At Last!. I have started on my car ;-) PART 2

Working out where to make the mould joints. Mould will be made up of four sections; front valance, bonnet and two wings.

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First batch of prepreg carbon (210gm/m2) has arrived. Just waiting for the 450gm/m2 now.

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I am in awe of your many skills and more than a little envious as well |B :)

Thanks Rad, but you make too much of my 'skills'. I am a reasonably practical man and have always liked making things. However, nothing I make is particularly difficult to do, once you get stuck in. However, I guess that you do need to be 'that way inclined' and like making stuff.

I only make what I can't buy which, unfortunately, seems to be most things. Not much call for Lotus Elan performance mods :)
 
Unfortunately we have never met but I am sure we would have hit it off right from the start the same as Os and Brian.
 
Decided to add some aero to the front wings:
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Actually, The lip of the front arches rolled under and would be a pain to replicate so decided to have a knife edge. This required a slight widening of the arch to look right, IMO. The upright plastic is just there to allow the mould to turn up so making the edge of the mould stiffer. The final wing width will be back from this, decided once bonnet and wheels are fitted.
 
Run out of high temp resin so still a couple of layers of fibreglass to be added to the bonnet area but I am almost there. Should be ready by Thursday to attempt to remove the mould :)

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Mould finally complete. That took a lot longer than anticipated, but don't most things? :) Should be cured enough by Friday afternoon to start removing. I will do a time lapse video of the process for your amusement and edification :)

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I have used carbon fibre for the final layer on the bonnet area as I ran out of the correct fibreglass cloth and have a large bag of CF offcuts.
 
Success!!!!!!

Took twenty minutes to remove. Mould finish is not as good as it would have been if someone who knows what they are doing had done it but better than I had expected. A fair bit of remedial work required around edges and wing vents (I expected that) but the main panel areas are pretty good.

I am glad that I didn't go with my first idea, which was to make the mould in one piece as I would have never gotten it off!


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Os I am wondering what exactly Steve will do with all the spare time he will have on his hands when the Elan is ever really "finished" :D

PS I know from experience that most modified cars are never finished as there is always another mod to do or "improvement" to make along with some general tinkering to fill in any spare time. :lol:
 
Os I am wondering what exactly Steve will do with all the spare time he will have on his hands when the Elan is ever really "finished" :D

PS I know from experience that most modified cars are never finished as there is always another mod to do or "improvement" to make along with some general tinkering to fill in any spare time. :lol:

:) Modified cars can be 'finished' as far as a serial modder is concerned as they move on to the next one. However, 'race' cars are never finished as they are never fast enough :)

I have already started a wish list. I not not convinced that the rear suspension will be up to the job of handling more than 600bhp (my chassis/rear suspension builder reckons that it will handle that) so I will look into options on how to upgrade the weak links (wishbones and mounting points).

I will probably run out of years before I run out of stuff I want to do to the car :-(
 
if you cant find something to do to a "race car " it means you have probably lost interest.

dont think this is likely though
 
I love it when something you make for one task can be adapted for others.

I have been looking into making the Lexan windows. The door panes are easy as they are flat. The front and rear screens are, however, quite curved. Lexan, fortunately, can be heat formed at a temperature that I can achieve in my carbon fibre curing oven.

Plan:

Make a mould using original glass, cover in felt, lay on Lexan, enclose in a vacuum bag and place in oven, warm up oven and then gradually evacuate the bag, once Lexan has conformed to mould allow to cool. Seems easy enough :)
 
The man has boundless enthusiasm and enviable skills as there seems to be nothing that he won't tackle head on |B

If and when the Elan ever gets "finished";) he will be at a loss about what to do with all the spare time that he will have But I'm sure his good lady must have a long list of odd jobs waiting for him :lol:
 
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:eek: those miss matched front tyres should make for some hairy handling especially with the passenger side wrong directional tread pattern :lol:
 
:lol: I have a feeling they are just the rolling around the garage wheels Rad, Steve won’t put on the bad boys until the last possible moment or the cars first MOT which ever comes first.
 
What's wrong with them? They are round, black, mostly grooved and stay up. They are also quite old so the rubber will have hardened, making them last longer.
 
What's wrong with them? They are round, black, mostly grooved and stay up. They are also quite old so the rubber will have hardened, making them last longer.
I have heard similar from people in my office, but they are serious o_O
 
Engine bay given a clean prior to the fitting of the loom in a few weeks.It was very dusty so a clean was overdue.
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Post by nalesutol on 8 minutes ago
Small tasks can take just as long to do as big tasks. Fitted the steering wheel wiring plug to the dash this afternoon. Had to make a washer (out of 40mm diameter aluminium bar) to secure it, which required three small cutouts so it would fit over the retaining lugs. I then recessed the screws, but had to reduce their head diameter in order to match the mill cutter I had. Before I fit it properly I will give it a little polish and clean up the screw heads.

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Steve you must be slipping as I would have expected the face plate to have lightening holes or dimples and the screw heads to be Phillips as they should be lighter..V(

Just rattling your cage :lol:
 
Steve you must be slipping as I would have expected the face plate to have lightening holes or dimples and the screw heads to be Phillips as they should be lighter..V(

Just rattling your cage :lol:

Consider it well and truly rattled :)

Back of washer is hollowed out. Screws are temp until I can source some aluminium cap heads :)
 

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