~CJ~ Elan S2 Limited Edition 481

[CJ101KT]

Tempted to personalise the Elan with some of th R3 body strips and a custom logo made saying turbo elan in the same old style as the turbo esprit's had on them.

[CJ101KT]

I am looking at spending a weekend going over the inside of the wheel arches giving them a good clean and paint as some of the areas of metal are flaking and need some treatment (tlc)! Below is a picture of the current state of affairs. I was going to go over the metal areas on the cross sections etc and remove any rust with a metal brush, clean them up with some degreaser/paint thinner, a coat of Hammerite Rust Beater and then a top coat of Hammerite Black Metal Paint. Can anyone see any problems with this?

As for the plastic arches I was going to give them some clean (using elbow grease) and then give them a light coat of some black plastic paint to bring them back to like rather than looking so dull? Also when it comes to my brakes on the front, can I take the 4 bolt looking objects off the calipar to paint them silver to stop them rusting?

Advice welcome ...

[Enright]

I did something similar about 4 years ago, and could do with repeating the exercise.
My local garage recommends starting with a wire brush, then using "Kurust" and after that Hammerite No1 Rust Beater, before finishing it off with a top coat of Hammerite.
You should be OK to do the allen bolts in the calipers as long as you take them out, paint and then replace them one at a time.

[paza1]

I also did something similar to Neil at about the same time. I applied several coats of Hammerite and I would recommend doing the painting during warm weather so it flows as well as possible. I have also applied clear Waxoyl for further protection.

Mark

[CJ101KT]

Dropped the car off at Option1 last Saturday and went to collect it today, just a week later. I was quoted to have the front clam shell repaired and re-sprayed on my insurance claim and then to pay for the front bumper to be re-sprayed as well so that it would all match and with no stone chips etc.

Upon arrival the car was parked up out the front and the paint job was immediately noticeable. On closer inspection I was amazed at the repair of not only the small damage on the clam but also the small chip marks. As for the paint job ... I really could say it couldn't look better. The paint looks thick and the colour is a perfect match to the rest of the car. When speaking to Frank, he said that due to having a little spare time left over he had given the bonnet and head light units a fresh paint and lacquer as it didn't look right with the stone chips. You have to remember I was only quoted for the front cross unit of the clam and front bumper.

Without going into too much detail, especially since I am still over the moon, the service provided by Frank and Option1 couldn't have been better. The detail and care taken in the process is apparent and even help over the phone for my insurance claim has been a great help. I have heard a few bad things about Option1 but from my experience, you really do get a brilliant service and it is worth the higher cost if that's what bothers people. As they supply a portfolio CD with photos of the process I thought it beneficial to upload and share with everyone. If anyone if thinking of having some work done, come and have a look at the front of my car at Silverstone!

[Gary]

That'll be me in a couple of weeks

[whippit]

frank must like you !!!!!!!!!
i had the same done last year and he didn't take my clam of the car,
he must be taking pride in his work again ,
do i sound i little bitter , ? you bet 3k for a sh////t job

at least he did a good job on your car ,
it does look like a good job from the photo's

[CJ101KT]

frank must like you !!!!!!!!!
i had the same done last year and he didn't take my clam of the car,
he must be taking pride in his work again ,
do i sound i little bitter , ? you bet 3k for a sh////t job

at least he did a good job on your car ,
it does look like a good job from the photo's

Thats suprising. I mean most of the money is coming from the insurance company but even then the full quote including the bumper was £1300 and that didn't include the bonnet and headlight pods which he did for free!!! I must say he has taken a lot of pride in this job and I hope by him doing so for me and passing on the review that he does and will do the same for everyone else because I can't fault the work what so ever!

[whippit]

iv'e had a problem with frank from the start, i didn't get the quote in writting, i asked him to take the clam off to repair the cross member, i stripped most of the car down to save on labour charges, i bought a second hand bumper, which i stripped back to the plastic, he said he would paint that in the price,

i worked in a bodyshop as a panel beater and know my way round agood respray, only when i got the car back home and had a good look was i annoyed at the finish,
i took the car back the next day, which was a six hour round trip for me, he said he would sort the problems out, but never fixed the bent cross member, orange peel laquer, or the paint under the light pods that was keyed to take new paint that never arrived,

i stripped the clam off, replaced the cross member which was pushed back by 15mm , frank said it was'nt worth doing !!!!!!!,
it took me god knows how many hours to put it right,

the long and the short of it, iv'e only just got my bumper back of him, which he promised he would give me at donny, and charged me 200 plus vat plus carrage, its only taken 15 months to get it back
to this day i cannot touch the paint , if someone puts there hand on the car it leaves scratches, and its to soft to polish out ,

its the only job i trusted to a professional, and what a bloody mess i was left with, are well thats life ...

[CJ101KT]

While searching YouTube for some good videos, I found my car
Must have been taken at Supercar Sunday ... and it even looks shiney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rK9cD_z1m0

[John_W]

Looks great. Clean and shiny, even the wheels and tyres - the light coloured seats go well with the red. And a nice sunny day too.
What's the thing that looks like a stuffed tiger sticking out your ash tray?
John

[CJ101KT]

Looks great. Clean and shiny, even the wheels and tyres - the light coloured seats go well with the red. And a nice sunny day too.
What's the thing that looks like a stuffed tiger sticking out your ash tray?
John

hahaha ... caught on camera. Its a Tiger, and yes it was the other halfs idea lol. Thanks for the compliments, think I started cleaning early that day so should look clean

[Songbird]

Hey CJ .... I want your car .... its looks the dogs dangly -bits

[CJ101KT]

Hey CJ .... I want your car .... its looks the dogs dangly -bits

Thanks a ton mate ... I try real hard to keep him looking good and having money spent on but it's quite a task at 23
Still, LEC guys and gals make the task alot easier that's for sure.

[CJ101KT]

Thought Id do a little update after just getting the Elan back from having a fair number of new/upgraded parts fitted.

List of parts fitted:
Cambelt, alternator belt, PAS belt, tensioners, idler, water-pump, thermostat etc.
Dave's Shortshift Kit (big smile)
Rear brake hubs, discs, pads, bearings and one refurbished caliper from SJs
Piper 2.25" Exhaust with Sportscat
Piper PCE
Ported turbo wastegate to 20mm

The details:
The rear brake setup looks fabulous thanks Bob, they no longer stick or squeak and are a great improvement over the originals. Dave's short-shift kit surprised me even though I expected nothing less! It is simply a much nicer experience now, very precise and exactly what the car needed. The Piper exhaust sounds brilliant on tick over and very meaty when giving it more than 3,000rpm, again a great improvement. Along with the Piper exhaust I also opted for the well engineered PCE and had the wastegate ported whilst it was all off. I have only had a few small chances to test any boost out but once I am happy that everything has bedded in nicely I will let everyone know the results. Photos and maybe even a few videos to follow soon.

Big smiles from CJ

[nicowalker1]

nice one, sounds good. Will you be at Malvern?
How many hours labour did it take to remove/port the wastegate?

[CJ101KT]

nice one, sounds good. Will you be at Malvern?
How many hours labour did it take to remove/port the wastegate?

Yes I will be there all weekend and the Elan will be on the Lotus Drivers Club stand. My local mechanic knew someone who was able to drill out the broken studs from the manifold and at the same time ported the wastegate with no problems as far as I know. I haven't yet received the labour costs but I'm confident that it will be a lot less than that of specialists for fitting £1200 worth of parts. If you know someone who can remove the necessary parts and find a fabricator to do the porting, jobs a good un.

Took the car out for a second run this afternoon to try and bed the new parts in and have had no problems to report. The exhaust is very meaty and infact the car seems to drive smoother overall. Will be taking some photos at the weekend.

[speed-demon]

You're selling???
You've only just put the exhaust system on! I didn't think I'd see your car for sale for a while/ever...

[kevin31157]

That s a lovely looking red one and the cream seats really set it off. A nice example of the elan. I`ve been getting mine up to scratch over the weeks and would love to replace the carpets but without buying ready moulded ones i think its gonna be somewhat difficult to fit any other carpets to make it look original. I want to replace the grey with black.
But these elans look the dogs b*****ks when brought back to show room condition inside and out. Nice car you got there.

[speed-demon]

It's for sale Kevin. Buy it...