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Re-engineering Monograms Lotus Esprit...new update!


Dann Tier

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19 hours ago, cobraman said:

You sure do some quality work. So many at one time and I have trouble just having one on the bench.

Thanks, Ray!!   -I started with 8 at a time, then had to go to 4, but after my Reventon, Miura, and Lotus are done, i'm going to back it down to only 2 at a time. its not that I couldn't do it, its the fact that the satisfaction of a completed build was NOWHERE in sight, and that doesn't work for me.

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  • 4 months later...

Ok, Dann... where are we now???  I have recently start the US version and am going to use some of your tips.   Need to make sure I'm not going to miss something else.  Mine will be stock kit height, stock engine, basically OOB.  I cut the dash out last night - got to fit that up now.   Had to come look today to see how it is supposed to fit together for sure.   So I'm caught up again - about the 8th time I've read over this post.  So far, this is the most thorough building article I've found on this kit.  

Talk to ya soon I hope

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13 hours ago, randyc said:

Ok, Dann... where are we now???  I have recently start the US version and am going to use some of your tips.   Need to make sure I'm not going to miss something else.  Mine will be stock kit height, stock engine, basically OOB.  I cut the dash out last night - got to fit that up now.   Had to come look today to see how it is supposed to fit together for sure.   So I'm caught up again - about the 8th time I've read over this post.  So far, this is the most thorough building article I've found on this kit.  

Talk to ya soon I hope

Thanks, bud!, i'm here to help!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/23/2019 at 9:32 AM, dino246gt said:

That interior looks very good indeed, great work!

 

Thanks, bud!!.....much appreciated!!!........i have more updates to post finally about body, and suspension mods.....hopefully later today after i'm done building a porch on the house.

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Hey, everyone!....update time!!

-Photo 1; Here i had to cut the front tip off the interior tub part, and attach it to the front fascia as you see, in order to make a one-piece body.

-Photo 2; I'm not sure how many people know this about this kit, but the back edge of the interior tub part is meant to tuck-in under the rear fascia's lip like shown. Its better to attach the rear fascia now, to make a stronger bond, and to avoid a messed up paint finish when trying to attach it later as a separate piece.

-Photo 3; This shows the triangular bits that needed to be removed from the interior tub part, and attached where it belonged -to the bodies side vents.

-Photo 4; I just need to blend the  vents in with super glue now...

-Photo 5; Make sure to leave a bit of clearance at the base of the A-pillars, so that they wont keep the body from seating properly.

-Photo 6; The first step to making sure that the hood fits easily after painting, is to open these holes a bit...

-Photo 7; ...next, get rid of the horrible ejection pin marks in this area...

-Photo 8; ...widen these notches a bit...

-Photo 9; ...sand all the edges of the hood in order to make the hinges very thin....if you are careful, they will be stronger than you expect.

-Photo 11; Here you can see how loose i sanded the parts to compensate for paint thickness....all these parts will be EASILY removable.

-Photo 12; Time to remove the molded-in side markers.

-Photo 13; I removed the lip on the top of the rockers...they make final assembly a nightmare, and often ends up with exposed glue, and chipped paint...they were a stupid idea. The best contact for these parts, is actually the ridge on the belly of the interior tub.

-Photo 14 & 15; Its now time to start lowering the ride height. I chopped the shocks shorter at the bottom contacts, then using the holes for the control arms, i rotated them up to the ride height i wanted, then glued them into place. Next step will be SB new lower contacts for the shocks.

-Photo 16; Onto lowering the front suspension...i start by cutting off the molded-in spindles, and now, i will SB new ones at the ride height i want.

-Photo 17; To deal with the LOUSY fit of the front suspension bits, i pre-assembled most of it....and now in order to get the struts in there, i have to make the holes bigger...then cap them off after instillation.

-Photo 18; Since i decided to SB a smooth belly pan, i needed to remove the kits version that i had already attached....no worries, just a bit of klean up.

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Edited by Dann Tier
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Excellent tips!  I'm getting the body ready for paint and was studying ways to paint it all as a unit.  The

This definitely helps, especially at the front.  Basically it can be a one piece body with the two rockers separate, right?  If I'm reading correctly

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7 hours ago, randyc said:

Excellent tips!  I'm getting the body ready for paint and was studying ways to paint it all as a unit.  The

This definitely helps, especially at the front.  Basically it can be a one piece body with the two rockers separate, right?  If I'm reading correctly

Thats right, bud...rockers separate.

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