The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 11.02.2017, 13:06

lotusflasherman wrote:
Rusty Wishbone wrote:Perhaps I should post a picture of my Elan at the moment. You would weep at the deep layer of filth from winter driving down the lanes.


:agree: You should. Anything like this ? This was clean in the morning, went to Hull and back in a day and this is what it looked like filling up after 400 miles ... pressure wash next day to get rid of that extra weight!

20170105small.jpg


Yours is looking great DavieBow. :clap: Nice Reg' Number too.


Thanks mate , i do like a car thats driven though , too many good cars don't move out of their garages enough IMO
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby Rambo » Sat 11.02.2017, 21:15

DavieBow wrote:
lotusflasherman wrote:
Rusty Wishbone wrote:Perhaps I should post a picture of my Elan at the moment. You would weep at the deep layer of filth from winter driving down the lanes.


:agree: You should. Anything like this ? This was clean in the morning, went to Hull and back in a day and this is what it looked like filling up after 400 miles ... pressure wash next day to get rid of that extra weight!

20170105small.jpg


Yours is looking great DavieBow. :clap: Nice Reg' Number too.


Thanks mate , i do like a car thats driven though , too many good cars don't move out of their garages enough IMO



Totally agree. Too many garage queens and project cars out there and not enough drivers :burnout:

It has to be -12C and above and too much salt on the roads to put me off :twisted: :twisted:
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby Rambo » Sat 11.02.2017, 21:30

lotusflasherman wrote:
Rusty Wishbone wrote:Perhaps I should post a picture of my Elan at the moment. You would weep at the deep layer of filth from winter driving down the lanes.


:agree: You should. Anything like this ? This was clean in the morning, went to Hull and back in a day and this is what it looked like filling up after 400 miles ... pressure wash next day to get rid of that extra weight!

20170105small.jpg


Yours is looking great DavieBow. :clap: Nice Reg' Number too.


And, if you fancy a thrash 400 miles further north :burnout: and sorting out my fuel pump problems I will personally clean your M100 (sorry, detail !!), give you B and B, fabulous soup and excellent cuisine, pay your petrol expenses etc... :bowdown: :bowdown:
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby IanB1978 » Thu 16.02.2017, 12:49

My car is in desperate need of a detail, any chance you could list the products you use. Your work looks top notch!!!
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Wed 01.03.2017, 22:40

IanB1978 wrote:My car is in desperate need of a detail, any chance you could list the products you use. Your work looks top notch!!!


We use a varied range of products , techniques and machinery to prepare a car , so its hard to list them all in a way that would make sense .

To get the car's paintwork to this standard you have to follow a paint correction process , this is where you machine polish the car with varying grades of compounds , starting with a course one to remove deep scratches and imperfections , then working down to a fine one to finesse the paintwork and give it that natural high gloss shine .

The compounds we use for correction are made by a company called Menzerna with "FG400" being the course one and "super finish 3800" being the fine one.
You will then need to use the correct machine polisher for your skills , us Pro's use a rotary (spins on a fixed axis generating a hell of a lot of heat very quickly) but for amateurs we recommend you use a "DA" ("Dual Action" rather than bore you with science , they vibrate instead of spinning , generating less heat so safer to use )

Once the paintwork has been corrected/restored back to a high gloss shine , we then seal that in with a ceramic coating to protect it , there are loads of different brands of ceramics out there , mostly doing the same thing , so again i could advise you on these based on your skill set and budget , they can be a bit fiddly to use but offer massive long term protection over a car wax .

if you want me to go into a particular subject or product then please feel free to ask and i'll do my best to help and steer you in the right direction
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby IanB1978 » Thu 02.03.2017, 12:50

Brilliant thanks
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 21.07.2018, 23:13

Bloody hell , its been nearly 18 months since i last posted on here .....watch this space boys this is gonna be a biggy :-D :-D
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 04.08.2018, 23:07

Right guys , here goes , i'll do a list first of what i've done (as far as i can remember ) and then i'll start adding in the photos.

After i'd done the paint correction , i turned my attention to the engine and under chassis , this was a major bug bare because as good as the service history is on the car , it had lived on Guernsey island for 15 years so had got quite a lot of salt erosion on the working metal parts , so much so that a steam clean and polish just wasn't going to cut it .

Not being the most spacious of engine bays to work in i decided to take out the engine and start from there but it became apparent that to do it right i'd just have to go mad and strip the whole car down .....so i did ......major project creep coming my way :-D

the list of jobs i did to get the old girl back to looking her best was as follows :-

Engine
Remove from car
Strip off head and replace with new :- head gasket valve seals etc
Steam clean and repaint block and head as OEM and then strip and refinish cam cover in red crinkle ( i know its not original before you purists drag me over the coals :lol: but i just wanted to put my own little touches in to make it look a bit more aesthetically pleasing in there .)

Turbo - Rebuild internals to OEM standard and port the waste gate (as recommended by you guys) in readiness for the piper 2.5” exhaust, followed by a ceramic coat to the hot side of the turbo then replace all air and vacuum hoses with silicone hose .

Exhaust - ceramic coat the OEM manifold - replace the OEM down pipe and exhaust with the full Piper 2.5” upgrade and then ceramic coat the down pipe to go with the turbo and manifold.

Ignition - replace with new the Ignition control module , coil packs , HT lead and plugs. then add in a new hall effect sensor then refurbish and repaint the alternator.

Coolant System - replace with new the radiator, fans, header tank , thermostat , all coolant sensors, metal coolant pipes, followed by a refurbish to the corroded thermostat housing pipework and finally replace old OEM hoses with Samco silicone coolant hoses

Oil cooling - replace with new the oil cooler radiator and hoses.

Steering and drive - refurb and rebuild the existing steering rack inc ball joints then strip down and refurbish the hubs inc wheel bearings etc.

Suspension - replace with new all shocks and springs with upgraded adjustable ones , refurbish all metal arms and drop links and replace all old OEM bushes with Poly bushes.

Air con - upgrade all working parts for the modern gas type . re-gas etc.

Wheels refurbished

Brakes- replace with new all discs and pads - rebuild and repaint all callipers.

Gear shift - replace OEM cables etc with the full short shift kit.

Gearbox replace with new the clutch kit and flywheel, steam clean and repaint gearbox housing

Replace with new the accelerator cable

Cam belts - replace with new the belts, pulleys and tensioners etc .

and probably a load of stuff i've forgotten about :D

i'll start adding the pics shortly , it may take me a few days as there's loads.
Last edited by DavieBow on Sun 05.08.2018, 00:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 04.08.2018, 23:36

Here goes with the photos.
Lotus Elan restoration11.jpg
Before strip down
Lotus Elan restoration11.jpg (106.67 KiB) Viewed 7807 times


Lotus Elan restoration86.jpg
after
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Lotus Elan restoration1.jpg
engine stripped down steam cleaned and block repainted (before)
Lotus Elan restoration1.jpg (103.43 KiB) Viewed 7807 times


Lotus Elan restoration2.jpg
After painting
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Lotus Elan restoration3.jpg
Plenum removed , steam cleaned and painted
Lotus Elan restoration3.jpg (95.82 KiB) Viewed 7807 times


Lotus Elan restoration4.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration5.jpg
Clam shell and engine removed before cleaning
Lotus Elan restoration5.jpg (99.5 KiB) Viewed 7807 times


Lotus Elan restoration6.jpg
after cleaning and engine framework finished in matt black stone guard
Lotus Elan restoration6.jpg (120.53 KiB) Viewed 7807 times
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 04.08.2018, 23:42

A few pics of the engine after completion
Lotus Elan restoration8.jpg
zoom in to see the painted gearbox and block prior to fitting back together
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Lotus Elan restoration9.jpg
Finished engine with red crinkle
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Lotus Elan restoration10.jpg
finished engine
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Lotus Elan restoration12.jpg
finished engine with gearbox re-attached
Lotus Elan restoration12.jpg (94.27 KiB) Viewed 7806 times
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 04.08.2018, 23:47

You can see from this first picture the corroded coolant pipes off the thermostat , if you zoom into the second pic you can see if fitted with new pipe and the third photo is another pic with some of the ancilaries fitted.

Lotus Elan restoration13.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration15.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration14.jpg
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 04.08.2018, 23:51

Next up we have the turbo , this was sent away for a rebuild , then ceramic coated along with the manifold and then mated with a ceramic coated Piper 2.5" downpipe.

Lotus Elan restoration16.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration17.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration18.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration19.jpg
Lotus Elan restoration19.jpg (97.19 KiB) Viewed 7807 times
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sat 04.08.2018, 23:56

Next up we have the fuel tank , this was removed , steam cleaned and undersealed with stone guard to match the rest of the under carriage and framework.

Lotus Elan restoration20.jpg
Lotus Elan restoration20.jpg (71.38 KiB) Viewed 7807 times


Lotus Elan restoration21.jpg
Lotus Elan restoration21.jpg (78.41 KiB) Viewed 7807 times
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sun 05.08.2018, 00:09

Now we have the clean up , preparation and protection of the under chassis .
I started by steam cleaning away all the dirt , then I focussed on any areas showing any minor corrosion , (thankfully there was no major corrosion issues to deal with) this was rubbed down and treated with a product called Korroplex , this turns the rusty bits back to metal and prevents any further corrosion . Finally it is all undersealed with a water and oil resistant stone guard . this is where it really starts to take shape now and look good .

Lotus Elan restoration23.jpg
After steam cleaning
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Lotus Elan restoration24.jpg
After steam cleaning
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Lotus Elan restoration25.jpg
After under sealing
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Lotus Elan restoration26.jpg
After under sealing
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Lotus Elan restoration27.jpg
After under sealing
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Lotus Elan restoration28.jpg
After under sealing
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Lotus Elan restoration29.jpg
After under sealing
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Lotus Elan restoration30.jpg
After under sealing
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Lotus Elan restoration31.jpg
Before
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Lotus Elan restoration32.jpg
After
Lotus Elan restoration32.jpg (73.01 KiB) Viewed 7807 times
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sun 05.08.2018, 00:12

I'll post a few more pics over the next few days 8)
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby Elanlover » Sun 05.08.2018, 00:46

That...

Is a truly beautiful job. Lotus should have done it that way off the line.
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby TrevorB » Sun 05.08.2018, 08:08

Elanlover wrote:That...

Is a truly beautiful job.


:agree:
Silk Red SE Turbo
Short shift conversion with BB aluminium cables
HiSpec's
Piper Exhaust
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sun 05.08.2018, 08:51

Thanks guys :cheers:
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sun 05.08.2018, 09:05

Next up was to sort out the suspension , to be honest from a functional point of view there was no issues with it , from a handling point of view its arguably one of the best handling cars i've ever driven , in fact up the B roads from my house to my unit , its actually quicker than my Ferrari :bowdown:

But it did look awful , so out it all came , all the arms and links and hubs etc were sent away to be stripped back and powder coated , then all bushes were replaced with poly bushes , new wheel bearings etc .

Lotus Elan restoration42.jpg
Before restoration
Lotus Elan restoration42.jpg (149.39 KiB) Viewed 7794 times


Lotus Elan restoration38.jpg
Suspension out
Lotus Elan restoration38.jpg (84.46 KiB) Viewed 7794 times


Lotus Elan restoration39.jpg
Al bits refurbished
Lotus Elan restoration39.jpg (62.16 KiB) Viewed 7794 times


Lotus Elan restoration40.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration41.jpg
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Lotus Elan restoration43.jpg
Lotus Elan restoration43.jpg (105.38 KiB) Viewed 7794 times


Lotus Elan restoration44.jpg
Lotus Elan restoration44.jpg (80.22 KiB) Viewed 7794 times
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Re: The Big Lotus Elan Detailing Thread

Postby DavieBow » Sun 05.08.2018, 12:21

Next up , i fitted the new Short shift kit , on fitting and setting it up i think this is going to be a great improvement over the stock set up

Lotus Elan restoration45.jpg
Lotus Elan restoration45.jpg (82.97 KiB) Viewed 7784 times
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