Rear Clam Removal.....Is it just me...???

[marcoos_1]

OK, as a few of you on here may know, I picked up a sad little Elise 111s last year in need of a good tidy up. It's turned out to be a great wee car and I had some real fun in it last year on a few runs (thanks Dom and others!).

So, I've decided to take the thing apart, tidy up the fibreglass damage and respray it to get it back to respectable order. I started tonight with the rear clam, and the Lotus Workshop Manual. Now, I don't know if it's just me.....but many of the fixings they describe in the manual aren't on my car, and I seem to have other ones in different places. It's proving to be a real pain in the ar*e as I thought with instructions it would be relatively straight forward.

For instance....I don't have a fixing behind the number plate, but the workshop manual says I should have. I don't have the 3 clam fixings at the inside wheel arch Manual says I do), but I do have 4 fixings going down from the floor of the boot into the chassis (but can't see them in the manual). It also looks like I'll need to get to the exhaust hanger fixings as they seem to go straight through the boot floor as well. Now I'm just guessing at what needs to come off!

Oh joy.....I've still got the front to do after this!!!

[woody]

Never worked on one, but assume the early cars with the bag type boot will have different fixings from the later cars with moulded glass fibre boots (which yours will have being a 111S). Maybe too early a manual?

Tbh, I didn't use the manual for taking it off but just worked my way around everything. Trickiest fittings were the bolts at the B pillar, think I remember taking the speakers out to deal with them?

[Dominic]

Hi Mark,

I can't comment on the rear clam, but I managed to remove my front one with ease. If you come across seized bolts, angle grinder is your friend! If I can do it, anyone can!

Happy to lend a hand at some point.

[marcoos_1]

yeah, I have the fibreglass boot. I've managed to get both of the B pillar ones out and your memory serves you well.....I ended up having to take the speakers out to get to them. I think I'll just have to do as you say and keep working my way around it, whilst the manual stays on the shelf!

[marcoos_1]

Cheers Dominic, I've already made good friends with the angle grinder (one of my fav tools as an ex-welder!) Luckily quite a few of the fixings had been changed to stainless....but I did encounter a few stubborn ones that were swiftly introduced to the grinding disc!

Thanks for the offer of help.......you're welcome anytime...coffee is always on over here...! Hopefully if I get the rear clam off tomorrow then the front is coming off next. Then it will be a lot of prep work for paint....

[pete]

Who's doing your paint? (I should really make mine look pretty again)

I managed to get the front clam off mine so it must be easy, as I make Dom look like he's time served.

Saw a Stratos the other day going through Stewarton. Looked like it had landed from another planet, just stunning.

[Corranga]

The others are right, you have a later car, with a fibreglass boot, and a manual for an earlier car with a boot bag / aluminium boot.

My car is an early car which has been converted to a late car, by me).
The early car fixes into the side of the chassis longerons (behind the wheel arch liners).
The later cars like yours, fix to the top of the longerons, from the base of the boot.

From what I recall, all of the other fixings should be the same though.

Chris

[marcoos_1]

Ok, I shall persevere today and hopefully get at least the back one off.

Not too sure about the paint yet Pete....I'm tempted to do it myself to be honest. I painted a GT40 a few years back in Gulf colours and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. It took me a lot of time and patience doing the prep but I was really pleased that I had done the job myself. I'll get all the bits off and get them prepped, then see how things go with work and available time etc. Open to suggestions on potential painters if you know any. I have used Colvins in Stewarton and Goudies in Kilmaurs before and both have been fine.

I'm assuming the Stratos was in dark green and white Alitalia colours? Great looking car indeed. You were lucky to catch a glimpse.....that was it's swan song....we're just about to do an engine swap on that as it appears the head gasket has gone......(see.....it doesn't just happen to K-series engines!!)