Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I decided to spruce up those black skirts that run along the side between the jacking points.

On closer inspection they are actually the bottom of the body GRP brought down into a flat strip and then fastened to a steel bar down the side.

Some bits of the grp are damaged but it’s mostly ok. The fastener heads look in good order some are painted over and some not.

My plan is to scrape it all back to sound and then paint the whole thing black with stoneguard or raptor maybe smoothrite. Including the fastener heads.

Has anyone done anything different? Any tips or previous experience of servicing this part of the body?

Another pic

I would start by repairing the GRP.
Unscrew the fibreglass to allow the out part to move away from the cill side member and allow access to both sides of the fibreglass. Remove the black paint and repair the fibreglass then repaint in black with your choice of paint and reassemble. The good news is that it's a good place to practise fibreglassing as the surface finish is not critical.
I would paint over the screw heads to protect and disguise them. Personally, I would also replace the screws with stainless but that's personal choice.

thanks Mike, i think you are right, although that increases the scope a bit into a GRP repair which i have not done before. I think if i put some sort of release film behind it to stop it sticking to the metal then i could overmake it and cut it back in line with the edge. the broken bit doesn't have a fastener in it anyway.

I think the unpainted screw heads are stainless, that would make sense. I'll take one out for a look see.

I used a piece of plastic on the inner sided of the cill fibreglass, the new fibreglass doesn't stick to it and it gives a clean finish. I would try to chamfer the existing firbreglass on inner and outer sides to give a good join. If you're only doing a small amount, DIY resin and mat from Halfords or similar is fine. Lots of info on line but the key is to use as much mat and as little resin as possible while ensuring the mat is thoroughly wetted.

Hi
It looks like the cills have been replaced I would check out the condition of the cills while you are down there

Good luck

I used rattle can stoneguard and quite pleased with the result. The stuff I used kind of expands slightly when applied , which effectively covers up all kinds of rough finish. I also sprayed the inspection plates to keep any moisture out of the rocker plenum to protect the rocker rails. The stoneguard covered up the hex head bolts quite well. There was a recent thread (can’t find it right now) with a particularly nice job using paint that I must say looked a lot better, but more work.

HTH

I noticed one with a chrome strip, probably bonded with body glue

I repaired the sill strip and just painted it with a rattle can.
New bolts finished it off.

that's looks great, looks like you had the body off though which I guess makes it easier.

I'll have to chisel or chamfer is all round and try not to get a double thickness over the curved bit of the body.

Chrome strips don't sound like my thing and that whole area takes a bit of a beating anyway.

Take your time and you'll be fine