Contacted by a customer who informed us that he was bidding on a Lotus Cortina MK1 on Bangers & Cash – (series 2 ep 2 ) which he eventually purchased and got it dropped to us here.
We had carried out work on previous classic Fords for the customer. The car was in a very sorry state top and underside. In our opinion the car had been shell changed in the seventies with probably a GT shell. We understand that Colin Chapman used basic 3 door shells originally? The Lotus was completely stripped with 90% sandblast revealing quite a lot of panels needing sections removed and new steel welded in which was quite time consuming. All the brackets for the A frame welded on the spital. The underside was primed and the new white applied On the main body, two pack primer was sprayed with 3 coats with one or two coats removed, various imperfections then sorted with two more primers then light primer work and finally the new Ermine white top coat.
Mechanical work now. The Lotus twin cam engine was stripped and reconditioned. The gearbox sent to be reconditioned and the diff/axle stripped and checked for correct ratio (3.7) plus new seals. Front suspension sent to GAZ for exchange/refurb and new rear shocks fitted. New fuel tank, engine and gearbox then fitted with new propshaft, brake master cylinders, brake and petrol pipes, wiring sorted and a new starter alternator.
Radiator pipes, new stainless Tiger exhaust then fitted. Reconditioned brake servo. Twin webber 40’s fitted and interior fitted with new carpets, new Aldridge seat covers fitted by our trim department (Laura), powder coated 5.5J steel wheels with new tyres fitted. Many new parts were obtained by the owner from new side glass seals (rare at the time) and new door handles together with other small hard to find parts. The Lotus was featured in a Lotus Mag, the Tiger brochure and featured in Jim’s autobiographical published book.