With the outside cleaned up a bit, the parts neatly laid out, and the interior cleaned up, what we have is still a mess.
On the outside, the car was originally bright red with silver bumpers. Someone repainted it black with gold bumpers—presumably in the mid '70s.
It has been left outside—again pre…
You guys are completely insane.
timing......
I was selling "for a friend"" a bunch of Lotus elan parts earlier this year.....
Tim Suddard wrote: But that doesn’t make near as fun a story series, so we are going to move forward and begin to find the parts and expertise we need to restore this seemingly unrestorable late Series 1 Elan to concours condition.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. If it were mine, I'd be doing the same.
This is officially my favorite thing in the magazine ever.
You know it's British when the fiberglass rusts. 
Channel your inner Chapman, you know he's there.
In reply to Tim Suddard:
Bondo the body as straight as you can and use it to form the pattern for the molds to remake the Body. Only instead of chopped fiberglas make the body in carbon fiber. Do a hand layup of carbon fiber (Don't buy prepeg) and out-lighten Chapman. 
Dusterbd13 wrote: You know it's British when the fiberglass leaks oil
That's the other way to tell.
That'll buff out.
I think it's a goofy idea. You're basically going to restore a VIN. I think Chapman would have been too much of a pragmatist to go ahead with this.
In reply to Tim Suddard:
You only get bragging rights if you turn a profit on this. You might get more profit just selling off the parts. But......whatever way it goes it will be an interesting read.
If you guys actually pull this off then I'll renew my subscription for sure. 
I think your crazy trying to restore this car. It's too far gone. Salvage the parts that are worth it and find another S1 that is in need of restoration that you can use some of your salvaged parts. All that being said, I'm interested in seeing what you do with this car, despite the number of hours of labor and cost to make it right.
I'm on my second Elan restoration and I'm looking like a whimp compared to what your attempting to do. Good luck! Your seriously insane ;-)
I got the car mostly disassembled yesterday. Honestly, it isn't that bad. Did I really just say that. I didn't break a single bolt. I had been having nightmares of breaking every bolt.
And so far, the frame doesn't seem that rusty. I am not sure, this is that much tougher than the Mini or the Tornado.
I am watching intently. The fact that people keep saying it can't/ shouldn't be done makes the anticipation all the sweeter. Climb your everest, Sir. Thanks for taking pictures so we can come along.
We took the body (parts) to Blast Masters and began scraping and then soda blasting the old paint off the body.
And somehow, the underside of the car and frame had virtually no rust. I can't believe I got the whole car apart with only a couple of fasteners that had to be drilled out and retapped.
When people ask me why I want to restore my 1800ES, I shall now show them this thread. "One Wheel in the Crusher"
Done a couple of Lazarus projects and I confess to getting something out of them. But mostly what I have gotten out of them is the urge to do any more out of my system.
What I retain of value from the exercise is the skills and confidence to do just about anything when it comes to a car project. And one hell of a tool arsenal. And don't discount the grapevine that comes from doing such projects.
The Molvo makes no more sense than this Lotus effort, yet I am having a lot of fun. I will take a break in the spring to do the tin work on this cherished MGB just because I like to push my limits. All it needs is two rear quarters, a bonnet two front fenders and a trunk lid and front and rear aprons. And a light frame pull.
By the way...the owner no longer endorses the use of a rollbar in a car where you do not wear a helmet.
The Molvo is creating a car that did not previously exist. Selling it for parts and buying a better candidate wasn't really an option.
When you do the MG fix, are you going to upgrade the chassis at all? From what I remember, there are some relatively simple things you can do such as weld in a vertical piece of box in front of the doors.
In reply to NOHOME:
Got your bell rung! I did the same thing in my rally setup 240Z!
When you do the MG fix, are you going to upgrade the chassis at all? From what I remember, there are some relatively simple things you can do such as weld in a vertical piece of box in front of the doors.
Not my car, (or bell that got rung) just helping a guy out who has a lot of sentimental attachment to the car. Its an Australian built MGB and it has seen a big chunk of the world during the owner's military career. I seem to have a soft spot for guys who go to war on my behalf! The Bugeye was another case in point.
But to the brace point, "Frog Arms" for the MGB, might be a concept!
Ah, here's what I'm thinking of: http://www.britishv8.org/articles/britishmotorheritage-competition.htm
Keith Tanner wrote: Ah, here's what I'm thinking of: http://www.britishv8.org/articles/britishmotorheritage-competition.htm
Got it. I had seen that before. As I try to avoid project creep in any project, I wont even mention this stuff to the owner.
And by the way, the Molvo is really just a floor-pan repair panel in my estimation!
I have a very early Series 1 car (Bourne Body) which I'm restoring also. I have the glove box door too, so it might be earlier than you think. If interested I have a very dirty copy of the original illustrated parts list; if you feel like you would like a copy for your restoration, I'll try to scan it. My car was a "Kit" car, Lotus Components I.D. plate, so the manual has what could be called assembly instructions... similar to the early Elite (I have one of those too). You also might also look to the UK for parts...you can just about build a complete car from suppliers there.
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