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

[tomjones20194]

I?ve been working on the Elan for a few weeks in order to get the interior together. I finished installing the carpet, created and carpeted the interior panels, repaired and painted the rear deck tray, sanded, painted and reinstalled the roll bar and top frame, installed all new Tenex studs and made new seat rails using aluminum instead of steel. I used new stainless steel hardware for all of the repairs.

I also repaired the cracks in the door panels with new glass work, installed new foam and recovered in new recycled leather cloth. And I replaced all of the door panel clips with new hardware. I chose to redo the door panels in black with dark gray inserts.

As this was the first I?ve done any interior work, there was a lot of trial and error. The carpeting turned out pretty good. But I?m not completely satisfied with how the door panels turned out. The leather cloth was extremely difficult to fit over the interior recesses. I found it impossible to fit without some exposed cuts to allow it to form to the contours. If it continues to bug me, I may enlist the help of a professional to redo them.

Here are a few pictures of the progress.

[evanlotus]

yes you sanded through the gelcoat. use tissue paper thin mat and on the bottom side use like 3/4 once fiber mat.
make your patches small anmake the next one bigger, due about 5 layers and work the resin in with a cheap brush. sand it all down and use some fairing compound to get the sanding marks out. then gelcoat. Get the non waxed one and you can add your own wax only one or 2 drops needed. You neet to sand the wax layer off when the gelcoat hardens.... good luck

[englishmaninwales]

What is your roll hoop bolted to?