lotus eclat

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£500.00 (0 Bids)

End Date: Friday May-24-2013 19:05:44 BST

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[eliteman]

Looks fairly decent. Has the sunroof cut out which some dont like. It's a shame its not got a current test as you never know if the chassis is good or bad. The new buyer best budget for a new chassis, just in case. Overall looks nice though. Good S1 for someone out there, at the right price....

[Elite7]

it looks interesting....but "restoration" means (for me): body off, starting with a good (hopefully galavnized) chassis but lots of people are starting in the wrong way..they invest (a lot) of money in renovating the accessable parts(like interior, drivetrain, suspension), leaving the body/chassis untouched.

 

...engine, gearbox, diff, brakes, interior..all those parts have been overhauled or re-newed....but the new owner can start from the beginning when the most important part of the car (the chassis) has not been done.

[Herc]

Ax

 

As far as I can see, the condition of the chassis is very much dependant on whether the car has been left outside for 30 years or not.  If it wasn't then the rot may not be anything like terminal.    It seems to me you need to judge cars on their specific condition.

 

Herc

[Dunc]

The above is very true.

 

These cars were special cars when new, and many of them had long term pampered homes in garages and never saw winter or rain.

 

However, with being fibreglass, some owners when the cars were new mistakenly thought that rust was not an issue and parked cars on the street/driveway and drove them in the ice and snow of winter.

 

There are some "garage queens" out there, but equally there is a lot of rusty tat.

 

Not all cars need a new chassis.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Dunc

[mat grant]

I agree with Dunc and Herc on this - my 1979 eclat which had a lot of surface rust all over the chassis, was completely sound. when i stripped it expecting to see holes in the rear cross member - it was completely intact, and when the foam was peeled off there were even large areas of shiny metal. So while you can't assume all no galvanised chassis will be ok, you also can't assume they will be completely rusted either.

 

Mat.

[Elite7]

i have owned approx 12elite/eclat cars in the past years....and ALL had been the same: non galvanized cars, even with a fresh MOT,had a wrotten chassis.

 

my first one had 1 owner from new, geniune 32000miles, always servied by bel&colvil

 

the chassis had to be replaced after 25years of summer use...the rear corssmember was notably absent.

[eliteman]

Interesting point. I am looking at a non galvanised chassis Eclat this weekend. 60,000 miles, 2 owners. £4000. Is there any way of checking the chassis without taking it off the car. Any suggestions of points to check would be good thanks.

[Elite7]

thats the biggest problem!!

 

you thorougly need to knock the vertcial sides of the rear crossmember with a little hammer or heavily poking with a screwdriver this area on the complete length of the crossmember...heavily!!!.

 

you need to jack-up the car (and better remove the rear wheels), to get acess to the upper shock mounting point...because this is another critical point...i´ve had 1 elite where the centre crossmember was not too bad, but the shock mount was rusted through.

 

1st problem: access

2nd problem: will the seller agree with this procedure

3rd problem: first you need to get rid of all the dirt, waxoyl or whatever sticks on the corssmember

 

4th problem: the crossmember mostly starts corroding from top..so even the sides may look ok..the top is already gone.

 

 

the fact of the matter selling a car for 4k is: the chassis MUST be spot-on, clean, shiny and NOT covered in layers of waxoyl, surplus  a wirtten prove and guarantee by the seller.

 

as the seller cannot gurantee it on an orginal chassis, the  conclusion is-> walk away or massive price reduction.

 

even some people have expirienced that even an original chassis was in re-usable condition, after having stripped the car, others , like me, never had luck with an original chassis, would you take that risc for 4k? its like winning the lottery.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Elite7

[eliteman]

Thanks for the tips Elite 7. Very kind to take the time to help me out. Liam