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[Sellsey]

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[nicolas]

@vocky : what is this ? Bell and Colvill powered by DeRoure Ltd. I am not aware of their existence. Are they supposed to resale OEM Lotus spares ? Why them and how can we make sure they sell the original Crash-box ? What makes people think that a Crash-box from another manufacturer won't be a reasonable solution ? Is that because of the process and main material used ? Formula Renault 2.0Liter use Crash-box made of Epoxy + fiber glass as it used to glass a surfboard. What makes people say that the OEM one is better ? Is that because they did crash simulation calculation thanks to CAD finite elements method ? I just try to understand why people use to say that a good copy made of fiber glass and epoxy resin won't make it simply ? What do you think about Crash-box made by uklotuscenter on Ebay ? @Sellsey : thanks for this detailed post. It's useful. Anyway you mention Betaseal1580 and Vocky has given a link to Deroure.com that indicates Betaseal 1701. So which one is good ? Another search gave me other results: Betaseal 1701 (Adhesive) and betawipe 4000 (reactivates old adhesive layer) from elise shop. The lotus body work and service notes advise that Betaclean 3900 (cleans and primes new surfaces) and betaprime 5404 (adhesion promoter) are needed if fitting a brand new crash structure. Does Betaseal 1701 also include the primer to be applied before bonding ? Does Isopropyl alcohol from any chemicals provider or pharmacies will allow to fully remove the old primer and see a fully anodised chassis back to normal ? So what to do, what to think ? So many products to use for a fcuking composite structure. Damned. Who to trust and does anyone has an explanation on different Betaseal references mentioned here and there? Likewise, Sellsey, you mention a dealer from Weston-super-mare. Is that Howards Lotus ? Do you think they still have some ? Are they OEM Crash-boxes and why from them ? Do they purchased an old OEM Lotus stock of composite spare parts or what ? I am a bit dismayed to be frank. I will definitely make it but it's quite hard right now to get the OEM parts so choices have to be done and that's why I come here to ask advices in the VX220 and Lotus nation. All advices are welcome. And sorry for my English which may be quite uneasy to read or understand.

[vocky]

DeRoure are a Lotus dealer and I have purchased many parts from them over the years and no problems.

 

Lotus are the only manufacturer of crash boxes, there are nasty fibreglass copies on ebay - AVOID as they offer zero crash resistance.

[nicolas]

Thanks Vocky. What makes the difference? I may be wrong, but I think that what count first is the structure stiffness and currently this is directly linked to the structure shape and dimensions, provided that if a different material is used it should be of a very close material mechanical behaviour. Now, on one hand we have a fiberglass copy, on the other hand an OEM fiber + a strange compound. As fiber glass is used within both I am still asking myself the question. Anyway all of you shall have good reasons to say that OEM Crash-boxes is a must. I am this kind of guy who just like to understand why but it seems that no one is about to give the exact reason or report a bad injury due to nasty fiberglass Crash-box copies illustrated in pics. Nevermind, I will go for the OEM version if it's still available at DeRoure. So how about Betaseal ? Any advices in this compound jungle ? Is Isopropyl alcohol sufficient to fully clean the old primer ? Does Betaseal 1701 is provided along with a primer or do I have to source a primer aside ? Thanks again for help

[FLD]

Ipa won't remove the adhesive, it's a mechanical removal job. Having said that you only need a good surface to bond to not bare alloy. The primer is only needed on the bare parts to key in for the adhesive. The copy crash structures are just csm polyester laminate (cheap sh*t). Oem has high tensile nylon down the crash tubes with some csm in between and a knitted over mesh on the top. It's made by rtm with an acrylic resin. Way better than the copies. You can see the difference on crashed cars lots of strands on oem ones from the nylon, not a lot left at all on the copies.

[Sellsey]

Nicolas, As far as I know Betaseal 1701 which is recommended in the notes has been superseded by Betaseal 1580 if you look on the Deroure site you will see the replacement part numbers I purchased a batch of 12 Betaseal 420ml sausages, I have sold few to other members but still have 8 left if needed happy to supply for £10ea plus postage am not looking to make much on them just covering costs. They have a use by date of 21/10/2017 Once old crashbox has been removed, remove as much of the old adhesive as possible, clean the surface with isopropyl alcohol. The issue with betaclean 3900 is that it's classed as hazmat (hazardous material) so it's difficult to transport or purchase via mail order. I then primed the cleaned chassis with 5404 see my previous post with a link to the site you can order it from. You'll need to Key the new crash structure with wet n dry and then apply 5404 to the surface before applying the adhesive in the pattern described in the lotus repair notes (essentially zig/zag to give the adhesive room to spread when clamped to the body) Howard's are a lotus dealer here in the south west, I ordered an OEM structure through them direct from lotus. Getting a crash structure can be a bit of a waiting game, they usually have them manufactured in batches and don't tend to hold stock, I was lucky that when contacting lotus they had a batch arrive that week and of the three they had one spare. But these had been on back order for three weeks. General rule of thumb avoid the GRP/Fiberglass copies it certainly won't help you if and when you come to sell

[Sellsey]

Must say it drove me nuts for weeks trying to locate the parts,correct adhesive and primer but it all came together in the end. The guy I dealt with at Howard's Lotus was Darren Ferguson here's his number if you want to call him +44(0)1934410999 I also had some email exchanges with Tony Margareto at Lotus to confirm fitment. You can order the primer here https://www.silmid.c...r-100ml-229863/ And I can provide the Betaseal 1580, isopropyl alcohol is freely available, I bought a can from Maplin You'll also need some rivets to reafix the side gussets and replace your tow bracket with an Elise S2 bracket but apart from that all you need is tools to strip down, jacks and time.