111RS SPYDER BUILD: PART 8

So many details remain for us to complete. Some small, some medium and a couple of big ones. Though I‘m confident that we will finish in time for our unveiling, there is still plenty to do…

The ProAlloy Chargecooler was a big issue that we needed to get sorted as it effects the bodywork and more. As many of you know, the air to air intercooler in an Exige heat soaks quickly and robs power. Our partners at ProAlloy have made a great chargecooler that runs coolant to keep the IC cool. We choose to use their 211 chargecooler kit as our starting point. We knew that some modification would be needed. We started fitting it to see what we would need to change.

We had precut the Elise rear clam with the intercooler tubes in mind. It turns out that we needed to cut a bit more so marked those areas. The chargecooler will get mounted to a bracket that bolts to the subframe. We wanted to be able to remove the rear clam without having to remove the chargecooler so that meant cutting more of the clam. We will reinforce a few areas as a result.

Sections have been removed and a bit more will come out…

The Elise rear hatch will get secured with an Aerocatch latch. We used this on our ArtCar2 and it works nicely. Since the trunk is going to be filled with a chargecooler, we figured having a lockable trunk was not needed. We also filled a few holes including the old antennae hole found on early trunk lids.

Sanding down the paint, filling holes and then shooting primer

We have been working the fiberglass to show our bodywork capabilities. We added new features to the body that not only look cool but also add performance. The Gurney Flap that we added to the front clam at the radiator exit is a small detail but one that I think is pretty cool(pun intended).

A small aero feature…

Since the side glass has been deleted, we chose to fill in the door glass openings. We also shaved the a-pillar posts for the side view mirrors. The final result is really cool.

111RS SPYDER BUILD: PART 7

We keep crankin’ on the Spyder as the West Coast Lotus Meet approaches. We landed on a color for the roll hoop, tried to add a naca duct, and fit the Lexan windshield. Some success and one failure…

The roll hoop color was going to be either green or red. Our Powdercoaters showed me some options including a clear. I wanted to make sure the beautiful welds were not hidden. They recommended a Candy Apple Red powder coat that was translucent. It required a bit better surface prep as all the surface scratches are also visible. The final result is amazing and we are quite pleased with it. 

Sometimes you want to try out an idea and it requires cutting things. I had an idea to add a naca duct to the front clam to get a bit more air into the radiator. We had a nice CF duct and a plastic one. We took some measurements and it looked like we would be close. We made the decision to cut the clam and see if it would fit. Well, it didn’t! Luckily we have a man who does amazing work with fiberglass and we repaired it….

A Spyder is technically a roofless version of an existing sports car with a cut-down windshield. The previous Spyder we built had no windshield but this one was getting a small one. We decided to start with the Lexan version we sell. It required some test fitting to get the function & aesthetics right. We took measurements to determine what height we wanted the windshield cut down to. Carlos is 6’ tall and we wanted the windshield to land just above his view straight out of the car. We laid a tape line at the height to confirm and then cut it.

We are using a combination of screws and adhesive to bond the windshield. We first marked the location and then bonded nutserts into the windshield surround and a-pillar. Though we believe this will be enough to hold it, we plan to use a silicone adhesive to add additional bonding that will still make for ‘easy’ removal.

111RS SPYDER BUILD: PART 6

Bodywork continues. Jesus has blended the rear wing and rear flares in nicely. We decided to spray everything in primer to assess the lines and work. The multi-colored bodywork was not doin’ it for us…8^)

We added a new prep man, Damian, who is helping Jesus crank through the bodywork.

There are plenty of other details that we have been working on. The door striker pin plate was off on the roll hoops so we had to cut them off and reweld. Now the door fits well. Though this car is going to be fairly raw, we wanted to finish it with reasonable trim where ever possible.

Fitting the rear interior panel.