[Randy Chase]

Anyone remove a front clam yet? Info?

Well, my little mishap with the curb is not that big. But the repair shop said they have to go inside to fix it, which I guess makes sense. That means they have to remove the clam. They asked me if it was one piece and seemed disappointed when I said it was.

I am not comfortable with having them remove it. Would you be? This is not a normal car.

One thought was to remove it myself, so I was looking for data on how hard it is and where are the fasteners, etc.

 

[LarryB]

Other then folks on the other side of the pond don't know if someone could give you much info. As painful as it may be, might be a good time to pick up a service manual. Or do it the old fashion way... start taking it apart.

 

[aletes]

Clam removal is covered in the service manual/notes. I have a copy of the S1 service notes (in PDF) if it helps. Also, there are at least a couple people on the forum with a hard copy of the 111R/Federal Elise service manuals.

 

[Patricko]

You can order the Service manual from the parts department.

And yes I think you are doing the right thing by taking it off yourself.

 

[zvezdah1]

Randy,
Ask symbolic if they'd xerox the pertinent pages for you>
Chris

 

[Randy Chase]

I was going to order the factory service manual (required for autocrossing nationally really).... but I was told that it was a 3-ring binder and mainly waiting for the pages to fill it. That the dealers have only a few pages so far.

But maybe it's not that thin in terms of info?

 

[Patricko]

I was going to order the factory service manual (required for autocrossing nationally really).... but I was told that it was a 3-ring binder and mainly waiting for the pages to fill it. That the dealers have only a few pages so far.

But maybe it's not that thin in terms of info?

I have seen it and it is as you describe, but it has at least 100+ pages and lots of diagrams.

 

[zvezdah1]

For Lotus anyway, it's best to wait a bit before ordering the manuals, six months down the road they'll come with service updates etc issued for different reasons.
Chris

 

[NtflBlueLiz]

Randy,

Did you get more info on the front clam removal? I also want to remove it to install driving lights and a new "cruise ship" horn. I posted on Seloc with no luck as well.

 

[zvezdah1]

Barry (Silver bullet) had to have rear clam removed to replace the rear windscreen, think it was 4-5 hours.
Chris

 

[thegit]

Randy,
I suggest you jack the car up and study the attchment points of the clam, then remove it yourself.

They are asking you how to remove it which would be warning bells to me.

You know more about the car than they do.

m

 

[Randy Chase]

Thanks for the info.

I was referred today to a guy that does custom fiberglass and paint work. He is coming over on Tuesday to repair the car. He will do it on site.

According to him, the clam does not need to be removed. He thinks it is best to do it on the car and it should be pretty simple. In a day he can have it all repaired and repainted.

He mentioned that if his happens, you should immediately use some strong tape like I did to help minimize further damage, and also to seal it from water because it will soak up moisture. The damage will spread over time so you can't just wait.

He wondered why our cars did not come with skid plates. The good news is he will be making me a set of custom carbon fiber skid plates to protect the wings. I will report more on how that works out. I don't want to keep waiting a long time for the polycarbonate skid plates and I know this is the area that will get hit again.

The good news is he said he will have a pint of Saffron Yellow and will be happy to paint the center tunnel and console for me. I think I will also get a helmet or two painted. He will follow up with a spray on clear coat. I will take pics before, during and after.

Cross your fingers... he told me to not watch the initial grinding part.

 

[aletes]

The good news is he will be making me a set of custom carbon fiber skid plates to protect the wings. I will report more on how that works out. I don't want to keep waiting a long time for the polycarbonate skid plates and I know this is the area that will get hit again.

Sounds great ... Let us know how it turns out.

 

[mikester]

Randy, I think this guy is going to get a lot of work from the local Elise owners, we're all interested in how your car comes out.

 

[NtflBlueLiz]

Randy,

I think it is a good idea to avoid removing the clams as much as possible. I just got back from spending a couple of hours at PBMC and I got to meet their Elise Tech, AL. Very nice guy! He was explaining to me that the clams are lined up via a system of shims at different points and that it is easy to misplace a shim here or there and have the clam not align exactly anymore also when you remove the front clam you almost for certain have to re-align the headlights. The front clam in my car was slightly misaligned since the repair of the clam and they are re-adjusting it for me now and they are going to realign the headlights to factory spec. Overall I must say everyone at PBMC is quite nice and they sure try to make the customer happy as much as possible. The only thing I hate about going to PBMC is the traffic on I-95, what a PITA!

Edit to say: While I was there I checked out the cars on their lot. They had :
- GG, hard top, touring.
- SY, hard top, touring.
- GG, hard top, touring, sport pack. Sticker more than 48k!
plus their ST demo car.

also on the shop there was a AR car and a magnetic blue car besides my own NB car.

 

[TimMullen]

Although it is for the S1, the following two pages of the shop manual will give you an idea of what's involved in removing the front clam:

 

[TimMullen]

Page two:

 

[xxxotic]

I just got back from spending a couple of hours at PBMC and While I was there I checked out the cars on their lot. They had :
- GG, hard top, touring.
- SY, hard top, touring.
- GG, hard top, touring, sport pack. Sticker more than 48k!
plus their ST demo car.

also on the shop there was a AR car and a magnetic blue car besides my own NB car.

The SY is speedracergirl8's
The AR was mine getting prepped
The Magnetic blue was LRattners getting his gas gauge fixed

I got there ar 5:15 to pick up my car, I must have just missed you.

 

[Randy Chase]

The damage to my clam was worse than I thought. He showed me where it was cracking higher up from the impact. We got a late start today.

The 3M film was removed around the area affected, and then the area cleaned with this chemical.


He ground out all the loose stuff, and remove a flap of material about 3'X2" and replaced that with fiberglass.

Next is grinding, shaping, sanding.... followed by painting.

 

[pianomaniac]

The damage to my clam was worse than I thought. He showed me where it was cracking higher up from the impact. We got a late start today.

The 3M film was removed around the area affected, and then the area cleaned with this chemical.


He ground out all the loose stuff, and remove a flap of material about 3'X2" and replaced that with fiberglass.

Next is grinding, shaping, sanding.... followed by painting.

I feel for you. Good luck and hope it turns out well.