The Elan M100 "Doer Upper"
Discussion
CallMeLegend said:
CallMeLegend said:
I need to find a tool to "dimple" some small stainless washers to bond into some damaged areas where CSK screws would normally fit in the door card but have pulled through.
Made one, had a brainwave & had to test if it would work without delay!!!Had some old upholstery eyelets in the garage which have a raised head.
If only I could find a way of inverting the head form by drawing it into something soft....like the back of a large Nylok by wedging a smaller nut into the front face & pulling against the soft Nylon with a CSK bolt
Changed the head form perfectly.
6 perfectly formed repair sleeves
That when bonded into this mess
Should transform it. The insert will be pulled up tight when boneded in.
Well done OP. I used to work for a sportscar specialist when I was about 18 or so and we had a Turbo one of these in. I was amazed how it handled etc. I've been seriously contemplating adding one of these to my stable, but torn between this and an Elise S1. I can see both have their merits.
I little bit of glass fiber taper reinforcement around the edge of the door cards the strengthen the repaired areas.
3mm scrim foam bonded on ready the attempt some upholstery.
Found the cause of the ignition not switching off. it was a dodgy ignition switch, think the female keyway is knackered.
When fitted to the car it's intermittent at best, when taken off the column & key really push in it works reliably.
3mm scrim foam bonded on ready the attempt some upholstery.
Found the cause of the ignition not switching off. it was a dodgy ignition switch, think the female keyway is knackered.
When fitted to the car it's intermittent at best, when taken off the column & key really push in it works reliably.
CallMeLegend said:
On the second attempt the door card insert is acceptable, we changed the way is was stitched slightly (in fact my 15 year old daughter did them :bowdown: ) & it's gone really well, ket being lots of small steps,going slowly when bonding to the insert.
Looks good, a huge improvement!
Carried out some final repairs to the door cards yesterday afternoon, these were in a bit of a pickle, this was one on the most rewarding jobs on the door cards so far.
One side was broken, but the part that was broken off was still there, so I cleaned it up for bonding & attached it using DP460, a bot of post bond cleanup, maybe mix some paint the same colour to touch in & I'l be happy with it as it's mostly hidden by the escutcheon.
The other side however was a different story, the tin section was missing. So I decided I had to make one.
I took a mould from the repaired side using milliput.
Then sound an old vac-formed Makita power tool box liner & cut out a flat section. Using a small hot air gun & heated the plastic, pushing it into the mould best I could, the resultant section was trimmed & bonded into place.
Finally I cleaned off some of the original material & boneded i an overlapped doubler. Cleaning off the original material ment ounce the doubler was on the section in this area would be the same thickness as the original part.
Needs a few hours in the oven (conservatory) to cure fully then it'll be cleaned up & painted the same colour, but again, it's mostly hidden by the lock pin escutcheon.
One side was broken, but the part that was broken off was still there, so I cleaned it up for bonding & attached it using DP460, a bot of post bond cleanup, maybe mix some paint the same colour to touch in & I'l be happy with it as it's mostly hidden by the escutcheon.
The other side however was a different story, the tin section was missing. So I decided I had to make one.
I took a mould from the repaired side using milliput.
Then sound an old vac-formed Makita power tool box liner & cut out a flat section. Using a small hot air gun & heated the plastic, pushing it into the mould best I could, the resultant section was trimmed & bonded into place.
Finally I cleaned off some of the original material & boneded i an overlapped doubler. Cleaning off the original material ment ounce the doubler was on the section in this area would be the same thickness as the original part.
Needs a few hours in the oven (conservatory) to cure fully then it'll be cleaned up & painted the same colour, but again, it's mostly hidden by the lock pin escutcheon.
Thanks to Par on LEC I managed to get my hands on an original Elan switch, albeit with the incorrect connector on the end of the flying lead. Quite simple to cut the old connector form the original switch & solder to the new flying lead, also gave me the option to increase the lead length slightly.
The Red lead is the immobiliser "starter disable" circuit (I didn't have Black/Red, amateurish I'm afraid, but needs must. The loop in the connector is a simple jump lead to test the cable.
The Red lead is the immobiliser "starter disable" circuit (I didn't have Black/Red, amateurish I'm afraid, but needs must. The loop in the connector is a simple jump lead to test the cable.
As the car is kept 65 miles away at the moment, during the week I have to concentrate on the jobs I can take home with me.
The gear knob & gaiter are not to my liking in the car.
The knob is worn out.
The gaiter looks generally tired.
The a new knob & gaiter are required, but first the original wire retainer had to be removed from the gaiter, this was a piece of steel that had never been painted, so was rusty. Time to give it a Deox C bath in the best Pirex bowl (women love it when you use kitchen equipment for cat stuff, try it).
Followed by a good wash, dry, etch prime & some Black paint to protect it.
A new gaiter has been source, to match the subtle paint colour.
Had to get a new gear knob too, found a really scruffy Elise item that I set to with varying grades of wet & dry, followed by Dodo Juice Supernatural metal polish I had lying around. Needs a final polish to remove the last of the sanding marks.
The gear knob & gaiter are not to my liking in the car.
The knob is worn out.
The gaiter looks generally tired.
The a new knob & gaiter are required, but first the original wire retainer had to be removed from the gaiter, this was a piece of steel that had never been painted, so was rusty. Time to give it a Deox C bath in the best Pirex bowl (women love it when you use kitchen equipment for cat stuff, try it).
Followed by a good wash, dry, etch prime & some Black paint to protect it.
A new gaiter has been source, to match the subtle paint colour.
Had to get a new gear knob too, found a really scruffy Elise item that I set to with varying grades of wet & dry, followed by Dodo Juice Supernatural metal polish I had lying around. Needs a final polish to remove the last of the sanding marks.
Edited by CallMeLegend on Thursday 2nd July 10:58
A little more progress this afternoon.
Previously I repaired the RH speaker mount I found from a scrapped Elan, I ground of the crack & bonded using trusty DP460, cured in the airing cupboard for 24hrs, good & strong now. Plenty of adhesive used as it's not visible.
Added some silent coat I had laying around from when I did our VW camper as the speaker mounts feel to me like they will just resonate. Not the best job, but out of sight & it will do the job.
Previously I repaired the RH speaker mount I found from a scrapped Elan, I ground of the crack & bonded using trusty DP460, cured in the airing cupboard for 24hrs, good & strong now. Plenty of adhesive used as it's not visible.
Added some silent coat I had laying around from when I did our VW camper as the speaker mounts feel to me like they will just resonate. Not the best job, but out of sight & it will do the job.
The problem with these early 90's Lotus is that they were sold in such low volumes, so parts from breakers are scarce. There are so NOS parts around, but bearing in mind these have hanging around 30years or so, their condition can leave a bit to be desired.
The missing pivot bolts for the roof were no exception, got some NOS from SJ Sportscars, but they were suffering from the old iron oxide.
So into the Deox C for a couple of hours, dry them, etch prime & a light coat of black paint.
The missing pivot bolts for the roof were no exception, got some NOS from SJ Sportscars, but they were suffering from the old iron oxide.
So into the Deox C for a couple of hours, dry them, etch prime & a light coat of black paint.
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