Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

To think the sphere of Elans is entering the RatRod phase, brings a tear to my eye.

Rob Walker
26-4889

Its very easy to achieve the, rat car effect` if that's what you want. See the attached photos. I started with 800 grade wet & dry all over, moving on to 60grade for the wing tops. I used a hot air blower and chisel for the 'distressed' look on the roof. My neighbours are now completely convinced that I am no longer middle class, but have asked that I move the mattresses and old fridges from outside the house. Apologies for the extra two seats, but I no longer know my place in society..

Jeremy

When I got 26/4597 (LHD) it was burnt around the right hand foot box and wing top from a weber carb fire. I repaired the fiberglass damage (cut a corrugated cardboard box up for the foot box and glassed over it) and did a quickie engine rebuild (cylinder hone scuff, re-ring and valve lapping, gaskets) and gave it a very thin dark flat gray coat (a quart of primer doesn't go far) and drove it for a few weeks. The windscreen was cracked and couldn't get a replacement and it was off the road after a 100 miles until I got the right screen (two attempts, don't order an screen for an S2 for a type 26).I may have had the first rat Elan in 1976. Fast forward 36 years and Tingles ex C Prod race body is going to be another go at the rat scene. I think I am going with a semi-gloss black from Rust-oleum.

Gary

"My neighbours are now completely convinced that I am no longer middle class, but have asked that I move the mattresses and old fridges from outside the house. Apologies for the extra two seats, but I no longer know my place in society..

Jeremy"

That comment got my Sunday morning off to a good start lol

AHM wrote:very much so, but I have rather a lot of "new" all at once and I don't want to wait 20 years to get the effect!

I know we are talking about free choice and personal taste here and I have always followed the it's my/your car so do what you want with it philosophy.

But, that said, I really can't get my head around the notion of faking a car to look like it's unmolested and original when it's not. Where's the integrity in it? It's a bit like the fake Rolex, you're just fooling yourself.

Repair and renovate the car as you go along and your interventions become part of the real history of the car.

I do get genuine time warp/museum cars but as has been said before cars which can be described as such are very scarce.

if Alaln Clark lived in a castle he probably had a peon shine the car and figured it stayed clean because dirt would NEVER fall on HIS car. I also do all my own rebuilds and maintenance so I guess that makes me trailer trash too -----yall----------poor spellers untie

A couple of years ago, there was an article in HotRod or Street Rodder about painting a car with a paint roller and Rust-oleum. Color sanded between the several coats and then buffed it out. Another article in Auto Restorer covered the same thing with a two tone job on a Ford Ranger I think. In both cases, the end result in the photographs looked pretty darn good. The Smoke Grey I sprayed on a bench grinder stand a couple of days ago turned out far better than I expected. Not real happy with the Hammer Tone though.....

Rob Walker
26-4889

Y'all gots to use a brush ......better control...

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2506729
photos and talk about painting steel bodied Hondas

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=150 (one quart of gloss)
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=130 (one qurat of semi-gloss)
5% to 15% acetone (on the label) or mineral spirits with Rust-oeium is what is recommended to thin out the paint to spray it on with a paint gun. The stuff is $10 a quart or $32 a gallon. The control arms on the pair of chassis I am doing now will have the semi-gloss Black


The Uprights will be I.H. Red from S.E.M. (Sherwin-Williams) with hardener. This is just to see how it works and it may not be show quality but it sure will work for a while and the point is to Drive the Elans and not just talk. So far I have $65 into the SEM primer red and hardener and $20 into the Rust-oleum (one gloss and one semi-gloss, 20 in lacquer thiner for the Chassis,
I see that Rust-oleum has a boat paint for Fiberglass

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=4

that is $12 quart at Lowes or Home Depot/ Probably going to take 4 quarts to do Tingles C prod race car body the body. About 8 or 10 colors available.

You will get pictures when/as it happens!

Jeremy, you're crackers!

nebogipfel wrote:

AHM wrote:very much so, but I have rather a lot of "new" all at once and I don't want to wait 20 years to get the effect!

...I really can't get my head around the notion of faking a car to look like it's unmolested and original when it's not. Where's the integrity in it? It's a bit like the fake Rolex, you're just fooling yourself.

I don't need to fake anything; that was rather your suggestion! As I mentioned it is a one owner 45k mile car that has been in a garage for 28 years - used and bruised, but original. I've rebuilt the engine because it was seized, and the gearbox because the oil was on the outside, and the chassis/suspension because I want to be safe. If I don't paint the radiator or the bumper how is that fake and who am I fooling?

Simon

Got any pictures of what it is you are trying to "fix" or what it is that you don't like? I am not sure what it is you are trying to accomplish with this topic as I am not looking at what you are seeing.

Gary

Who said that irony was dead?

AHM wrote:I don't need to fake anything; that was rather your suggestion!

Clearly my bad (as they say in the USA) but I took quote below to mean you wanted to renew and repair but make it look as if it hadn't been done? You will note I was not the first to mention simulating patina so others also drew the same conclusion from your post

AHM wrote:very much so, but I have rather a lot of "new" all at once and I don't want to wait 20 years to get the effect!

also......

AHM wrote:how do I respray them without making them look new?

My point was in fact more general in that I don't get the notion that somehow a ratty old car such as the S2 on Ebay has some sort of merit because of it's (supposed) originality. IMO it's nothing more than a restoration project. If something needs fixing, fix it....... just an opinion OK.

nebogipfel

quote 1 - different opinions from different conclusions drawn

quote 2 - Was a response to your suggestion

quote 3 - fair comment, but I was trying to paint a picture.

Gary,
pictures wont help - I'm after ideas. I'm trying to work out what not to over fix, so that the car retains its patina and character.

twincamman,
I too have a comprehensive cleaning kit and do all my own fixing

my comprehensive cleaning unit is a bucket and a cloth and some soap ---oh and a hose ----had to change a master clutch cylinder on the 7 this morning as the rubber seal had become mush after 28 years. -----poor spellers untie