Is this chassis bent? Forum wisdom required!

[h20hamelan]

One could easily consider any stable material, such as fiberglass or metal to be that. Stable.
In a body shop, when a UniBody is twisted from impact or rust etc, one uses a frame table. Pulling on one corner or up or down etc...

When I recently removed a +2 body, I noticed this deflection. Let's all face it, 2oz of chop strand (not oriented strand or woven or cloth) has no particular alliances.

Before I would change some bobbins or affect a door skin. I would consider some basic primitive approach, or kiss it (keep it simple silly).

As the motto goes, add lightness and see what breaks...

[berni29]

Hi Richard

Wow thats quite a story! And a labour of love haha. I would never have thought such a thing could happen. It makes me feel my issues are quite surmountable. Thank you! Is the car back on the road now?

I'm not quite sure why this particular car "called to me" and I am also sure there are more straightforward projects out there. I think I need to heavily involved with a car before I really feel its mine. This one certainly fits that bill.

Thanks again guys.......

Berni

[RichardHawkins]

Bernie,

No the car is not on the road yet. What I have is a contest between how much work I have to do and how much life I have left, and then there is my desire to do everything to the best of my ability.

Richard Hawkins

[berni29]

Hi Richard

I understand fully, although it is not my way.

I have a friend who owns a really nice late plus 2s, a nice Esprit S1 and a nice S1 Elise. None of which he actually drives. Instead he drives an awful base level econo box. He loves cleaning and fettling the Lotuses though. Its a bit like painting the seven bridge. That's what gives him pleasure. He also does things to the best of his ability, and is an originality nut. Things that take me 5 minutes can take him 5 days. His result looks much better although functionally similar. He is a great resource of Lotus knowledge.

I have an expensive watch collection I no longer wear. My lifestyle has changed. Must sell them.

All the best

Berni

[RichardHawkins]

Bernie,

I am not an originality geek. If the item is out of site and can be improved (10 relays 22 fuses) I am all for it, but I do think the car should look period

Richard

[berni29]

Hi Richard

I would agree with that for sure. The PO rewired my car, but had not fitted a fuse box yet, so I may well end up with quite a few fuses and relays! Could you share some more information about how you laid it all out?

Many thanks again

Berni

[mikealdren]

Hu Bernie,
I'm quite close to you and have the body off my car at the moment and a Spyder chassis if you want to pop round and have a look and compare notes. Feel free to drop me a PM

cheers
Mike

[RichardHawkins]

Bernie,

I based the wiring on a Skoda Felicia. The fuse board is a combination of fuses, relays and distribution centre. I chose this vehicle as the fuse board is placed by the passengers knees. My Lotus is an S4, and there is just room to fit this board under the glove box and forward of the the plastic trim that attaches to the dashboard. I bought an MOT failure estate. I reasoned that as this car is much larger than the Elan and would have enough slack in the wiring to meet all my needs.

My first errors arrived when dismantling the Skoda, which had features that I knew I would not need, so I just cut off. I then carefully tagged and removed all the remaining wiring and spread it out on a large board on trestles inside my garage. I then discovered that the items I had cut off had all sorts of wire attached and I did not know where it originally went. I bought a second hand Haines manual just for the circuit diagrams, very useful. Inevitably I made errors and had to buy more wire and terminals.

When I came to fit the dash into the car I realised I had made a serious mistake. I had overlooked the position of the heater ducting to the windscreen. I have effectively rewired the car twice, and am still not finished.

Before I started rewiring an electrical friend advised me against it. There is a lot to be said in favour of a more recent wiring system with more fuses an relays, but he amount of work even without errors is considerable. Even dismantling the Skoda was quite a task, I think the wiring was one of the first items to be attached to the shell.

Rewiring to a different design is much more difficult than I ever imagined. It is so easy to get in a tangle both theoretically from a circuit point of view and the practically with the wires.

I hope this is both help and warning,

Richard Hawkins

[berni29]

Hi Richard

Thank you for taking the time to explain that. Quite a journey. Sounds like the same sort of logic and common sense decision that I myself would make and be equally wrong on haha.

I whipped my doors off this evening ahead of lifting the body at some point in the not too distant future, and I found that all the new looking bolts on the lower edge of the sills are in fact loose. So perhaps I should tighten them (a bit) before lifting and then once the chassis is out I can perhaps loosen them off, get the body optimally aligned and then tighten them up again ahead of refitting to whatever replacement chassis I end up with.

From what I have read there should be some flex available.

Thanks again

Berni

[alan.barker]

Berni,
sorry to say this but:
If the Doors were closing well with no problems it was better to leave them fitted.
Tighten all Screws along Sills to hold things in place correctly.
When i have lifted +2 Bodies i have always left Doors fitted to hold things inline. Also fitted new Sill members before lifting from Chassis. I think you risk too much flexing the way you are doing the job and will get cracks.
Good luck with your method
Alan

[berni29]

Hi Alan

Sadly the doors were not closing so well. The drivers ok, the passenger not really. I have not tried to adjust either. Both are original to the car so there is hope. The top hinges have no wear but the bottoms do so I will need to read up on how to effect a long term repair to them.

I will certainly do up the sill bolts, and intend to lift the car on two farm jacks at the mid balance point of the body so that there is no twisting force. I will then set it down carefully and pack out the underneath so that it remains in a tension free state. Then after measuring things I will decide whether it needs any adjusting or not. Bearing in mind the danger to the paint.

Thank you again

Berni

[Bigbaldybloke]

Hi Berni

I’ve just replaced my door hinges, pretty straightforward as long as you can get the long countersunk screw out of the bottom of the hinge pin. I was lucky, after a good soak in penetrating oil and a few sharp blows with a hammer on the screw head they came out ok. I ground a large screwdriver so it was a tight fit in the slot in the screw head and with a small adjustable on the blade of the screwdriver they came out nicely. The hinge pin itself was quite corroded so I bought a kit of new ones which included plastic bushes for the hinges, they look like trunnion bushes.
Not happy with these so machined up some bronze ones and reamed them to be a real good fit on the new stainless hinge pin. They work a treat, smooth and no slop at all. One tip I picked up was when securing the doors back on the car. Rather than individual washers on each hinge stud, make a plate with two holes in it that goes across both the studs inside the car before securing with the nuts. Really simple and holds the door in place securely.

[berni29]

Hi

That looks like excellent work. I really like the look of those bronze rather than plastic bushes. The doors are quite heavy and they must be a better long term solution. How hard were they to make? I shall take mine apart at the weekend I think.

Thanks again

Berni

[Bigbaldybloke]

I managed to buy some hollow bronze bar on eBay 31mm OD by 14mm ID for not a lot. The od was about a couple of mm bigger than needed and the bore about 1mm smaller, so minimal work on the lathe. I bought myself an adjustable reamer to finish off the bore but probable could just have bored it to the right size on the lathe. The bushes were a light push fit in the hinge bodies but I did loctite them in anyway. The stainless hinge pins came from either Sue Miller or Kelvedon, can’t remember which.

[alan.barker]

To remove the Hinges from Door you need to position Window height.
Alan