Lotus Elan S4 restoration

[MartijnElan]

Hi everyone,

Just started on my Lotus; bought new by my uncle who resprayed it from Orange to Blue when he got it in 1971. My plan is to restore it to original spec (with maybe one or two upgrades like the radiator) and repaint it in its original Orange. 
 

We started the disassembly which is going well. Due to some cracks in the veneer of the dash I am considering refinishing the lacquer or get a new one. I prefer to keep the original one because of the white letters on the dash. 
 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

have a nice day,

 

Martijn

[Elite 4.9]

Great car and congratulations on your project. Nice to know the complete history.

You can chemically strip the dash but don't respray with lacquer as it will just crack again but use a urethane as today, this is what most every new car uses on the exterior and it will never crack.

I used it on my Elite dash and exterior paint (check it out if you like, 

Love those old Elans and I would love to find one already restored. Also you will want to change out the rubber donnets on the rear axle half shafts as they wind up and reflex like a rubber band when a lot of throttle is applied. Not good. There are a number of newer cars that employ such parts like VW used on some of their older machines and others. I am sure someone on the forum can assist you in this matter.

atb,

Richard

[MartijnElan]

Hi Richard,

thanks for your reply and for the information.

Looks very nice how you did it.

Could you let me know what products you used to chemically strip the paint and redo the dash? 
 

best regards,

 

Martijn

[Elite 4.9]

Hey Martijn,

There are a lot of products out there and one company I use quite often as they sell car related restoration products is Eastwood.  Here are some videos and other sources as well.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chemical+striping+compound+to+remove+lacquer&t=chromentp&ia=web

Some would say to just sand the old finish off but it is a delicate job and very easy to destroy the walnut edges, as the dash isn't solid walnut but just has a very thin veneer on top with cheaper wood beneath and is easily ruined. This was done to a car I bought many years ago. A 1953 Jag 120 FHC so I had to glue a new burled walnut veneer over all the dash which isn't totally flat and was quite difficult. 

Eastwood also sells gas tank cleaner and sealer which is also a good idea with an older restoration and essential to having a reliable running machine.

cheers,

Richard

 

[Elite 4.9]

And for a finish, the product is probably near you and it is any clear urethane and easiest would be in a spray can, sanding slightly between, (600 git} coats ...maybe 4 coats or more. 

 

[Escape]

Welcome Martijn! Of mag ik zeggen welkom?

Looks like a very nice project, best of luck and do keep us posted.

Filip

[MartijnElan]

Hi everyone,

Work is getting on. Body is off and we found something really nice: when we took the doors of we found a white line in the inner door shell. That suggested it might have been an original Sprint. So we then carefully sanded the bumper and gold started to come through haha.

So I called my uncle to ask: he said: because I studied in London at that time I visited the Motor Show and there was the launch of the Sprint. So he said: ‘I would like a Sprint but not in that colorscheme’. Could you paint it in Blue? They said yes and sure enough 3 months later he picked it up from the factory all painted in Blue like it is now. 

So for me that is great and I can officialy bring it back to its original Orange over White Sprint Livery.

 

Have a great day,

 

Martijn