Carbon Fiber Body Recreation Project Exige V6

[El-RGB]

Greetings fellow TLF members,

Since 2018 when I first purchased my second Lotus (the first one was an Elise first intro to TLF), it has been pure joy and pride taking her to the tracks and winding roads.

Sadly, two years ago she had a "fender bender" accident, which she had been sitting in the garage. Until now this "recreation project" is finally started, hopefully to bringing her back to a new life, and some.

 

To begin

The Exige starts off is a Roadster S, which she had a very very soft stock Bilstein suspension. On tracks, every brake, it was a pretty bad nose dive, and the front couldn't hold any grip, which always ended up very bad understeer. Other than that, I am pretty happy with how the car performed, so a set of new suspension would be first on the mod list.

The goal for the project is to make the Lotus even ligther (I'm sure most of us here wouldn't mind that), since she still utterly heavier than my old Elise, so the goal of hitting more or less 1000kg would be very ideal. Yet, remaining few luxury comfort tweaks for the road would awesome for occasion drives on the winding roads.

After long considerations and reading many thoughtful reviews on the forums, I chose to go with the Nitron 3 ways with SL spec 550/850 springs. Thanks @SeriouslylotusDave from Seriouslylotus. It was super nice for all those phone calls of inquiries and helpful with the oversea shipping.

 

For the weight and look, I couldn't stopped looking at @Gordon SGordon's Exige with his forged Signature SV104. Thanks to Gordon‘s referral, Jimmy from Signature was super cool. I nailed the wheels with Jimmy and finalized the bespoke brushed black triple finish.
front 17x18 ET25 (7.9kg)
rear 18x10 ET32 (not yet weighted)

 

With the history of owning a previous Elise, I was frightened with the plastic radiator end cap; thus, I took the chance and upgrade to the alloy enlarged radiator. Hope it is a wise chose.

 

The basic upgrade parts (so far):

Nitron SL Spec 3 ways
Signature forged SV104 wheels
Alias intake
Alloy enlarged radiator
 

The Custom jobs:

Carbon Fiber Front Clam
Carbon Fiber Rear Clam
Tubular rear subframe

Sending off the subframe to the local race shop, the stock subframe was on the measurement table and ready for the making of rear tubular subframe. Hopefully, I can start saving some weights starting from here.

Before making the decision, I contacted Caged Laser and Jabu, which were all not a feasible solution. Caged Laser were known for making a titanium subframe back in 2014. They were not allowed to sell due to the agreement with Lotus, which it was merely a R&D project and was never made it to production. JABU, on the other hand, had to send my car to Austria, and the price was an astronomical number for me. 

*To anyone who may be interested, the stock subframe is weighted 51.6kg

 

For a long time hunting the carbon fiber parts, I was able to find a shop selling the carbon fiber clams for the Exige. I can't wait to have them installed soon!

 

 

I received great helps from TLF community. It was a great greeting from @Bibs Bibs for referring Simon from Lotus, who also had visited the country from UK, way back before the Covid happened. I was great meeting with Lotus team members.

Thank list:

Thanks to the local Lotus dealership, as they have been very helpful with finding the parts and establishing their new regional tech manager and staff. Thanks @alias23Imran for selling his awesome intake oversea. Wish good luck to your new project.

And thanks @GFWilliamsGeorge and @KIMUTAKUAlex for the help of the open shifter components. The GFW project has been always a great read on this forum. And I have been very much consistently asking George for the carbon fiber front clam louvre. Hope you would change your mind at some point reading the project here. 😛 

For the following months, I will keep up the updates on the process. I'm sure some hiccups on the way would be happening here an there, which could be seeking helps here. 🤠

Cheers,

Frank

 

[Davey D]

Those clams look nice! 😍

 

[Gordon S]

Good write-up, Frank. Love how the carbon weave looks on the clams!

Looking forward to seeing the car come together. 

[DangerousDave]

Hopefully that rear clam can hold up to a big rear spoiler without cracking.

[DangerousDave]

Let us know how the clam holds up to a big wing long term.

[EldonZ]

Out of curiosity, where did you get the CF clams?

Thanks,
Eldon

[GFWilliams]

Good to see another big Exige project!   The subframe sounds interesting, that's a huge project. 

Do you know the weight of the clams?

[mayak]

18 hours ago, EldonZ said:

Out of curiosity, where did you get the CF clams?

It could be Eltech:

[DangerousDave]

If your going that far you may as well get it widened like the jubu car. In which case i'd be interested

https://www.jp-zero.eu/

[El-RGB]

@Gordon Sthanks Gordon, that wheels are splendid. Awesome for to see them in person, will keep up the updates.

 

On 12/03/2022 at 05:02, DangerousDave said:

Hopefully that rear clam can hold up to a big rear spoiler without cracking.

@DangerousDaveI asked the same question before I bought them. So far it looks ok, and maybe it is a good idea to mount the spoiler to the new rear subframe, but not at the clam. I will look in to that.

[El-RGB]

Thanks guys, to most interests shown for the CF clams, I will reply on this thread instead, the other thread (with the same name) was a mistake, sorry for the wrong submit for the same post.

  

On 11/03/2022 at 15:37, Davey D said:

Those clams look nice! 😍

 

Thanks, I was surprised to see the quality in person.

  

On 12/03/2022 at 05:35, EldonZ said:

Out of curiosity, where did you get the CF clams?

Thanks,
Eldon

I was fortunate to find a shop in another province, and the shop owner happened to be an Exige owner too, who made the CF clam out of his interest for his own car. Luckily, I sent a few inquiries about the clams, and I became the first buyer for these clams. 

It isn't Eltech (They look very nice, I will see the weight for this one and compare). @mayak

 

14 hours ago, GFWilliams said:

Good to see another big Exige project!   The subframe sounds interesting, that's a huge project. 

Do you know the weight of the clams?

Thanks @GFWilliamsGeorge, I still haven't weighted the stock and new CF clams. I will try to do the comparison when I get to the shop next week. (PS, it would be nice if I can still get the front louvre from you.) 😜

  

2 hours ago, DangerousDave said:

If your going that far you may as well get it widened like the jubu car. In which case i'd be interested

https://www.jp-zero.eu/

@DangerousDave I have contacted them way back.😝 You can look up my first post above. They were very supportive and replied my emails that they have a Zero-line style series which wasn't a full package but with all the look and wheels mod; the price was so a huge bargain off the actual Zero car. 

However, to do that the car will have to be sent to Austria. It was the only way for them the mod the car with their staff. Sadly, it wasn't feasible for me.

Edited March 13 by El-RGB

[Troyboy]

Those clams look bloody fabulous. Ultimate Exige bodywork. Can't wait to see the finished article. 

[DangerousDave]

On 12/03/2022 at 21:41, El-RGB said:

Thanks guys, to most interests shown for the CF clams, I will reply on this thread instead, the other thread (with the same name) was a mistake, sorry for the wrong submit for the same post.

  

Thanks, I was surprised to see the quality in person.

  

I was fortunate to find a shop in another province, and the shop owner happened to be an Exige owner too, who made the CF clam out of his interest for his own car. Luckily, I sent a few inquiries about the clams, and I became the first buyer for these clams. 

It isn't Eltech (They look very nice, I will see the weight for this one and compare). @mayak

 

Thanks @GFWilliamsGeorge, I still haven't weighted the stock and new CF clams. I will try to do the comparison when I get to the shop next week. (PS, it would be nice if I can still get the front louvre from you.) 😜

  

@DangerousDave I have contacted them way back.😝 You can look up my first post above. They were very supportive and replied my emails that they have a Zero-line style series which wasn't a full package but with all the look and wheels mod; the price was so a huge bargain off the actual Zero car. 

However, to do that the car will have to be sent to Austria. It was the only way for them the mod the car with their staff. Sadly, it wasn't feasible for me.

I contacted them yesterday they only sell cars and dont offer such a service.

[El-RGB]

Weird, I contacted Martin from JABU, they offer their Zero line upgrade as a full rebuilt car at JUBU Performance, which it includes widen front and rear wishbones, uprights, steel tubular subframe, driveshafts, new carbon fiber body, etc. And labor time to build the complete car.

[El-RGB]

Slow progress but updates!

1) Rear subframe: Probably the toughest decision of this project was whether to stick with the original plan for building a new and lighter subframe, or to keep the existing one. To put it short, the decision came down to using the stock one (for now).

It was coming down the cost and time. For the money invested in designing a lighter subframe, it is possible, but it would be involving a much longer project time and cost. Thus, I put that thought to a latter plan. A tubular subframe was hypothesized to save up about 20-30% weight off the factory one, so it is around 15kg. For that weight, it is better to use the development money for a titanium exhaust for now.

Having that thought, I decided to 3D scanned the entire subframe and redesign a tubular frame later (if time is allowed). And it's awesome to have a friend who has a 3D scanner.

It was fun to work on the 3D scan for the first time. It took us a long time to put the reflective dots on the subframe. Due to many corners and our hands couldn't reach the bottom of the linkage areas, we spent almost an entire afternoon to have the data logged. 

And yes, while having the subframe off, I sent it for a repaint to be black. 🙃

2) The Nitron 3ways are installed

The quality of Nitron is sublime, especially in contrast to how dirty the car is right now.😂

Anyone who installed the rear Nitron before and used the existing top-mount bracket? I remember reading somewhere which a new bracket is needed for the Nitron.

3) Carbon Clams

I remembered to weight the rear clam, and it is approx. 19.5kg.

To compare with the factory rear clam, I will be sure to weight it next time.

[GFWilliams]

I weighed my rear clam when it was off the car and it was 18kg…. Shame not to have a decent weight saving, especially when the boot section is pretty heavy and would lend itself well to carbon…

[El-RGB]

More updates:

The new carbon fiber clams are being test fitted.

The outcome is actually pretty stunning, and quite a show to see it in person.

After the subframe is dried with the new black paint, the engine is put back together (the Alias intake is just pure awesomeness) and all fluids are drained and refreshed:

Engine: Motul 300V Power 5W40
Transmission: Motul Gear300 75W90
Brake and clutch: Dixcel DUR racing brake fluid

 

The front was put first a while back. The test fitted was sponsored by two blocks of wood below, the fitment looks good so far. 😝

 

My commute bike while the Exige is still under surgery in the shop. It's great to have the two wheeler getting around town at the meantime.

 

Questions: From the last update, I figured out the question for the top mount bracket. It is actually the front provided with a new bracket from Nitron which replaced the factory mounting bracket (to accommodate the larger shock), and the rear used the factory bracket.

New questions came out. Both the rear Nitron has to used a spacer for this to fit, while the factory doesn't need any spacer. Anyone happened to run into similar situation?

The weight:

On 19/04/2022 at 13:44, GFWilliams said:

I weighed my rear clam when it was off the car and it was 18kg…. Shame not to have a decent weight saving, especially when the boot section is pretty heavy and would lend itself well to carbon…

I'm not sure the why the weight difference, but I used the same scale to weight both the rear carbon and the factory rear clam. With all the heat shields, lights and misc removed, it is similar to the condition when I weighted the carbon clam, the factory clam comes to around 33.7 kg.

However, this new carbon clam is not especially lightweight, as I learned that it is not a dry carbon product, which a dry carbon would be significantly lighter. For now, I will just stick with it and maybe look further into it when time is permitted.

Can't wait to put her back on the ground soon!

Frank

[El-RGB]

She is on the ground finally!

The panda combination now looks interesting, yet I'm debating if I should keep the exposed carbon clam or cover it with the good old white. Any color or exposed carbon thought and suggestion would be welcome. 

There are still a lot of miscs here and there waiting to more tweaks, and should take awhile. But she's on the ground and runs now, hooray~ 

The SV104s are on.

I'm very happy for how it turns out. Thank you @Gordon Sfor the help and Jimmy from Signaturewheels for still checking in for the updates. Nevertheless, I took the time and weighted the rear wheels.

With 275.35.18 tires, the SV104 comes out to be 20.1kg (as opposed to 21.9kg for factory alloy wheel with 265.35.18 tires.) It's almost 2kg saved for each wheel. I'm pretty happy about the new weight.

More questions:

Anyone would know there are two wires at the lower left and right front grills are for? I looked everywhere for from the repair manual, and I am not able to find anything except for the headlights, the honk and the alarm siren. Anyone might know?

Cheers,

Frank

[Bravo73]

On 05/05/2022 at 13:56, El-RGB said:

Anyone would know there are two wires at the lower left and right front grills are for?

Could they be for DRLs?

[DangerousDave]

I've never seen a carbon spoiler that didn't get oxidation. 

[El-RGB]

The clams are removed again at the body shop for a proper re-fitment.

 

The shop owner immediately taken out his camera for some shoots at the spot where she is parked. 😝

Some shots taken by the shop owner before the clams are removed.

 

some shots taken by me. 😜

 

A friend's Exige 260 which is half finished. A lot of the modifications are done by himself (Sincerely admiring his shifter assembly which is also done by himself).

Fingers crossed for my Exige would be done soon, and more updates to be shared.

Frank

On 12/05/2022 at 17:26, Bravo73 said:

Could they be for DRLs?

Thanks, I checked, which the headlights have their own harnesses and the day time running lights are functional correctly. So far, I still haven't found what those two behind the grills are for.

 

On 15/05/2022 at 07:58, DangerousDave said:

I've never seen a carbon spoiler that didn't get oxidation. 

I consulted with the shop. With proper clear coat and care, the oxidation should be ok.

Frank

Edited May 17 by El-RGB

[DangerousDave]

You sure these guys wont make me a custom clam 4 inches wider in the front?

[El-RGB]

On 19/05/2022 at 08:21, DangerousDave said:

You sure these guys wont make me a custom clam 4 inches wider in the front?

I know another ex-Exige owner who has an automobile design workshop in Canton, and he can probably do the custom design and build it at a price. Let me know if you are interested.

 

The car is temporarily wrapped in white vinyl, and awaiting for more carbon exterior parts in the future. We have a small but growing Lotus community in the city, and hopefully it gets bigger with the newer Emira and Eletre coming up.

[DangerousDave]

On 07/03/2022 at 15:54, RoflOnMyWaffle said:

Tilletts are a definite upgrade, try them all, personally B6 Screamers would be better if you fit. But you will lose the ability of normal seatbelts.

17 hours ago, El-RGB said:

I know another ex-Exige owner who has an automobile design workshop in Canton, and he can probably do the custom design and build it at a price. Let me know if you are interested.

 

Definitely interested , looking good.

 

[El-RGB]

My halogen headlights went out, and after some researches, I decided to to go with LED headlights for its convenient installation, mature technology and light weight (compare to HID with a heavy ballast).

The LED brands were being chosen in between:
Philips pro9005
IPF
PIAA

After some comparisons, I decided to go with Philips for its color temperature which it was the only one at 5800K, where the rest were all over 6500K (which were too blu-ish for me). Being too blu-ish, in many articles say it wasn't ideal in raining situation.

In the researches that I'd concluded, I also looked into the heating problem. The Philips LED was safely below 112F, which was safe to use with the enclosed rubber cup. An aftermarket rubber cup was also purchased before the installation, which the new LED bulb was around 15mm taller than the oem halogen, and the oem cup couldn't be used.

To those who are interested, the aftermarket rubber cup size that I picked were 85mm diameter and 67mm tall, where they fitted perfectly, and the low wattage Philips LED 22w should have no heating problem.

The end result was pleasant, although it wasn't Audi-like strong, I got to finally say that the stone age use of candle light was over. And the white LED light definitely makes the Exige look so much more like a modern car, which the old yellowish headlight makes the car look like something from last decade (although she is🤣).

 

PS: I re-applied some dry-teflon lube on the rubbers in between the hardtop, and I'm happy to say that the squeaking noise all went away. I was my second time after two years since last time doing, it worked like a charm.

Frank

Edited July 13 by El-RGB