Right then better start my '77 S1 project...

[oilmagnet477]

I hope no squirrels died in the making of that photograph?

Stunning - keep it up

[CharlieCroker]

How about this...

[tests]

Looks great!

I admire the paintjob....

And it looks quite big in the first picture!

[oilmagnet477]

It's not big, the camera was just very close!

[johnpwalsh]

Stunning looking as ever Charlie and as you said in your earlier post. The Panther certainly gets attention and like it or not it will bring a new breed to the world of Lotus which can only be for the good.

[ramjet]

Without going back over the priding 37 pages (ack!) the driveshafts are still the top member of the rear wheel setup, aren't they?

[CharlieCroker]

Yes, of course, nothing changes at any point in the geometrics of the rear set up. Everything is the same, except for the spring, which is removed and replaced by the airbag. The handling is perftect, I can understand to those of you that are not familiar with airride, it may seem a unwise modification but I repeat nothing really changes at any point front or rear in the main points of geometry.  You are (I say) simply replacing the spring with a bag over the strut. The main work, and you can ask rob, is at the airred out position, cos the bag is 'fat' in respect to a spring you have millimetres to play with as it sits within the control arms. However on my installation I must have had the bag in an out over a 20 times to make sure everything was in line, and clearing any obstruction at any point in the up or down position. Trust me to air ridean elite iisn't easy and it's not for the faint hearted, infact the esprit woukd be an easier project , but I'm not taking anything away from those builds cos I know just how much work is involved. Plus I'm not going to give all my secrets away when half the slammed community it watching and reading, Charlie has to keep one step ahead of the pack! Anyone who's ever tried a custom install knows what im talking about,  but it's worth the hours cos at the end of it you'll probably have one of the coolest cars around. Happy Days, Charlie ;-)

[oilmagnet477]

http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/rota/bm8/black-polished/15-inch

Charlie, I've been researching tyres for original wheels - looks like finding the right ones is becoming a pain. Several threads already but I can't find Kenda KR20s (205/60/R14 88V) for love nor money.

I found these 15 inch wheels which I think are the same as yours (?) - and I like them a lot - not unlike the originals in many ways. What tyres did you go for?

 

[CharlieCroker]

That's the same, Rota BM8, I spent hours researching tyres, and that's a whole ball game on its own, there's loads of 15" tyres available, try camskill they have loads in stock with good prices. 

[CharlieCroker]

Brilliant day out at ultimate stance today, I represented the Retro Rides stand and we won 'Best Stand' in the entire show! 5 cars stole the show and went up against some serious metal, Elite, Esprit, Imp, Mazda, and Volvo = win. There's some mind boggling cars on show and my best selection is on my instagram if you want to see. The Panther got some serious attention and was continually photographed and I was on hand most of the day chatting about the car and build, and had soo many nice compliments and interest, here's just a sneaky photo, loads more online.

 

[oilmagnet477]

Loving the Skis lol

I've already started with the 'ski-ing',   just don't intend to do any actual falling down the mountain stuff!!

Putting an Elite next to a Hillman Imp - please!

[CharlieCroker]

It was funny, young bloke came over to me while we were setting up. His mate said to him, 'there's a lotus over there with skis on the back', so he promptly had to investigate further. Then the other kid shows up and began to tell me while he was polishing his car, he had a cool car to the left, then another cool car to the right, then just as he thought he'd seen all the cool cars, a flippin lotus rides by with friggin skis on the back! Also had another bloke come over, said he was going to sell his bmw and get an elite asking me how much can you find one for, told him he'd be lucky to find a project car for under 4k and a good one for 8k. Everybody loved the skis, went down a storm ;-) 

[soldave]

Definitely not my style of car (am much more a performance over form/looks kind of guy) but really appreciate what you've done with the car.  You're opening up the Lotuses to a new audience, and creating a ride with a great look to boot.

And that shininess is making me want to get my Eclat back in its original metallic gold and all blinged up!

[pbharcourt]

On 9/26/2015 8:50:57, CharlieCroker said:

Well I've had this idea brewing for the last 6 months, it goes a little like this...

Take one of these...

Shoehorn this into it...

Add this llittle lot...

These rims...

Lamborghini seats...

And then drop this over the whole lot...

If anyone wants to sponsor me to build it, pm me, I'm all ears. Charlie ;-)

This Eclat body shell is now up for sale on ebay for £5 or nearest offer???

[Fueltheburn]

I call dibs on the maserati v8 idea  had that idea brewing for ages.

 

Are you actually goung forward with it or are you putting an excel back on that chassis?

[CharlieCroker]

Well the project will always be there just depends on cash and time, however I do now have the availability and facilities to build this car if anyone wants to sponser it. Back to the Panther, air lift performance (leaders in their field) kindly donated a tank and compressor recently to me and I've started the installation of this over the last week or two. The idea is to have what they call 'hard lines' which basically means using copper or ally pipe to the air bags instead of nylon tube a much cleaner and visually pleasing solution. So I ordered a pipe bender and cutter and have been slowly working my way through the installation, like most jobs a prefit and final fit is required. I've panelled out the boot area and want to hide most of the workings and wires under the panelling, the only thing visable will be the tank and a couple of in/out pipes. For those of you who are unfamiliar with air ride, this setup will enable me to have the car lift and lower at the touch of a switch. 

[CharlieCroker]

What a lovely surprise I had this morning, The Red Panther finally hits the stores with a front cover appearance in RetroCars magazine, and what a brilliant article they have written, it's a good read even if I say so myself. Totally stoked, thanks to kelsey media (Daniel Bevis and Chris Frosin) for showing such a interest in the car and build. 

[soldave]

Front cover!!!  That's awesome - kudos to you.

Will hopefully get these Lotuses some more exposure to a new audience, as well as increasing their desirability and value overall.

And seeing yours in such good nick keeps me motivated to keep working on mine over the winter and get it looking and running nice

Quick question going way back - you put the mesh grills over your carb trumpets - have you noticed any difference in performance?  Will hopefully do some testing of my own on a dyno with this in the spring.

[CharlieCroker]

Cheers, to be honest I lost those grill covers sometime back, they've not been on the car for 6 months, the carb trumpets are open to the world and they sing a lovely song. I didn't notice any performance gain but the sound is intoxicating from the carbs and cherry bombs, even though I have a decent sound system I hardly have it on cos the exhaust is schweet! 

[soldave]

Carb trumpets open - you live on the edgea little!  

[Barrykearley]

Off to the shops to get that magazine!!!

[soldave]

I bought my copy at lunchtime. 

[rjwooll]

Congratulations on the magazine cover/feature - I'll buy a copy tomorrow. Great work.

Richard

[mikeeech]

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Italian-Job-Comedy-Dealer-R-Screen-Sticker-Mini-Cooper-S-Austin-Morris-Elf-GT-/141848111125?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276

 

Perhaps a Lotus logo could replace the austin logo...?

[CharlieCroker]

Haha, that's a cool find, would go well in the rear hatch window.