My Elan S3 DHC restoration thread (warning: picture heavy)

[loueelotus]

Great job.. So happy another Elan being restored and on the road soon..

Best of luck,
Lou

[Elan Peter]

Hi there, I love the car. You have probably mentioned before but what colour do you plan to paint the car?
I can recommend cirrus white with gold bumpers (but then I'm biased )
I can recommend fitting solid driveshafts to the car as the rubber rotorflex joints have a tendency to perish in hotter climates!!!
Some people say that you lose the feel of the car, however I can't feel any serious difference!
P

[tomjones20194]

Hi Peter - Nice car! I envy all the folks on this site that have there?s done and driving.

Right now I?m thinking I?ll paint it either Lotus Yellow or the original Carnival Red if I stick with 60s era colors. I?m a big fan of the Elise in magnetic blue as well, so I?ve thought about that one too. But paint is a long ways off so it could change...

Regards
Tom

[Elan Peter]

I completely understand. You may think mine is lovely but I still have a lot of work to do, I suppose a true masterpiece is never truly finished and I am pretty confident that my fellow members will back me up on that one!!!!

[The Veg]

I envy all the folks on this site that have there?s done and driving.

Likewise! I hope to be driving mine soon, but also see the possibility of a body-off a handful of years down the road that'll make me feel that way again.

[tomjones20194]

No more progress to speak of, but I did start it and let it run for 15-20 minutes to get the seals wet, clean the carbs, etc. It was nice to hear the old British exhaust notes.

[tomjones20194]

I?ve been making slow and steady progress on the Elan. I?ve begun some fiberglass repairs on the rear deck tray to get the hang of it. Actually it?s pretty straight forward - just a bit messy. Here are a few pictures.

Once I finish the deck tray, I?m going to move to the boot hinge mounting sections.

[tomjones20194]

So I?m making progress. Here?s a few pictures of the boot hinge section after repairs.

Next is to seal the repairs, add body filler to smooth it out and paint.

[alan.barker]

Imho try to finish with Tissue and Resin only, NO Filler.
Alan

[tomjones20194]

Alan - thanks for the input. If I were stripping and painting the entire car I would. However I?m trying to match the thickness of the existing paint layers.

[tomjones20194]

Here are some pictures of the finished repairs.

[alan.barker]

Hi you can get Gaskets for the Hinges from sjsportscars and use several to adjust the height of the Hinges
Alan

[Andy8421]

Tom, firstly, there is nothing wrong with using a little filler, the cars were apparently filled at the factory to cover moulding joins and dips. I can't find the story now, but I have seen reference to a depression on the panel between the door and wheel arch that was routinely made good at the factory - an over zealous restoration removes this filler and is obvious from the resulting hollow.

Having said that, you have a good few coats of paint on your Elan, and the challenge can be sinkage as the filler and many coats of paint react differently to the new paint, shrink at different rates, and the repair becomes visible. Cellulose thinner seems to be one of the worst for this effect.

Good luck.

[alan.barker]

I wonder if anyone knows if "Option 1" use filler and if so which filler.
I understand they recover all the Body with Resin and Tissue. But do they use filler.
Alan

[tomjones20194]

So I?ve made some good progress lately. I finally got the boot lid mounted. I also installed the original style LOTUS emblem on the boot lid. The PO had removed this emblem. I also created a fiberglass version of the rear panel that separates the cabin from the boot. First I put a good, thick coat of wax on the panel to ensure that it?ll release when dried. The are some air pockets that I couldn?t get rid of due to pieces of old carpet still stuck to the panel that seems to trap air. If I were to do this again I?d ensure that I scraped the panel well first. I?m not worried about the imperfections since it?s not structural and I?ll be installing carpet over it. Next is to get the interior prepped for insulation and carpet install.