Hi all,

Aquired a v8 rear hatch, looked nice in the add from above and underneath. Got cheap deliverance from far far away. Opened it today, and corners cracked/broken a bit, a big crack on one side/underside near rear corner, and a large hole in one side where the hinge should be bolted on. It's simply missing.

 

Long story short, don't want to return it, as it way too expensive.

 

Will it for example be needed to make a gig to hold it tight and force it into position, to repair it? (cracks and missing part)?

And how to figure out design, strength, thickness, metal load spreaders etc, on the missing part.

As far as I know, there is only one v8 in Denmark, and that one I cannot go look at to replicate the outer design/dimensions etc. so that is not an option. In my country cars are nearly 3 times more expensive than in the rest of the World, so it makes a Lotus really really rare.

 

My thought was to install a very nice and original v8 rear deck and a S4 engine cover and a Sport300 rear spoiler (or a late high v8 rear spoiler) on my car, as I prefer that version of the rear deck, over the glass one. Now, I'll have to either throw it out, or pay some boat builder or someone else, a fortune to try to repair it, and and then a  painter to respray it both on top and the Black underside, stickers (maybe not available?), etc.  Really annoying, as i wanted an original one, both in material, shape and paint etc. Not the twisted sister copies from some company. Grrrrr...

Darn, I'm dissapointed.

 

Question is: can it be repaired and become usable?

 

To be honest I think it is darn disrespectfull not to tell and show that kind of Things; It mostly will make me against Trading on the net or from abroard. Fortunately I will say, that the people I've bought something from on this forum, have all been honest, helpfull and lived up to my best expectations. Thank you for that.

Don't know the person, or if he's on here. It's from Germany. As I am not an ebay member myself, and a friend bought it for me, I cannot do much. Anyway I paid around 450 euro which is really cheap by Danish Measurements. I don't know what such a thing would cost in say the UK.

There was no mentioning of any defects in the fleabay add. Argh, I get so pissed ;(

 

So sorry for letting the steam put on to you.

 

I really hope someone can help with some good advice on how to repair it.

 

I will post a few Pictures tomorrow after Work.

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

Generally fiberglass can be repaired.  No question.

 

post some photos.

will do.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

Okay, here's the dreadfull thing:

I repeat, nothing was said in the ad about all this. Cheating bas....

All ideas of how to salvage this, are most wellcome.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

 

 

Was it damaged in the post?

If the photos on ebay do t show the damage and the packaging was not at fault then file a complaint with ebay and paypal if you used them to make payment and they should hold the money in dispute until the situation is resolved.

I know its a pain but fibreglass is much easier to work than cutting out and welding in new metal would be on a non plastic car.

As I am not a member of fleabay, a friend bought it, and only afterwards thought about the payment. So in short: no.

Fleabay cannot be involved.

 

The Price of this in Denmark will be tripple: maybe 4-500 euro for the repair and the same for paint on both sides and amall parts.

It must have been from a seriously damaged car...

 

Does anyone know if there's any metal parts inside the torn out piece? It's not inside the reardeck, and not in the packaging.

The packageing was completely intact, with plenty of foampieces, bublewrap and carboard, tape etc. No dings and dents on the wrapping anywhere. So no, it was damaged before sending the part to me.

 

edit: the more I think about it, the more angry I get. Actually I am so angry, thet I almost get steam out of my ears and breathes fire. Better go chop a tree or something.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

Unbelievable that somebody didn't disclose that - Still not sure why your friend cannot raise a case?  was it purchased in last 45 days and how was payment made?  

 

Yes, it looks like you have lost the nut plate from the area of major damage.  I assume its from a crash damaged vehicle?

Edited July 30, 201410 yr by 910Esprit

If it's going to cost you that much to get it repaired and painted, why not fit it as it is. Wait till you drive over to the UK for a meet, then get a second hand one over head ready to swap over before you drive home and throw that one on the fire or something?

I don't know, but I suppose too. Otherwise it would be hard to explain, how a bag of groseries in the trunk, could cause such serious damage.

Tect and pics on fleabay did not show or tell any of these problems.

 

I think that payment was made outside fleabay and their payment system paypal. That will not happen again, we talked about.

Just to explain: when I some years ago bought some equipment from fleabay, and never got it, because it was my first trade on fleabay, they wouldn't help me, because I was, as a new customer, not enough trustworthy, and the seller had some creditpoints/trustpoints/whatever. Therefore I don't use them any longer.

I have absolutely no hard feelings for my friend. He just tried to help me out getting the stuff, so I'll explain:

In this case, my friend bought something else from the same car, it arrived in good order, and no problems. Really cheap transport too.

So we decided to go for the rear deck also (for me), and this crashed piece of crap came. On the basis of the first recieved package (not for me) which was perfectly fine, we thought, okay, it's fine, let's get that rear deck as well (for me).

I will add, that communication with the seller have been slow and a bit hard (beforehand). But still the first buy a few days before, came through just fine. My studidity, I'm afraid.

 

I feel to throw it from a Cliff jsut to get rid of it. Oh no, we don't have Cliffs in my country...

I think we will try to ask the sell what the f... is going on by email, and see what happens.

He should have his balls cut off. Good I don't have his address and a day or two off.

Just letting steam out.

 

Does it take a specialist to reconstruct the problematic areas as seen in the Pictures?

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

Hi Simon,

Not sure what you mean?

It cannot be installed in the first place.

And as far as I know, they are har to come by.

 

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

Do you want to see the add? Then I can post the link to it. There one can see a Picture and the text.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

You should be able to temporarily fit it on for a drive over here when you come over next. You have the other hinge, the two boot latches and should be able to fashion something temporary for the damaged side.

Then when you are over here, swap it out for a good one and throw that one away.

That is if you are planning on coming over any time soon.

I wouldn't have thought a rear deck would be that hard to come across?

Either that or have a go at fixing it yourself and painting yourself. You won't be able to make it any worse will you?

Edited July 30, 201410 yr by Simon350S

yes, lets have a look at the ad!  may 'protect' others from same seller

Ha ha, no surely won't get any worse...  Hence my asking of how that pirce missing is constructed.

 

I'm not over at your side of the pond for at least a year in an Esprit.

Hope to do though. Or maybe sooner for a pint (well, sort of) in Winters time ?

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

all right, here it is:

 

http://www.ebay.de/its/Lotus-Esprit-B8-Motorhaube-Heckklappe-jetz-noch-guenstiger-/251585316635?

 

Hmm, won't Work. I have the link on my pc, and copy it, but don't seem to be allowed to paste it into here?

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

There is loads of info on the net re fibregass.  Its not rocket science just a bit messy and smelly.  60 euros worth of materials and a weekend worth of work would see that ready to paint.

Malcom, I am going to read up on the subject. But i would have to talk to someone on how to construct that missing part.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

Is the missing bit the l/h hinge point?

Hi Malcom, yes it is.

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

All that damage is repairable, Jaques. And you've got nothing to lose!

Do the reading, and research first, though. It always helps if you can get behind the damaged area, but even if you can't, it's not the end of the world. There are solutions to the problem.

Thanks Ian for the kind Words, and rest asured I will do.

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

Sorry to her Jacques.

I have both front and rear from V8, if you want to see what part are missing.

Y.Hotta

I'll have a look at my rear deck, and have a think about a repair to the hinge mount area, which is probably your most important load-bearing area. Any more photos?

Thanks Yasuo, I'll pm you my phonenumber, so we'll speak.

 

Thanks Ian, I can take some, from whatever angle you want. Just tell me, and I'll post them.

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

I had a look at my own Esprit rear deck this morning, which will soon be off to change the bent hinges. I imagine that the deck mouldings will be bonded together with something like Crestomer, and if so, you can forget trying to get that apart, it sticks even better than shit to a blanket because it's a chemical bond, and, if the mating surfaces have been properly prepared, also a mechanical bond.

 

As I see it there are two options, one long-winded, but arguably more permanent, the other quick, but with more uncertain results.

 

(A) Up end the deck, and remove anything in the vicinity of the damaged hinge area. Repair the area, alloy mesh, and then plain filler. Smooth it all off, and file/sand the flat landing surface where the hinge plate should be. Keep going until you have a perfect finish, which mirrors the other side of the deck, no lumps, bumps or defects.

 

Take a female mould off the repaired area, probably about 400mm down, and 400mm round from the corner towards the centre of the deck, and ensuring you have the biggest flanges possible that butt up against the top moulding. Prepare the mould using Mirrorglaze, or similar mould release agent. Buy the resin and GRP, then lay it up inside the female mould using alternate layers of chopped strand, and woven roving. You could use a combi-mat if you want. Make sure you bond a steel tapping plate behind the hinge mating surface so you can drill into it to fix the hinge.

 

When the new moulding is cured, remove it, and offer it up to the deck. Grind off the original to the same size as the new moulding, and feather the edges. You could bed it down on Crestomer first, then overlay with some chopped strand and woven roving, blending it in with some GRP paste/filler. Sand it down, clean it all up, line up the deck, drill and tap the hinge holes, and paint it.

 

 

(B) Alternatively, you could choose to pack, or 'inject' the damaged area with a whiole load of chopped GRP/resin material, forcing into the voids behind, but leaving room for a steel tapping plate. Bed the plate in, lay GRP over the plate, smooth off with GRP paste/filler, then grind/sand back to a level surface. Line it up, mark, drill and tap the holes, paint and refit.

 

 

Clearly the second method is the quickest, and easiest, however it depends on how you view the load on the hinge area. That's my view, for what it's worth, but there may well be some rather more expert opinions than mione to come. I have had experience with GRP repairs in the marine industry, and indeed still do when the boats get damaged, hence the view I put forward. Personally, I wonder if the second method might be worth a shot, and if that doesn't work, the first could then be employed.