Lotus in August

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jbcollier
Posts: 4077
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:50 pm

Lotus in August

Post by jbcollier »

Far too busy with other stuff -- trips, family, etc -- to get much done. The gas springs arrived and I designed and made up a support system for the engine cover. Turned out very well if I say so myself. Just the shift cables to fit and everything is done at the rear part of the Europa.

John and Angelo came over and the two Johns did their best fat-bastard imitation -- not hard for me as I have been off my bike for a while now -- inside the Europa while Angelo checked the wheel alignment. A few tweaks here and there and it's all set more than well enough for the road. I will get it to an alignment shop, though both the front and rear are set up correctly, we want to make sure the front and the rear line up with each other.

The wiring is almost complete. Just the AC and stereo wiring to do and it all can be buttoned up and I can start on getting it all up and running.

I'm in Jasper right now, then I have to run the shop while the Bert is off to Goodwood. After all that, I'll take a considerable chunk of time off to get it done for inspection and registration.

That's all the good news. The bad news is that the bodywork is going to have to be completely redone. I push it outside each time I work on it and it gets heated up in the sun. Then it's back inside where it cools down again. It took about three weeks and then all the stress cracks started reappearing. The paint hasn't started to crack yet, but it will.

Aargh !!

As you all will know, I paid a bloomin' fortune to get the body work done. I choked at the price but I knew how much work it takes to do it right. The chap is going to come out and have a look, and is already talking about redoing it, BUT I have lost confidence in their work. If something went wrong with whatever system they were using, that's well and good. However, if they just didn't do the work properly, why would I bring it back again?

I have decided, as you will have summized above, to get it on the road before stripping it again for the redo of the body work.

Life goes on...
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Andrew
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Location: Victoria

Post by Andrew »

OOOOOUUUUCH!

If pushing the car in and out of the sun makes stress cracks appear in the fibreglass, what will DRIVING it on Edmonton roads do to it? Maybe an outside opinion from a fibreglass body specialist (if there is such a thing) could help regulate any claims or disputes.

I empathize, because I once had this 1990 Porsche 911 C4, aka "Nightmare in Red"... Heather eventually was so angry about it that I essentially gave it away to get out from under it. I'm not suggesting anything here, just sayin'...
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jbcollier
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Post by jbcollier »

The sun is actually far harsher than the roads when it comes to fibreglass panels. When fibreglass gets hot, it expands and then contracts when it cools again. Simply shaking the panels, provided they are properly supported and not under tension, wouldn't have done much -- and certainly not as quickly.

Also no chance of me bailing. I've actually grown quite fond of the wee blue money pit. I'll get the body properly sorted . The question is only if it will be with this body shop or another.
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Andrew
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Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 3:51 pm
Location: Victoria

Post by Andrew »

No, bailing now would not be a good idea. And I am sure it can be sorted. Are there any (other) fibreglass specialists in YEG?
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jbcollier
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Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:50 pm

Post by jbcollier »

Well, there is the one chap I originally intended to use but he is still AWOL due to familial problems AFAIK. Does really, really nice work though.
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