[ProkChop]

I'm extremely sad to say that I had my first accident with the Elise a couple of weeks ago when a lady backed into me while sitting at a red light. Although the damage didn't seem too great, I knew it wouldn't be a cheap fix and was absolutely grateful that the lady was actually insured. Since my tow hook was sticking out at the time, not folded up, I believe it saved my car from damage that would've crept further up the clam from the massive Camry bumper. The contact with the tow hook, in addition to me laying down on the horn, prevented her from doing worse damage, at least from an aesthetic point of view. The clam is cracked above the air dam with another minor crack to the right. At this point I don't think there is any internal damage as it was a very, very low speed accident. Her insurance (Mercury) estimated the damage to be $2000, at which I had to laugh out loud. When I took it to my body shop of choice (Avio Coach Craft) the quote was $17000+, which was more along the lines of what I expected. The lady admitted fault and I got the green light for repairs, which is good news. Here is my dilemma: I now have an opportunity to replace it with another 2005 clam shell, which I'm not sure if they're still on backorder or not, or replace it with something newer where I may finally be able to upgrade my headlights to LED. I've searched and searched but can't seem to find anything about this headlight conversion. Is it possible to switch out my front headlights with LED and can it only be done with a >2005 clam? While it's in the shop, I'd also like to switch out all my louvre panels to mesh and would welcome any advice there as well. They won't remove the clam until they get a replacement one first, so I'm just hoping there isn't any internal damage. Please, if anyone has had experience with switching out clams with a different year I would appreciate your feedback and also the best place to find one. The body shop recommended against replacing it with a refurbished clam, which is one of the reasons why I went with them. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Lowtush]

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/ore-clams-05-10-elise-now-ready-232913/

Shoot me an email to [email protected] we'll get this taken care of.

 

[addertooth]

If I got a 17k insurance check, it would be tempting to get the ORE Exige conversion clams. It re-uses the Elise headlamps, so you avoid the expense of converting to an Exige headlamp assembly. I really like the way the Elise looks, but the Exige looks just a bit sharper to me.

 

[ProkChop]

Thank you! I just PM'd Kevin.

 

[Aedo]

If I got a 17k insurance check, it would be tempting to get the ORE Exige conversion clams. It re-uses the Elise headlamps, so you avoid the expense of converting to an Exige headlamp assembly. I really like the way the Elise looks, but the Exige looks just a bit sharper to me.

:huh:
They use the same headlights...

 

[yellow99s]

:huh:
They use the same headlights...

I'm fairly certain that if your Elise is an '05 then no, the headlights would not interchange with an original Exige clam. The ore clams offer both headlight bucket options. Correct?

 

[Aedo]

I'm fairly certain that if your Elise is an '05 then no, the headlights would not interchange with an original Exige clam. The ore clams offer both headlight bucket options. Correct?

What is the difference?

The headlight assembly for 05/06 Elises is the same part number as the headlight assembly for the 06 Exige. From 07 there is a change (but again Elise and Exige are the same part number..)

 

[Lowtush]

07+ headlights were one piece the 05-06 were multi piece lights. The headlight bucket is different. We have the ability to make the clams with either bucket. Example; 2010 exige clam with 06-05 headlight buckets.

 

[ProkChop]

It appears that Lowtush is taking care of me. I'll be putting in an order for the 2010 Exige clam! :drool: I've already placed an order for the HID projector for the headlights as well. I'm getting pretty excited about these unexpected upgrades to my car and can't wait for everything to be installed. Does anyone have recommendations for the mesh inserts I'll need to install on the clam? I'm assuming it needs to go on at the same time as the clam.

 

[addertooth]

ProkChop,
Are you doing front clam only, or, are you doing the full Exige body set?

 

[Lowtush]

ProkChop,
Are you doing front clam only, or, are you doing the full Exige body set?

front clam, dont tempt her lol

 

[ProkChop]

Ha! If I had the money, I'd do a full Elise to Exige conversion period!

 

[addertooth]

Time for you to marry a millionaire, to support your "Lotus" habit.

 

[ProkChop]

The smarter thing to do would be to BECOME a millionaire so I wouldn't have to feel any guilt for spending someone else's money. Now if someone could just show me the way...

 

[Riceburner98]

What all are they replacing for $17k??? Full-body respray or something? Sounds like similar damage to when I got backed into, full clam replacement / paint / everything was just under $10k. Just wondering what the extra $7k is for. Don't get me wrong - I wish my insurance had paid me $17k, I'd have a new supercharger under the 'lid now to go with the new clam!

 

[ProkChop]

I went to Avio Coach Craft at the recommendation of a trusted friend who works on high end exotics (maintenance, tuning, mods, etc.) After getting a tour of their facility and getting answers to all of my questions, I was pretty set on going with them. The quote was pretty high, I don't disagree with you. Basically half of it was for parts and the other half labor. I wasn't sure my insurance company would pay it, but they did. They explained to me that since this isn't what they consider a "standard vehicle", they pretty much rely on the body shops to come up with the estimate and they'll pay it. They (insurance company) apparently take apart cars and put them back together to get a ball park estimate of time and labor. They don't do this for cars like ours or trash trucks (non-standard vehicle), for example, so they basically take the shop's word. In my case, I'll still be forking over some money since I'm choosing an upgraded Exige clam. The estimate covered a 2005 Elise clam, obviously.