A - Chassis
Chassis number 1234 (yes really!)
The car still has its original chassis which was refurbished by Spyder in the mid 1990's. This involved shot blasting, replacing the rear cross member, welding on various brackets to accommodate the Spyder front and rear suspension mods (see sections C Front and D Rear Suspension) and finally painting with an enamel finish similar to powder coating.
Whilst at Spyder the chassis was also modified to accept the Getrag gearbox such that the design is an exact copy of the Elite/Eclat Series 2 so that the original Getrag mounting system could be used. The differences are in two areas;
a) The top rails of the front "Y" are chamfered on the underside for the Getrag, whereas the Series 1 chassis has square section rails.
b) The mounting points are completely different. See the Getrag Brackets page that describes how these brackets are formed:
Note that a new chassis ordered from Lotus is now supplied as a universal item to fit either Series 1 or 2 configurations; the main difference being in the gearbox area with mounting for both the Getrag and Lotus boxes. The chassis is also galvanised! (see here) When I decided to have my chassis refurbished, one of the deciding factors was the reluctance of Spyder to weld the required brackets for their suspension onto a galvanised frame, (a) because it generates obnoxious fumes and (b) it destroys the integrity of the galvanised coating.
My Chassis
After refurbishment by Spyder - click to enlarge
Full chassis Rear bracket.................marked up
Brackets for mounting Spyder wide-based wishbone
Chassis changes for the Getrag gearbox; brackets and changes to cross-section of upper rails. See also the second picture below.
Rolling Chassis with Spyder Rear Suspension fitted
