mikenap
New member
Ever since I was a kid, I've been in love with Lotus cars. At one point I had several Esprit Turbo posters in my room....I seem to remember a 959 in there somewhere, but prancing horses and raging bulls were noticeable by their absence. When the Esprit finally went out of production, I was a little shocked. What would take the place of that iconic car? When the first gen, bug-eyed Elise was introduced, it didn't do much for me. But when the Series 2 update came around, I finally had another British go-kart to lust after. So imagine my excitement when I was contacted to detail one of the last Elises to be sold in the states, the Elise SC Final Edition, and one of only 15 made. Chrome Orange, Alcantara interior, and autographed by Nick Adams, the man responsible for "federalizing" the Elise for US sale, this car had it all. I was ready!
The Elise is definitely a unique car. Tiny doesn't even begin to describe it. Getting in and out was a challenge that I wasn't able to master in the short time I had it. Even at my towering 5'8" height, it must have been entertaining for anyone watching me twist myself in and out of this car. Just to give an idea of size, it makes my Mazda3 look like an SUV by comparison.
The car was in great shape when I received it. Roughly 9k miles, and 2/3 of that was from one cross-country trip to Vegas.
There was some light swirling, which was to be expected. But these cars are hand painted and hand finished, and we all know what that means...unfinished sanding scratches and light holograms straight from the factory.
There was a rather large dull spot right below the windshield which turned out to be a half-polished sanding mark.
There were two spots on the passenger front wheel fender that were completely missed...:frown1:
The Starshield PPF also had some issues. The portion immediately in front of the passenger rear quarter was starting to come off and there was a lot of dirt stuck to the adhesive. The owner plans on getting that piece replaced but to keep from making it worse, I didn't try cleaning anything from the adhesive for fear it would come off faster. You can see the dark line in some of the later pictures. There were also many contaminants stuck underneath the film.
The compounding was carried out with several different combos...The Griots and Meguiar's DAs were used with 5.5" and 4" pads respectively. Meguiar's MF cutting pads were used with a combo of M101 and D300, and the burgundy pads were used with M105. The paint on this car was definitely on the harder side, so the compounding was finishing out very well. The finishing step will be described later.
Driver door before/after
Passenger fender before/after
Passenger door before/after
Rear duct before/after
The door jambs were badly swirled
These were the worst of the sanding mark offenders afterwards...Remember the passenger front fender and right below the windshield?
The Elise is definitely a unique car. Tiny doesn't even begin to describe it. Getting in and out was a challenge that I wasn't able to master in the short time I had it. Even at my towering 5'8" height, it must have been entertaining for anyone watching me twist myself in and out of this car. Just to give an idea of size, it makes my Mazda3 look like an SUV by comparison.
The car was in great shape when I received it. Roughly 9k miles, and 2/3 of that was from one cross-country trip to Vegas.
There was some light swirling, which was to be expected. But these cars are hand painted and hand finished, and we all know what that means...unfinished sanding scratches and light holograms straight from the factory.
There was a rather large dull spot right below the windshield which turned out to be a half-polished sanding mark.
There were two spots on the passenger front wheel fender that were completely missed...:frown1:
The Starshield PPF also had some issues. The portion immediately in front of the passenger rear quarter was starting to come off and there was a lot of dirt stuck to the adhesive. The owner plans on getting that piece replaced but to keep from making it worse, I didn't try cleaning anything from the adhesive for fear it would come off faster. You can see the dark line in some of the later pictures. There were also many contaminants stuck underneath the film.
The compounding was carried out with several different combos...The Griots and Meguiar's DAs were used with 5.5" and 4" pads respectively. Meguiar's MF cutting pads were used with a combo of M101 and D300, and the burgundy pads were used with M105. The paint on this car was definitely on the harder side, so the compounding was finishing out very well. The finishing step will be described later.
Driver door before/after
Passenger fender before/after
Passenger door before/after
Rear duct before/after
The door jambs were badly swirled
These were the worst of the sanding mark offenders afterwards...Remember the passenger front fender and right below the windshield?
