1976 Elite restoration.

[steve clack]

It is going to be Regency red, which is the original Lotus factory colour.

[Doris the dog]

Should look good in red Steve.  Still no doors or glass in mine , other than tailgate minus its seal. 

[steve clack]

As last the car is painted....

[EXCEL V8]

Lovely red.  Good choice.

Pete

[Clive59]

did you do it yourself? I have a red one to paint one day too, so looking for tips and tricks when I do get to it.

Looking good though.

[steve clack]

Clive, yes I did it myself, happy to give any tips to avoid any of the miriad of problems that you have to get over.

[Tony D]

Need to know more Steve. Not least was it done at home, or do you have access to spray booth and oven. 

Tony

[steve clack]

Yes, done in my garage at home, made my own spray booth all pretty basic but seems to work. As long as the temp is 20 degrees you will be fine.

P. S. Never put a fibreglass car in an oven, it will melt.

[Doris the dog]

On 20/05/2020 at 15:32, EXCEL V8 said:

Re the rivet holes - there should be a length of T-section aluminium extrusion there - on the inside of the car.  Similarly there should be a bit along the bottom of the window aperture.  It usually drops to bits on removal.  I've been trying to source a similar extrusion to make new ones.

Pete

Pete , ironmongerydirect have a tee section fairly close to the lotus extrusion.  It has a central web , Lotus one is off centre 

[EXCEL V8]

Thanks Tony.  I've got a contact who works magic with aluminium extrusions apparently, but I've not been able to see him yet because of the lock-down. 

Pete

[Doris the dog]

Hi again, not worked on the Elite this last few days as my 96 year old mother broke her arm.  In hospital out of hospital then back in hospital. 
So today started couple of jobs ,new leather trim on the dash, not that easy but getting there. But again a couple of random questions.  
The main cable that runs from battery to starter on mine has by the footwell has a 6mm diameter cable spliced of it with large inline fuse , but cannot find anywhere to attach it.  
Second question, in the boot , the tailgate multiplyer , does it fix the the fibreglass boot floor or guess boot is lined with ply and it attached to that. 
regards

Tony

[Doris the dog]

Fuel system complete. Found the 8amp inline fuse in the footwell, replacing it with a modern one , well gone from ceramic to glass. 

[Doris the dog]

Slowly getting into the wiring on the Elite.  Making good several poor connections, and think rear lights incorrectly wired to what I think should be brake lights.  

[Tony D]

I thought I'd posted reply earlier in week, but can't see it. 

Hatch multiplier bolts directly to the body floor. It takes quite a load in releasing the catch. 

Tony

[Doris the dog]

Things progressing well on the Elite. 
Just slightly confused on the fitting of the rear glass  between boot and rear passenger seats.  It seems to be glued in , but the boot black carpet as it’s cut seems to cover over the ends of aperture for the glass.  Sois the glass not glued all round , but just top and bottom ?

regards

Tony

[mikeeech]

The glass is glued all the way round but there should be a finisher in the boot area which you can just make out here

Mike is covered in black vinyl and appears to be fixed solid. It may be metal?

[Angus553]

In the boot above the tank there is a heavy metal finisher plate. Mine is covered in black carpet and angled at 90deg. On the interior side it is stuck in with solbit. Mine was only stuck top and bottom by 4 inches of it. When mine was out i noticed the rear of the car creaked  a bit more, so it may have some structural purpose as per the front screen. 

[Doris the dog]

I haven’t come across a finisher in all the parts as you you describe. But will sort it. 
Also the tailgate release that comes from the boot through to the side panel, there is a hole for it in the plastic pocket but no hole in the trim that covers it.  Can not see any other holes where it could be attached, so a mystery to me how tailgate was opened previously.  

[Angus553]

Hi Tony the finisher plate which i have described it as, is the one you rubbed down from your post of 26/4/ 20. Its also the no.5 from RD Enterprise picture of the boot area.  The cables  are basically bike brake cable which runs from the rear glove box to the lock and is joined by the rear light via a cantilever system. See photo. On the left from the glove box and the right from the lock. The cable runs over the wheel arch and behind the battery to the photo and then to the lock. Hope this helps. 

[EXCEL V8]

Thanks very much for that photo Angus - I'm about to start re-furbing mine and I was sure it was screwed to the rear panel.  I should have taken far more photos as I dismantled it!

Pete

[Doris the dog]

Hi Angus , with the cable to open the tailgate that finishes in the rear glove box , mine has a hole in the plastic box , but no hole in the cloth trim that covers the plastic box.  So I wondered if previous owner had re-routed it. 

[Angus553]

Yes its possible it could have been re routed. I think it would be better with a pulley wheel attached to make it easier to open and maybe situated nearer to the driver!! 

[EXCEL V8]

Angus - have you ever fixed a scale to the cable in the cabin to see how much force (in Kg for instance) it takes to open the hatch?  Again thinking a solenoid would be a nice upgrade.

Pete

[Tony D]

Pete. 

It needs quite a pull. I rigged up a balance a couple of years ago and from memory, it was around 8 to 10 Kg. (100 N). This at the magnification the standard lever arrangement gives and needed 20mm of stroke. 

I had a couple of door central lock electric actuators. I just made it work by using 2 pulling in parrellel and setting the latch to the point that it was only just latching. I made the lever magnification bigger, but then ran out of stroke. - At which point I parked it for another day, a day that's still to arrive 😕. 

It's something I really want to do, and will find a way if no else gets there before me. 

Tony

[Angus553]

Hi Pete and Tony

No i havent really thought seriously about an upgrade of any sort. Yes it does take a bit of a pull and would be a real pain if it malfunctioned.  Hence ive been adjusting and lubricating it before i permanently re fit the interior rear glass and install the headlining ive made recently. The tailgate now springs up about an inch, unfortunately the gas struts are a bit tired.luckily the glass was out as a couple of times it failed to open. 

Angus