Lotus Elan Central

well not before time some my say.

for years now the front end and rear sills have looked like they have had both barrels of a sawn-off full of buckshot blasted at them. i have a white fade to blue thing going on and its about time for some tlc. that and the laquer is starting to peel off the bonnet.

this is the bit where some of you may cringe.....

1. i intend to prep and paint her myself
2. i am looking into some subtle body mods
3. i might not paint her blue (and orange is in the running)


heres why.....

1. im tight. that and i have sprayed a couple of cars before and have a compressor at my dads house thats about the same size as missy, a nice late 80's de-vilbis gun, da sander and a s**t load of sand paper.

2. by subtle i mean esprit sport 350 front bumper and sills, and a one off mod to the rear spoiler. im looking at options for keeping under bonnet temps down but i don't want any scoops to spoil the lines.

3. i love pacific blue but im looking for something a bit deeper, maybe a bigger fleck of even a candy blue. i think the electric orange on the new ford focus st would suit the elan better than lotus orange.

anyhoo in not going to do it till summer so plenty time to mull it over. respraying a car is 10% painting skill, 10% having the right kit and 80% prep, prep and prep again.
feel free to poke holes at my plan and slag me coz as i'll do it anyway and it will look great

Should be a good project.

If u do change colour are u removing the tub? other wise u won`t beable to spray the bulkhead.

As its DIY job think dust will be a problem, what about doing all the prep work and then trailer poor Missy of to a Pro?

What about going for Midnight Blue?

With the Body mods, becarefull not to add to much weight as we know u likeu`r trackdays.

There`s a thread somewhere on spraying an Elan by the famous John (D) Benk

Good luck

ps when u thinking of starting? Don`t forget to take photo`s of each stage.

Umm.. some body mods that help keeping the cones away.

Just a thought.

monty, ye have little faith

ekapol, cone deflectors! nice.

I say go for it. You're right on the painting once you have the gear...it's all in the prep and taking your time. I like the idea of the subtle mods, too. I've never been one to keep a car completely stock, though I like changes that make people look twice and wonder what is different about the car. I like the idea of a dark blue instead of the orange, but probably just because I can't picture the car in orange. I keep getting visions of a construction cone orange Civic I saw once at a car show...yikes!

Then when you are done you can put some stripes down the hood

Actually, if I had a BRG Elan I would do the same thing Doug did, that looks so cool. I saw a BRG Elise with yellow stripes and fell in love with it, then I saw Dougs Elan (now Ekapol). Make your car your own! I have some mods in mind but I will not share this year, that will be next years project

Stevo,

dude, you can't paint her orange or you will get so many tickets you will lose your license!

hmm, does he have a license to begin with ? ? ?

Didn't get any styling cues from the TVR, did ya ?
Actually, you might of well used the body panels, don't appear its going far at the minute !

Paul.P wrote:Didn't get any styling cues from the TVR, did ya ?

Well for god's sake don't put oil slicks all over it

stevo wrote:well not before time some my say.

Not before time.

I'm sure you'll do fine as you realise it's prep, prep & prep. And I'm sure you know what a pain it is. Waiting until summer is a good idea - warmer and less damp.

John

Stevo,

Remember that guy with the shaggy beard at the Callander Classics 2 years ago with the resprayed VW beach buggy ?? Or were you too busy chopping down trees and smoking Stef's waccy baccy ??

Anyway, it was deep blue with purply metallic bits in the paint. A fantastic paint job and would look great on your Elan.

Mark

PS You could always include some orange metallic bits so that in future when you arse up and hit the cones it won't be so noticeable !!! LOL

Doc Fizzix wrote:Actually, if I had a BRG Elan I would do the same thing Doug did, that looks so cool. I saw a BRG Elise with yellow stripes and fell in love with it, then I saw Dougs Elan

Doug has really good eyes. Thanks him for the hard works.

im going to look at lots of blues but pacific is a nice shade, i might put a larger silver fleck in the paint (oe is very fine) and maybe a blue fleck. im planning on at least twice as many coats of laquar than is needed and then colour sanding and waxing till my hands bleed for that mega deep shine.

john, correct, summer is planned for warm temp and low moisture. i will clear out the garage, paint the floor and line the walls and ceiling with polythene. that and a 8 inch extractor and bobs your aunty i have a spray booth. i have a couple of oil rads to keep the temp up over night too.

mark, sorry can't remember the buggy.

I reckon Ratman's Mauritius blue (Lotus paint code B48) is worth a look at.

stevo - following respraying will you be putting on armorflex?

Stevo, have you looked at the blue, Ford used on the ST200, that was nice !. Also you are on about using twice as many coats of paint, speaking with local bodyshop, who really know there stuff, they reckon the more coats of paint, lacquer etc, the easier it will chip !, i ain't a clue mate, but thats there advice.

im only realy used to spraying with celulose and two pac but plan on looking in to laquer that will resist chipping a bit more. as for armorflex im not sure i like it? any hoo i have only 2 more bathrooms and one kitchen to fit before xmas and then i have 3 weeks off to plan car stuff, can't wait.

Why not combine blue AND orange. I refer to the McLaren F1 Lemans racer sponsored in Gulf livery. This was the dark blue and not the light powder blue of GT40 fame.

refer to subtle

stevo wrote:refer to subtle

that would be for you

common thread between M100 and F1, indicator lights