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I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction for either a fiberglass or plastic front splitter replacement. My fiberglass front splitter cracked last night and options I have found through Sector 111 are pretty pricey.
Just ordered one from lowtush. He is a sponsor of this board, has a great looking splitter at a good price. I haven't yet received my splitter (just ordered it), but have no reservation based on his reputation here.
Did you actually crack it or just chip the edge of it? hard to tell in the pictures. If its just chips you can sand it all down re-fiberglass it and paint. I did the same to mine about a month ago when it ripped off at the front, looks as good as new. There should be pictures on facebook in the lotus group.
Mine was about an inch longer in the center a month ago when I bought it but my driveway and a few dips "shortened" it. I sawed off the rough parts with a multitool, sanded it and got a can of black spray paint. Not perfect, but I expect it will see more abuse in the future.
I also heartily recommend getting some door edge trim from your local auto supply store and applying that along the front leading edge all the way across...
I actually ordered some black door trim with adhesive in the grove and lined it. It really helps with driveways and I have sacrificed one strip already with no splitter damage.
That happens when the edge trim is old and no longer flexible. I had some old trim I tried and couldn't it to go on for the life of me. Bought some new trim and it went on super quick.
I was considering the Lowtush, but am concerned about how much it would lower ground clearance in front end. We have terrible roads up here in East Coast Canada.
Anyone ever confirm how many inches the Lowtush splitter lowers the front end?
Thanks everyone. My Lotus has Nitron singlet lowered suspension already. With the splitter, which I realized my current one is lowtush too, it is very, very low to the ground. Speed bumps and bad roads are nightmare but it is more of a track car anyways.
I hope Lowtush responds since my splitter is completely cracked and unusable now.
I had a contact, but not sure he's still making them. Anyways, now would be the best time to learn fiberglass repair. Do you remember making paper mache masks as a child...well replace the shredded newspaper with fiberglass cloth and substitute water and paste with fiberglass resin. Same concept. Then sand it, paint it, done. You get an extra punch hole on your man card too.
I was shocked to see you could get all the fiberglass items at Lowes now! I use to have to drive to marina an hour away to get fiberglass mesh and resin.
There's a guy local to me who does fiberglass abd CF for a reasonable price.
I just put his splitter on my car. I know of two other LTers who have the same one. PM me and I can send you his info.
Btw, weren't you trying to sell this car a few months ago? IIRC, your first post was all about how the car was so great (it has racing seats!!! Which turned out to be base Elise ones with holes in them!) and you didn't want any tire kickers, etc.
I tried PMing lowtush about the ones he supplies, but have not gotten a response. Looking at getting this guy instead, but am a little nervous that it wont fit the US spec elise.
I had several of the fiberglass splitters on my Elise and all eventually met the same fate. Destroyed by contact with something rigid. Finally made my own from 1/8" Black ABS plastic. Used the same mounting bolts under the front, front supported by two turnbuckles attached to the front tow hook or licence plate bracket. For street use that is all you need. If you will be driving in excess of 110mph you also need three sheet metal screws on each side near the front edge of the clam "chin" to prevent vibration. That problem could also be solved by using thicker material. This splitter has been especially rugged. Resists abrasion dragging on driveways and protects the lower front edge of the clam. Front clam was destroyed in an accident early this year, but I reused the splitter since it was pretty much unharmed. I have also used 3/8" plywood for the front splitter and given it a CF wrap. Looks good and works well. Price for plywood or ABS spliters are under $100 if you do it yourself.
You don't need an entire new front splitter for the damage shown in the OP's post.
What you need is a heavy duty large edge trim (Not the small skinny ones used to trim doors).
My car had pretty bad splitter gouges in it, some half inch chunks missing.
What I purchased was this item here. Note it's the large version that covers over half an inch width. It's very good at covering chips in the splitter and ensuring you don't cause any further damage. You need about 6ft of the stuff to cover the edge of the splitter, so I purchased the 13 ft roll so I have extra when/if it ever needs to be replaced.
I will post some before and after photos of my usage with this product once I get a chance. It looks great!
I have fiberglass splitter from GRP that I won't be using. It's unused and still in the box. PM me if you still need one.
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