S1A-pocalypse

[Chuck Nukem]

Sandyman,

Thank you very much for thinking of me! I wish I was within striking distance of you, but sadly I am all the way down in TX. For the moment my S1 is quite a ways down on the list. Like you I am also contemplating a tube frame. This decision and  many others still await.

Did you buy the type 54 from a gentleman in Minnesota?

[Sandyman]

Hi Chuck. I bought my 54 in North Bay ON. 3 hrs north of me. The car 0044Q, built in January 70, was sold in Hamilton ON. some time in 71 according to Lotus records. 29,000 miles on odometer first owners plate still on car tagged 1978. Blowing my kids inheritance on a Spyder Chassis and new suspension. Hope you can find the time to work on yours.
All the best,
Sandy

[Sandyman]

Looking out at my Europa this morning.

[BDA]

Sandyman, that's so sad!

[Chuck Nukem]

That is quite a sight Sandy! Mine have an easy life in the garden as shelter for animals at the moment. I hope to have my carport done in the next month to give them proper shelter. They vex me from the kitchen window every time I look outside. I think the worst part of house projects are knowing all the other fun and productive things you could be doing if only you didn't have to fix this....

I wait with anticipation to see the fruits of your children's future funneled towards a proper cause!

It is probably fortunate that I don't have children. There is a fable about children who live in a giant shoe. My progeny would be forced to live in Europas!

[Sandyman]

Chuck, Don't worry to much about the Europa. Once it is together it will live in the barn in the background. I just have to find space for the snowblower, lawn tractor etc etc....

[dakazman]

Chuck , I walked past one on the garage for 25 years. Hopefully you will come up with a remedy for this temporary situation. Carports are big down here .
Dakazman

[1970EuropaGuy]

Sandyman, you need to move West! My Europa, a Lotus I would love to own and a Ford GT MK IV in Portland. What an era the 60's were. Come on out!

[Sandyman]

1970 we are hijacking Chucks space Email me please

[Chuck Nukem]

The storm rages again!! My car was somewhat red an hour ago! Now it is reduced to primer! I was attacked by 2 spiders while sanding that looked suspiciously like brown recluses. They died the death of peasants under my foot.

I am thinking about trying a new strategy to mend the stress cracks on this car. On my TCS I sanded all the paint down and then began the arduous process of grinding all the cracks out of the bare fiberglass. I used fiberglass cloth & veil to fill these cracks and then I sanded the material flat.

On this S1A I am thinking about leaving the paint on it while I repair all the cracks which are visible through the paint. I will try sanding the paint down within a 4-6" area around the crack, grinding it out, and use the tiger hair filler to patch it. Has anyone had disastrous results with this or a similar method? I have gotten to the point on my TCS that the fiberglass veil does not seem to add much benefit over the tiger hair as the repairs are now sow small. Tiger hair is easier to work with and seems to be a pretty solid repair. If it was a really deep stress crack or tear I would fill with glass mat.

The first two pics are examples.
The first is of a crack through the paint. What is your preferred method here?
The second is of cracks visible in bare fiberglass. I am operating under the assumption that these will eventually come through the paint. Is that correct?

[Chuck Nukem]

I promise the forum that no bastardized S2 high headlamp wart speckled front end will ever find its way on to this car as long as I live!

I was only planning on replacing the sections that were removed. For the front of the car that is essentially the footwells and the front section of the tunnel. So much material was cut away under there that the nose of the car sags a bit. How closely does that part of the car form to the frame? When I get a frame could I possibly just fiberglass around it? Here are some more detailed shots of the front underbelly.

I feel that this area is the major crux of the project.


Does anyone know offhand what the reasonable torque/hp limit of the 336 transaxle is? Not that I am planning anything

Just to document this in the thread, one intention of buying this second S1A 460468 was so that I could take a mold of the front section and use it to repair 460392 which suffered a botched surgery at the hands of the previous owner.

Not to go down a rabbit hole but I also have the back half of a TCS in my possession...A TCS with an S1 nose would be mightiest looking TCS of all time in my opinion.

[dakazman]

  Hi Chuck,
Nice to see you working on the S1 , I Love the early models.
   Pic 1 crack bevel the underside of the crack first a good 1”.  Stop drill the tip of the crack. Get yourself some 6” Aluminum tape. tape the top side of the crack following the original contour Don push into crack, you only need a thin piece of tape on top.   Mix up a mixture of resin and soak a piece of fiberglass mat. Throw away the cloth, please. Now on a new precut  piece of the 6” tape  place the piece of matting on the sticky side the shape of a he crack. Tape it in place. Pushing it in place and into the crack gently. Let dry with all the tape in place. After dry peel off tape and now sand or file down top and bevel and work some matting to the topside.
Done
The spider cracks stop drill ends . Dremmel out the line but don’t go completely thru , use the veil or a slurry of the matting.
The hairline cracks, use the veil over the entire surface. I have not use the veil and don’t know about the tiger stuff. Do a few tests, bring outside in the sun and bake the primer. If you have some finish paint , spray another test finish.  I also used a epoxy sealer .
Sorry about the gory details and long windedness
Dakazman

[Chuck Nukem]

Dman,

Thanks for the reply. I have decided to try and tackle the bodywork for both cars before spring hits so that I can paint them in succession. One problem with this approach is that I don't see any final results until both are painted. I misspoke when I said cloth, I meant mat. That aluminum tape is a good idea. I will give it a shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9HbPP8A0Fo&t=135s

This vid is a little bit more boat related, but I have been using this method for the crack removal and fiber layup. I don't use the gelcoat or epoxy filler that he does.

[dakazman]

 Great video Chuck.
   
  The deeper parts he added material to is perfect for the spiderwebbed cracks but the body crack needs to be repaired top and bottom.
  It’s a lot better when you plan the paint jobs together and stagger sanding, primer, glass work with the weather conditions also. Wait for a nice dry day for final paint.
Keep the posts and pictures coming.
Dakazman

[Chuck Nukem]

Status update... Majority of the stress cracks have been filled and most of the paint has been removed. I will probably not bother sanding the bottom (white) layer of primer off as it seems to be well adhered. My goal for the month is to have this thing ready for primer (extra lofty goal is to have the TCS in that stage as well... we will see) Both cars are due to be flipped upside down soon for crack repairs on the floor and wheel arches.   

To complement my bobbin woes of the TCS it appears the door bobbin on this S1A suffered damage on the body side.