107 replies to this topic

[Muncher]

I'm just after a little bit of feedback here as I am considering supplying VX replacement body parts... We all know how expensive front and rear clamshells are so I am toying with the idea of suppling VX clamshells (front & turbo/NA rear) and probably also turbo spoilers, splitters and perhaps sills. These would all be standard pattern VX parts, no real different from standard. It all depends on the costs of getting it up and running, but if the Elise is anything to go by, a new front clam would be about £400. With all of the body panels on the car for about £2,500. Does anyone think that is a goer? I'm in a position to put the wheels in motion within a couple of days depending on feedback.

[Tolksee]

It could save a lot of cars from being written off!! And it could save us from claiming on insurance and losing NCB if it was cheaper in the long run to pay £400 upfront rather than £1000 in increased premiums over x years. I imagine the demand is there - they always get sold on Ebay - the only concern that I as a purchaser would have is that the clams are a 100% exact copy so that if you have an OE rear and a Muncher front, they line-up perfectly etc.

[TheStoat]

I'd have to say that this sort of product would be more likely to sell because you're on here and not some anonymous person on eBay. Reassuring to think that if there were any issues then the buyer could contact you via here. My VX has gone but if I did need a new clam then it would a bonus to be able to come on here and chat to people who had already bought from you etc For those prices I think you would get business from people avoiding a claim on their insurance and probably some interest from Danny too

[slindborg]

sounds good to me. would take some of the fear out of trackdays too lol. once youve got the mould made, you could investigate carbon ones too

[MEAGY]

sounds good to me.

would take some of the fear out of trackdays too lol.


once youve got the mould made, you could investigate carbon ones too

the clams are quite complex realy, the are not one part are reatively well put together, would you be making it out the same material or out of fibreglass like cheap bodykit etc? its things like fixing point that are on the original clams that are going to give you the most dramas!

[Lps]

once youve got the mould made, you could investigate carbon ones too

complete carbon lacquered shell please!


i think i just did a sex wee....

[Winstar]

I think there's deffinatly a market, just look at the number of cars that are being rebuilt after crashes as cat D with second hand clams, and there going to start running out soon puting the price of getting one back on the road up considerably. Do you know if the VX uses wet laid (?) calm or if it's the injection moulded and bonded technique used for the s2 elise? I presume these would be laid. Carbon fiber would be cool as well once the tooling is setup.

[djegiant]

Could you not make lotus clams/doors for us all instead???? Seems a good idea mate but I think the market maybe a bit limited and units sold may not even pay for tooling up/production.

[oakmere]

I have been saying someone should make a copy of the turbo rear spoiler as £200.00 from a main dealer is a joke £100.00 would be more like it. I am sure the clams would sell. Cheers Oakmere

[mikemph]

Yep defo a good idea, lost my side intake the other morning. Stealers want £250 for it unpainted, I could make them in carbonfibre both sides for around £100 once molds are made. I would have made my own replacement if I had a OE one to make it from. So I think there is plenty of money to be made and defo a market for it.

Edited by mikemph, 30 January 2007 - 01:30 PM.

[fluffy]

An eco-speedster one piece coupe body would be very nice If I had the know how, thats what I'd make. Make it swappable, smart style and that would be really nice for the winter. I'll stop dreaming now.

[ElizP987]

We looked at this summer last year. We even took a front clam up to a fibreglass company that is an international concern. They said it was complex, and the current clam is made up of a lot of moulds (forget how many exactly). In the end, they could have had them made up from a lot less moulds, but some of the finishes would not have been as good, and the unit price was still relatively high etc

[Pidgeon]

Nice idea, but would be very difficult to get off the ground or make profitable. Insurance repairers would not buy them as they are obligated to use OE components where possible. The unit cost will be high due to mould costs, production and material costs. I have seen many reproduction items, far more simple than clams and I would not buy any of them, as the quality is universally poor.

[Muncher]

Thanks guys It is only an idea at the moment, though I do have the contacts necessary. As you say it will all depend on how simple the mould is to produce. I have shown the company I use photos of the clams and they didn't look massively concerned about doing them. The fixings are all in hand as well. Providing all goes to plan we would only need to sell a handful of clams to recover the cost. There are companies that produce Elise and Exige clams aftermarket for a reasonable amount and although I haven't seen them personally they are selling.

[JawZ]

Providing all goes to plan we would only need to sell a handful of clams to recover the cost.

How big is your hand?

Sorry for the bad humour

[Stefan_A]

One concern would of course be transport of the panels, since part of your potential buyers would be on mainland Europe (given the number of Speedsters in Germany). Unless you stick to UK only service (which I think would be a bad idea).

[JawZ]

I think there is a member on the German forum who is already doing this though... there were some images posted of some clams over there with optional holes for frontbrake-cooling.

[NickC]

Does anyone know if its possible to fit the s2 elise body to the VX220 turbo? Has it been done before?

[jasvxt]

No most people just buy a Lotus S2 or Vx220 depending on which one they prefer. Jas

[rabidh]

Sounds like a good idea. I'd really suggest looking at carbon fibre front/rear clams though. £400 for a clam is cheap but i found the real killer with mine was the painting (£500 to get done properly). With CF you don't really have to worry about that, so with that in mind people would be willing to pay quite a bit more. You might even get people buying CF clams even if their originals are fine - it might even be cheaper than a respray and armourfend! If I thought I could get new CF clams for those kind of prices I'd be totally up for crash repairing a VX. If you're interested in this kindof thing there might be some mileage in producing new headlights too (given the extortionate cost and long lead times). Just getting some new housings + fronts vac-formed would be good as I imagine a lot of people have broken units with the actual light/lens arrangement still intact.