New Valve stem seals

Car started smoking a little too much, though i'd try the easy option and fit new valve stem seals.
This was the least invasive option and pretty easy to do although still took most of the day.
I had to make a few special tools to allow removal of the seals, also used rope down the spark plug holes to keep the valves up once you remove the collets.
Unfortunately after this it still smoked a lot.
Rings will be next!

 

 

Stickers

Hand made vinyl stickers cut and applied to the car, I think it makes it look a lot sportier.
Managed to get the vinyl from a local signwriters for around $30, cut it all myself.
The Superlight badges were computer cut for $25 from the same company.
Got some Lotus badges for the bonnet/boot off Trademe for very little money.
They finish it off nicely, although I would like to make my own logo'd badges at some stage.

 

 

 

New Bonnet

New bonnet was made with help from a good friend Brett.
He used to be my companies workshop foreman so was very qualified when it came to manufacturing it.
I got the material cheap from a supplier, had it Louvre punched for free from another supplier, then we rolled it at Bretts workshop, one saturday morning.
I think it came out really nice, made from 1.6mm aluminium which gives it a bit more strength than 1.2mm which most people use, hardly any weight difference to it.
Managed to track down some over centre stainless steel catches for around $40 from one of our fastening suppliers (Allfast).
Total cost of bonnet is around $40 and 12 beers :)

 

New exhaust on in the above photo too, still have to make a cover for it. Will replace it with a stainless steel one at some stage. 

New bonnet makes all the difference! 

 

Painted scuttle

Decided to paint the scuttle orange too, required quite a bit of prep work as it is aluminium.
Scotchbrited first to remove the oxide layer, degreased it lots, then primed with decent primer.
Sanded and colour shot to match the rest of the car.
Looks way better though and I will eventually paint all the aluminium the same!

 

 

 

New Steering Wheel

New steering wheel added, had to modify the existing boss to make it fit, looks better than original and is slightly smaller @ 300mm so allows me to fit better in the car! (I can actually turn it properly now).
Wheel was got off Trademe for a massive $50.00 :)

 

 

Windscreen Frame

Manufactured a bending machine which I ended up using in my works press to shape the new windscreen frame from aluminium channel.
I ended up having to hand beat the channel while in the press to get it right.
Cost me around $30 to make the frame.
The glass came off my insurance as it replaced the old one which was broken!
The side plates were downloaded off the internet and are an exact copy of the Caterham items, I had them computer machined from 4mm aluminium.
All then powdercoated to match the roll bar etc.
Lots of measuring and dicking around but am quite happy with the result.

 

 

 

 

Assembled with bodywork

All bodywork back on.
Starting to look a lot better now!
Still need to sort the window, bonnet etc.

 

 

New grill laser cut from 4mm aluminium to my design. SDL in Hamilton are the best for this type of work. Cost me $60 all up.  I drew it in Autocad and supplied them the file. 

Polished alloy

Spent the day polishing the alloy while the bodywork was drying.
I use Mothers metal polish which in my opinion is the best, you rub it on and rub it off before it dries for best results.  I will end up painting the aluminium at some stage anyway but just trying to get it all tidy before then!

New bodywork

The existing bodywork is pretty badly finished and obviously doesn't cover the front wheels which is a fail for compliance. Also thge nose cone doesn't/won't cover the engine properly.
Nose and Front guards were bought from Almac cars in Wellington, A good price and good people to deal with!

 

Primed and ready to shoot the colour 

 Colour shot, awaiting clear.  Colour is a bright orange, with 3 coats pearl over followed by 6 coats of clear.

 

Front guards, all drilled and painted.

 

All the guards ready for reinstall. 

The painting came out really good, I've done quite a lot of painting on motorbikes etc but this was the first car i've done. Although in many respects its not much bigger than a motorbike.  I will be painting the aluminium at a later date. 

Rollbar mods and Harnesses

Decided to run harnesses but needed pickup points put in. The easiest way was to get a new bar welded in just up from the bolt plates. This enables the harnesses to be strapped over the bar.
A guy at my work welded the bar in, being careful to avoid the bolt points being pulled in to far by the heat.
Also redid the front light brackets so they fit nicer and reduced in size.
Had the rollbar and light brackets powdercoated at a local supplier for beer :)
New Blue Sabelt clubman 4 point harnesses installed.

New Rear Brake Light

I decided to remove the abomination of a high brake stop light and replace it with something a little smaller.
I bought some high intensity LED strips from Jaycar and used part of the existing lens to keep within the laws.
Aluminium angle and flat was then used to make the housing before being rivetted on to the roll bar.
It could really do with being powdercoated black, but may just end up spray painting it.

New Dash

Removed the old cracked dodgy wooden dashboard, made a new one from MDF and covered with vinyl.
Managed to find an old Smiths tacho on trademe for $80 and replaced the el-cheapo boy racer style one!
Looks a lot nicer than the original.

Sump

Sump had been at Fraser cars, Scott did a great job of modifying it and altering the pickup.
Its now about 40mm shallower which will stop it bottoming out.

How it was

Got it on 7.2.08 it looked like this.
Had to have it freighted to a little place the other side of Morrinsville.
I drove it home with no WOF or Reg, no cert! and very little fuel. On the way home it hailed and was freezing, then ran out of gas about 10km from home!   When I got it home, I noticed a huge puddle of oil in the driveway! it had holes it sump just as I pulled off the road onto my driveway!
Not a great start.
 

Lots of things to do....
New bonnet obviously, new wheels, new nose, new front guards, new dash, new seatbelts, new windscreen, new paint...........
Will be keeping me busy for the next year or so!

First Post

First post, I will be detailing the upcoming rebuild of my Lotus 7 replica.
From a run down wreck to something of note :)