by clemo » Sat 20.04.2019, 11:44
I guess this should really be in the Projects major section as it ended up that way
In March 2017 i bought a Jim Clark edition S2 Elan which was in decent condition , solid cills , alway garaged by Darren the owner and 2 previous owners before that. It was a car that had been cared for but left in a garage for a few years with only the time period services done towards the last few years. Perfectly usable but as with a car of age , stone chips to the nose , a bit rusty in places underneath.
With the help of a friend Aaron (TSWCowboy) on here i bought it on a bit of a whim. I was only up country to help him collect a chassis from a cat B car i had snapped up all the parts from. We went to see the car , i drove it . liked it and bought it but as i was already up in my van couldn't collect. I left a deposit and sorted out the rest a week later. At the time i couldn't really afford it but i knew i wanted one in this rare edition. Aaron suggested that he could collect the car and take it to a garage in his town Stafford that works on prestige and performance cars to get the overdue cam belt and water pump fitted . Whilst in we arranged to get the front end blown over.
From here it escalated rather quickly. The next time Aaron saw the car ( not me as i am in Torquay ) The chassis was on the floor , the engine was on the bench and the body tub was up on the ramps. Its fair to say we all perhaps did not estimate how difficult what has now been undertaken would be. A long journey of sourcing parts or refurbishing what was obsolete .Being left down by the final out sourced body painters led to a bit of a battle but thankfully one that was absorbed by the garage.
I must say from the outset i felt my car was in good hands. The other vehicles in the workshop were Aston's TVR's Bentley's and classic stuff like Escort Mexico's Rs2000's and so on.
The enthusiasm of the garage and my inability to say no lead to a full nut and bolt strip down with almost everything being touched , renewed , refurbished , shot blasted , repainted , to what i have now :-
Fully sandblasted chassis , cut out of rust ( behind the bulk head angular foot plate had collected sitting water over the years) all painted back to factory grey
All suspension parts overhauled , shot blasted and repainted , replaced where possible ,
All copper lines replaced , Ss braided hoses fitted,
Original brakes overhauled , and now working very well,
New discs and pads,
New radiator , Thermostat ,and sensors
Gearbox stripped and overhauled / new clutch and release bearing
Engine belts , Water pump , pulleys and tensioners,
All fluids and filters replaced,
Electric window butterflies and plastics replaced
outer window seals and inner brushes replaced
Alloys fully refurbished to show off the splendour of the Jim Clark yellow spokes new Eagle F1's fitted
As a rolling chassis it looked beautiful and like new. Though with the interior and tub back on it didn't reflect the hours and effort that had gone into the underside of it. We then came to the respray . Unfortunately this did not go as well as expected. Yes it was done but not to my liking or required standard. As a builder i aim for perfection knowing that if this is the aim , we should come somewhere close. This ethic did not extend to the bodyshop. Some may remember my car was at Lotus 70th at Hethel of which i was a bit grumpy about the paint job. Though as a positive it was a beautiful smooth run up in the car . though the exhaust box was rubbing on the chassis ... running repair - stuffed a bit of rubber hose between them and was all good.
After Hethel my car was returned and resprayed properly and fully . New clamshell and bumper housing brackets required as the previous guys messed them up.
The S2 engine bay charging point had also be lost somewhere along the way . This was sourced and put back on . BTW not all S2's have these.
I drove it home yesterday 19/04/19 some 2 years later .I now have my car back and it still needs a stack of cosmetic work doing on it.
I am now happy with the mechanical side of the car and the paintwork .
JOBS TO DO
refit interior carpets , use some singe cell under felt.
Re trim red steering wheel and attend to the seats
Get the convertible rood and webbing fitted.
ENJOY AND DRIVE CAR.
A word of warning to anyone undertaking such a full on project.
It is time consuming and very expensive . I could have bought this car again with the amount of money i have spent on it. Would i do it again . NO ... it is till not finished and it will be in excess of the top whack price for what cars are currently selling at.
If you are getting any major works done on your car get it done locally unless you are sticking it in at SJ's sports car or South west lotus. They have the majority of the parts needed . Though again beware of cost. Phil at SWLotus said to me he would not take a chassis of for under 10k. Its over 175 hours by the book and that was when things came of cleanly.
All that said what i do have is a Jim Clark edition car . One of 11 or 12 (not sure at the moment) from within the S2 limited edition that has been future proofed.
I now have detach all the effort and just enjoy it. It is a car ,treat it like one . It will get stone chipped . Get over it ........... if i can.
Jim Clark S2 - 1/12. The one with the Yellow spoke wheels . No 613 on dash (pushed in to factory in wrong order 615 on tub)