cweeden

Fortunately it looks like it all bolts on and off without any lasting impact, not quite so stupid after all. 👍

I have been plagued by delays (not related to the hub carriers) so they are not fitted at the moment but I have trial fitted them, which led to a couple of discoveries. We'd missed the ABS sensor hole and fixing bolt somehow, so I have had that machined. The other aspect that wasn't quite right was the diameter of the hole for the sliding bush in the lower mount, it has been machined a little larger than stock and so I've had to resort to using some shim steel to take up the slack. I'm pretty sure Ignas has corrected the model for both of these since we discovered them and we have the correct dimensions for everything now since Sacha shared the original drawings so easy enough to check. Unfortunately Ignas lost patience with me and we've had a falling out which is a shame but I would be very confident his model is good and as long as the machine shop does a proper job these will be very good. I can't remember the grade of alloy we went for though, I think it was 6061 but here is the advice from @CHANGES 6061 is where most start for this sort of application, preferably in T6 format .. (heat tempered) for maximum strength (6061-T6) You can also get it in a stress relieved form which has a suffix of 51 (6061-T651). I would imagine the sweet spot has been hit more or less, that pricing is very good indeed. @Project M71 are you planning on any surface treatment to prevent corrosion? (just curious), also where are you based?

Hi All, As the organiser of this group buy I would like to apologise to everyone who had put themselves forward for a kit. I would also like to apologise to Nick Wannop who kindly presented his car back to Pro Alloy so that his one off kit could be measured and used as a template with no gain for himself. This is not at all how I had imagined things would turn out. I've not commented on the statement from Pro Alloy yet since I am really not sure what to say or do, my disappointment is only equalled by my frustration and bewilderment. @ProAlloy-Alex, I am very disappointed that Pro Alloy has pulled the plug and I wonder if the project had been managed better could this have been avoided and I must share the blame for that, perhaps I didn't push hard enough in the beginning to make things happen faster. I would have expected you to approach me if the project was in difficulty long before this point, and there have been other opportunities recently to talk with me but you failed to take advantage of them and have not contacted me directly, a courtesy that would have cost very little. However, that is done so now let's see what we can salvage from the work done so far. In previous posts you have stated that the manufacture of some parts was well under way and that you are willing to share the CAD, please can you list what you have so far and post the CAD here for the community to share. Can you itemise the kit of parts proposed and if possible where these can be sourced from. Maybe we have members on the forum who know of other alloy manufacturers that can help, I am not quite ready to give up on this. cheers -Chris

Can you number each item in accordance with the parts diagram so that I know where they all go? 🤣

Great news Tom, I'm hoping to find time to collect when it's convenient. 👍

I love the positive attitude and the fact this is in the what made you happy thread. Well played.

Hi Freek, I'm juggling a mixture of protective coatings, hot dipped galvanised and powder coated chassis, powder coated arms, zinc nickel (black passivate) on nuts and bolts and the larger components you see in the picture, Lanoguard for hard to reach out of sight places for extra protection and duralac where dissimilar metals might take offence with each other. 🙂 cheers -Chris

How close is the driveshaft output centreline to original transaxle's centreline? (looks fantastic BTW) 👍

What is wrong with people. Sorry to hear that Tom unfortunately I can only offer sympathy. cheers -Chris

Where are you based? dclass automotive made a good job of my Sport 350 seat, they are in Chobham in Surrey. I only had a small hole on a side bolster but they were very committed to finding the right material and colour match. It wasn't cheap but a really good result. https://www.dclass.co.uk cheers -Chris

If you are anything like me (but I suspect on this point you are not) you'd just make more mess in a bigger space. There's no way I'm sharing a pic of my garage at the moment (if ever). 😱 Oh and for the record, that is not a mess!

I don't have much to add that will help with the geometry but I would recommend painting or powder coating the arms instead of relying on just the plating, they won't stay good looking for very long if you do. 😇

Ooh, that's the driveway surface of choice for me but last time I looked is not a cheap option. Looks great. 👍

That looks like a lot of fun and very well put together. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

Hi @ProAlloy-Alex, I've responded to the email too and will be close to the workshop on Friday this week, hopefully I'll be able to stop by in person (I've added more detail in my email). 🙂 cheers -Chris

Hi @ProAlloy-Alex I'm checking names on the list above against names I have collected. Steve Middleton is moving into an Emira (lucky boy 🙂 ) and has withdrawn his interest in a kit. @esprit17 please let Alex know if that is not the case. However Jan Elholt (from the LotusTalk forum) and Steven Levesque ( @NHSteve ) both expressed an interest and should be added to the list. I'll send you Jan's email address privately. @Escape just alerting you to Alex's message above in case you didn't get a notification from his post. 😇 cheers -Chris

I didn't manage to call Alex this afternoon, work sometimes doesn't play ball, however I will try tomorrow.

I'll try and speak with @ProAlloy-Alex to let him know the precarious situation that is arising with a lack of communication and visible progress. cheers -Chris

Did you take that picture with a drone? 😋

My wife works at a local secondary school and they have a well equipped DT department including a lightweight laser cutter. It makes me suspect these are common in schools and you may find one local to you that wouldn't mind helping out perhaps if the scissors don't do the job well enough? cheers -Chris

Very relieved for you and wish you both all the best for a rapid recovery. 🤗

Hi Steve (??), Pro Alloy are making and selling the kit, Alex pops in and out of the forum infrequently but is the right person to answer this for you. If you send a personal message via the forum to @ProAlloy-Alexyou may get a quicker response. cheers -Chris

Yup, me too. Great job Tom. 👍

I can't quite see which bracket that is in your picture, I was assuming #6 from the Lotus parts diagram but the stud looks closer to the end than I would expect. Either way part #6 is a U channel of similar height. I don't think it will be a problem to make it taller but looking at a past comment from when I measured it, this piece could easily have fouling issues at each end. The height doesn't look like it would be a factor though, however I'm wondering if you decided to add a slight offset to the studs or not (I'm not overly concerned either way just curious).