Fiberglass repair - Hants/Surrey

[Trikster]

Looking for recommendations for someone to repair a 2" crack in the rear wheel arch of my 1999 Lotus Elise S1

Hoping I can find someone who can do a good local repair rather on the car rather than insisting on a full a full clam off - from a layman's perspective this looks like it should be possible but I'm no expert

[John D.]

Steve Williams Sports Cars in Maidenhead or Specialised Paintwork in Reading.

[twing]

Nico at Smash Paintwork - https://smashpaintwork.com/

Top lad

[Trikster]

John D. said:

Steve Williams Sports Cars in Maidenhead or Specialised Paintwork in Reading.

Thanks John; already had quote form specialised and will only do it with full clam off and ££££££ - not worth it on this particular car.

Moderator edit: no naming & shaming

[John D.]

I expect Steve Williams might want the clam off as well, but I'm no expert. 16yrs ago they both quoted for an insurance claim for me on a S1. I went with Steve Williams. They both do lots of Lotus.

[LennyM1984]

Possibly not a helpful answer but have you considered doing it yourself? Fibreglass repairs are very beginner friendly (in my opinion) and you really only need a fibreglass kit (mat and resin), some gelcoat, a grinder, and a few things you'll have round the house (you'll need to cover the gelcoat with cling film).

You start by grinding out the crack to expose decent fibreglass each side of the crack (ideally on the reverse as well), paste in some new glass, and then lay some gelcoat over that (covering it tightly with cling film). Then you just sand it and polish it in.

I'm no good at painting so at that stage I'd hand it off to somebody else to paint.

My race car has a fibreglass body and so I have done a few repairs in my time (including making one decent clamshell out of two broken ones). Ironically, the bits I have done look nicer than some of the factory mouldings!

[Fastpedeller]

Andy Westgate in Maidenhead does some great GRP work

https://www.westgatecomposites.com