Bare Fibreglass Shell

[SJAM]

Hey guys, 1978 Taimar, just starting rebuild up again after about a decade of no change.. Gulp!
The body shell is back to bare fibreglass, I'm doing all the common sense stuff like repairs, grinding out cracks, filling old holes, reinforcing behind stressed and crazed areas, but does anyone have any suggestions for any worthwhile or good things to do with the shell while it is in this state..?
I'm thinking maybe grafting in a bar that I can tighten to hold the roof firmly down onto the top of the windscreen, shaving the inside of the rear wheel arches down to fit wider rubber and maybe bonding a few bits of metal inside the front side panels for a bit of crash protection... Extra air vents maybe..?
I'm not too worried about originality but would just be interested to hear if anybody has had an issue or improvement idea that they wish they could do if their car were to be in this state..!
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.. Cheers

[phillpot]

Get shot of those ugly big side repeaters............

[SJAM]

you've gone for the no-bumpers look..? Can we see the final result..?

[plasticpig72]

Vents to extract some of the heat under the bonnet sounds a very good idea.
On my 3000M and 3000S they both have stainless exhaust manifolds and it gets stinking hot under the bonnets.
Please when you grind out any cracks in body don't use any p38 or p40 or crap like that ONLY use Matt then Resin and Tissue. If you use p38 you will have shrinkage after and can see where the repairs were done.
Maybe you could put a bar like on Mgb to hold down roof to top of dashboard. Then attach rear view mirror.
Work well
Alan

[anonymous-user]

plasticpig72 said:

Vents to extract some of the heat under the bonnet sounds a very good idea.
On my 3000M and 3000S they both have stainless exhaust manifolds and it gets stinking hot under the bonnets.
Please when you grind out any cracks in body don't use any p38 or p40 or crap like that ONLY use Matt then Resin and Tissue. If you use p38 you will have shrinkage after and can see where the repairs were done.
Maybe you could put a bar like on Mgb to hold down roof to top of dashboard. Then attach rear view mirror.
Work well
Alan

SE air-con bonnet mod is subtle for letting air out.

Less subtle

[phillpot]

SJAM said:

you've gone for the no-bumpers look..? Can we see the final result..?

No, bumpers went back on but they are my "specials", cut down fibreglass versions

[plasticpig72]

The bumpers do look nice, that's one thing that is missing on ma 3000M
Alan

[SJAM]

TVRMs said:

SE air-con bonnet mod is subtle for letting air out.

Less subtle

Awesome - loads of air flow potential, and a nice lot of clearance for a shiny set of inlet trumpets..!

[SJAM]

plasticpig72 said:

Vents to extract some of the heat under the bonnet sounds a very good idea.
On my 3000M and 3000S they both have stainless exhaust manifolds and it gets stinking hot under the bonnets.
Please when you grind out any cracks in body don't use any p38 or p40 or crap like that ONLY use Matt then Resin and Tissue. If you use p38 you will have shrinkage after and can see where the repairs were done.
Maybe you could put a bar like on Mgb to hold down roof to top of dashboard. Then attach rear view mirror.
Work well
Alan

Alan, I done what you said with cracks, re-inforced behind, ground out crack, and laid glass matting and resin into the gouge until it is roughly level again. But I was going to use P38 just to smooth over the final surface.. You think that is a mistake..? Should I try to use resin and sand it down, and maybe let the primer coat give it the final pre paint layer finish. Not sure what you mean by tissue..? How is that used..?

[SJAM]

SJAM said:

Alan, I done what you said with cracks, re-inforced behind, ground out crack, and laid glass matting and resin into the gouge until it is roughly level again. But I was going to use P38 just to smooth over the final surface.. You think that is a mistake..? Should I try to use resin and sand it down, and maybe let the primer coat give it the final pre paint layer finish. Not sure what you mean by tissue..? How is that used..?

Pic: this was a big repair on the bonnet..

[plasticpig72]

I now finish with Tissue which is like a Veil. It's the thinest and lightess grp you can get. When i grind out a crack i use resin and Mat to fill as much as possibles then finish with Surface Tissue. You don't need to wet out or load Tissue with resin, it will absorb the resin from the lay up in place when you stipple it with a brush to chase out air bubbles. I suggest you go to a grp suppler and look at their lightess Tissue available.Have a look on the net for "Surface Tissue"
I have only learned this from 40 years of working on Lotus Elans and getting upset when the filler shrinks 2 or 3 years after painting.
Alan

Edited by plasticpig72 on Friday 19th August 14:58

[DavidY]

As John said, the SE vent is the way to go, it nicely keeps the original line for the bonnet, and in slow moving or stationery straffic really does let the heat out, only downside, is that it fills with water when left parked in the rain, though I'm suyre a little bonnet gutter/tube could be fabricated to stop it running onto the back of the engine.

[phillpot]

plasticpig72 said:

Please when you grind out any cracks in body don't use any p38 or p40 or crap like that ONLY use Matt then Resin and Tissue. If you use p38 you will have shrinkage after and can see where the repairs were done.

Five years ago I got rid of the wing mounted fuel filler on my S series, so far the "crap" has shown no signs of shrinkage, similarly no issues with the repairs/alterations to the Taimar shown in my previous post...

Edited by phillpot on Friday 19th August 16:35

[plasticpig72]

On the 1975 1600M i sold a few months ago you could see where the previous owner had removed the alloy trim for the vinyl roof because filler had shrunk. On a 1973 Lotus Elan +2S where i had removed a door mirror and filled with crap p38 it shrunk after 4 years but where i had gound out cracks on the boot lid and repaired with matt, resin and Tissue only NO shrinkage. If you have a chat with Adrian Venn he will tell you how many "M" series he has seen where the alloy trim was removed and you can see shrinkage where screw holes were.
Quote "The roof under the OE Vinyl is not prepared or painted in any way,so it will need a full refinish (if I am honest) I never seen a car that has been done that has not shown sink holes where the alloy trims had previously been (it is all in the refinishing).
Adrian@"

All i know on the 1973 Lotus Elan +2 i took the easy way out on filling 2 door mirror holes and the crap shrunk. Many times when i cleaned the car after i used to look at the shrunk filler and it used to piss me off.
I can see you are doing a fantastic job and i would not like you to be disappointed later.
Keep up the good work
Alan

Edited by plasticpig72 on Saturday 20th August 08:02

[phillpot]

I'm not really "getting this" shrinkage thing? To say filler (P38, U-Pol etc.) is used extensively in the body trade would be an understatement!
Are you suggesting shrinkage is only a problem when it is used on fibreglass?

Obviously holes, no matter how small, should be skinned over with matting/tissue before filling and not just bunged up with filler.

[plasticpig72]

yes, that's what i mean skinned over with Tissue. All cracks and repairs need skinning over with Tissue. Some top spray shops for grp cars skin over the complet body with Tissue hence prices of £6,000 or £7,000+
I explained it badly
Alan

[Astacus]

I am far from an expert, but if I am filling over a hole I get a countersink and whiz it out a bit, before plugging it with a P40 and sanding

[plasticpig72]

imho it's still better to finish last with Tissue as some of the experts e.g. Option 1 or SMS. p40 is with fibres so stronger than p38 no fibres.
It's just my way of doing things but it's not the only way of course.
Alan