A&Q about Lotus
Q:
hi there, any input would be appreciated.
i pulled up to a parking spot in my elise the other day, and the curb that i pulled up to chipped the underside alittle, under the front fender area.. it cant be seen, but im afraid it could get worse. it left a white area as the black paint had chipped off.. im wondering what i should do t o prevent further crackage..as i see potential for this to occur ..
the underside of the front of the car is so low, and now just getting used to it.. being careful with parking it of course.. ive only had this elise for a month now... =(
A:
Hey don't feel too bad. I scraped that same area not 10 minutes after buying my Elise.
I would take it to a fiberglass repair shop and get them to take a look at it. It could spread.
John
A:
I had the same thing happen to me.
I hit a dip in one of those not so well maintained costal roads, and by the sound of it I thought my whole front clam would be toast.
But luckily I only found a scratch on the underside and no cracks.
I didn't do anything to it yet, and I didn't see it getting worse since it happened about seven month ago.
I might get me a paint pen and fix it.
One of those winter projects...
A:
I am suprised that no one is selling a simple Aluminum piece that goes right under the front clam proetecting the underside. Obviously this won't help if you hit something head on, but it will help with driveways.
I am going to design and make one for myself. Seems pretty easy and straight forward and would prevent damage.
A:
Get a can on your specific paint (find a bodyshop willing) and buy a $10 fiberglass patchkit at Pep Boys. It's not hard to fix yourself. I did it on my old car and this winter need to do it on my new one, too.
A:
there are black rubber/plastic chin guards that someone makes... a lot of people around here have them. i'm sure someone has a link. i was considering getting them myself but haven't had any issues with driveways yet
A:
Here's a link to an old thread of mine. Take a look.
A:
Originally Posted by ExPorscheDude
I am suprised that no one is selling a simple Aluminum piece that goes right under the front clam proetecting the underside. Obviously this won't help if you hit something head on, but it will help with driveways.
I am going to design and make one for myself. Seems pretty easy and straight forward and would prevent damage.
It is easy. I did so. Tape the lip of the car with masking tape, take the aluminum, tape it to the underside of the car, trace the shape onto it using a sharpie (reason for masking the front of the car). Then cut the aluminum to match the sharpie line. File smooth leaving exactly the same thickness of the sharpie line across the whole shape. Take it out to the car and check for fit.
Clean the sharpie marker off, use emory cloth to smooth the edge nicely and polish the aluminum to your liking. Use automotive doublesided tape to attach to the car body and a bit of crystal clear caulk to seal the leading edge.
No I don't have photos, it's hard to photograph and you can't really see it from the front of the car.
A:
This really happens to everybody...
I bought touch-up paint from Lotus parts right away and covered the area with it, then bought a little clear coat and went over it again with that.
Worked fine. Didn't "spread."
Clear coat can be ordered at:
Get your touch up paint from Lotus parts.
You probably won't need to do any more than this for now. If you smack it again, you might consider taking it to a paint store that specializes in Lotus cars.
A:
Originally Posted by nugg_dawg
Hey don't feel too bad. I scraped that same area not 10 minutes after buying my Elise.
I would take it to a fiberglass repair shop and get them to take a look at it. It could spread.
John
I feel better now. It took me a whole 24 hours before I took some paint off the underside of the front. Actually, it always feels worse than it is. Nobody will ever see it. with just a little touch-up paint it's been fine for over a year. It just sucks that it was perfect OTD and then a day later S@#!. I'm sure it happens to a lot of us.