[Ripple]

Got into a minor accident last week but the guy backed up (and at a stop light, #%[email protected] idiot :wallbang: ) just hard enough to crack the front clam in several spots. I was wondering if anyone has actually replaced an elise clam for an exige one and if they knew what the price difference was. I'm considering talking to the body shop and seeing if this was possible to do with an insurance claim but I wanted to get a ballpark on the difference.

 

[Abe]

Don't know price difference but it is doable and has been done before

 

[Ripple]

Yup know it's doable. It's supposed to be a direct replacement and I'm hoping that the price difference isn't too much.

 

[Demonized]

I believe it's a few hundred dollars more, but you get rid of the seam, and get a factory front splitter.. I'd do it if I were in your shoes. :up:

 

[chilelise]

That is an awsome idea!!! It's a hybrid. Elisage.
I think I'll do that also. I can sell the damaged clam and make up the difference.

 

[looney]

Definately do-able, but theres more to it than just the clam.

to do it you will need

Exige Clam
Exige Hinge Covers
Exige Wheel Arch Liners
all exige grilles (because the ELise ones dont fit the exige clam)
and there is a mounting bracket under the clam (its like a greencolour) that you will also need from an exige.

I toyed with the idea when i got a new clam put on, but the cost by the time you get all the other pieces makes it still very expensive. because it may not seem like it, but the exige front is like 15mm wider

 

[plastique999]

Ripple, a couple of people have done this...talk to Knucklehead and John.
I was considering doing this as well, but did some other mods. to my clam instead.
Talk to Steve at SCC, he has done the conversion for people.

 

[turbophil]

I did this a couple years ago... It's expensive-- Thousands of dollars more than just repalcing the Elise clam. You can actually use the Elise fender liners and the head lights and lenses, but short of that EVERY body part to the front of the doors has to be replaced...

Looks good when you're done though...

Phil

 

[Ripple]

Ripple, a couple of people have done this...talk to Knucklehead and John.
I was considering doing this as well, but did some other mods. to my clam instead.
Talk to Steve at SCC, he has done the conversion for people.

Yeah just got back from SCC. It's a lot more involved then just swapping out the clam. Like it's been said, fenders, grill, ect have to be bought as well. He said we were looking at several thousand dollars to do the swap. The fenders alone were in the ballpark of $875/ea.

He ended up offering to eliminate the seam, the rectangular license plate area and swapping the plastic grills out for Exige ones.

 

[sleeprfocus]

I've done this as well with Dent Werks, depends on how much you can get to pay for the repair. The cost of the parts is not much more than the Elise (only a few hundred dollar difference), the problem is whether or not the other party's insurance will cover replacing all the other parts if they're not damaged. If they're willing to pay for the front clam, that takes care of a big chunk of the cost, but you still have new grills, panel covers, and A-fenders to worry about.