Body Repairs

[Andymx5]

Hi Guys,

I've seen an Elise for sale that needs a bit of work. It's been damaged with heavy scratches and cracks in two places (Sadly one on the Front Clam the other on the rear)

Has anyone done this sort of Damage to their Elise and had repaired? If so, how much did it cost and did it look good as new afterwards?

Thanks, Andrew

[steff]

Unless its very cheap dont bother.

There are loads of straight cars out there at the moment why buy what seems to be an easy repair when it turns out to be anything but?

[jke11y]

I take it its that silver one with the blue vinyl?

Something looks very fishy about that. Its still 7k from memory and a couple of k more will save you the hassle and get you a better car.

[beachbum]

Worse case would be New front and rear clams. Front clam alone is £1700, painted and fitted. Rear Clam I bleive is slightly more.

As someone has already suggested, unless it is at least £5000 less than any other similar car steer well clear of it.
If it is cheap, make sure it is inspected by a Lotus Specialist, prior to you buying it. Do not rely on just the AA inspection, or such like as they are not aware of the subtleties of the car.

[andymx5]

Yep, it's the Silver one with the Blue Vinyl.

I was a little weary of it as the Blue vinyl looks like it's only purpose is to cover up more scratches. Might be wrong though.

Is replacing Clams simply a case of a few bolts and unplugging lights from the Loom or is it several hours for a professional?

[steff]

andymx5 said:

Is replacing Clams simply a case of a few bolts and unplugging lights from the Loom or is it several hours for a professional?

Its quite a few hours work to remove the front and rear clams and with older cars the problems will start when you have to angle grind off all the rusted bolts.

[andymx5]

Oh well, scrap that idea then... I'm far too dangerous with a spanner, let alone an Angle Grinder!

[jke11y]

When you can get nice looked after historied cars for 9k theres no point spending 6500 on a dogg.

Clams can be had for way less on ebay (there were some at buy it now 300 last week) but factoring in the costs its just not worth it unless the car is less than 5k.

[jfrf]

im sure that it could be repaired easily and that a new clam wouldnt be needed

ive had 5 large cracks all repaired under insurance. more holes than cracks

a decent specialist should be able to do a perfect job