My first Elan

["PETERSSON PER"]

Hello
I have just bought my first Lotus. I have always appreciated the design and
two months ago the right opportunity raised. I acquired an Elan 1968
series 4 fhc. The car is a bag and box project and I?m looking forward to
the rebuild. I?m planning to use the old frame and body but there is a lot
of parts missing. Can some one help a beginner with some questions?

1. Addresses to spare part suppliers. I live in Stockholm, Sweden but
England and US is also of interest in order to compare prizes.

2. My car is beige and the body needs mayor attention so I figured I switch
color. What color did the 1968 fhc come in?

3. Is there any easy way to strip the paint? Or is sanding/grinding the
only way?

4. Anyone have the production numbers? How many fhc were made over the
years?

5. Anyone got an engine cover with a bulge and a luggage compartment lid
for sale?

6. How much is a healthy engine?

Regards Per Petersson

[waggsport]

Hello Per

I'm living in Norrkoping, not so far from you and I have rebuilt my S4 FHC.
Hopefully I have learnt something from my mistakes and can share some
experience with you.
You can contact me off list if you want more information.

Answer on some of your questions:


You can call Morgan at Bennets Tel. 0302-23 23 6


Avoid chemical paint stripper as they can soften the polyester.

regards

Lars-Olof Eriksson
S4 SE FHC -68

[BrianMartley]

Per,

Welcome to the list. I have no links with these UK companies other than a
customer;

URL=http://www.racecar.co.uk/pmattysportscars/
URL=http://www.chrisneil.demon.co.uk/information.htm

and lots of info, if you've not already found it, at -

URL=/

This site will probalby answer most of your questions about colours,
production figures, etc. My 1968 car came in Red, probably the most popular.
Yellow was another common one in the UK.

I see someone has already warned you about chemical strippers. They're right
that they can attack the gel-coat, but personally I still use them. My trick
is to use a thixotropic one, something really "violent" with methylene
chloride in it, but only do a small area at a time. Watch it reacting,
normally on a top-coat finish it only takes a few minutes. Scrape off when
the paint wrinkles and stop applying when you see primer coats - block-flat
the primer off. I've done this on several re-sprays now, and it's definitely
less tiring but you need to take care - it will dissolve the gel-coat if the
stripper meets bare fibreglass. I also use a polyester based spray filler
rather than the conventional cellulose primer/filler paints - less sinkage
over the years but you need a gravity fed spray gun plus good compressor.
And they smell ! (breathing equipment/good ventilation)

I wouldn't grind the paint off, the fibreglass is very thin, and it's easy
to dig in and end up with ripples/nicks in the gelcoat. I have tried that
method, it resulted in lots of repairs ;-( - I've even seen references to
chipping the paint off with a chisel - tried that as well, even more repairs
;-((

Which is why I use chemical strippers - BTW, I think you can get "fibreglass friendly" ones (Nitromors made one in UK ?) but they're just not as good as the MC ones.

Brian

[cliveyboy]

Hello Per
A couple of Lotus specialists with web pages that you can look at are..
www.racecar.co.uk/kelvedonlotus
www.racecar.co.uk/pmattysportscars
Clive