Look what Q has brought for us. Isn't it nice ?

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Jon, all your updates are really useful. Good job on the alternator and the instruments look great! Have been studying the felt problem. The seat rails presumably will hold the rear carpet and felt, so just the forward carpet is a problem. May use the clips with some silicon to stop leaks, if I can figure out how they work!

[Lotusfab]

Jon do you put 1/2 or 1/4 felt on the pax side wheel arch and bulkhead, or just over the wheel arch? Cheers.

[jonroberts]

1/2" felt on both front wheel arch areas cut and moulded to the shape then contact adhesive'd down.  I used a small piece of 1/4" foam on the footwell section under the 'heel pad'. Nothing on the rear bulkhead if thats what you mean - just the carpet.

[Lotusfab]

Hi Jon, mean the forward bulkhead to the front boot, area directly in front of feet. Was thinking on drivers side no felt as it would foul the pedals but does the pax have felt?

Ps should the instrument cluster light up ( your picture)when you switch lights on? Or is it the INT switch?

[Paul Coleman]

The panel switch illuminates the instruments. It has 2 positions... dim and dimmer!

 

INT is for the interior light above your head.

 

The heel pads on my car had no felt under them. The wheel wells didn't have any felt under the vinyl side pads.

 

Paul.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Paul Coleman

[jonroberts]

Hi Jon, mean the forward bulkhead to the front boot, area directly in front of feet. Was thinking on drivers side no felt as it would foul the pedals but does the pax have felt?

Ps should the instrument cluster light up ( your picture)when you switch lights on? Or is it the INT switch?

 

I did put 1/4" felt on both areas directly in front of your feet under the carpet pieces. Paul says no, but there seems to be good clearance on my car. Not on the side panels though.

 

As Paul says, the instrument panel lights only light up when the PANEL switch is on and the lights are on. They are actually surprisingly bright if all the 3 bulbs inside are working !  

 

INT turns on the interior light when the doors are open but has no effect if the doors are already open. Its easy to leave it on and end up with a flat battery. My int light has a small black switch on it and I leave it off now!

[Lotusfab]

Thanks all. What holds the instrument mask on infront of the instruments?

[jonroberts]

The binnacle and switch plates either side hold the mask in place. 

[Lotusfab]

Will you have it ready for the summer?

[jonroberts]

Thats the plan ! 

[Lotusfab]

Jon, have you fixed the tailgate trims yet. Just wondering if you will have to bend them down more at the lower corners to avoid a gap like me? If you have fixed them did you put glue only on the glass surface or down the side also? Trying to avoid a cockup!

[jonroberts]

I used the same sealant/adhesive to fit the chrome windscreen trims as the waistline trim - it's worked out very well as its really sticky and not too flexible.  My rear screen also sat lower at the rear corners but I did not bend the trim to follow it because to do so meant the mitre join wouldn't close up accurately. I applied a 3-4mm bead of sealant to the inside underneath face of the trims as far away from the edge as possible with a little more at the lower rear corners. There is a handy line in the extrusion to follow.  Obviously pre-bend them and test fit everything including all the corner clips because it needs to make a perfect rectangle - otherwise it will look crap.  Yes, there is a couple of mm gap between my glass and the rear corner areas, but I'd prefer that to the trim sitting low in the bodywork. 

[jonroberts]

 did you put glue only on the glass surface or down the side also? 

 

Just re-read what you asked. I glued the trim to the glass in the hope that if I ever have to remove them at a later date I can slide a scalpel under the strip of glue and remove them. That stuff sticks very well and no need for anything stronger to hold them put.  If you put it down the side as well I think it will be impossible to remove without damaging the paintwork too.

[ramjet]

This is going to look stunning finished Jon. Kudos.

[jonroberts]

Took a day off work yesterday and begun installing the interior. 

 

 

Followed by the chrome trims - it really finishes it off.

 

 

Then today I made a start refitting the passengers side door, firstly the hinges

 

 

The door beam with new bushes and bolts

 

 

And finally sliding the shell on - had to be really careful not to mark the paintwork before its even been on the car !

 

 

External door handle, lock and window frame goes in next, followed by the check strap mechanism

 

 

Then had to make up the door shell top finisher which is in three pieces. The finisher itself, the special rubber strip and a backing plate which are riveted together.

 

 

An anxious couple of hours measuring, drilling and riveting the door trim carrier strip on to the door. I was concerned that the rivets might split the fibreglass, but they didn't. Special countersunk aluminium rivets for the job from SJ's.

 

 

Went together well. Still need to fit the motor to the door, glue on and trim the door waistline rubber then do the same thing all over again on the drivers side.

 

[Lotusfab]

Excellent job! I haven't seen my doors yet! Will have to unwrap them. Great job on the trim, is it all your handy work?

Did you spray glue the material to the scrim and contact ahesive it on the edges, or did you just do the edges?

Also may need to buy bushes and bolts also where did you get them? Great pictures too. Spent today cleaning windscreen and bending and filing the rear trims. Have managed to reduce all gaps but it was a lot of work had to file all mitres and cut some of the backing of the trim to get it to fit. Thanks.

[jonroberts]

Thanks. The interior is almost all my handywork - I had to subcontract out the dashboard and door card edge stitching to PaulC's wife    as my skills with the sewing machine were fine in a straight line, but pathetic round corners.  

 

The material is spray glued on top of the scrim and then the edges folded and glued under. The material I used is fairly thick - certainly thicker than the green cloth so I think you'd need to be careful not to put too much on. Paul did all his interior too - amazing job.

 

I ordered a full set (x4) of bushes from RD Enterprises in the USA last year. Including the shipping they were half the price of any of the UK suppliers. The bolts are standard metric M10. 

 

 

[Lotusfab]

Jon did u powder coat the door brackets? Are they easy to remove from the door?

[jonroberts]

That depends on how corroded up the door bolts are into the hinge pin. Mine were pretty bad and took penetrating oil and some heat to free them off. There are two different types of hinge pin arrangement I believe - the early ones are a solid pin with drilled and tapped ends that bolts screw into and the other is a hinge pin with threaded ends that has nuts on. Mine were painted with POR-15 then top coated with satin black spray. 

[Loose Cannon]

Top notch work John, please keep the pics coming, it's almost pornographic how this is coming together. This looks to be easily the equal of the recent spate of "blank chequebook" SJS/Fulcher restorations.

 

White and tartan can go and take a running jump!

 

PS Are the interior chrome strips reproduction items?

[jonroberts]

Thanks Mark! Yes, SJ Sportscars have reproduced all the chrome on the car with the exception of the strips in the door handles.

[Freemason]

This is what my door looks like:

 

 

 

Looks like I have the bolts going through the hinge pin.

 

I bought a new hinge pin from SJ, and it looks like this:

 

 

 

Are the two hinge pin arrangements interchangeable? Is one better than the other? Which one did you have and did you stick with your original arrangement?

Edited March 25, 2015 by Freemason

[jonroberts]

Hi Antonio. Mine was the same as yours - a pin with bolts top and bottom - and were in good enough condition to be reused after cleaning up with a tap. The part seems to have been replaced by the ones you bought; I guess Lotus figured it was a better arrangement. Maybe somebody else can comment, but I'd imagine they were interchangeable.

[Freemason]

Now I'm confused. Does that gold hinge pin from SJ go inside the beam tube, or does it replace this thinner rod next to it? 

 

 

 

 

I also got the door hinge bushes from RD Enterprises. Where do they go? Inside that tube on the right there? How do I get that thread out?

 

Edited March 25, 2015 by Freemason

[Paul Coleman]

The threaded part is just a tube with threads at each end. It just pushes out because it rides inside the two plastic bushes top and bottom.

White and tartan can go and take a running jump!

Wash your mouth out!