A truck (yet to be identified) backed into the nose of my Elise. I did not notice the damage for a week, until a witness reported the incident to me last night and I inspected the car.

The impact was slight and was right in the front of the nose where the top rolls down to the grill. The underside of the roll has a crack all the way through the plastic (about 1") right where the grill clip is attached (weak point). This is not visible until you get down and look under the nose (above the grill).

On the top side of the nose, there is a series of parrallel cracks in the paint up to the seam between the nose and the rest main horizontal panel.

From what I've read on this thread, the Lotus dealership is likely to say I need to replace the clam. But that seems silly given how slight the damage is. I would think the crack in the plastic could be repaired; its not structural. And the rest is just repaint. I do not think there is any risk that the crash structure was damaged; The clam allignment and gaps are unaffected.

Your advice please.

The most common protestation for repairing this you will hear is the theory that the vibrations in this car will eventually result in cracking and spidering. That said, if the shop knows what they are doing, the fact is there are a lot of these cars riding around with minor fiberglass repairs that have yet to display said vibration cracks. Not saying it hasn't or can't happen, just that it doesn't seem to be the big issue some folks would suggest.

 

Agreed, I know Rachel complained about that issue but I've had damage repaired by two very good shops and nothing has happened. Further, their fiberglass guys have told me there is basically no chance of the "vibration cracks" - a good repair should be stronger than the original clam. My only guess is people have reported this issue have not had the ends of their cracks drilled properly.

Go to the best shop within anything resembling reasonable driving distance, accept that your car may be there a month or more due to Lotus being slow on parts, and report it to your insurance as normal.

 

I got the estimate yesterday from the body shop for the Lotus dealership in Portland (actually a Honda body shop with one guy trained by Lotus). First, understand that the damage is minimal. It's actually hard to find. The cracking in the paint is under the Star Shield and is invisible except in certain light. The crack in the clam itself is only visible if you get down and look up under nose (at the top of the grill). Consistent with the advice above, they agree that the clam does not need to be replaced.

Their estimate for this minor repair: $5400. Now I understand that a bunch of work is involved. Most notably, the the clam has to come off. But really!

The estimate includes 14 hours to remove and reinstall the clam and 4 hours just to pull off the old Star Shield. They want another $1050 to put the Star Shield back on. I'm sure I can remove and install the clam myself in less than 6 hours. I've redone all the Star Shield on the car and I know I could get it all off in about an hour and reinstall in another 2 hours. And I don't have the experience, tools or shop that they have.

My insurance will cover, but their approach just doesn't seem reasonable to me. I expect work on the Lotus to cost more than most cars and I absolutely want it done right, but I don't think dealers should have a license to price gouge. No wonder these cars are hard to insure.

 

The estimate I got on a small scrape on my front clam is about the same. Remove and inspect clam etc. But they only wanted $300 for StarShield replacement. $1050 sounds insane.

 

That sounds like a big rip-off to me. :no:

You can remove a front clam in less that 2 hours. Install is just as fast.

Starshield for the whole car only costs about a grand, so why so much for the front only? I had the 2 rear pieces (behind rear wheels) of Starshield replaced and it was $250, including the shield and labor.

Good luck whatever you do.

Regards,
Wayne

 

I'm in the process of repairing a number of small cracks (impact with track curbing & cone) in the underside of the front clam. It only took me 2-1/2 hours to remove the front clam, and I've never done it before.

I'm working with someone who has done a fair amount of fiberglass work, as I have no experience with this myself.

Any particular tricks to keep in mind regarding Lotus-specific repairs, or is this the straightforward fiberglass repair I think it is?

 

i repaired a long crack and missing pieces on my rear clam.i used west system epoxy for all the repairs.the cracks where ground out to a v shape.the ends drilled so the crack is stopped.i filled the outside with west epoxy and micro balloons.then re enforced the back side with a few plies of glass.this repair is very solid.no signs of cracking.

 

Sounds like they are unfamiliar with the clam system and are just throwing out figures. 14 hours to remove and reinstall a clam? That is absurd. Good luck with whatever you choose.