. I know what it is, but it still looks the nuts and this is the end result of a lot of hard work and I thought I would post up all the pics and chat I have from along the way.
I dropped the car off at Dans in Newcastle on the way home from the France trip at the end of October. It is worth mentioning at this point that if Dan had not offered to help me with this build I probably wouldnt have done it - having him to do the hardest parts and keep me on track was invaluable, and he has a phenomenal knowledge of these cars and how they go together. Huge thanks to him for putting up with me along the way
I had seen a few converted cars online and a lot of them just seemed to miss the mark - I know a lot of it is personal preferences but I wanted mine to be spot on - and put in a bit of research to get it right on the money....
The sheer number of bits that you need to buy to do this also took me slightly by suprise - even last week when I was putting it back together there were bits I found out I needed that would make the difference between it being OK and being awesome. I have spent a comical amount of money but that moment when it rolled out the garage today made it worthwhile.
I have spent about 40+ hours re-assembling it since I got it back from the bodyshop, most of it in the evenings after work, and I am glad now it is done.
Must thank a few people who helped out along the way, Dan for all the massive help + effort, Hamish for doing the pickup of the clams from Coventry, cloggie for the centrecaps, rob for the spring, and Phil and Ross for the assistance over the last few weeks - massive thanks to you all. Ta to briagh the dog who also makes an appearance in some photos for watching me solidly for most of the time.
Anyway, to the pics....
I thought A LOT about the colour, and narrowed it down to white or grey. I went off white for the reason to many "cooldudes" in Audi A3s and 3 series beemers have jumped on that bandwagon, and the fact I wanted a one-off.
The colour is Lamborghini Grigio Telesto - the Gallardo superleggera colour.
It looks light grey/blue, dark road colour grey, and black, all depending on the light - it just absorbs light and always looks dull and flat grey - I absolutely love it. Some folk wont, but then it is a bit different.....
The bodyshop dudes did a good job, there are a few things I want sorted that are getting done this week, like a few bits of colourmatching and this is it "unpolished" - exactly as the paint came out the gun - and it needs flattened and machined. Its still very very shiny though!
Prep started....
the night it came back from the bodyshop....
Phils titanium car is pretty dark - the colour of mine makes it look silver
getting there.....
and nice touches with the details too
