tom130691
Premium Member
Registered: 13th Sep 08
Location: Daventry
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
Been to the bodyshop this morning and he didn't look too scared of the damage, said he can cut it out and layer up some new fibreglass and restore the gelcoat OK. It's not added a massive amount to the respray cost, so happy days.
quote:
Originally posted by tom130691
have it clear wrapped after paint, had it done on my st as they chip really bad, cant tell its there
I've been back and forthing on this for a few weeks now, can't decide what to do. First issue is that I need to leave fresh paint 10 weeks before applying a wrap apparently, I bet it gets chipped in that time. Second, there are loads of Lotus' with front end wraps, then a line of stonechips just above where the wrap ends  Finally, it's expensive, I might as well just pay for a yearly respray... 
wrap further up then, I had a full bonnet opposed to just the leading third for this reason.
the wrap will cost similar to a respray but last longer than a year, I believe mine has a five year warranty.
my car had 6 miles when I wrapped it, I dont think the paint would have been 10 weeks old at that point
[Edited on 28-07-2016 by tom130691]
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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The 10 weeks thing may be garbage or just over caution, but it was recommended to me by two of the three closest people who supplied/fitted ventureshield or similar.
How long has yours been on Tom? My car has still got the film fitted to the flared out rear sill part that eats up all the stonechips from the front tyres. It's stood up to the chips really well, in that the film hasn't broken but it looks very dull and doesn't polish up anymore.
It may well be 10 years old though tbf!
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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tom130691
Premium Member
Registered: 13th Sep 08
Location: Daventry
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Mines only been on 6months so far not an ideal comparison
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Wrighty
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Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
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You can get those paint protect wraps that self heal now too - cant remember the name though
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Just been away for a few days in the car and now getting EML and reduced throttle every 20miles or so... a few different codes but all related to the potentiometers in the accelerator pedal.
Another job to do while the clam is off 
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Robin
Premium Member
Registered: 7th Jan 04
Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup
User status: Online
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If it's the throttle pot on the pedal, why do you need the clam off? It'll need a new pedal, common Toyota problem 
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Robin
If it's the throttle pot on the pedal, why do you need the clam off? It'll need a new pedal, common Toyota problem
Clam doesn't need to come off, but it's coming off anyway for all the other stuff I'm doing.
It's a Lotus part (the pedal), not a Toyota one weirdly. Same one is fitted to all the toyota engined Lotuses though and I believe the VX220s.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Clam off may actually make it easier though, as the bolts that hold the accelerator in place come through from the top of the chassis, accessible from the service hatch but a few gubbins need moving to one side, should be easier without a clam
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Some progress today 
Need to get the clam off by Saturday morning, as I've got a friend coming over with a transit van that I HOPE the clam will fit into...
Decided to get cracking today, to give me tomorrow as contingency if any tools needed buying or whatever.
First out, service panels and bonnet grills. Few allen bolts, easy.
Jacked up next, front wheel arch liners out and headlights removed. Headlights will be packaged up and sent to LeMass for some (hopeful) restoration
I then had about 10 fixings to remove, four near the door hinges, two near the windscreen, two in the arches and two in the headlight recesses. The only one which seized in was under the passenger headlight... 20secs with a dremel and that was sorted.
I'd found a website which sold a set of stainless fixings for pennies, so had that on standby.
Detached all the electrics then brought the wife through, grabbed a wheelarch each and off it came!
Probably took me two hours, being very methodical (slow) with a couple of brew breaks. 30mins should be doable.
With the clam off I got a proper view of the knackered tow strut, side by side with a new one (need some fresh bolts for it though)
Clam has had a few knocks before it seems, dodgy looking repair patch on the inside of the nose.
Next up I decided to get the throttle pedal out for inspection. It's bolted through from the topside of the chassis and access to those bolts was now marginally easier that the clam was off. Whizzed them off and out it came.
GM Part, with a Lotus specific part number but also a Hella part number. Googling on the Hella code gives me options from a few cars up and down the Vauxhall range, though Vaux prices are no better than Lotus ones. Lotus can do me one for £125 but it needs ordering in.
eBay has some Astra used ones for around £50.
I opened it up, hoping to find some obvious damage or cause for the fault but sure enough it looked mint 
I'm going to have a think about how else I can test this, surely with a multimeter I can do some testing but no idea how. Any ideas? I'm nervous that the fault may be elsewhere upstream in the wiring.
That aside, I don't know whether to take a punt at an eBay Astra one or just go ahead and buy from Lotus. Needs a think, but I'd welcome any ideas.
As the car is now off the road (probably for the best part of August) and it's not a particularly easy part to remove from the car, I don't think temporarily swapping with a friend would be feasible.
Next up, rad out!
Rad was just a couple of bolts, disconnected the inlet and outlet hoses and then chopped the connectors from the wiring (couldn't figure out how to slot it through the small gap with the plug still on...
Out she came, looking a bit rough...
No sign of leaking coolant, but the fans and brackets are in a sorry state. No way I could reuse the brackets, but luckily I'd been conned into buying some hidden bling and a fan mounting kit when I bought my fan.
As you can see, I'm a fan short on the new setup. I'd (mis)read somewhere that non-AC cars like mine only had one fan, but obviously not. That's another £70 or so I could do without spending, but hey-ho. I'd thought for a minute that I could test both old fans in isolation to see if one sounded OK (at least one of them sounds like a bag of spanners) and use the better one alongside my new one, but talked myself out of it as I don't want to be lifting the clam off again in two months time because the old one has died...
The coolant has got me a little confused. I was expecting red/orange OAT stuff as per the manual but I've got blue stuff. I'm no coolant expert but I had it in my head that blue - old IAT stuff that shouldn't be mixed with new orange OAT stuff?
I didn't lose much coolant, couple of litres maybe in the rad and pipes so I might just top up with water and then get the car serviced in a few months with a proper flush out and get some new proper stuff in. Again, any advice/recommendations are always welcome.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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3CorsaMeal
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Registered: 11th Apr 02
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Fuchs do a decent coolant, and i'd use distilled or battery top up water instead of tap water
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-971-fuchs-maintain-fricofin-esk-universal-antifreeze-coolant-concentrate.aspx
I've used it in the corrado and pretty much the same as the VW coolant
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Cheers 3CM, I'm leaning towards a proper flush out and replace with something fresh.
Dropped Clam off at bodyshop this morning, I floated the idea past to allow me to trailer the car to them once it's done and refit the clam in their workshop avoiding any damage risk of transporting the clam back home. They didn't immediately dismiss the idea, so good news!
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Wrighty
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Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
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you getting the front wrapped then or nah?
what about waterless coolant? http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk/
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrighty
you getting the front wrapped then or nah?
what about waterless coolant? http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk/
Had a wander around a few cars (probably 15+) which had some kind of transparent wrap at the last local Lotus owners club meet and spoke to a few owners.
I'm leaning against it now, based on:
- Quite a few people would never have it done again
- The old wraps looked tatty around the edges, and some had yellowed presumably with UV exposure
- A couple of brand new wraps had bubbles in them, obviously this is a failure in application but one such car said they had sent it back three times for a re-do, and eventually got bored so settled. Drama I can do without
- They're not bullet proof, bigger chips (such as the one which caused be to opt for a respray pre-rabbit) will still go through, and then you're left with a tatty hole in the wrap. You don't have the option of a subtle touch up or smart repair, you need to pay for that AND a new wrap
- Expensive, had quotes of the thick end of a grand for the full front end. That's two resprays and change.
I'll get my clam back, and within miles it will be chipped. The sooner I get some, the sooner I can get over it and get on with spending money on more fun stuff
As for the Evans' stuff, love the idea of it but to fill my system would be £100+ vs £20 it would cost for a traditional 50:50 mix.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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3CorsaMeal
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Registered: 11th Apr 02
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I debated about getting the evans stuff and went without, quite glad i did as ended up with a leak and then the engine had to come out again so would've lost most of it and spent a fortune.
Plus you have to carry some around with you incase you need to top it up etc, then how much do you carry, at least you can get water everywhere
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by 3CorsaMeal
I debated about getting the evans stuff and went without, quite glad i did as ended up with a leak and then the engine had to come out again so would've lost most of it and spent a fortune.
Plus you have to carry some around with you incase you need to top it up etc, then how much do you carry, at least you can get water everywhere
Ed off Wheeler Dealers reckons you can filter it and re-use it if you needed to drop your rad/engine or whatever but I'm struggling to see why you'd bother. I can get 5x total refills of standard water/anti-freeze for the cost of one evans fillup.
Caught cat in the garage this morning sitting right next to a puddle of antifreeze  she's not dead yet, or showing any symptoms. Internet said she should be vommiting and staggering around drunk by now if she'd had some.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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3CorsaMeal
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Registered: 11th Apr 02
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Probably just keeping guard and making sure no other cats or small mammals drink it.
Health and safety cat
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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She's very conscious of the safety of others tbf.
Got some pics from the bodyshop today, seems work has started already!
The patch of sanded down bit you can see higher up on the bonnet is "the stonechip" that started all of this off.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Got a surprise text yesterday, the clam is done!
I popped in on the way home from work for a look, it looks stunning. He's painted the front of it back to the "fake panel gaps" between the bumper bit and the wing bits. Colour match is spot on, he's got the service panels there which we used for comparison and it really looked bang on.
Repair looks sturdy as hell, this car can probably plough through a deer now without damage... though I'll not try it
I'm STILL missing my second rad fan, e-mailed the supplier yesterday and they had a mixup so it won't be shipped out till Monday. A week on monday I'll be working away through the week for 3 months so I really need to get the clam back home or on the car. The offer still stands at the bodyshop for me to trailer the car to him and we can refit in his shop, an option I would MUCH prefer. It's only 17miles between me and the bodyshop, but quotes I've had so far are in the £70+vat region!? Can't be right surely. I had my Subaru trailered 40miles for £50 but that guy is on holiday
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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anthcorsa
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Registered: 18th May 07
Location: Middlesbrough
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He's done a spot on job ther on the clam, that paint looks spot on.
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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That's a tidy clam you have there, Kyle
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Some other stuff I've been doing.
I bought replacement stainless bolts for most places, but a few were missing. Gave various nuts, bolts and fixtures a dusting over to make them look a little less crap.
Some REALLY gammy bits got some deox treatment before being painted.
One of the worst bits about the S2 Elise aesthetics (IMO) is the black plastic used for the various grilles around the car, they go a crappy grey when left out in the sun for more than 30seconds and get crappy waterspots on them when it's raining.
Decided to rub them down, prime and repaint in satin black.
They've come up pretty nicely I reckon, quite chuffed. Don't look too bright/glossy but they should always have that "just back to blacked look" once on the car.
Then my spare pedal arrived!
Fitting was a bit of a ballache, I was upside down in the footwell and the missus was dropping the bolts down through the top of the chassis.
Two of the nuts were easy for me to finger on, but the other was completely hidden from view and/or spanner/socket access. Nightmare!
Ended up gluing the nut to the pedal to make it captive:
That allowed us just enough to get the bolt threaded in from the top, then wedged the side of a spanner against it to tighten it up.
Drilled out the rivets for the footplate and re-fitted to the new pedal. Hopefully that's problem solved!
Oh, driving lights didn't escape the satin black attack either...
My second rad fan is due today, really hope it arrives so I can get the coolant changed tonight, brakes fluid changed (it looks horrible and pedal has been a bit crap since Croft) and then we're all ready for clam-day on Friday. Need to go down to London for a couple of days early tomorrow so really need the car "road worthy" tonight!
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Big update time, haven't had time to do it gradually as I've been rushing to get the car sorted between work and sleeping!
As we last left it, I was missing a rad fan and the bodyshop had finished their repairs so I needed to get a move on.
The fan arrived on the evening it was due, just when I had given up on it. I had to spend a couple of days in London that week so I was really short on time.
It arrived, and I wasted no time in getting it bolted into its enclosure.
It didn't take long to bolt it back into the car, connect all the hoses and be ready to flush the old coolant out. I'd bought 5l of OAT stuff and 5l of de-ionized water so was ready to roll. I got started by unhooking a hose from the engine bay, then ran a hosepipe through the system "backwards". After 4 or 5 buckets worth' came out, the fluid was no longer blue and looked clean enough to drink (which I didn't).
I then filled the system with tap water, and bled as if I were finishing the job. Got the car up to temp and made sure that the thermostat opened properly and that the fans came on. All seemed well, and no leaks. The water in the header tank was blue though, so dropped the lot out again and repeated 4 or 5 buckets worth of flushing. I then needed to sleep.
I had my London trip, then came back to flush the system once more. This time there was no sign of a blue tinge and I was somewhat happy that the system was clean enough to risk adding some OAT in. I took my time and ended up getting 9litres of my coolant/water mix. It's a 12litre system so that means there's 3litres of old stuff in there somewhere but almost certainly is just tap water by now... so hopefully I'm good! After a few miles/days the coolant in the header tank is still bright pink, with no evidence of mixing as it quickly goes brown.
Whilst waiting for the tap water to cool down before draining, I also ran the brake system through with fresh fluid and have my nice firm pedal back.
It was time to show the car the light of day for the first time in a few weeks, and I drove it round the village quickly just to check the brakes were good and that I didn't have any leaks. (garage floor was covered in water at this point, so hard to tell!)
On Friday morning, the recovery truck arrived to take me to the bodyshop. Loaded up without a fuss and headed on our way. Delivery guy got a knackered V6 Camry to take home with him too from the bodyshop, so a good day for all around!
The guys at the bodyshop were kind enough to lend me some space to refit my clam, and of course they helped me lift it into position too. With all the wiring sorted up, I was ready to (hopefully) view the innards of the front of my car for the final time...!
The Clam went on without fuss, and I spent another 90mins or so tidying bits up before getting the car home. The only parts missing now are the headlights!
The headlight covers were with Tom @ Lemass Automotive for some refurbishment, so I got the innards wired back up and tested in the meantime.
As a reminder of what my lights suffered, one was milky beneath the surface:
and the other was rough and needed rubbing down.
Tom brought these up an absolute treat, I'm very happy with them.
Finally today I could get everything back together and wheeled the car into the sun!
I'm very, very satisfied. The paintwork is excellent... under very specific lighting I can see a hint of difference between the service panels which didn't get painted and the bonnet but particularly outside in natural light it looks absolutely spot on. The finish is perfect too with no evidence of dust contamination in the lacquer etc.
The whole process was rather satisfying but I'm in no hurry to do it again. Having a garage full of little cups of random bolts/washers was quite stressful as I was almost certain I'd forget how it all went together... but I was methodical and either I pulled it off... or the clam will come flying off next time I'm on the motorway
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Oh, in the 20miles I've done so far... no sign of the DBW fault so hoping that new accelerator has done the trick there too.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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whitter45
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Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
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congrats mate - looks superb
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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Cheers man, I'm well happy.
Just need to get time to drive it now. Weather has been great but I've been stuck away in strange cities with underground trains.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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