111RS #3 Build: Rear Tailight Refinish & Interior Upgrades

 The rear taillights can get dull over time but can be refinished.  You can sand and polish or even have them clear coated.  Lee took the lights from our current 111RS build and worked his magic.  He starts with 1500 grit and wet sands the lights.  In some cases he will start with 1000 grit and then follow with 1500.  

Then he used a cutting compound and then a final polish/wax.  The end result is pretty impressive and something that a DIY could tackle.

We've also decided to dress up the interior of this 111RS.  Several clients have added Alcantara (suede) to their dashboard area and it really looks great.  Are we kidding ourselves attempting to make this car a bit more luxurious?  It is hard not to like how much nicer these parts now look and feel!

The driver seat will again be a comfy CF seat.  We're reuphostering a factory Exige seat for the passenger side.  We want to experiment with a lumber bladder upgrade on this seat.  We know many of the stock lumber bladders are failing along with the leather getting worn out.  We think we can offer to restore these worn seats with new leather/material as well as adding a new inflatable lumber bladder.

We even are looking at heated seat elements for those of you in chillier climates...

111RS #3 Build: Suspension, Brakes & More

We are starting to bolt on all the four corners of the 111RS now.  This includes the Refreshed Wishbones with MONOballs and Refreshed Uprights with new Hub Bearings.  New hardware is getting installed as the old bits are looking tired.  We added new 12.9 hardware to the refreshed calipers as well.  FASTarms are also a must have for this build.

This build is getting the DNA Front & Rear Swaybar kit as we've become big fans.  We love the ability to run much softer spring rates thanks to roll stiffness being managed by the sways.  The added compliance on rough roads and tracks is remarkable.  We will install the DNA Rear Toe link brace as well.  This is the first 111RS that has received this upgrade - it almost feels sacrilegious considering we make excellent braces ourselves!

We had a set of Nitron 46mm Singles that we had rebuilt sitting on our shelves.  We also have 350# and 500# springs that are reasonably light.  Usually we go lighter still with the DNA sways but we would test these rates on this car.  Generally we had run Nitrons in the past with 450# spring and up.  The lighter rates that we are running compare with what came on their Street Series dampers.  Since Nitron are building a Tech Center in our town, we thought it would be good to have a set on this car to test and tweak.  If you have not seen our video interviewing the Owner of Nitron, Guy Evans, please watch it: HERE

ULTRAdiscs are simply the best rotors for these cars with a 10lb unsprung weight savings.  We have paired them with G-loc R10 pads.  I like my cars to brake more aggressively than stock and this combo does not disappoint.  They are killer in the canyons and work fine on track.  Our QWKbleed lines are being fitted.  BULLETstuds were added as well.

We've deleted the passenger oil cooler - of course!

111RS #3 Build: Powertrain Out

 We pulled the rear clam off the car and yanked the powertrain.  It can be telling what a car has experienced when it comes apart.  There will be tell tale signs of various 'experiences'.  This car shows no hidden crash damage or repairs but it has seen some dirt.  There is dust build up that suggest silt from driving through a deep puddle.  The car came to us running fine and we will completely clean and replace any thing that may have been submerged.  

The above image shows some dirt build up that seems water related.  

The engine/trans will be full rebuilt along with new suspension, brakes, etc.  The engine has leaks from a couple of locations but will get rebuilt anyhow.  It will be given a new lease on life once the boys at Mountune are finished.  The clutch was in great shape with plenty of life.  Regardless, we will replace it with new and keep this as a spare.  The gearbox is getting rebuilt and will received the OS Giken LSD.  

We plan to paint the subframe black so Lee cleaned it up before we hit it with high temp paint.  It was is much better shape than many we have seen before it.  No signs of crash damage.  The bottom of the chassis is in good shape with minimal signs of damage.  The bottoms are very vulnerable on these cars and usually scars from road debris or off-road excursions are easy to spot.

111RS Brakes + shiftR111 + More

 We are at that stage where most of the parts are in house and we simply need to bolt them on.  We have less than a week before unveiling her at WCLM so...

The brake calipers were vapor blasted and look amazing.  Rene took the opportunity to spray them with some matte clear coat.  A local shop suggested this will hold up fine but I am curious to see just how well the clear will withstand the nasty environment found within a wheel.

Our ULTRAdisc rotors have been the gold standard for these cars since 2005.  Clients have been getting 50k miles out of them and over 50 track days.  We made them too good!  Seriously, we are proud of how they have performed and super happy to be partnered with a first-class company like Girodisc.

The DNA front and rear sway bars are part of this build allowing us to run softer springs: 250lb & 350lb coupled to our Racetech SCCA Singles.  The sways manage roll stiffness while the soft springs provide the compliance needed on a fast canyon cruiser.  In the past, we ran heavier springs to flatten the roll on the car but gave up compliance in the bumps.  No longer - this is the sweet combo!

The shiftR111 Ultimate package is going in and will make each shift a joy.  This car is getting the close-ratio KAAZ gear set.  We have not driven this solution on the street so are interested to see how it fairs.  Our client has another Lotus with this gear set and is a believer.  

111RS - HVAC Updates

 The early cars are known to suffer HVAC blower problems due to their electronics getting corroded.  These electronics are located in the front of the car and often end up getting submerged in water that collects in the front cavity.  Lotus issued a Technical Service bulletin many years ago that instructed Dealers to drill holes in the bottom of the chassis to act as drain holes.  But even with these holes, we are seeing failures.  

Lotus developed an updated electronics package that they started installing in 2008.  This kit is available from the Dealer and we have been installing them on client cars for many years.  

The 111RS needed this along with another update for the AC thermostat.  The car is going to live in the desert South West so AC performance needed to be as good as we could make it.

The cavity that this HVAC sits within can accumulate plenty of funk.  Carlos took the time to clean it out so when the HVAC was reinstalled, it went into a clean cavity.

111RS Dash + Steering Wheel

 We've become big fans of the AiM MX2E dash.  The original cluster was looking a bit tired so we opted to upgrade to the digital solution from our favorite race data company.  

The car came with a custom steering wheel but the colors were not going to match our color scheme.  Plus it had carbon fiber elements that also clashed with the CF seats that the car is getting.  We decided to install a refreshed stock wheel.

111RS Build Continues

 The body came back from the Body Shop and we were able to pull off the subframe to clean it up.  The subframes are made of steel and not the prettiest part on the 111 platform.  We painted it black to help freshen it.  She looks much better now and will frankly just disappear.  

The Mountune engine needed to get dressed as well.  We installed a new cam gear as the stock parts are known to be a problem spot.  

111RS Bodywork - Turn Signal Delete

 We decided to delete the front turn signals as they are known to flop out of the front clam.  There was a period of time when the factory had no turn signals available so I started to delete them on my last two cars. 

Lotus deleted the signal on the S3 versions of the Elise/Exige.  It took me a while to get used to the look on the S2.  If I'm honest, I did not like it at first.  Of course, as I am a devotee of form following function, it became quite normal and cool to me.  Heck these are Outlaws so visually we have to make some tweaks....

My current Elise Outlaw (Storm Ti) got the same treatment.  The new 111RS needed some other bodywork in addition.  We found some sill damage that needed to be addresses.  The rear clam had a few areas that were in need of repair.  The car will get almost a full repaint!  Not exactly what we had planned but the best way to make this hard-to-match color work.

111RS Build - Gathering Parts

Supply chain woes have plagued most of us.  Getting all of our key parts gathered up for this build was our next step to see if our goal of finishing this car in time for the West Coast Lotus Meet was possible.  We went through items that are not in stock and considered their due dates and I'm confident we can have this car ready for the show and most importantly, the Palomar Hillclimb event!

We have a full set of refreshed uprights and wishbones that we had previously stripped, sandblasted and plated.  This items are generally in bad cosmetic condition on cars with 50K+ miles.  Have these ready allows us to minimize down time and build the car quickly.  We will be installing MONOballs along with a full Suspension Refresh kit.  As this car will become a canyon carver that does occasional track days, the MONOballs were chosen.

One especially tasty bit this car will get is a light Gold set of Monolites.  We have never produced this color until our latest batch.  This is the only set in this color.   This color is really awesome and is sure to become part of our future offerings.  Combining Gold with Chrome Orange may sound too blingy but they work beautifully together.  Chrome Orange actually has gold flakes in the paint - a more appropriate name might have been 'Gold Orange'!

When coupled with the ULTRAdisc rotors this car will enjoy a 20lb unsprung weight savings!  You can feel this immediately through the steering wheel.  We feel this is one of the key reasons why our 111RS cars are such a joy to drive.  

Our Next 111RS Build

 

We've started another 111RS build and plan to document it here.  This current candidate is technically the second customer 111RS.  Our 111RS Spyder is not included in this series as it remains a halo vehicle that is not likely to be duplicated again.  Our 111RS is a Lotus Outlaw with all of our current improvements - mechanical and cosmetic.  No, we are not starting with the proverbial sow's ear, in fact, I think we are starting with the silk purse.  Our refinements from stock make this platform an even better joy to drive.  And look at.

The base Elise for this build is a tired 115k miles example that has received various modifications over the years.  This car has a straight chassis with no damage. We will strip it down completely and rebuild it to our standard for a 111RS which includes built engine, rebuilt gearbox, new suspension, brakes, exhuast, Ultimate shiftR111, wheels and more.  Cosmetically the car will also get some TLC as it was wrapped and has no paint on both clams

We got our intrepid summer intern, Priya, onto stripping the wrap.  It took a couple of days and some sore fingers to get her done.  We left the car outside to get nice and warm to aid in the removal.

 Our project plan suggests two weeks of work can get this car mechanically up to 111RS standards.  Neil has started gathering up the parts and we will start in earnest next week.  We had kicked off a Mountune engine build a couple of weeks ago so that should help us shorten the time to completion.

The Bodywork required may take up to a month but we can get that started in parallel.  One visual tweak that we are likely to undertake on this car is a front turn signal delete.  This stock turn signals are known to fall out of the clam.  My current Elise (111RS mule) and last Elise have been benefited from this mod.