Sprint two tone demarcation line

[gjz30075]

Hi all,
After 30 years or so of having my Sprint in one color, the car needs a repaint and I'm going back to the traditional color over white scheme. I have a few good pics of my car, without the stripe, with the yellow over white showing where the two meet, however, no specs of such. Can anyone take some measurements at various points as to where the white meets the color?
Thanks!

Greg Z
'72 Sprint

[billwill]

Would it not look odd if it was any line other than a straight line from the centerlines of the front bumper to the rear bumper.


I never really looked closely though.

[andyelan]

Hi Greg

I assume you've already looked, but there's a copy of the Elan Sprint sales brochure in this sites library. No measurements of course but this shows the gold stripe running from the centre line of the front bumper to a point above the rear bumper. As the background colour behind the gold stripe is white, I assume the demarcation line will be just below the top edge of this

Regards
Andy

[gjz30075]

Thanks Andy. Yes, I've got that brouchure and other pics as well and my plan was to give them to the painter and have him ascertain from the pics, where the line should be. Hoping to get a bit more exact so there's no 'assumptions' involved.

Greg Z

[gjz30075]

Bill, I've got a pic of my car without the stripes (when I first got it) and the paint line does not bisect the rear bumper. It had been repainted a few times in the first few years of its life so I'm not 100% certain its correct. The paint line runs immediately below the rear marker light.

I think if I don't get exact specs, I'm sure my pics will help the painter.

Greg Z

[elansprint71]

Would it not look odd if it was any line other than a straight line from the centerlines of the front bumper to the rear bumper.


I never really looked closely though.

If you do that it will look dreadful; like the one on the front of Ian Ward's book.

[Frank Howard]

My long term objective is to paint my S4 in blue over white Sprint colors however I plan on seperating the colors with a single pinstripe that will be lined up with the botton of the front bumper (fender in the UK) and the top of the rear bumper (also fender in the UK). Far from original S4 paint but I do like the Sprint color combinations however I have no intention of passing my S4 off as a Sprint. The main advantage is that I will wind up with a level seperation line without the excess stripe above the rear bumper (again, fender in the UK).

I think Lotus would have done this to the Sprints had they not been required to allow for quite a bit of leeway while painting the doors off the car. The wide Sprint stripes cover up any problems lining up the demarcation line. My pinstripes with require absolute precision while painting the doors off the car.

[gjz30075]

Frank, you're right about the excess stripe above the rear bumper. It looks clunky. The pic I plan to use for the painter is in this thread:
elan-photos-f18/have-you-photo-your-elan-the-60s-70s-t20800.html

My yellow over white Sprint on the day I bought it. If you follow the demarcation line to the rear, it touches the bottom of the rear marker light. Assuming Andy is correct on the placement of the stripe, and I think he is, the stripe will be placed so most of it is below the line, which streamlines the stripe into the bumper. I have a new silver stripe I recently bought from elanfan1 but I didn't notice if the portion between the color is clear or white. If clear, then Andy is correct and the stripe will show the white. If white, then the placement is moot.

Greg Z

[elanfan1]

Frank -

bumper in the UK - fender in the US surely.

with regard to your plan for the pinstripe - whilst I'd agree it could look brilliant I think the odds on you getting the doors 1. accurately painted and 2 accurately fitted afterwards is remote. There is then also the issue of when the doors settle on the door trim rubbers and inevitably drop a little over time - a step in a stripe will look awful.

I wish you luck in trying to do it but in all practicality I reckon you will be fighting a losing battle. I guess there were reasons why Mr C went with a 2 inch wide stripe.

Happy to be proved wrong - Good luck with it

[jimj]

I thought the US term "fender" was what the UK called "wing".......but......whatever. I also think, so therefore it must be right! that the monotone option on the original Sprints was much more tasteful, and less trouble it seems, but that isn`t actually, necessarily, right, just a subjective view.
Jim (the aesthete)

[Frank Howard]

I think the odds on you getting the doors 1. accurately painted and 2 accurately fitted afterwards is remote. There is then also the issue of when the doors settle on the door trim rubbers and inevitably drop a little over time - a step in a stripe will look awful. I wish you luck in trying to do it but in all practicality I reckon you will be fighting a losing battle...Good luck with it

The factory painted everything before the doors were fitted. That's why they needed such a wide margin of error for the demarcation line and that's why they used such a wide stripe. They did not have the time to fit the doors perfectly, disassemble for painting, and then assemble again.

My plan is to deal with the ill fitting doors including bringing in the bottom rear sections flush with the body before disassembling the car. I will then snap a line where I want the pinstripe to be and then I will create reference marks using an awl on the inside edge of each front wheel opening lip, the inside edge of each front door opening, the inside edge of the front of each door, the inside edge of the rear of each door, the inside edge of each rear door opening, and the top of the rear bumper (fender). The car will then be disassembled for painting and these reference marks will be used during the painting process.

When the doors go back on again, if they are adjusted as they were when they came off, the demarcation line should line up perfectly and the pinstripe should cover up all of the reference holes. If the doors eventually droop, they should be adjusted anyway and the demarcation line should remain straight from front to back.

Sound like a plan?

[Bruce Crowthorne]

Like you I looked around and "judged" from the various pictures and cars I could see.
I did mine by using the standard with strip (abut 2 inches) and ran the top of the stripe from the top of the front bumper to just abouve the top of the back bumper.
As already suggested, I just used a chalk string to get the line right.
Happy to post pictures if I can work out how.
By the way, mine is actually an S4 so I got a sample of the stripe from Sue Miller, biught a whole sheet and cut out my own plain stripe. So mine doesn't have the "SPRINT" text.
Basically I just liked the Gold Leaf colours!
Bruce

[elanfan1]

Defintely sounds like a plan as you say. Hope it works out for you - would be great to see some pics after you have done it.

Good luck with it.

BTW - I still have a couple of sets of Gold Elan Sprint stripes left if anyone is interested.

Steve

[gjz30075]

Frank, is this what you're looking for? It's from an article about Daytune, in Lotus World, Oct., 1985. Although its red over white, you can see a pinstripe down the side.

[Frank Howard]

Yes, yes. Thank you for posting the photos. Too bad they don't show a better side shot. Assuming the stripe lines up with the bottom of the front bumper and the top of the rear bumper, that is exactly what I have in mind!