Good morning from Lytham!

[Stu248]

Hi everybody, hope you are all well.

My name is Stu Taylor and I wanted to say hello and ask a question or two.

I currently have a lotus elise with quite extensive crash damage to the front and rear but also to the windscreen frame. Normally the damage would be enough to call it a day but I have a plan for the car!

After seeing some renderings on Instagram of a "future stratos" https://www.instagram.com/p/B9FPNKijS0p/?igshid=1tfqh4pfl6ypk I would love to try and replicate this using my elise as a donor. The plan is to purchase a stratos bodyshell then to "adjust " it to both resemble the renderings and also to fit the Elise chassis. The issue I am having is getting hold of a stratos body shell to start with.

I have contacted both Lister Bell and Hawk, both companies are very busy and have long waiting times, but I also think they are understandably a bit concerned in selling just a body to a stranger for obvious reasons.

My main question is does anyone know of another bodyshell manufacturer, or does anyone know of or have a used/damaged bodyshell which I could purchase? Obviously there will be alot of work going into the bodyshell so any damage can be sorted as I go.

Many thanks for getting to the end of my ramblings!!

Stu

[john]

The Napiersport moulds now reside in France. I'm not sure who actually holds them. I believe its a company who also make model car bodywork. Bizarre!
See my thread "Bargain basement stratos" in the for sale section for an example of the body. I wouldnt advocate dealing with the seller but if you were more diplomatic than me he might tell you the source in France.

[ProtoTipo]

Hi Stu,

I've owned both Hawk Stratos and an S1 Elise Millenium.

Nobody else can supply you with fibre glass Stratos centre tub, other than Hawk or LB.

The Elise wheelbase would lend itself better to make a Dino replica.
The Elise and Stratos have a similar track, but the Stratos wheelbase is way shorter than the Elise.
There is an LB LWB (Le Mans) Stratos replica which might fit, but it's not as nice looking as the standard car.

Can you measure the distance between the inside of the Elise sills?

[Griff]

KTM did an adaption of the X Bow

https://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/23/ktm-x-bow-gets-a-roof-thinks-its-a-stratos-w-videos/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALFxqywHVlCncCrR2wjJJXktRsDXRaSK3PTCEpt3mx5xK7-dy_KwDaf3v6Ik9XErKEGVK9Bel9EIUdwJWc3Tt9Sp5Ri3dVPATqtONsOUPAoZdWVWe7__JB245x_6uJ4gybn0aVexrqweYzz9ntXlM6fc2JZwTV6xO2EGIy1SxojH

https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/800x450/format/jpg/quality/85/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/08/webktm-stratos.jpg

[Stratos Fear]

Stu

You will no doubt get loads of advice from everybody - a lot of it different and contradictory. If it was me in your position I'd flog your bent motor as bits and proceed with building an LB or a Hawk replica. If you are a fan of the Toyota engine you can opt for the V6 2G FR which seems to be used by a few folk here - otherwise use the Alfa 3ltr 24V motor which is a great engine and relatively inexpensive. There aren't many Stratos body shells around for sale so you might struggle with that (although John has highlighted one). What you are proposing is a monumental task - but not beyond the capabilities of a competent engineer with plenty of time available ! Either way "good Luck "

[Stu248]

Thanks for all the replies. I did forget to mention I bought an MOT failed 2.5 litre 24 valve v6 156 on Ebay a month ago with this project in mind, the car is about 75% rust but the engine is sound. This is going to be grafted into the Elise over the next few weeks and hopefully by then I will have a solution for the body.

John - I saw the bargain basement thread, contacted the owner and was told he had scrapped the car. From a €10000 euro asking price to a scrap yard seems a big loss to me!!

Proto Tipo - I have looked at the Dino body but just love the shape of the stratos, I know what I have planned isn't an original but I'm hoping I can pay homage to it as much as possible!

Thanks again all

Cheers

Stu

[renmure]

Sounds like an interesting (and challenging!!) project.
Good Luck.

Being a sad git I've got 1/18 scale models of most of the cars I've had and although this is an S2 Elise it shows that you've got a bit of work to do.

https://i.imgur.com/gJNXN53.jpg

[john]

That's a good illustration Jim. Wheelbase doesn't look so far out there but Chris' figures are probably right.

[john]

Stu, he said he had scrapped it?!
It doesn't make sense does it?
Some of the chassis fabrication was appaling. Never saw enough of the body to make a judgement.

[Stu248]

Stu, he said he had scrapped it?!
It doesn't make sense does it?
Some of the chassis fabrication was appaling. Never saw enough of the body to make a judgement.

I know, he did seem like a bit of an odd ball to be honest! I gathered the chassis was a bit pants from the for sale thread but I was only interested in the body so thought it might be worth a punt......it wasn't!!

Cheers

Stu

[Stu248]

Sounds like an interesting (and challenging!!) project.
Good Luck.

Being a sad git I've got 1/18 scale models of most of the cars I've had and although this is an S2 Elise it shows that you've got a bit of work to do.

https://i.imgur.com/gJNXN53.jpg

Guess what.....I did the same. I even started taking the models apart to swap the bodies! Not surprisingly it didn't fit!!

How hard can it be?!!!

Cheers

Stu

[ProtoTipo]

The Elise chassis is too long to make it look correct.
The chances of getting a fibre glass centre tub are remote.
A chassis that's designed to hold a 4 cylinder K Series (one of the lightest production 4 cylinder engines ever made) wouldn't be strong enough for a Busso engine. They're not light!
I know there's a V6 Exige now, but it has a bigger and stronger chassis than an original Elise.

Another thing is that the Elise has the steering rack behind the front axle line, which isn't going to help.
The Elise door hinges and alloy beam couldn't be incorporated into the Stratos doors, as standard.

I think a Stratos shaped body on an Elise chassis could only be an approximate looking car (like the 'new' Stratos).
Therefore, there's nothing 'off the shelf' that you could use to build such a car.

A car that has the Elise centre tub, but with front and rear 'clams' opening in the same way as a Stratos might be possible.
It would make fitting the Elise battery less back breaking?

[Stu248]

The Elise chassis is too long to make it look correct.
The chances of getting a fibre glass centre tub are remote.
A chassis that's designed to hold a 4 cylinder K Series (one of the lightest production 4 cylinder engines ever made) wouldn't be strong enough for a Busso engine. They're not light!
I know there's a V6 Exige now, but it has a bigger and stronger chassis than an original Elise.

Another thing is that the Elise has the steering rack behind the front axle line, which isn't going to help.
The Elise door hinges and alloy beam couldn't be incorporated into the Stratos doors, as standard.

I think a Stratos shaped body on an Elise chassis could only be an approximate looking car (like the 'new' Stratos).
Therefore, there's nothing 'off the shelf' that you could use to build such a car.

A car that has the Elise centre tub, but with front and rear 'clams' opening in the same way as a Stratos might be possible.
It would make fitting the Elise battery less back breaking?

Great advice thanks.

I think the weight of the v6 in an elise should be ok, the K20A type r engines have been fitted into elises with no issues and they are slightly heavier than a v6.

My whole idea was to keep the centre tub of the elise then retrofit the front and rear clips and adapt/extend the centre section to fit. This will definitely take the car away from the dimensions of an original but what I would like is to build something more akin to the new stratos and take it a step further. It's very difficult to explain but it all makes sense in my head!!

One thing I haven't thought of is the steering rack, I will have to look into that one, but I'm sure it's not an impossible task with a bit of jiggery pokery!

Thanks again

Stu

[Stradale493]

Lytham as in Fylde coast ? If so, we're practically neighbours.

I also used to have an Elise S1 - at the time I thought it was the closest thing to a Stratos I would ever own.
My LB Stradale is easier to climb in and out of (than elise with roof on) and much easier to change the battery, without lacerating both forearms in the process

Cheers,
Graham

[Stu248]

Lytham as in Fylde coast ? If so, we're practically neighbours.

I also used to have an Elise S1 - at the time I thought it was the closest thing to a Stratos I would ever own.
My LB Stradale is easier to climb in and out of (than elise with roof on) and much easier to change the battery, without lacerating both forearms in the process

Cheers,
Graham

That's right, Lytham on the Fylde. Where abouts are you Graham?

Cheers

Stu

[Stradale493]

Westby - not too far from B&Q