Where can I get good body work done on an Elise. Need Help!

[Shearecj]

Recently I have been unfortunate enough (or stupid), to park front on in too close to a couple of curbs, and well I think you can tell what is coming, I have damaged a fair amount of the very bottom of the front of my elise. I was wondering :
1. Does anyone know of anywhere in Somerset that is really good at Elise body work?
2. If that sort of damage is not fixable, am I looking at big bucks to replace that section of bodywork, because as far as I can see the front of the lotus is all one section, or am I missing something?
3. I have also seen these "front splitter's" would that help hide front lower damage and maybe protect the front of the car from further accidental damage?

Some help and guidance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Colin

[jondude]

The good news is that most fibreglass damage is indeed repairable so unless it is bad, you should be Ok. If you upload some pictures I'm sure people here will give you a firm 'yes' or 'no'.

I've heard good things about the splitter, too.

I did find when I was hit-and-runned that the official or registered bodyshops tend to run a closed shop on prices - nearly all quoted me 750-1200 quid for minor damage and respray. Some will push too, for it to become an insurance claim which is bad, bad business for you and I.

I eventually got it done for 300 quid by a bloke who has left the business and set up on his own. Unfortunately, he is so drowned in work he asked me not to advertise him.

My point being that there are blokes like him who can and will do the job for a more reasonable price....just a case of asking around your area.

Also, try local boat shops or even surfer shops - these places know their fibreglass and can be both competitive and of excellent standard.

[davislove]

I can reccommend getting in contact with Adrian Blyth in sussex, they deal with a guy called Tom Horsburgh who did a very good job on my Elise, great price too

[motaboy]

It should be fixable if it's the bottom/lip of the front clamshell. I think most elises have scuffed these at some point. Mine was fixed for £300 including blending in etc and it looked quite bad beforehand.

[tanman]

Having recently had work done by specialised in reading i can say it was very good (and i am a fussy sod). Not the cheapist but the quality of work was outstanding.
Tanman

[GhostDriver]

I did this when I first got mine, It couldnt be seen from the front, so I bought my own fibre repair kit, and did a decent job sealing it and fixing it. Took about half a day to do with care.
shouldnt have bothered..

2 months later some stooopid cow ploughed into the front of my car.
New clam, no more damage underneath, no more stone chips, which is nice.

My point is most cars have the odd scrape underneath, post pix, and Im sure we'd all be able to advise you better.

[Scoop24]

Yep, another vote for 'www.specialisedpaintwork.com'. They did some work on my S1 sill a few weeks ago. Not the cheapest place around, but the quality was absolutely perfect.

[Shearecj]

Thanks everyone keep the advice coming if you think of any more. Also I would love to show you all the damage but can't work out how to input pictures, any ideas??

[bordseye]

Being a yottie, I have had to do a fair amount of glass fibre repairs - if you think garages are expensive you want to try a boatyard. Anyway, its really quite easy to diy repair cracks / splinters in grp, and you can end up with as strong or stronger job than the pros by using woven rovings and epoxy. So if I had some damage to my Elise I'd be inclined to mend the grp myself and then take the car to any number of decent local paintshops that dont need to be grp specialists.