RH nose, air dam, almost ready

My goal for the day was to duplicate on the right side what I had done on the left, namely bring the repairs to a close and put down a coat of real paint to block moisture as I continue working elsewhere. This does not mean the area is finished and ready for paint. More like ready to start wet sanding as prep for paint.

Well, I didn't get that far. There are some tricky spots remaining. Most notably a deep groove along the joint between the panel beneath the grill opening and the air dam, caused by a fiberglass patch. In the close-up pic it is below the black fiberglass patch in the center of the pic. I got as far as being ready to apply filler but was out of time. Hopefully I'll do that during the week.

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Center grill

This morning I concentrated on the center grill and grill opening. I'll get back to the bad primer when I locate more wet/dry sandpaper.

The LH side of my replacement grill opening came out slightly higher than the RH side. So the gap between the grill and the opening is too large on that side. After grinding off all the primer I added some POR-15 Epoxy Filler. Ran out of time to shape it, mostly because I started working on the grill.

The grill has two issues. One of the studs is missing, and it has three small dents about two inches from the top, in the verticle bars. Right behind the upper mounting brackets. Couldn't find a replacement stud, but I did smooth out the dents. Not perfect, but a big improvement. Didn't get a picture, yet. And it needs a good polishing.

I spent time on the panel below the LH grill opening, applying two layers of TECHNIFILL in the process.Still not done, but a lot better. Before leaving I applied POR Patch to the fiberglass patch from last week. I like that technique.

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Spotting putty, upper grill opening flange

I went back to the NAPA paint center in Pearl City to pick up some wet/dry sandpaper and some spotting putty. Good news, one of the guys from the old Redline in Kalihi was working. Maybe things will work out after all. The bad news: out of anything near #100. The shop is much too small.

I am back to my short Saturday morning schedule. I really need to take some time off to make any progress. I think the Navy Seals were on the ground in Pakistan longer than I worked on the E9.

There is a series of small rust-through spots on the upper edge of both grill openings. More so on the LH side. I patched the LH side with fiberglass and POR Patch. This time I covered the metal with POR Patch and laid down the cloth, then stopped. Next time I'll saturate the cloth, maybe with POR paint. My goal is to avoid pulling the cloth out of position, especially pushing it through the holes.

Tried out the spotting putty on several places, worked well. Also bought a new can of primer, had the same aligator skin result. Could be incompatible with POR-15 Etching Primer. Next time I'll wipe the area with PPG thinner before spraying to see if that helps.

Spent more time on the LH lower front, just above the air dam. Almost there, finally.

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Lotus lower links, part 3

I'm calling this part three because last week counts as part two.

During the week I got two more parts shipments, a nice set of anti-roll bar drop links from a Lotus Europa list member and four new bushings from Dave Bean Engineering. I also purchased front brake lines from Bean, having done the rear when I replaced the hub bearings.

On Thursday I stopped by the shop after work to spray the links with black Rustoleum. On Friday I went back for a second coat even though it was raining. For whatever reason -- I suspect the humidity -- I got runs. Oh well, the links are not out in the open.

All I did to the Lotus was replace the bushings and touch up the paint. Even that consumed most of my time slot. I plan on taking at least one day off to do the whole job.

After that I sanded down the filler applied to the E9 nose last week. In the process I exposed a joint where the lower nose section is joined to the upper. This could be from the factory, as these panels would be difficult to form in one piece. I spent the last thirty minutes treating the exposed metal with POR-15 Metal Ready and filling with Technifill. I did not have time to get a last picture.

E9 nose patch continued, and Lotus lower links.

When I arrived at the shop yesterday my car cover, the new one, was as far off the car as the lock cable would allow. Meaning mostly on the ground. Sorry, no photo, but you can imagine. Then Carl tells me that on Friday a mini-tornado circled the building, spinning rubbish up into the air and blowing all the loose papers off his desk. Yet all this time it has been dead calm. Weird. At least the Lotus didn't go airborne.

I began by unpacking the Lotus parts shipment that arrived this week, two lower links and spindles for both sides. while they look good, one link, the front I think, is slightly bent. I am thinking there are no straight links left on the planet. I checked it with a straight edge, the bottom is perfect, the top is slightly concave. Much straighter than mine.

Next I turned to the E9. Ground last week's welds, checked for a tight weld, and wire brushed clean. I decided to apply filler at the end of the session, in case something else needed doing.

Next came the Lotus lower links. The outside had been wire brushed but the inside were still painted and funky so it was off to the media blaster for some glass bead action. After a wipe down with acetone I shot them with acid etching primer.

While the paint dried I applied POR-15 Epoxy Filler to the new E9 nose patch. After the second coat of primer was shot I used POR Patch to add a fiberglass patch the the small line of rust holes just inboard.

By next week I should have new inboard bushings to press in and the anti-roll bar drop links. Maybe I'll take a day off and do the whole lob in one session. We'll see.

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E9 nose, Lotus ground

My plan was to get a batch of Technifill on top of the fiberglass put on the E9's nose last week, then work on the Lotus ground issue. Maybe even jump back and forth. It sort of went that way, but now there is so little time.

Trimmed the glass cloth and blended the edges with a sanding block. Roughed up the area with Scotch Brite pad. That's when I discovered my big can of Technifill is going bad. Last week I bought new activator, now I need the filler. Mixed up a batch with what I had and the new activator did its thing.

Switched to the Lotus. Jacked the rear, found the engine ground strap at the RH engine mount. Removed, wire brushed the connectors and the chassis connection points, reassembled. No improvement, starter only cranks enthusiastically with the booster grounded to the alternator mount.

The next link in the chain is the engine mount. I don't way to remove that, so I am considering adding a second ground connection directly to the bell housing.

At that point I was out of time. Bummer. I guess three hours is better than no hours.

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Lotus lower links, part 1

On the way to the shop I stopped off at Redline Automotive for a new tube of POR Patch. The last one set up solid.

At the shop Tom showed me his latest find, an early Toyota Celica with an eight valve twin cam motor sold only in Japan. Hemi heads, twin Dellorto carbs, a lot in common with the Lotus twin cam. Not exactly running.

I started with the lower links I picked up last Monday from Patrick. One is almost straight, the other is bent back 0.25" at the shock mount tube. After pressing out a rubber bushing I straightened the link in the press. Ended up pretty straight, but the edges buckled in. With a bolt through the shock mount the inboard ends are a long way from parallel. I have another set on order, so I'll wait for those.

Next I patched some small holes in the E9's nose with fiberglass cloth and POR Patch. Next week I can continue filling and shaping this area.

I did work on one of the Lotus punch list items, curing the hard starting. My previous tests suggest a bad ground. I removed the bolt the battery ground cable attaches to and wire brushed the mating surfaces, but no improvement. The next thing to try is the ground strap at the bell housing.

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