BACK ON TRACK

Europa Geometry

2011-05-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

We recently carried out some geometry work on Mark's new Europa. They are set up from the factory very similar to VX200's so as with those we tend to increase the front camber slightly to help alleviate the front end under steer.

Paul's Elise S refresh

2011-03-08T01:18:00.001-08:00

Paul's (aka The Bandit)Lotus Elise S came in for some work that included Nitron NTR's fitting and setting up, a repair to the front clam and refitting some fresh Ventureshied afterwards. We treated it to a full machine polish after it came back from the paint shop mainy to bring the rest of the paintwork up to the level of the fresh paint, but also try and hide the stone chips he managed to get on the top of the rear clam!!

2011-01-05T01:44:00.000-08:00

T5 Sportline Company Van

2011-01-05T01:35:00.000-08:00

After many years of service our faithful transit has been put into retirement........time for a VW T5 Sportline :0) Rumoured to be the fastest van available we had to give it a go! Mods so far include a K&N panel filter ready for a ECU remap, lowered by 70mm and get creatative with the vinyl in the form of some sign writing and a 3M carbon vinyl bonnet.

Marks Green Peril Gets Some Vents

2010-12-14T02:15:00.000-08:00

Marks Very Green VX220 SC has had some front clam vents fitted, we just needed to wrap the front end again to finish it off.

Rich's Colour Change Project - Part 3

2010-11-24T04:25:00.000-08:00

Rich's Elise rebuild is pretty much complete. A full Ventureshield protection kit has been fitted, followed by some 'Club Racer'style black vinyl stripes.

Rich's Colour Change Project - Part 2

2010-11-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

Rich's body work has all been striped now and back from the bodyshop finished in its new 'Lemans' blue. There were a few other areas that needed attention while the clams were off but that has all been taken care of, and we are just awaiting the rolling chassis to return from the bodyshop ready for the refit next week.

Phil's S1 Elise Trophy Car

2010-11-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Phil booked in his Elise Trophy Car in for some TLC with a new AP clutch and had a lightened flywheel fitted at the same time. Its recently had the engine sorted to at DVA so should be a flyer come the next race meeting........

Rich's Colour Change Project

2010-10-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

Rich has brough his Honda'd S1 Elise in for a full colour change. Theres a lot of work involved to do this correctly, and while its here we will refresh a few parts, powdercoat some and refurb the wheels to satin black.

First off was the front clam ready for a new windscreen.

BOT 'Car of the Month'

2010-06-28T07:16:00.001-07:00

We've been so busy with the new workshop that the 'Car of the Month' has been overlooked! So to catch up I'll post the cars I was going to list over next few days......first up is March which goes to Mark's previously Silver VX220 SC......now sporting a full krypton green wrap.

New Workshop Almost Complete!

2010-05-10T07:29:00.001-07:00

We are almost there getting our new workshop up and running, timing wasn't the best as April is one of our busiest months but some late nights have got it to where it is now (thanks to those who helped out) The only trouble is that it has left our original unit next door looking a bit shabby so now that's got to be done :-/

Nitron Street Series VX220 Fitting

2010-03-26T01:46:00.000-07:00

Chris has been patiently waiting for the new Nitron Street Series to be launched, and as soon as they turned up we booked him straight in for fitting, a ride height drop and geometry adjustment.

As with the pre production units we fitted last year, the Nitron SS are very nicley made, these came with new front mounting brackets to allow better fitting of the slightly wider damper body, and once on and lowered gave Chris the ride hieght he had been after to better suit the Speedline alloys fitted to his car.

Sprint/Track Elise S1 Elise Build

2010-03-17T03:51:00.001-07:00

Paul & Brian brought there Silver Series 1 Elise down to us for some modifications to better suit it to the track days and sprints they are planning this year. A strip out of the original interior and fitting of Corbeau X seats along with Luke harneses, upgrades to the brakes and fitting Yokohama A048 tyres along with a track biased geo all carried out along with some stripes to go along with Pauls own sticker work.

Follow there progress on there blog: www.motorsportboys.com

New Workshop

2010-03-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

We finally have the keys to our new workshop. We are keeping our exsisting unit and have expanded into the workshop next door. A fair bit of work to do in both, new ramps and revamp of our current workshop are on the cards, more updates and an open day are planned once we have it all done.

BOT 'Car of the Month'

2010-02-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

In 2010 we will be voting the best car of the month and sharing photo's with you. There is no real right or wrong as to what makes it our favorite car, just something about it that makes it a bit different either in mods or in the way it is kept original. This months car I have chosen but next months will be voted on by members of our Forum :

This month Richard's early S2 Elise came in for a few service items but also he wanted to freshen up the body work and sort some previous poor repairs.........its now a really clean example of an early long tail Elise, Well done Rich ;-)

Ventureshield Protection

2010-01-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

Our resident vinyl genius is also a Venturesheild fitter and that now allows us to source and fit Ventureshields wide range of transparent protection films. We recently fitted one of there frontal kits to an Elise S2 and with a little time to fit and allowed to dry properly it looks excellent.

The other advantage of the Venturesheild over the standard film fitted to the Elise is that it is guaranteed not to discolour

Please get in touch if you would like a quote.

Civic Type R Getting New Bottom!

2009-10-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

Jez's civic Type R is at CPL Racing getting some more reliably power, 2.3 stroker kit and forged bottom end will hopefully give 400Bhp at the wheels all day long.

While there we took a look at the 850Bhp drag civic they are running..............thats got some turbo on her!!

Carbone Lorraine Pads Now in Stock

2009-10-02T04:01:00.000-07:00

Just had our delivery of Carbone Lorraine brake pads. First fitting to one of our cars shows that they work fantasicly straight out of the box, so once bed in they should be great............Customer feedback to follow.

Nitron Street Series First Fitting

2009-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Simon has been supplied with a set of the new Nitron Street Series dampers to trial on his S1 Elise, we had them down here today to fit and geo the car.

First impressions are good, they are a nice looking piece of kit, I can imagine customers being very please when that package arrives on their door step.

Fitting was hassle free the only comment being that they could do with a +/- marking on the adjuster for the less knowledgeable customer who may fit and set them up themselves.

Ride wise, we initially set them up a few clicks from full stiff as a test, on the road and found them a bit too much but would about right for most as track setting. An adjustment to the other end of the scale showed that there is a good range of adjustability.

After a few test laps of the 'Slyfield Ring' we ended up setting them mid way to give a good balance on the road and settled on a 110mm/120mm ride height to give Simon's front splitter a fighting chance ;-)

All in all a thumbs up, I can see these shocks fitting in well between the S2 Bilstein upgrade and the Nitron NTR.

Elise Trophy Vinyl Wrap

2009-09-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Adam's S1 Elise is almost ready for its first race in the Elise Trophy, the body work has had some repair work and rather than spend money on a full repaint we carried out a full vinyl wrap on it taking inspiration from a Porsche CanAm car in Gulf Blue/Orange.

Its looking realy good with the roll cage and harnesses also in orange, so should be easy to spot on track!

VX220 Pro Alloy Fuel tank

2009-09-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

Mark's recently supercharged VX220 was getting through some fuel at track days so a larger fuel tank from Pro Alloy allowed him to get to and from a track day on a single tank thanks to its larger capacity.

Fitting was fairly straight foward, although small hands help when refitting connections to the fule pump, and the quaility of the tank was first class as always with Pro Alloy kit.

JDM Civic Type R Supercharge Convertion

2009-08-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

Jez's JDM EP3 Civic Type R was just too slow...............A rotrex Supercharger and a few nice shiney parts later including a colour coded cam cover and she is a 400Bhp screamer.........shame we can use it in the wet :-/

S2 Elise Short Roof Convertion

2009-08-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Among many other jobs to do we had do complete a short roof convertion to this early long tail roofed S2 Elise.

EliseParts supplied us with an original Lotus short roof and as the car was having a full wrap we wrapped in satin black to save the cost of painting.

A few adjustments to it and some mods to the side clips and it looks a good as if it came out of the factory this way......maybe better ;-)

Updated side stripe design

2009-05-29T03:46:00.000-07:00

We recently redesigned our side stripe banner as some other outfits had robbed our original idea................never mind it was about due an update.

We have also had some rather nice carbon vinyl in which looks fantastic, really hard to tell from the real thing as it has a texture to it, but it can me used for al sorts of appications, door mirrors, door cards, dash panels, call me for some prices but its cheaper than the real thing!

340R Servicing

2009-05-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

This lovely 340R came in with a dead battery and we ended up removing the body work to do this simple task, it made sence to carry out a full 'C' service while the body was off as although it had only covered 3K it was due on the age and made the most of the situation................why lotus did'nt think about the access on the body is beyond me but they do look fantastic :-)

Vinyl Screen Surround & 'V'

2009-03-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

A few of our VX customers have asked about wrapping the standard silver screen surround on the VX220 to replicate the black ones on the Lotus Elise/Exige. We had Ashley's NA Vx220 in to trail run it and they turned out very well. Our fiter managed to wrap the whole surround in one piece with out the need for any joins so you really could'nt tellit was vinyl.

Ash also had his door mirrors done and an obligatory BoT screen banner fitted!

Jame's VX was in for some service work and also had the Screen surround treatment, and while it was here it had the front 'V' wrapped, this to came out really nicly and again you could'nt tell it was a vinyl wrap.

If your interested in any of the above give us a call for the pricing.

Pro Alloy Rad Fitting

2009-02-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

When your radiator goes on your VX or Lotus its always worth spending the extra on a full alloy replacement, and they dont come any nicer than the Pro-Alloy item that we recently fitted to Chris's VX220. Its a clam off job, but it does give you a chance to clean up in those dark corners and once in that should be it whatever engine upgrade you carry out in the future.

Snow Snow Snow

2009-02-03T04:48:00.001-08:00

Though Id share

with you the reason why we were shut on Monday...............

Max's 211

2009-01-30T04:39:00.000-08:00

Max has recently got hold of this lovely 211. We will be doing a few jobs on it over the next week, including a wrap to protect the original paint work and some brighter graphics..........................

Blower Problems

2009-01-30T04:12:00.000-08:00

Alex's Blower fan packed up which on a S1 Elise or Exige is not too bad a job. Unfortunatly on S2 Elise/Exige its a clam off job. At least it gave us a chance to clean up and repaint his rusted toe eye.............

Satin Black Wrap

2008-12-05T02:26:00.000-08:00

We used my S1 160 as a test bed for a full Vinyl wrap in satin black to work out the finer details of having this done on a Lotus. Wraps like these have been done in the past but I wanted to have something done to mine and test it before we advertise this service to our customers.

First stage was to work out some of the shut line/join locations, on a S1 there isn't much to work with due to its rounded body work (S2 Elise/Exige and VX are easier) We ended up having a neatly hidden join on the front so that if a stone chip or parking bump happens, just that section can be replaced, the same is applied to the rear meaning that should any damage occur only local areas are replaced.

Next was to test the stone chip resilience, the Satin black has stood up well, although the white we have used on some of the half wraps we've done has now been changed to a thicker Vinyl, again local areas can be changed.

The final effect looks great and fixed prices will be up on our Website soon, in the mean time please contact us if you need anything done.

VX 220 Side Stripes

2008-11-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

Chris had his VX220 in for a service and was one of the first VX boys to have our side stripes and screen banner fitted, it look really nice in satin black against the silver bodywork, if your interested get in touch.

Last Ferrari wash of the year?

2008-11-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

We grabbed one of the last nice days this year to take a visit and winterise one of our customers Ferrari collection. Once they had all been run up and cleaned off, we tucked them back up ready to ride out the winter.....................F40's and cold wet roads dont mix!

Yellow on the outside & now......

2008-11-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

Nicks Exige still isnt quite yellow enough for him so some interior re trimmings are in order, door cards, leather center/gear lever surround got things a bit yellower!

Elise S1 Side graphics

2008-11-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

Simon kindly volunteered to have some of vinyl graphics on the side of his S1. The effect is pretty good, does make the car look as if its sitting quite low, and the free advertising is a bonus :-)

New Arrival

2008-10-06T04:26:00.000-07:00

Dans finally listened to all our badgering and bought himself an Exige, he ended up with one of the madest colours for the S2 Exige, Krypton Green, looks great and now we need to badger him some more...............s.u.p.e.r.c.h.a.r.g.e.r.........................

Brands Track Day

2008-10-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

We had planned the final of our Brands Track evenings and took along a couple of track virgins. Nick came along in the freshly completed Exige 'S' and Chris finally took out his tweeked 111S.

Nice evening, with no unexpected surprises apart from Nicks visit up to the stewards office for driving too fast!! (it was a novice evening but still!)

Sticker her up......

2008-09-08T03:20:00.000-07:00

Next on Nicks list was something to make the Exige stand out (Yellow is fairly drab!) So Ben from 'Visionary Graphics' kindly laid on some black viper stripes edged with silver pin stripes, and then blacked out the back light section to replicate the GT3 Exige, I think it has come out really nice and I am not usually a fan of stripes.

Exige 'S'

2008-09-08T03:08:00.001-07:00

Nick no sooner bought his 07' Exige 'S' then got it straight down to us for some upgrades. First on the list was a AP big brake conversion followed by a removable steering wheel (made nice and easy by the fact his car has an 08' dash with airbags, thanks!) Next on the list is some stripes................................

VX 220 Supercharged

2008-08-14T08:40:00.001-07:00

Max has brought his supercharged VX220 in for some further work. This time fitting the upgraded 'Spitfire' rear toe link kit and rear subframe brace bar.......Its really nicly made kit and should stiffen up the rear no end, if any one can test it to its full it wil be Max ;-)

Classic & Sports Car Photo Shoot

2008-08-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by 'Classic & Sports Car' Magazine asking if we would be interested in loaning my Elise S1 for a upcoming magazine artical they were planning. We all met up at the obligatory service station to go to the shoot location.........along with the Elise was a VX220, Renault sports spider and a Caterham 21.

After a few hours standing round we got to do some action shots, then the formation driving with the photographer hanging out the back of his car for the cover shot............was a good day and looking forward to the October issue.

Off roading Elise S1

2008-07-31T05:04:00.000-07:00

This Silver S1 Elise had taking its owner on a slight off road adventure......................a repair to the clam, darkened headlight recess and a front splitter has put this Elise looking better than ever.....................I'll update the after pic on its next visit as this pic doesn't do the black Rota's any justice.

Chris Elise S1 Episode 2

2008-07-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

Once we had removed a few stubborn bolts, a set of new Koni adjustable shocks, adjustable anti roll bar, and a few hours doing a geometry reset is all that was needed to get this elise sitting low and with the motorsport rear diffuser and a front splitter to finish it off a track day must be calling!!

Chris Elise S1 Episode 1

2008-07-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

Chris booked his S1 Elise in for some further mods, first on the list was the interior finishing off with a Snap-on steering wheel boss and Momo wheel to go along with the Corbeau motorsport seat we fitted late last year.

Now all that is needed is to sort out the ride hight and improve the handling............................

Elise Geo Check

2008-06-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Over time you'll be amazed how much even a standard road car gets away from its correct set up, it only takes a few pot holes or a new component fitting to throw it out and ruin the usually superb handling. We now do a very reasonable Geo service that is as relevant for a standard car as it is on a more track biased car.

Fiat 500 Dropped

2008-06-19T04:13:00.000-07:00

One of our friends has just got themselves a new Fiat 500. Lovely little car but just a bit vertically challenged for our liking so a drop was in order.............Much better now its running 40mm lower all round and nice red Eibach springs are always nice even if you cant see them.

Exige Retrim

2008-06-19T03:30:00.000-07:00

Some of us would be more than happy with a new Exige...........but if your not why dont you have us strip it down, powder coat all the suspension components and strip out the interior for a full re trim.

It will look immaculate once done but is a big job, now shes off having a custom back box made, and on her return will have a big brake conversion and new interior fitted.

Trophy Car Setup

2008-03-29T03:31:00.000-07:00

Guys S1 160 is running in the 'Elise Trophy' and after a test day and a successful opening round at brands came in for a geo set up and check over ready for the next round.............

Close Ratio gearbox

2008-03-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

Graham's Blue S1 was in for another fine upgrade..............This time we installed a Close ratio box for him in time for his 'spring sprint' at Goodwood................shame it coincided with the first round of the 'Elise trophy' over Easter weekend or we would have been down to watch...........

Elise S1 Rad upgrade

2008-03-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

Amongst the many nice S1 Elises we have a steady stream of these days was Chris Yellow early model.

In need of a radiator change it is such a clean car that even this time consuming job was made so much easier but the fact that she was well loved and all the nuts/bolts that usually are stuck solid fell off...............Are you sure you want to sell her Chris ;-)

Brands Hatch Trackday

2008-02-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

We had customers attending a Trackday at Brands last week, so as well as supporting them, it was a good opportunity to give our 'Elise trophy' car a proper test.

Was a late one on the Thursday to get car finished for an early start on Friday, but it all came together and apart from few small issues run well...........all in all a good day until just after we left Brands we had a call saying one of the cars we work on had an incident and snapped a rear suspension arm...............my advise, never run the last session of the day!

Elise Trophy Race Project

2008-02-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know, we are racing some rounds of the Lotus on Track 'Elise Trophy' this year. And although we had the best laid plans we are lagging behind on finishing the car...........customers come first apparently ;-)

So far we've stripped as much unwanted weight as possible, including heating and in this late S1's case the boot space and cutting away as much of the rear clam as is allowed in the regs..........its getting there, only few weeks until a track day at Brands that we are going to use for some testing so the heat is on to finish.

Splitter Fitting

2008-02-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

Grahams S1 Elise came in today to have an 'Eliseparts' splitter fitted. It did need a slight fettle to fit on but as it says in the instructions "this part does not fit straight on" I wasn't surprised.............but was very happy with the results........looks good left black on this car too, black wheels and arch protectors set the splitter off really well.

190VHPD Engine Upgrade

2008-01-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

Pauls Elise S1 160 had been starting to sound like a diesel, and after a bit of investigation it was found to be terminal!

Most of us would have been launched into a depressed state, but not Paul, no sooner had we broken the news to him that a 190VHPD had been found from an Exige and plans were made to drop her into the Elise.

At the same time some upgrades were fitted while the clam was off, an oil cooler and remote stat were an obvious must have and with a catch tank aswell some re-jigging of the boot were needed to fit it all in...........after a few full days and long nights a good job if i do say so, by now she has had the Emerald remapped and we're just waiting till end of Feb to get her out on track at Brands.

360 Stradale

2008-01-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Ferrari time again...........this week a 360 Stradale was the star of the workshop.

Quite basic works needed, a minor service and valet, before being put back into storage for the next few months.....

Elise 190 Motorsport

2008-01-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

The Elise 190 Motorsport is a rare beast.

We have been fortunate to have had a hand in restoring this one to her former glory. After many years of racing, being sold by its original owner and found again in a chicken barn she has had alot of work to get it back to new condition. In the process the owner has been reverting it back to the spec it left the factory, so last week we had removed the Ohlins she raced on and fitted an original set of LSS shocks and replaced the Quaife Straight-cut gearbox with the standard close ratio box...............really beautiful car.

Sport 160 Upgrade

2007-11-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

After more than 5 weeks of GT3mania it was good to get back to working on a S1...........

Graham has had his Viper Blue S1 for years and finally got around to having an engine upgrade.
We found a mint original Lotus sport 160 engine with less than 5K on and transplanted it into his car............now she goes as well as she looks..................

2007-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

After a final sticker session work stopped all over the place today, at our workshop due to it taking four of us to getting GT3 up onto the trailer (big thanks to Andy for his help, always good to get customers working) and then of to Bell&Colvill where again work paused while the new arrival was wheeled into the showroom, with just 1mm to spare as she is low...............

Progress..........

2007-11-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well we are coming to the end of one of our projects, and will post full details soon. In the meen time some pics to keep you going..............

Secret project

2007-10-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been very busy with a project we been asked not to advertise to much, although if you happened to come by the workshop theres not a lot we can do about that and you'll see it for yourself ;-)

So sorry no detailed pics just yet but I have been clicking away and when we've completed I get some more up for all to see.

Have been busy with other service/repair works too........Paul's S1 160 is back with us and she's had a nasty shunt, its been decided to strip for spares due to being quite a bill to repair.

If anyone needs any mint S1 parts get in touch, but it will all be on ebay soon................Another one bites the dust!

Swissvax vorks

2007-09-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

On of our clients Paul introduced me to 'swisswax' detailing kits (he happens to sell them) Have put it to good use on my S1..........She is in great condition anyway only having 5k but even so the finish is superb

Now just a black one to do...........may be a bit more work seeing she has kissed the track a few times!!

355 F1

2007-09-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Another lovely red machine in today for us to enjoy.

Just needed a few niggles sorting out, the car seems to think the bonnet is open and wont get above second gear!!

Also in the background you may see my Tie Fighter in for its MOT..........................they had a slight issue with the lights!!! something about them being black and not giving out any light................looks OK to me ;-)

Black Beauty.

2007-09-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Mark was kind enough to give us a call with a problem to his brakes on this nice Black S1..................

Just needed a clean up and a few tweeks to get back into working order, she will need a new handbrake cable which we'll do next week, but as usual, a good clean and polish maks this lovely S1 shine like new................you'll have to try very hard to beat a freshly washed Black S1.

Time to create!!!

2007-09-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Had a cancellation today which gave us much needed time to A. Put up Lotus banner.......

And B. for me to make a bracket to hold my rear difusser a little lower, as you can probably tell it was the work of a man with time on his hands, and lots of tea...............if anyone need a bracket made you know who to call ;-)

Last week catch up!!

2007-09-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Always the same, I plan to get to grips and place a daily blog only to be rushed off our feet the week I start!!

To catch up again!!

In amongst the usual services we had Kate's BRG S1 Elise for some repairs to the bent lower wishbone...............Goodwood attacks again!!

Needed a Geo afterwards and a clean up never goes a miss....................

Farrari 288GTO

2007-08-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

One of our customers has a 'Collection' of very nice red cars...............this week we have been mainly playing with a 288GTO.

Is a lovely car with a Twin turbo 2.8 Ltr V8 and 395bhp......not bad for 1987!!

Aswell as her yearly service and MOT the bodywork was in need of some 'steff' special polish....... let us know what you think of the results.

Red Bull 255Cup car

2007-08-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Brief catch up of some of the more intersting jobs we have had in over the last couple of weeks...........A friend of ours recently ask us to check over and prep this rather special exige 255 Cup car as used by Red Bull for some promotional activities at Goodwood. She is a beauty of a machine and we were lucky enough to take her for a spin........just to test you understand ;-)

Shes now up for sale at 'Bell and Colvill' and worth every penny if you ask me.

BACK ON TRACK

2007-08-30T05:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Blog.

Back on Track is a LOTUS specialist based in Guildford Surrey.

We will over the next few days update you with some of the things we get up to and hopefully give you a better idea of what we are about and hope to help you with any Servicing or Track/Race car prep you may need doing.

Just give us a call or pop by for a chat and cuppa.

01483 / 456030