A little "off road excursion"

[DrFatz]

So I was driving the other day in the rain and took a corner a bit too fast for the current conditions. Well the back end stepped out and while I counter steered to keep her from spinning out she slid sideways off of the road and up an embankment through some brush. The problem is there was a nice 2” curb between the road and the grass. She slid off at a pretty good clip and it hit the curb hard enough to slightly bend a rim and pop out one of the front turn signals. Also it seems the front clam took a bit of abuse as well. I posted some pictures of the front damage as well as pics of the suspension. I am pretty worried that I bent something on the chassis when it went over the bump as now if I let the wheel go the car ever so slightly tracks to the left :-(























I guess the questions I have are do you guys/girls think the clam can be repaired or does it have to be replaced? Also what do we think about the suspension? I already called my insurance company and the adjuster is coming here tomorrow, but I wanted the opinions of the experts first!

[milehitom]

Sorry to read about the off-road moment. It's happened to many of us...

It looks to me like the clam is a repair rather than replace since it's below the "seam." Usually, damage above that line warrants a clam replacement, since Lotus includes that part of the shell in its crash structure. Cracks below are usually a fix and repaint.

I don't see any chassis damage from your photos, so you may have saved more than the back end with your counter steering. I'm sure other more experienced eyes will chime in.

Tom

[RacyTracy]

The clam looks repairable to me. If you don't feel confident doing it, a good fiberglass/corvette repair shop should be able to. I may be in the minority of opinions here. I see a lot of people replacing clams that look repairable.

Read this..... Creating UBERCLAM! Was "Repairing the clam"



I don't see anything screaming 'I'm bent'....but don't really know the suspension well enough to offer a credible opinion.

[ZAMMY1]

before repairing the clam, i'd get the alignment checked.
that will tell a lot about the possible suspension damage, if there is any.
you say it steers funny....
good luck.
sam

[DrFatz]

First thing tomorrow I am going to take her to the Lotus dealer and have them pull the suspension and check EVERY component to make sure nothing is bent. I don't care if a control arm is bent so long as the chassis mounts are okay.

I am glad the general consensus is that the clam can be repaired. I know a really good glass shop right by me that should be able to repair her good as new!

[Minnis]

I hope you car is straight, my wife hits a lot of things with my car and it's still pretty useable. Below is where my last few weeks went to. I can make you a custom clam if you want...

[NOLA911]

Minnis, awesome work! I suspect a lot of time went into that one

[Icedog_16]

Originally Posted by ZAMMY1

before repairing the clam, i'd get the alignment checked.
that will tell a lot about the possible suspension damage, if there is any.
you say it steers funny....
good luck.
sam

+1 He may just have knocked it out of alignment. That can happen when hitting a curb with the wheel turned. Likely the wheel is cocked in the same manner it was when he hit the curb.