Bodywork repairs

[NickC]

Any suggestions for the best body repairer in the Essex/London area?

[Danny]

Hi, Sinclaire did a good job on my friends Elise after he put it into the tyre wall at Mallory Park on a track day, they are in Romford and the website is http://www.lotusrepairs.com.

Regards Dan

[Emmerg]

Take a look at stockscoachworks.co.uk in Chelmsford perhaps

[baldyash]

I have just used Stock Coachworks---excellent job & nice people to do business with. Decent pub nearby---The Viper, Great Beer!!!!!!!

[Emmerg]

Got my car from there and have been very pleased with it - agree with you about the pub too - stopped in there for lunch

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Yep same question for the North of England too!

Yesterday, an elderly lady emerged from a side road and t-boned the Clan at the nearside rear wheel arch! Ripped away chunks of the fibreglass around the wheel arch and possibly put the rear tracking out of alignment (not too sure about that one yet).

The impact was enough for her to slightly "fish tail" the Clan from quite low speed (as it's only 580kg) but amazingly the fibreglass damage is very local considering the impact felt...just goes to confirm the benefits of GRP from a safety angle IMHO.

Anyway, the insurance assessor is coming to inspect tomorrow and I don't want any Tom Dick or Harry doing the fibreglass work so if anyone in the North (I'm in Richmond N. Yorks) knows of an A1 fibreglass body repairer and repainter then I'd appreciate it too (sorry for thread hijack)

[amarshall]

Pride 'n' Joy Classics in Middlesbrough have a good rep.
Also Track Torque down at Tockwith (and they get plenty of practice)

[Pete Boole]

Sorry to hear about the Clan Peter. Hope it fixes up ok.

Pete

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Thanks Angus and Peter.

I'll ring the Tockwith and Middlesborough people before the assessor arrives this AM.

It'll fix alright. in fact I could do the fibreglass and paint myself (except I'm time poor ATM) but it was her fault and the insurance people are gonna pay.

The biggest challenge is that the Clan had a very good full respray by the previous owner and he can't remember which red colour he used!!

We think it's an Audi red but there is more than one shade of red unfortunately.

The repair doesn't warrant a full respray, just a rear quarter panel at most, and an expert could just blow-in the wheel arch....so getting a perfect paint colour match is important.

[hodders]

@Lotus-e-clan: Another thread hijack - I only just noticed you have a Honda 250RS - I had one of those. Great bike, single cylinder but twin exhausts and lovely sound. Wasn't the deluxe model the one with the electric starter? (aka the wimp's version )

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Yep exactly right Hodders single cylinder twin chrome pipes and electric start!.

Mine needs recommissioning though ...haven't used it for three years since I sold its reg: "DUG 99Y" for £1300.


Back on topic (-ish)...the Clan is the Lotus that never was of course

Yesterday I took my Clan fibreglass repair to Coates Garage in Scorton for a quote as it suddenly dawned on me that they have a body shop (6 miles from Richmond). After chatting to the body shop boss I decided they were indeed experienced with fibreglass repairs as there used to be a Lotus garage in Scorton (now closed down). Also I use Coates for all my cars MOTs and they have done mechanical repairs on the Camper van and Mazda so I trust them and of course they know me and my cars etc. BTW. the drive down to Scorton left me in no doubt that there is no damage to the rear suspension

So as long as the quote is less than the £3.5K agreed value (better be!) and OK with the insurer I'll go ahead with them.

It'll take a few weeks to do though because even though the repair area is relatively small, the repair needs to cure and shrink before surface rebuilding and painting. Of course I knew this already and it's what I wanted to hear for a proper job done. He has a piece of the broken bodywork with plenty of paint on and said he can match the shade of red perfectly even if he has to send it away for computer scanning and matching!

The Clan is my favorite drivers car, it's the one I use the most (also because it's so old that the mileage is unlimited for just £100 pa agreed value insurance).

So looks like I'm stuck with the Excel to drive around for the next few weeks then...I hope I can keep my licence !