Author Topic: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2018  (Read 69548 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline BDA

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jul 2012
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 9,419
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #315 on: Friday,July 14, 2017, 09:05:13 AM »
I replaced the locks, but not the door handles when I built my car. Don't know why but the driver's door is very easy but the driver's door is stiffer. It is getting easier though so maybe I ought to just wait and see if it loosens up further.

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #316 on: Friday,July 14, 2017, 01:00:31 PM »
I gave everything a good goat of WD40 And eased all the linkages first.  The solenoids don't appear to have any difficulty at all. They both worked first time and just keep working so far.  Early on in the project I installed an earth isolator switch so I have had to run in a perm earth for the alarm and the central locking.

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #317 on: Saturday,July 15, 2017, 10:07:26 AM »
Gutted today.  Working elsewhere on the car, heard a bang, looked up and saw this.

Offline BDA

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jul 2012
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 9,419
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #318 on: Saturday,July 15, 2017, 10:48:53 AM »
Oh, man! Sorry to see that! Hopefully you can get it made right quickly!

Offline EuropaTC

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jun 2012
  • Location: Lincolnshire, UK
  • Posts: 2,983
    • LotusLand
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #319 on: Saturday,July 15, 2017, 10:09:14 PM »
ouch !  Was it a new glass or the original one ?  I would imagine there are plastic replacements from Richard but a glass one would be preferable. Does anyone know if new door glass is still being made ?

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #320 on: Sunday,July 16, 2017, 02:57:58 PM »
Original glass. I'm ringing Richard in the morning.

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #321 on: Sunday,July 16, 2017, 02:59:34 PM »
Speaker grills

My previous owner had replaced the original speaker grills with these awful 70s  Goodman speakers. Horrible and the originals had left a nasty imprint on the vinyl.  I didn't want to re trim the door cards but bigger speaker grills looked terrible. But then when I removed the Goodmans I discovered that the originals grills where behind the door card.  Unfortunately he had drilled 4 holes in the grills and they were a bit rusty.  So I removed the mesh from the frame, sandblasted and painted them and trimmed them in some genuine original Marshall Amplification fabric.  Very happy with the final job.

Offline BDA

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jul 2012
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 9,419
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #322 on: Sunday,July 16, 2017, 05:09:15 PM »
I agree. It looks very nice!

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #323 on: Tuesday,July 25, 2017, 01:22:50 PM »
I was really surprised how difficult it is to fit the door cards firmly  Even with new clips.  One of the most important bits of kit I bought last year was a nut rivet gun and on this project it has proved invaluable for jobs like this. 
« Last Edit: Wednesday,July 26, 2017, 04:57:27 AM by Gmg31 »

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #324 on: Wednesday,July 26, 2017, 02:13:08 PM »
Another little upgrade to try and protect the sills.

Offline BDA

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jul 2012
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 9,419
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #325 on: Wednesday,July 26, 2017, 02:14:18 PM »
Very classy!



  :lotus:

Offline 4129R

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: May 2014
  • Location: Norfolk, United Kingdom, not far from Hethel the home of Lotus.
  • Posts: 2,439
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #326 on: Wednesday,July 26, 2017, 09:51:32 PM »
I was really surprised how difficult it is to fit the door cards firmly  Even with new clips.  One of the most important bits of kit I bought last year was a nut rivet gun and on this project it has proved invaluable for jobs like this.

I'm having the same problem with my door cards, and I came to the same conclusion about Rivnuts. My only concern is the Rivnuts may be for smaller thickness metal, so might not compress well against the thicker fibreglass.

My next problem is with new door rubbers, the doors do not shut with a watertight fit. I have large gaps showing daylight.

Alex in Norfolk.

Offline EuropaTC

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jun 2012
  • Location: Lincolnshire, UK
  • Posts: 2,983
    • LotusLand
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #327 on: Wednesday,July 26, 2017, 10:42:46 PM »
the doors do not shut with a watertight fit. I have large gaps showing daylight.
Alex in Norfolk.

That's not a gap, it's called "air conditioning"    :)

Being serious, the actual door cards haven't been a serious issue on my car.

When I bought it the previous owner had fitted a screw at the top/rear of the panel, just as others have done which stops the horizontal section from slipping out of the aluminium window frame trim but the rest relied on the normal clips. When I fitted radio speakers in the doors I let the mounting screws bite into the door itself rather than mount the speaker on the trim panel alone and that will secure the front end of the trim panel without looking non-original.   

The door seals have been a long term problem, I guess I was just lucky when I replaced mine. Whether the replacements are a slightly larger moulding or stiffer rubber than the originals I don't know, but folks have had trouble in that department going back to the 1980s at least.   I've no idea what the solution is but if I had to replace mine I think I'd look around at what alternative mouldings there are these days and try for something with a bit more flexibility - something like ETS60 towards the bottom of this page  maybe ?

http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=71#23

I know of people using that pattern on the Elan and IIRC it's similar to the seal used on the later sprints. (not sure on that one)

Brian

Offline Gmg31

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: Jul 2015
  • Location: teesside
  • Posts: 580
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #328 on: Thursday,July 27, 2017, 04:59:35 AM »
I fitted my new door seals a few weeks ago and the doors are nowhere even close to shutting properly.  That is a great web site, they have some fab stuff.  I have requested several samples, they certainly seem to have a much smaller seal that might be a better fit ETS3239

Offline BDA

  • Super Member
  • *******
  • Joined: Jul 2012
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 9,419
Re: ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2017
« Reply #329 on: Thursday,July 27, 2017, 05:30:16 AM »
Quote
I'm having the same problem with my door cards, and I came to the same conclusion about Rivnuts. My only concern is the Rivnuts may be for smaller thickness metal, so might not compress well against the thicker fibreglass.


I used (fake) Rivnuts in fiberglass several places with good success. I think if you drill the proper size hole and are careful when screwing and unscrewing, you should be fine.