First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Body parts, seats, dash, headlining, windows and stuff!

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MetBlue
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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by MetBlue »

Just occurred to me - you don't need to slit the reflector. You could just trim back the plastic rib on the original rear casing.
The slot and rib will have been added to orientate the reflector so access is kept to the bolt head. As on the Lotus it is impossible to remove the light from the bumper without first removing the bumper, it's not exactly the end of the world to remove a small self tapper holding the reflector before seeing the mounting bolt.
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Pete Boole »

Well done on getting one of the over-riders off intact! The bean counters have a lot to answer for :evil:

Pete

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by MetBlue »

What a terrible design feature - - - the top hat steel fastener that secures the lower skirt to the front bumper at each side.
It's bonded on, then they laid fibreglass over the plate to double secure it. So it creates a pocket that fills with water, completely rotting away the the bracket 😢 - after it's swelled to 4 times its thickness and jacked the fibreglass patch off.

Tony
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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Pete Boole »

Yes, but a stainless insert would have cost an extra ha'penny! :roll:

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by MetBlue »

.Well done on getting one of the over-riders off intact!
Spoke too soon. The side with sheared studs is 'original', so other the than the fact I need to make a plate to insert with 2 studs, I have a solid foundation to work with.
The side that undid was in fact a less than sound repair from earlier days. This already has a plate with 2 studs(very rusty so needs replacing) bodged by someone in the past😢.
These things seem to hold more water than the sound proofing!!!!

Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Hawaiis0 »

Double sided tape / velcro may work for the overriders :D
Nothing is fool proof. Fools are clever!

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by rbgosling »

MetBlue wrote:
Sat Jun 26, 2021 15:47
What a terrible design feature - - - the top hat steel fastener that secures the lower skirt to the front bumper at each side.
It's bonded on, then they laid fibreglass over the plate to double secure it. So it creates a pocket that fills with water, completely rotting away the the bracket 😢 - after it's swelled to 4 times its thickness and jacked the fibreglass patch off.

Tony
You'd have thought Lotus would have learned their lesson - that's essentially the same as the fundamental design flaw with the Type 14 Elite.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Lotus-e-Clan »

Mine went a long time ago. DIY bracket didn't last either - we have high speed bumps around here so catching the rubber bib at the front strains the bracket toward the rear of the spoiler.

Mine now has two hidden holes with strong nylon zip ties through them... so far so good, cheap and dirty fix.
Peter K

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by MetBlue »

How time flies.. Approaching 3 weeks since I removed front bumper and still not even shown it the paint yet :roll:
I'm blaming white van man. I think he's walked off with some Ali bar and mesh I ordered on Fleabay nearly 2 weeks ago. 2 different suppliers, and neither has turned up.

It did force me though to instigate plan B for the over riders, Plan A was an Ali bar, tapped and 2 bolts set through, then bond into the over rider (would end up with two studs passing through bumper as the original, retained with nuts).
Wanting to press on, I found some 10mm thick Nylon sheet lurking in a corner of the garage ( You know what they say about holding onto things long enough and you'll find a use for them :D ).
So plan B was threaded inserts in the over rider, then using bolts to retain.
Having dried out the foam inside, and with careful use of soldering iron and heat gun to seal and reshape the plastic cover, I passed the foam through the band saw, removing about 5 mm and recessed the area for the Nylon. Then lined the plastic with Silicone sealant (kind of glue), then pushed the foam back into place. It had shrunk over the years, so more silicone down the leading edge to fill the void. Bolt the nylon onto the bumper to set position, then Glassed filled filler to stick into place. Photo below showing one bonded and the other ready.

Image

Last step was some body filler to fill the whole of the inside ( back to the plastic, so the foam is now fully wrapped) and sand down.

In hind sight, I'm happier with this B plan, as I can use a Stainless bolts, and with the thread well protected from water (hence corrosion), it should last longer than the original.

Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Excel SA »

Looking good Tony - may have to have a closer look at the ones I took off my car - they appeared to be vinyl covered, banana shaped and very tatty looking :D. Maybe the vinyl is hiding something more useful than just foam.

Neil.

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Pete Boole »

Looking forward to seeing the results of all this work in a couple of weeks time! :D

Pete

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by MetBlue »

The way this bumper work is progressing, the paint will still be wet. 😢

Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by MetBlue »

Finally, all bit's ordered through Fleabay for the bumper mod's have arrived. Decided to go an alternative route with the captive fasteners between the two bumper parts. These bits got delivered yesterday morning, then just as I'd finished the first two pieces, White van man delivers all the parts he's been sitting on for the last 10 days. Typically. Sure he was just waiting around the corner and watching :roll:
Lotus-e-Clan wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 10:32
Mine went a long time ago. DIY bracket didn't last either - we have high speed bumps around here so catching the rubber bib at the front strains the bracket toward the rear of the spoiler.

Mine now has two hidden holes with strong nylon zip ties through them... so far so good, cheap and dirty fix.
Welcome thoughts on this. I've fixed a vertical piece of 8mm thick Nylon to bridge the gap between the two bumper parts. Secured with 2 SS self tappers vertically down through holes that very conveniently were already in the main bumper ( the big black lump in photo below).

Image

I'm just a bit concerned that I've removed the weakest link - but where is the next weak link if it gets a big thump from underneath? - Which I'm sure it will no matter how careful I am.
Could be the rubberised bumper will absorb it - or the the fibre glass lower part will break :!: :!:

Thoughts appreciated. - Should it stay - or should it be left off ?

Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Pete Boole »

I would leave it on there. It's better to have any force from below spread out over the rubber bumper instead of concentrated just on that original single side fixing. You could always make a less-stiff version of the black nylon piece to help absorb some of the impact - maybe some pieces from an old damaged-beyond-repair rubber bumper? You can buy polyurethane in sheets/blocks as well. Get Neil to mould you some special brackets with his newly acquired moulding skills!! :D. Or you could use rubber bobbins on brackets.

Pete

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Re: First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

Post by Excel SA »

Neil has a different bumper (that has been sliced up a lot to get it back in shape one day....) and has no real clue on what's being done here! Moulding polyurethane isn't too tricky to do, but the transport costs from here to there would make you weep!

Neil also still has the odd job or two to do on his car :lol:

Neil.

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