S1 Project car - part 2 - the continuation

[Paul Coleman]

I always thought the car didn't look correct with the indicators as they are. To me they're upside down.

[Lotusfab]

Took door to pieces for full rebuild. Beam came out really easy, only 4 bolts. Will powder coat, clean and reassemble.

New interior and exterior handles to fit. This is one of the few jobs detailed in the Manual. So just follow that. Basically, motor, frame/glass, beam, in that order. Fit beam, hang door, frame/ glass, motor to out back.

[Lotusfab]

Still debating best method of restoring wheels. May try the spare for a blast, painted rear and circles and diamond cut on front. This is done on a lathe, a tiny amount of material is removed. I believe it left the factory like this with the lathe marks visible?

[jonroberts]

I hope you scribed the position of the frame on the beam and took note of the number of spacing washers on each mounting bolt ? Otherwise you are in for hours of reassembly joy ..

[Lotusfab]

Mmmmmm. Guess it's going to be like all the other jobs, very long, won't be appearing at a car show in the near future! Still, had to rebuild it all anyway. Can't be any worse that getting the light pod flush and working correctly? Got a hole box of bits for the powder coaters, though I'd finished that!

[Lotusfab]

Have also got to refix front quaterlight as it fell out. Will fix it with Butyl tape. This is the closest thing I can find to the original heat activated seal. It's £10 on ebay.at least I can scribe the other door frame as I havn't taken it apart yet!

[Lotusfab]

Need to replace rubber seal inside window frame. Does anyone have a source for this?

[Paul Coleman]

Jon found one from Woolies Trim part number 317

[Lotusfab]

Thanks have ordered some, should fit nicely.

[Lotusfab]

this is a pic of the woolies trim. They sell lots of other rubber seals that can be used on the Lotus. It's 12 mm across exactly the same as the original. Have almost cleaned up the frames ready for powder coating. Have ordered more wiring the wires to the window motor have been cut. Only £3 for all the wire needed!

[Lotusfab]

Had a bit of time today to look into the doors and now have another problem. One of the door hinge bolts is sheared, and the bolts are welded to the hinges! After filing and sawing managed to remove the bolt. Thanks to Jon I can confirm its a 1/2 inch UNF thread. Have ordered a new one and will have to weld it to the hinge then powder coat.

Have the two metal pieces and window seal ready to rivet. Just need to clean the frame up for powder coating. Can recommend Aurora Powder coating in Ash Vale. There're really good and helpful! This is what the 3 pieces look like. Jon has explained they are riveted together with the rubber in the middle. this picture shows part of the trim sitting on the door. It bolts on with three bolts, you can see the bottom of one in the picture.

[jonroberts]

Funnily enough I had the same problem. When removing the drivers door top hinge the bolt sheared off. I sourced another from LotusBits - very rare to find them so welding a new bolt in is the best solution.

[Lotusfab]

Have taken the spare wheel in for a diamond cut to see how it turns out before doing the rest. This is how it looked before. for anyone considering this the process is to chemically strip the wheel. The entire wheel is then powder coated so that the rim surface is smooth and protected from corrosion, as is the back of the wheel. The front of the wheel is then machined. A tiny amount of material is removed. The holes and background of the writing remain in the powder coat colour, same as in the picture except I have chosen black. The wheel needs a powder coat to improve the surface so that the tyre will seal more effectively and not deflate.

The damaged wheel is also being repaired in the next few weeks. This is how it looks now. apparently it will be almost invisible when they have finished.

Once the spare is done I will decide whether to have the lot diamond cut or just polish myself.

[jonroberts]

Sounds good - as a matter of interest, what's the cost per wheel of all this ?

[Lotusfab]

Will post all costs when wheels are complete. May take a while as the chap who does this has done thousands of slotmags over 27 years, but he's just about to go on holiday. Have asked only he does the wheels as there's a bit if skill required for this job and I've only got one set! PS if anyone out there's wants to sell a wheel I'm your man!

[Lotusfab]

After hours of cleaning and scraping the door frames are ready for a powder coat. all the original adhesive removed. Was difficult to clean off. The cars starting to move forward again after almost a year the end is in sight, but I'm sure there will be a few more surprises before its finished!

[Lotusfab]

[Lotusfab]

Spare wheel has come back. www.spitandpolish.co.uk this is the company in Kent that did the wheel. Outstanding job. Decided to have lettering in black on the spare. May have the rest silver lettering and black on rear and holes. They balanced the wheel also. Can't fault the workmanship perfect machining. The finish to the rear is also excellent. Cost just over £82 per wheel, ask for Ian, he's the expert.

Have had a dunlop tyre fitted, apparently this has the same tread pattern as the original tyres - given to me by the previous owner.

[jonroberts]

Looks good - did they lacquer after the diamond cut too ?

[Lotusfab]

No lacquer because its destroys the look. A thin layer of wax can be applied, but they will still oxidise over time and loose the shine. This will take a while though and is as good as they can be.

Still cleaning door parts. Wiper finished but not tested. One spacer inside, one out, bracket, then collar and nut. Had to adjust spacer width by cutting. Untested as yet. Waiting for all parts to return from powder coating. Got the 12 mm bolts that go through brackets into door beams. .

[jonroberts]

Have had a dunlop tyre fitted, apparently this has the same tread pattern as the original tyres - given to me by the previous owner.

 

Not just same tread pattern, Dunlop SP Sport was the original fitment I believe - I have one on my spare too. Post up some more hi-res photos of the alloy rim when you get a chance - I'm interested to see if they changed the 'shape' of the wheel significantly. Others I have seen are a bit too 'sharp' for my liking.

[Lotusfab]

The edge profile is slightly sharper.

[Lotusfab]

Proof the Bond car bonnet was raised on the front left corner.

[Lotusfab]

In the wheel picture the black powder coat continues to the front edge of the outer rim, this gives the appearance of being thinner. The sharp edge makes the wheel look newer.

[Lotusfab]

another view.