1982 Eclat Riviera restoration......

[Dunc]

I have never seen access holes, or spindle winders like these on an éclat. Also, from above the motor looks smaller than I remember the Lucas TR7 looked?!?

The access holes for getting at the manual winders look slightly home made. Is there any sign of glass fibre repairs/joining inside the wheel arch/ inner wing? I was wondering if it has had a front end repair at some point?

[Benco]

Hi Duncan, I'm wondering about that too, there's definitely over-spray on the headlight pod pivots (presuming that they weren't like that from the factory). Below pictures of my pods and motors from the top, are these TR7 motors?

[directordanw]

Those look like TR7 motors to me. And in the second photo I think I can make out the line where the original inspection hole should be.

Edited February 2, 2015 by directordanw

[Benco]

No new fibreglass around the holes, just some scatty wooden panels (exterior ply?), that hold the radiator in place? What's a good replacement for these, some aluminium sheet or just new pieces of wood?

[directordanw]

That scatty plywood is an original Lotus feature! Perfectly sums up Colin Chapman's ethos - make it light and make it cheap.

[Dunc]

as mentioned by others, the plywood is originaland part of the original structure. Nowt wrong with that - good enough for the de haviland mosquito and the vickers Wellington, and good enough for countless Italian motor yachts = good enough for the nose of my car

[Benco]

Front bumper off this evening, just want to check the expected number of fixings. The manual said 6, I only found 3 (2 behind the sidelight pods and one above the grill. Is this a piece of home made bracketry above the air inlet?

Edited February 5, 2015 by Benco

[pbharcourt]

Thats genuine Lotus race engineering that is:)

[Benco]

well that's staying then, :-)

I've seen other videos where the bumper cavity has been filled with expanding foam, is that normal? worthwhile?

Edited February 6, 2015 by Benco

[Benco]

Been a steady couple of weeks on the car, nothing major apart from some very corroded electrical parts coming away during dismantling.

Rear bumper is off (lost count of the bulb holder contacts that came away as I was teasing the leads off), all headlight motors are working fine (relief) so clearly the problem is within the electrical circuit. The last rear quarter panel is out and I bought a big tub of hide food to try and stabilise /salvage the leather parts wherever I can (one door card is good the other is shot). There are so many rusty parts that I've built a small derusting/electrolysis bath, tried it on the front mesh/grill this week and it worked a treat (I did however kill my small battery charger that was powering it) - so definitely going to try that on some of the door beam/brackets etc. I've also found a small workshop in Bristol that have just painted an Elite and will come round to price up my car (did anyone on here have their car painted in Kingswood last year?). Having read through a number of threads I'm leaning towards a reasonable not a mega respray (intend to use the car and it's bound to get scratched).

Ok, most serious question now. Please have a look at the top of the rear chassis beam and let me know what you think. The galvanising appears to be spalling, showing the steel underneath, good news is though that the zinc layer seems to have done its job protecting the steelwork.

Would appreciate views on this, need to take the body off now to get see how extensive this is? (And apologies for the upside down photo)

[Benco]

Slowly getting there! Having wrestled with the passenger side door today finally removed it after putting a long extension tube over the 19mm spanner. Very rusty shims to be replaced in the future, I'm also beginning to see that I'll need a few tubes of sealant for all of the through body fixings.

Went to the Coleford auto show his morning hoping to find some Eclat parts in the auto jumbles, was a very large collection of Lotus's, sadly the one Eclat that was going to there wasn't.... Even more reason to keep these going....maybe next years the target!

[Benco]

Quick question on door beams....the ones on the car are pretty sound and I plan to keep them that way. Before I attack them for repainting, are these on the S2 also galvanised?

Thanks

[Dunc]

No. not galvanised. (at least not on mine).

D

[Benco]

Ok, thanks, good news then that they are in pretty good shape

[Benco]

Does anyone know the thread size on the window frame bolts that go into the door frame, I tried my metric set and it didn't fit, with 6mm being the closest....just have a couple of sheared bolts to drill out.

Thanks

Terry

[RivieraSte]

Did this restoration get much further? I am also restoring a 1982 calypso red riviera. I have just finished the respray and door rebuilds myself and am now onto stripping the engine for rebuild

[Benco]

Hi, yes it’s on....but not quite as originally planned 🙂. So it’s back on (thanks to lockdown) and I’m now at the complete body off stage and I’ve stripped the chassis. 
 

Although it’s a galvanised chassis, there are quite a few places where the galvanising has been damaged/lost and there’s surface rust. Appreciate any advice here on best chassis treatment/refurbishment, should I get it soda blasted and powder coated or avoid this route completely (I’ve read too many reviews - some are great, some terrible).

 

Sounds like you’re moving well on your car!

Edited May 16, 2020 by Benco

[EXCEL V8]

I'd get the chassis sand blasted, etch primed and painted.  Personally I don't like powder coat - the smallest chip and moisture seems to creep under it.

Pete

[mikeeech]

I had mine shot blasted, hot zinc sprayed and powder coated... it's not rotten yet. but then it's not left the garage

[Benco]

Thanks Mike and Pete, I think I’m going to go the blast and paint route. There’s a new place for chassis prep near me (Buzzweld in Yate) will reach out and see what they can do.

 

[RivieraSte]

You got any pics of the car in general? The drop box link doesn't work? There is one of the nosecone earlier on in the thread. Is this the one I've seen in a historic for sale ad, parked up a driveway. Light interior and lots of green mould/algae on the paint?

[Benco]

Hi, yes a bit of a story, I’ve ended up with a different Riviera 🙂, I'll dig out some more photos of the body on the car (maybe my drop box has expired given how long ago I started on my journey!)

[Benco]

Prep of the chassis going well, satisfyingly after a good couple of weekends managed to paint the entire chassis in rust encapsulator and when it’s dry again then I can get the chassis top coat on.

Preparing for rebuilding - does anyone have a list of the thread sizes for the chassis mounted bolts, e.g for the radius arm mountings, handbrake mountings, gearbox, steering rack etc? If they’re all metric then I can clean those up with the taps I have otherwise will need to acquire some imperial sizes

Thanks Terry

[RivieraSte]

Good work. Is this for the blue one or the red one?

[Benco]

Blue one, the red one was used in an exchange for this one. I’m hoping to get some black paint on this this afternoon looks like the rain is staying away.