3.1 Stripping the remains and assessing the damage

The demise of this particular 1971 Lotus Seven S4 occurred as a result of a fuel leak in the engine bay. Despite turning off the engine and ignition, the fire consumed the bonnet, both wings, and the majority of the cockpit moldings, as well as the steering column, windscreen, seats, radiator, carburetor, and all gauges and switches. Once the decision to restore the car was taken, the first step was to completely strip everything down to the bare chassis.

Removal of the remains of the body

The only remaining parts of the fiberglass bodywork were a portion of the main tub section and part of the seat areas ( [link] - [link] ). One consequence of the fire was that the true color of the car was revealed, as the paint had pealed off in several areas. As with some of its other models, Lotus had experimented with self-colored fiberglass composites, in which the color was incorporated into the gel coat. Instead of the traditional British racing green, the original fiberglass had been bright orangish red (see [link] ), which was one of the original colors, including: white, red, yellow, pale blue, and the very seventies lime green. According to Lotus records this car was originally red. At this point it is intended that the restored car be returned to the original bright red as a homage to the cars original configuration.

Prior to removal of the remains of the body from the chassis, the fire destroyed battery had to be removed, along with residual battery cables. The battery tray is bolted through the boot floor, and was considerably corroded ( [link] ) as a consequence of the damage to the battery ( [link] ). Removal of the spare wheel is accomplished by unscrewing the two long bolts that pass through the rear body into the threads on the spare wheel bracket ( [link] ).

The body remains were removed from the chassis by removal of the mounting bolts. Detachment of the fuel filler hose was also required in order to free the fiberglass from the chassis. Once separated, the rear light clusters were unscrewed and found to be intact ( [link] ), although the wiring will need replacing.

The fire had consumed the copper core of the radiator, and a whole new radiator will be needed. The radiator support brackets were removed ( [link] ).

The rubber brake lines to the front brake calipers had been destroyed in the fire, and the plastic reservoirs of the brake and clutch master cylinders were badly damaged. They were removed from the metal bulkhead, as was the pedal unit ( [link] ), and the remains of the handbrake.