build diary

July 28, 2004:
A small hole needed to be cut in the side panel to fit the exhaust bracket.

entry 513
The cutout for the header exit.
entry 514
Side panels in place!
entry 515
The body parts are painted! That's a BMW metallic black for the front fenders and Lotus Chrome Orange for the other parts.
entry 516
All of the parts out in the sun.
entry 517
This shot of the nose shows a bit of the pearl in the orange.
The camera is confused by the bright sign and obnoxious colour.
entry 518
BMW carbon black mica - it's a pretty colour with some good depth.
entry 519

July 29, 2004:
The car looks fantastic!
Of course the first thing I did when I got home was put some of the panels on. Bill Cardell showed up at my garage door to help out and to hang out. We had fun taking my project and making it look like a real car. It's a difficult colour to photograph indoors but I've found that to be true of all Lotus colours - they need the sunlight to really light up. Kind of ironic when you consider the weather in the UK.

I've been concerned with rock "stars" in the fenders. Suggestions have ranged from closed-cell foam to bonded aluminum to "don't worry, the CMC fenders are nice and thick". I'm not 100% sure what my final answer will be - the latter is my favourite because it's cheap and I can bolt everything together right now, but I'd hate to damage that paint.
entry 520

The header in place along with the side body panel.
entry 521
The dash with one mirror and the gauges.
The speedometer is missing the needle, yes.
entry 522
The front body panels in place.
The wheel is not bolted on so it's sitting a little crooked.
entry 523
You can almost hear the "vroooom vroooom squeeeeeee!" noises I'm making.
entry 524
Wow.
It almost looks finished.
entry 525
One happy camper.
entry 526

July 30, 2004:
It's shaping up to be a hugely entertaining weekend.
Last night was spent making a template for the hood - or the bonnet if you prefer. If you call this part a bonnet then the car won't have what you consider a hood. But I'm getting off track here. Four large pieces of poster board and some careful cutting, then I made a visit to the local fabrication shop and picked up a piece of 0.050" aluminum (aluminium?) along with four latches. I'll bend that up carefully and gingerly this weekend and then the body will be complete! This will also shut Eric up as he seems particularly obsessed with the hood.

I've decided to use brush-on truck bedliner to protect the inside of the fenders (wings for those who are still following the alternate translation). It'll give me full coverage and should be easy to put on. It's cheap too.
entry 527

The template for the hood.
I'm not convinced the colour scheme is worth keeping!
entry 528
Hood latches.
entry 529

July 31, 2004:
As suggested by Lester Seal, I've added a search page to the site.
It's nothing special but it was a fun little toy to put together. Now you can search the diary entries and the photo captions. I'll probably find it helpful as well!

The fenders were given a couple of coats of bedliner last night. It came out well. The fumes from that stuff are pretty intense - I would recommend doing the work outside as I did! Some "clear bra" (aka helicopter tape) was added to the front of the rear fenders for some extra stone protection and the aluminum guards were also installed. All the fenders are on the car now along with the tail and reverse lights. The fender welting looks quite good and gives a very professional finish to the car - a tip from Steve at CMC. The exhaust has been given a shot of high-temp paint and it will be installed shortly. Then it's the hood. I think I made a mistake there - I bought 0.050" aluminum which is equivalent to the 18ga that Ron Champion suggests in his book. It's about 50% thicker than it really needs to be which means it's heavier and harder to work. At least the weight is at the front of the car where it needs to be, I suppose. I may make another hood in the future.

An interesting thing. I was looking at photos of someone else's Locost build. He's making a replica of a classic Lotus Seven. I'd forgotten just how different they were with the narrow track. Mine truly is a more modern car. I've found a couple of interesting Caterham build diaries.This one has a lot of detail shots that would have helped me solve a few puzzles. I don't know why I didn't think to look for more of these before!
entry 530

The hood template in place on the car.
entry 531
The stone guards for the rear fenders are installed.
These were given a "satin finish" with a Scotchbrite pad. It's easier to maintain than a full polish.
entry 532
Truck bedliner as a fender liner.
entry 533
Fitting the fender welting to the fender curve.
entry 534
The fender welting is made a bit long on purpose.
To finish the ends, snip it and fold it over. Since it will never be seen again I didn't worry too much about my stitching!
entry 535
The only way to get the welting to follow the edge of the fender in this area - there's nothing to hold it against the fender - was to rivet it on.
The fender is a nice curve, the metal arch isnt!
entry 536
The welting in place along with a reverse light.
entry 537
The header pipes get a coat of high-temperature paint.
entry 538
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