S1 Project car - part 2 - the continuation

[Jared_nomak]

I'm not that interested in values, but the classic car price guides always make me laugh - apparently you can have a concours example for £22,500 and a good condition 1 car for £16k or an MOT'd usable car for £10K... Oh really? The S1 has become so rare that whenever one comes up for sale, it's snapped up quickly. Honestly, if someone knocks on my door and offered me double what I paid for it, I'd tell them politely a firm NO THANKS.

Best regards

Seems £12k for a non running is what you have to pay now seen 3 in the last year or two all non runners for that sort of money. The red one from sports cars with tan leather trim sold for £25k and looked pretty rough inside.

[Lotusfab]

If you find one for that money I would snap it up. I have to say to do the restoration properly costs a small fortune!

[Lotusfab]

Cant believe how long the trim is is taking to sort. The dash is done thanks to Steve, but the centre consul has just taken 5 hours of scraping and it still not finished! Then I have to fix the bulkhead. I took the material off and found out why it was all floppy!

Good job I have lots of resin and fiberglass!

[Paul Coleman]

I have to say to do the restoration properly costs a small fortune!

Agreed. As I've always said classic cars are worse than a very bad cocaine habit!!

[Lotusfab]

Got the dash back today from Steve, perfect! have to get the orange carpet ,which Steve supllied, in and then use Jon's guide to dash reassembly. A lot of work ahead. Have repaired the bulkhead just need to fill the imperfections and recover. Steve pointed out the tunnel is wrong! The cassette slot sits too high so this needs some work. The expoxy paint has cured on the bonnet so just need to fix the new seals, curve, rerivet and then put it back on. Have to wait for the rest of the trim but think I will be more than busy enough in the meantime.

[jonroberts]

Very nice ! Did he do the A-pillar trims too - they are almost as difficult as the dash curves.

[Lotusfab]

I' m doing them, the Capping rails, sun visor trim and some of the bulkhead. Steves doing the rest, sadly I dont have the skills to get his level of finish.

[Paul Coleman]

Yeah those A panels are a bitch! Come to think of it there isn't much that isn't.

 

When you start to use it you'll wish you'd done it in black leather with a black carpet. That green and orange interior is hideous to keep looking good.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Paul Coleman

[Lotusfab]

Noticed S and J are now selling orange carpets! Not sure how good they are? I really looked into this and Steve was the only guy who had the carpet with the correct shade of orange. All the others I found were slightly off and poor quality. I have bought a lot of spare green cloth so if any of my panels arn't perfect will strip them back and take them to Steve. Why are the A panels difficult? They look straight forward? The Bulkhead looks more tricky. Also if theres any damage in the future will be able to repair with the extra cloth. The green cloth may not be available in the future. Have checked the twill direction for each panel and have got 1/4 inch scrim foam. Have almost completed the extensive fiberglass repairs and all the glue and remnants of the original marcasite have been removed, this took many days of scraping, glad its done!

[jonroberts]

Why are the A panels difficult? They look straight forward? The Bulkhead looks more tricky. 

 

The A-panels have a sharp bend in them that the cloth needs to follow and it doesn't stretch that much. Good quality high temp contact adhesive is needed plus careful pre-stretching of the cloth. Clamp for a few hours afterwards otherwise you may find the material lifts.

[jonroberts]

[Lotusfab]

Ahhhhh! Thanks Jon see what you mean now. Have just finished bonnet and re riveted the curve, hope it fits better. The rubber seals are a nightmare. all the seals and grill came from S and J. The metal grill has to be cut and bent to shape. The lip holds it in on one side and the screws on the other. The seals are a pig! I used HT contact adhesive and a contact superglue. Believe some guys just use the superglue. Have to stretch it round the corners, unless anyone knows a better way? Anyway Im going to use jacknuts for the stay.

[Rolls]

I've put the seals in hot water before applying to make them more supple.... Long shot but may be worth a try.

[Lotusfab]

[Lotusfab]

I think S and J have expanded their range? It appears you can now get the Tartan and the wooded piece that fits under the roof, at the top of the window. Would be interesting to see if the Tartan is correct. Maybe they have had some made Steve told me they have four S1s at the moment!

[Lotusfab]

Bulkhead repaired! A lot of work, the plastic is brittle and flimsy so strengthened it with fiberglass. Then lots of glue scraping, filling and sanding! Just need to cover.

[Lotusfab]

Have had to make changes to the sun visor trim. Its not substancial enough the hold the sun visors and was distorted. Have strengthened it using fiberglass and clamped it flat so it will retain the correct shape. The visors have been stripped and plated, Steve is covering them.

The new chrome pieces were supplied by S and J. They are good quality but a very slight bend has to be put in to them so the sun visors stay in position when moved. Being a later car mine has two pieces of chrome on each. The earlier cars have a black plastic fitting on the inner side and chrome on the outer.

Nearly everything on the car has had to be plated, cleaned or replaced. The design and inability to withstand wet and corrosion coupled with nearly 40 years makes an S1 very expensive to rebuild especialy when a lot of the parts are missing!

[Paul Coleman]

Steve told me they have four S1s at the moment!

He'll have 5 tomorrow!

[Lotusfab]

Wheres number 5 from?

[Paul Coleman]

My car's going to SJ tomorrow.

[Lotusfab]

What Steves doing on it? Can' t believe there are 5 S1s there, maybe he will let you post a picture? Carpet going in, just dry fitted some. The carpets great quality, which is making it easier. Available from Steve Fulcher - but very limited supply.

[Lotusfab]

Still needs toe pads and gluing. Managed to hide throttle cable, due to carpet thickness and careful placing of underlay. Had to shave underlay in right wheel arch to ensure no throttle restrictions.

Cant cut the end of the tunnel carpets as Steve fulcher has the trim, so will only glue the front and come back to this.

[Lotusfab]

Have got the dash in and put some other bits on using Jons assembly guide, think at last I have done most of the difficult stuff.

[jonroberts]

Taking shape nicely!!

[Lotusfab]

Well have repaired the bonnet and front light. They now are flush - you would not believe how much work went into fixing that. Have repaired the bonnet using Jacknuts. I have done some of my trim bits now have to wait for Steve.