Well... crap.

[MotorCade]

Ok, I need some good advice on fiberglass repair now... I know some of you have experience now, so any thoughts?

Here's the situation: Car was parked in the spot, a good foot away from the curb. Friend of mine asked to sit in it, sure no prob. "Can I start it?" Ok... here's the keys... Well, he started it with the clutch out in first.... so it jumped forward and smashed the plinth into the curb. Cracked it down both sides of the plinth and took off a chunk from under the plinth.

Am I going to need to remove the clam? I'm guessing yes... also, is there any particular instructions or material that I need to make sure the repair folks use for this kind of fiberglass?

I want it to be back to factory original... Not happy with this at all.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Cade

[Lotus Fury]

That really is terrible. Very sorry to hear it, wish there was something I could do to help.

[Randy Chase]

Mine was repaired on the spot without removing the clam. I don't think you need to, unless your's is a lot worse than I am thinking.

[andykeck]

Do you think you'll have time to get it fixed before they file the homicide charges?

[Ground Loop]

Dude! That sucks. Good friends can be hard to replace.


Perhaps a clutch or stick interlock wouldn't be such a bad mod if the car is going to be multi-driver.

[babak]

You know, there is an unwritten biking law...you don't let others ride/mess with your ride. Perhaps we need to apply that to ours?

[pinmagic]

I let my brother drive mine for an evening, when we went out together to do some shopping. Twice, he started in in gear. Fortunately, no curb, so no damage. But when he wanted to borrow the car for a few days on his own, that was the factor that made me decline.

[Thomas Praetzel]

Hate to admit it, but I came within about a quarter inch from hitting a curb the other day. Had just gotten the car, pushed the lever full right and back, you know, like all Acuras, for reverse, and the only thing that saved me was stalling the car. Like all contractors, ex-carpenters, I never read manuals. Fiinally figured out where reverse was, look at the shift knob, duhhh? Glass is really easy to fix if you find the right shop, paint match might be a problem.
Kind of off the the topic, but have your speaker covers fallen off yet? I had 140 miles on the car and the left side grill kind of jumped into the air when I hit a good bump. LSS kind of sucks on Maui, the roads are not very good. Also, the AC turns on and off at will.
Best luck on your repair, I intend to ding the car fairly soon, just to get it over with.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel

[Genjuro]

Damn, sorry to hear that. Randy's pics showed the entire process. It looked great.

BTW, were you on 295 today? BRP right? 'What is it' was on the the plate.

[eliseowner2b]

You guys keep scaring me with these stories!!!

[Win]

Originally posted by Genjuro
Damn, sorry to hear that. Randy's pics showed the entire process. It looked great.

BTW, were you on 295 today? BRP right? 'What is it' was on the the plate.

That is Pinmagic.

[xxxotic]

Originally posted by Thomas Praetzel

Kind of off the the topic, but have your speaker covers fallen off yet? I had 140 miles on the car and the left side grill kind of jumped into the air when I hit a good bump.

Mine was off when I picked up my car. The screw that holds the speaker in place was also stripped they said.

Lotus is aware of the problem of the grills popping in hot climates and they ordered me updated ones. I am getting them on Thursday and will let you know what the difference is. BTW I was able to get the cover back on, its not on exactly straight, but I had to fiddle with it for a while to figure out how to get it to line up correctly. Its annoying since it rattles over bumps too.

Hey OFL, do you have different speakers or grills on the newer car?

[zvezdah1]

Guess I've been lucky in that all the manual cars I ever owned never had a lockout, I've just always been in the habit of neutral, clutch in, start.

SOrry to hear about your incident cade.
Chris

[MotorCade]

Thanks all...

Estimate was at 1200 bucks... they think they have to pull the clam off. They think they need to strengthen behind the damage, but the damage didn't break anything off or pierce all the way through... it cracked a chunk off of the plinth, and spiderwebbed the paint through the bottom of the radiator intake.

I'll get a second opinion, but I want to make sure it's done right...

Genjuro, I'm driving a BRG with a 111R plate.

Haven't had any problems with speaker grills.

First autox in this car was yesterday... put in some decent times, but need improvement and a little adjustment to the car.

Cade

[khamai]

Cade,

Just a suggestion... don't hurry to get it repaired. Give it a couple weeks to a month. Might be different with the way the composite is "layed" up in the Elise, but typically with fiberglass & resin composites "cracks" or "spider-webbing" show up weeks after the "event". Thus you may be better off waiting just a bit, letting all the damage appear before having the repairs made.

Anyone have thoughts on the difference with the S2 composite vs. traditional layed composite?

Kiyoshi

[Genjuro]

Originally posted by MotorCade
Thanks all...

Genjuro, I'm driving a BRG with a 111R plate.

Haven't had any problems with speaker grills.

First autox in this car was yesterday... put in some decent times, but need improvement and a little adjustment to the car.

Cade

DOH! You took my plate! I had 111R reserved under my Honda, but since it was late, the reservation expired. Well, I'll just have to figure out something else!

There is an auto-x on the 21st in Richmond. My buddy is begging that I go. Feel up to joining me?

[DesignIt]

MotorCade,
I know you said you wanted it back to factory original, but if it were me I would take the opportunity to clean up the front end by removing the blocky plinth altogether and smoothing it off to match the surrounding area. That is, unless you want to put a front plate on the car.

Another option (that I really don't know enough to speak intelligently on) is to repair, then conceal the damage with an air dam lip from an exige. BTW, does anyone have any experience with this retrofit? It looks like it would hide the plinth and the two pseudo-splitters that just add more visual complexity to the Elise nose.

John

[peck555]

Genjuro;Ijust put my 111R plate on my focus until my lotus comes in

[MotorCade]

Sorry Genjuro! Didn't know you were wanting it, or I'd have tried to figure something else out.

Kiyoshi, I'll talk to my body shop guy... he has done some cobra replicas and some corvettes (saw some pics with some pretty severe damage) and see what he thinks.

I'd kinda like to remove the plinth altogether, but from previous conversations, I'd lose my SS eligibility in autocross. At least for now, I'd like to stay there.

Cade

[MotorCade]

AutoX in richmond? Hmmm.... we have our winter series opener on that same day down here. What's the course like? is it a good size? This one is our largest venue, out at the Littlecreek Amphibious base, and we use a huge parking ramp for the hovercraft... sorta hesitant to miss it, but then again, it'd be fun to see some other venues.

Do i need to register online?

Cade