Petem95

Im looking at an Elise which has some accident damage to the fibreglass body - basically a chunk has actually been broken off, so would need repairing.

How hard is it to repair fibreglass? Is a garage likely to change a fortune, or it is relatively easy for a specialist?

Thanks in advance!

lukey1

you can buy s1 clam shells for only about £500 so might be an idea to look at this option.

luke

Petem95

The damage is to the rear, and its a huge part on the rear - so no doubt very expensive.

I get the feeling thats whats needed tho, so might give this one a miss!

mart360

If its a simple hole or patching up parts its fairly straightforward..

the difficulty is if its a structural area, they are glued together to start with!!

work out the cost of g/f resin accelerator catylist and then see if it comes in cheap..

M

DJ73

seen body part's on e-bay once , could try there

greg.g

The clams although not structural are very expensive to repair. If it has had a chunk taken out of it, the chances are that it will have other cracks and splits that may not now be even visible, but which may well spread at a future date. Having a clam repaired is possible, but it needs a specalist to do the job. Its no good just patching the hole with a a fibre glass repair kit, filling and spraying. Other cracks will most certainly appear when the car is driven with general flexing/jolts from pot holes etc.
A new clam is an expensive job. You would probably be looking at £3k including fitting and spraying. Possibly a lot more.

My advice would be to look for another car thats been looked after.

If the repair had been a cheap one, i am sure the present owner would have had it done and then added another couple of grand on the asking price.

If you need any more advice, or look for cars for sale, then check out SELOC.org.

Good luck.