OOPS, CRASH BANG, REPAIR AND RENEW ..

[drdoom]

Koni, who new a thing or two on damping, published a brief but thorough document on how to set double adjustable dampers with the serious racer in mind. On jounce, or bump, it was down simply to the control of unsprung mass over pavement irregularities to maximise road holding and therefore quite straightforward. Rebound was a somewhat more complex thing, affecting vehicle turn-in characteristics in addition to maintaining maximum road holding over the same irregularities by not unduly slowing return of tyre contact.

Modern cars differ substantially from ours in having complex arrays of bushings with intent to minimize harshness which, though accomplishing this rather well, seem to incur other issues. Case in point, my wife's 2015 Accord Coupe which performs quite impressively for a groceries-getter around town. Out in the mountains laden with provisions for a week at lakeside a troubling phenomenon arises when hauling down from 120 - 130kph for slower turns in the form of deep and pervasive low frequency vibration emanating from the front end. Once the brakes have cooled there is no further grief, leading me to think nothing amiss with the rotors at least. I've never experienced such a thing in earlier cars no matter how hard they were run and suspect the Honda compliance bushings array to be just short of fully engineered though the car on OEM Michelins does isolate nicely over rough pavement.

Cheers

[Steve V8]

On 03/09/2020 at 17:31, CHANGES said:

As it turns out this repair section was quite a good match .  They can be a bit hit and miss at times . When a poor match occurs the repairer may have to use a bit of poetic licence .. 

I believe there were three VARI moulds for the Esprit, and vari being a good description. I call them short and long wheelbase, so you may have been lucky to have a repair section from the same mould as the original.

[drdoom]

6 hours ago, drdoom said:

Koni, who knew a thing or two on damping, . . .    --  Covid brain has taken hold, incrementally. Will sort that out quickly upon resumption of rec hockey, this week at last!!

Cheers

 

[CHANGES]

On 08/09/2020 at 23:24, Steve V8 said:

I believe there were three VARI moulds for the Esprit, and vari being a good description. I call them short and long wheelbase, so you may have been lucky to have a repair section from the same mould as the original.

It was close but no cigar..  Even though the way I cut out the section , means all the cut joints are covered or out of sight when joined up ; The one 20mm small area that is not, did not match that well .  It is really just sod'd law that it was just that one spot . Typical .. 

You can just make it out , the lower lip is much deeper on the original panel and the angle is slightly off..  But hell its all going to be ground out and GRP'd so not problem ..  however it will need building up all the way round to be consistent..   If you are aware of the underside shape you will realise this is a fiddly job to glass up .. 

Anyway back to the job ..  Now we have the test fit done , we take it all apart to prep for final  assembly..  This involves grinding back all the inner and awkward areas to provide a good key for GRP adhesion when laying up . 

 

The next stage was to insure all the joints are at least as strong as original . On the foam filled box sections this can be awkward .. having no access to the inner face would mean no bridge is formed .. This would then totally rely on one side lay up ..   To overcome this i use a sleeve technique .. This involves first chasing out a thin clearance around the foam inset and keying the inner faces .. 

  

Then using corresponding sections from the scrap parts trimmed and prepped to fit ; We secure in position using resin compound adhesive filler as joint agent . 

 

The next section is a little tricky.. We have to apply the same GRP joint compound to the areas just mentioned , along with the 'B' post pillar butt joint  and the floor butt joints .. .  Once mixed i have only a few minutes to slot it all into place and secure before it cures .. If i get this wrong and it goes off before its all in correct position, it will need cutting off to re-do over.. 

The above pic shows how this acts as a sleeve , helping with positional location whilst providing an inner bonded bridging joint ..  The next picture shows how the surplus compound squeeze's out of the joints as it pulls together..  

   By using this method we have maintained the structural integrity in these areas..    Once the compound has fully cured, we can proceed to the next stage of grinding back , prepping and laying GRP on all the  joints , including these outside of these sleeve joints .. 

TBC     

[CHANGES]

Moving forward, the next stage was to lay up the GRP on the inner faces . This will secure the section solid in place and enable the Cleco and bridge plates to be removed . Where the bridge plates were in the way we needed to work around them first and then do a second stage of lay up .. 

This second pic shows how neatly the rear panel lined up and with one layer of woven with two layer of mat, fixed very firm ..   The outside need addressing now ..  First the big grind .. This is tough because this panel being part of the crash structure is thicker than other sections. 

So from this pic above you can see we have ground a taper down to the base of the joint , up to the internal layup previously done . Then we lay over the area building up and tapering out to fill amalgamating the two section .  This will get ground back with a second layer to establish a level finish before Filler to finish off .. 

 

I do realise that 98% of all this will not be visible when finished.. But that is not the point .. Just because it can not be seen does not mean you short cut the job ...   Is that not what we have been witnessing on disassembly.      

The same process goes on all the joints , grind back lay up, grind and finish lay up ..  next pick is of sill section before and after process completed..  

 

In the last pic you can also see the GRP lay up over the internal sections the bulk head has a bridge lay up over the bonded joint as per original spec . 

Next two pics show how the 'B' post joint was made solid .  It will still need final shaping to conform with the curve of the quarter glass .

Next section is the 'A'post and sill repair .., 

TBC 

[Barrykearley]

That’s some seriously impressive work 👍🙌

[faye2000]

shes coming together  beautifully Dave im loving it 

15 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

That’s some seriously impressive work 

 

 

[CHANGES]

Time to update this thread .....  So where was I  ?     'A' post and front sill repair ..

So to recap , the front sill and 'A' post was damaged because the tie plate from the steel 'A' post door mount was corroded away which allowed the main post to flex , cracking the N/S sill to wheel well area..  At the same time this flexed the whole of the front wing causing server gel and some stricture cracks .. 

The following 3 pics are of the lower 'A' post / sill after most of the loose damaged area has been ground away in prep for GRP lay up. 

All of these area's are prepped and repaired as per previous sections , allowing them to return to original position with the same or greater strength integrity.   

Once all ground back and second lay up applied the slot for the Tie plate slot can be re-cut and and the plate and 'A' post steel pillar refitted and sealed.. 

We will now move on to the next area which is the front wing. You should be able to make out some of  the gel crack in indicated area , although as you will see later the paint masks the real cracks .. 

The same crack situation is on the cap rail , This should be expected when you consider the flex that the 'A' post went through , anything attached will have similar flex so cracks should be investigated even if not obvious ..  

 

Next will be grind back and find all the crack in these area.. 

[faye2000]

7 hours ago, CHANGES said:

Time to update this thread .....  So where was I  ?     'A' post and front sill repair ..

So to recap , the front sill and 'A' post was damaged because the tie plate from the steel 'A' post door mount was corroded away which allowed the main post to flex , cracking the N/S sill to wheel well area..  At the same time this flexed the whole of the front wing causing server gel and some stricture cracks .. 

The following 3 pics are of the lower 'A' post / sill after most of the loose damaged area has been ground away in prep for GRP lay up. 

All of these area's are prepped and repaired as per previous sections , allowing them to return to original position with the same or greater strength integrity.   

Once all ground back and second lay up applied the slot for the Tie plate slot can be re-cut and and the plate and 'A' post steel pillar refitted and sealed.. 

We will now move on to the next area which is the front wing. You should be able to make out some of  the gel crack in indicated area , although as you will see later the paint masks the real cracks .. 

The same crack situation is on the cap rail , This should be expected when you consider the flex that the 'A' post went through , anything attached will have similar flex so cracks should be investigated even if not obvious ..  

 

Next will be grind back and find all the crack in these area.. 

Wow even more cracks have come to light from the last time I saw her, great work m8 loving it.

[CHANGES]

13 hours ago, faye2000 said:

Wow even more cracks have come to light from the last time I saw her, great work m8 loving it.

 Yes , As i said they will start to appear over time , which is why we have to spend time hunting for them. Sometimes this means resurfacing areas that show no sign of crack but I know are subject to it , especially after a shunt .. Gel crack always delays showing its full extent till some time later, usually after a basic repair is done and the body starts to flex when being used again ...

All good fun ..   

[CHANGES]

So onto the next... Sand , Grind , GRP  stage ..  the first job on the front wing is to get the paint off .  There were a couple of strange anomalies in the paint on the N/S corner , more like sinkage , but with the odd crack so will explore reason while dealing with Cracks.. 

When the paint was removed it exposed a previous repair that has not been fully bridged , so that can be address as part of re-lamination process. 

The main wheel arch section has received major flex causing gel and structure crack ..with a lot of the gel coat removed , the stain coats started to expose the deep cracks that could otherwise get unseen .

After sanding back further  we can see how deep some of these are ...

The only solution was a full grind out and apply bridging GRP compound ..  AT the same time we have to route out the main joint around the underside of the arch which has completely separated ..  This will get spread and filled with joint compound before doing the outer skin. The reason being ,the flex needed to open the joint may extend the existing   cracks . 

The next pic shows how deep these cracks are , already ground deep the stain still showing we have not reached the root .. 

Once fully ground out and GRP compound filled , we apply a full coat of resin and two layers of GRP tissue . 'see next two pic's ' 

  

The laminating coat extended over the repaired areas on N/S front corner .. 

   

This exact same process is carried out on the capping rail , which ended up with gel cracks down most of its length with a few structural , so full re-lamination done on that complete area .. 

Next job is to trim flat and fill where needed..  

TBC  

[faye2000]

2 hours ago, CHANGES said:

So onto the next... Sand , Grind , GRP  stage ..  the first job on the front wing is to get the paint off .  There were a couple of strange anomalies in the paint on the N/S corner , more like sinkage , but with the odd crack so will explore reason while dealing with Cracks.. 

When the paint was removed it exposed a previous repair that has not been fully bridged , so that can be address as part of re-lamination process. 

The main wheel arch section has received major flex causing gel and structure crack ..with a lot of the gel coat removed , the stain coats started to expose the deep cracks that could otherwise get unseen .

After sanding back further  we can see how deep some of these are ...

The only solution was a full grind out and apply bridging GRP compound ..  AT the same time we have to route out the main joint around the underside of the arch which has completely separated ..  This will get spread and filled with joint compound before doing the outer skin. The reason being ,the flex needed to open the joint may extend the existing   cracks . 

The next pic shows how deep these cracks are , already ground deep the stain still showing we have not reached the root .. 

Once fully ground out and GRP compound filled , we apply a full coat of resin and two layers of GRP tissue . 'see next two pic's ' 

  

The laminating coat extended over the repaired areas on N/S front corner .. 

   

This exact same process is carried out on the capping rail , which ended up with gel cracks down most of its length with a few structural , so full re-lamination done on that complete area .. 

Next job is to trim flat and fill where needed..  

TBC  

Very impressed m8 you made it sound so much easier on the phone 

[CHANGES]

8 hours ago, faye2000 said:

Very impressed m8 you made it sound so much easier on the phone 

That's because it is a lot easier to say it than actually do it .!!!!   

This is why i take so many photo's , Its very easy to say you have done something , its another to show you have actually done it..  especially when it all gets covered up with paint ,or closed inside and engine ...  

[CHANGES]

Continued..... 

So More flatting and shaping.   The initial work was to skim off the new GRP resin'd finish to as close to original shape before applying the glaze coat..  Because i did not put any pigment in the resin , you can see through to the lower layers .. But it still has a substantial bridging layer.   

Once the glaze is applied and flatted to the required finish , a final test fit of the door is done ..  This was previously done to check gaping etc ,this time is just to ensure the levels have not changed.  As it turns out all was fine , but always worth a check before the next process is undertaken .

While the door was hanging with all the latch mechanism fitted, it was an ideal time to insert the later handle design, requested by customer @faye2000..  

 

The handles supplied are not the original  GM Carlton die cast 3 piece units , but the Astra / Cavalier two piece plastic type .   These fit quite well but need a little finessing to get perfect .. They are the same as the ones I fitted and painted 10 years ago on mine.  so i know they will stand the test of time ..   However unlike mine , we are to retain the original latching mechanism , this has created a few issues to overcome . For eg the ups need to go down and the slotted locks are not slotted so don't match at all ..  This is not a problem , its a challenge.  The whole assemble has to fit in the same tight space behind the glass support frame , work freely and last decades...  I will post more detailed account on how it was achieved if anyone is interested .. 

The next area to be addressed is the transom .  This unfortunately was an aftermarket part previously fitted without addressing the fit issues.. 

As you can see it fits high and wide.   But considering it was new and had recently been fitted painted, it still had a few other issues in the finish not related to the accident damage. 

These are typical previous preparation shortfalls ;  not visible immediately after painting but appear later like sinkage and undetected gel crack..   something that will require attention along with the fit issues.. 

Next up transom fit and repair,  also  retro fitted front bumper fit issue..

TBC       

[jjeffries]

What an excellent and intriguing thread. My professional life includes Collision Repair management for an OEM and the lovely work you’re doing here (like sleeving between sections) reminds me of all the ways tasks are supposed by done, but aren’t. Thanks so much for sharing this with us (and to jslocum for pointing me towards it).

[CHANGES]

To get this thread moving again after a break we will look at the poor fit on the transom .  As we can see from previous pic's the after market part was wider, this may be due to a later part going onto an earlier body mold .   The solution was to just machine the two ends down and GRP the areas to the correct length , finishing with glaze fillers.. 

Whist doing the driver side I noticed some sinkage in the rear quarter where a rear wing had been previously fitted.  These had been filled before repaint but in a short time could be seen..  (not so obvious in this pic but more so in reality)

As there seems to be some issues with the lacquer coat not going fully hard after nearly a year , I need to remove it all so going down to the repair should identify why it has sunk .. 

From the above pic we can see the holes were just filled and not bridged  with GRP .. This is the reason it sunk , Its quite common to see this  which is why you need to spend the extra time to fully machine back to base layer , then create a new solid substrate by completely bridge the area. 

This whole area will get GRP bridged to give the best chance of successful reification . 

Another area that had small issue was the front bumper fit .. once again an after market part from a later model was fitted , as with the transom things did not quite line up correct and had not been addressed when first fitted.. 

I realise there are those that say this sort of slight miss alignment is nit picking,  but I just say would you be happy with it on your Esprit ..  All these little points can add up and pull down a quality job..      The only other point that niggled me was the original aerial hole which was no longer used...  

I think that bung will need  to vanish , I don't think it will be in keeping with the rest of what is being done to leave it .. 

 The next stage is finishing these points off , then getting the rest of the shell ready for the full polly coat..  

 

[faye2000]

Lovely  work Dave 👍

Edited December 16, 2020 by Bibs

[CHANGES]

With the previous areas completed , there was just the door handle mod to complete on the drivers door .. 

Starting with a painted original , we remove and fit a template to work from, which outlines the new handle. 

Next we grind down the thickness of the panel so the new handle can fit flush . This recess will also provide the lip for the for the new handle to locate into .. The original square shape is profiled at the same time to mirror the internal section of the new handle .

Once completed the mask can be removed and the new handle fitted.. A small amount of final fettling is needed to insure suitable clearance around the handles edge is available for any polyester a paint build up.

But as with anything Lotus , you change one thing and another jumps out at you ..   As i said previous the later handles have a completely different lock assembly they marry too .  The actuation levers are in opposite and conflicting planes.   So a little poetic licence had to be taken to get the new to work with the old .. 

The above pic shows the original simplistic assembly , with its compact fitting so not to interfere with the window frame and door bar ..  Below is my adaptation to use the new handle with the original catch assembly, which works really well considering ..  The trick was to keep it as simple as possible .. 

Finally all the paint is removed from the door in preparation for next stage .. 

One of the unforeseen problems and a real pain was the new paint that was put on a year before ..  Up until now all the sections worked on had some gel crack or damage so paint removal was a given .. Unfortunately this presents a dilemma on the undamaged panels that were just down for repaint..  Putting new paint over soft paint will  only lead to major long term issues , or more than likely cause a solvent reaction..  Isolating is an option , but this will only mask a problem and still leave a soft substrate .. So the only solution is to carry on removing all the original soft lacquer coat ..  To give you an idea of what i am dealing with , the following pic is of the sand paper used on the DA to remove this layer.  As you can see almost immediately the grit pinned with the soft paint layer .. 

This made a tedious job very frustrating.. using a lot of DA pads .   but Hey Ho its all part of what we love doing ..   The tailgate was the worst , for some reason it was laid on there really thick.. 

It took a whole day to get it down to a satisfactory stable layer with a grit level that was exceptable to work from ..  

Interestingly during this process we did identify a few other points that needed addressing at the same time , so plus points all round ..

next up final prep before polly coat                    

[faye2000]

28 minutes ago, CHANGES said:

With the previous areas completed , there was just the door handle mod to complete on the drivers door .. 

Starting with a painted original , we remove and fit a template to work from, which outlines the new handle. 

Next we grind down the thickness of the panel so the new handle can fit flush . This recess will also provide the lip for the for the new handle to locate into .. The original square shape is profiled at the same time to mirror the internal section of the new handle .

Once completed the mask can be removed and the new handle fitted.. A small amount of final fettling is needed to insure suitable clearance around the handles edge is available for any polyester a paint build up.

But as with anything Lotus , you change one thing and another jumps out at you ..   As i said previous the later handles have a completely different lock assembly they marry too .  The actuation levers are in opposite and conflicting planes.   So a little poetic licence had to be taken to get the new to work with the old .. 

The above pic shows the original simplistic assembly , with its compact fitting so not to interfere with the window frame and door bar ..  Below is my adaptation to use the new handle with the original catch assembly, which works really well considering ..  The trick was to keep it as simple as possible .. 

Finally all the paint is removed from the door in preparation for next stage .. 

One of the unforeseen problems and a real pain was the new paint that was put on a year before ..  Up until now all the sections worked on had some gel crack or damage so paint removal was a given .. Unfortunately this presents a dilemma on the undamaged panels that were just down for repaint..  Putting new paint over soft paint will  only lead to major long term issues , or more than likely cause a solvent reaction..  Isolating is an option , but this will only mask a problem and still leave a soft substrate .. So the only solution is to carry on removing all the original soft lacquer coat ..  To give you an idea of what i am dealing with , the following pic is of the sand paper used on the DA to remove this layer.  As you can see almost immediately the grit pinned with the soft paint layer .. 

This made a tedious job very frustrating.. using a lot of DA pads .   but Hey Ho its all part of what we love doing ..   The tailgate was the worst , for some reason it was laid on there really thick.. 

It took a whole day to get it down to a satisfactory stable layer with a grit level that was exceptable to work from ..  

Interestingly during this process we did identify a few other points that needed addressing at the same time , so plus points all round ..

next up final prep before polly coat                    

Very impressed with the way you've overcome the  locking mechanism 

[CHANGES]

Here we go again , Flat, Flat, rub , prep , flat, feel ...   The feely bit always shows you more than you can see..   Although there are still layer build processes to do , the better the accuracy of repairs to date , the easier and better the final shape will be ...  

Finishing all the repair section joints and fitting cover trims .

Then mask and prep for polly coats 

 

Next up ... shadow coat and Yes you guessed it .... more flatting ..    

[CHANGES]

I always like to give a polly coat time to fully cure out,  so time is not an issue..  This also is a good time to deal with that dodgy suspension set up . This also saves the risk of damaging the new paint if doing post painting.. 

So lets delve into the area's on the suspension we have not fully studied jet.. 

The PO had fitted ProTech adjustable dampers and springs which had not stood the test of time, personally I think the spec fitted was totally wrong choice for the Esprit ..    

The first observation was the lower damper bush , it had fared better than the AVO ones do , they just crap out in no time at all . However because the bush had no shoulder and no room to fit snubber washers the damper body shifted out of center jamming against the arm .. 

It was not possible to remove the damper from the bottom arm in situ because bush had shifted and the bolt collar was holding inside the body..   I also noted that the bottom of the  damper body was not anodized  and as a result was oxidized and flaking ..  There was also the inner bush on the lower wishbone that had seen better days and should not of passed a MOT .

Once it was all removed as a unit we were able to see the other lower arm bush which was de-laminated and very poor also. 

 We also got to see more clearly the horrors of poor after market choices that get made..  These springs were cheep the wrong rating and in my opinion dangerous.

The other side was not much better, you can also see bottom bushes have seen better days . 

The next two pic's will be familiar to those who have worked on changing bushes before , but will be an eye opener for those who don't realise how the bushes can deform over time.  This happens even when the bush looks good from external examination .  If you know what to look for ,You can tell by looking closely at how the bolt is centered .  When these move off center the bush is compromised and it will have altered all the GEO set on the Esprit.   I can not stress how many time i have seen this sort of thing and owners are not aware of it. 

On the pic above you can just make out a split at the 8 o'clock position

The rear springs told their own story..  The height difference was 11mm 

Next up , making good the suspension.   

  

[Erikl]

curious what is the difference in the Protech spec and the spec you recommend?  Excited to see the new suspension.

[MrDangerUS]

GEEEEZZZZ!

Looks like a total basket case...

How many miles on this car?

[Barrykearley]

That’s utterly typical of uk cars @MrDangerUS. Most owners in the uk are far more concerned with the level of shine on the paint rather than the important bits underneath.

[CHANGES]

21 hours ago, MrDangerUS said:

GEEEEZZZZ!

Looks like a total basket case...

How many miles on this car?

As an all over example of an Esprit i am quite impressed with its condition, with the exception of the parts and area's highlighted ..  The present owner has kindly allowed me to expose these exactly how they appear , so as to be an informative section of the thread..   Unfortunately It is as @Barrykearley states far to many owners concentrate on the visible rather than the mechanical . If they are not mechanically minded and the MOT check does not pick up on these points you can very easily end up with similar situation.. 

What this Esprit exposes is the fact that the previous owner did some suspension work which now appears to be very DIY. At the time it would have seemed an asset , but in truth very poor.. 

To the credit of @faye2000 and because he wanted to know how the Esprit went out of control so easily , he asked me to investigate whilst doing the Repairs ..  Once he was made aware of all the faults that almost certainly caused the incident  , without hesitation he requested all the rectification work.  This will be done using OEM and proven / tested parts to a spec I have previously fitted to customers Esprit and my own .. 

Detail to follow .