Front Frame Extension

Brand new steel front frame extension. Hand made in Norfolk, UK (close to the Lotus factory).

Made to OEM specifications and sizes, but with thicker steel used in the weaker areas to improve the structure, and made with a better and more rigid design with solid welds, rather than the original part which was made from spot-welded plates. It is still designed to crumple on impact, but the thicker steel used around the anti-roll / sway bar mounting points means the recall plates are not required (although leave them on if you have them anyway).

This part needs to be welded on, and as such a little extra material has been left on the 2 top pieces to give you options on how to attach it.

These newly made front ends will need to be welded to your existing chassis crossmember, exactly where the old one will be removed from, assuming you're replacing entire thing. The upper panels are an extra 20mm long to allow for an optional cut, as the chassis cross member isn't square - the top has a radius (see pictures of an old cut-off one). This extra 20mm will have to be shaped to suit if you fit it back here. Alternatively you can cut it square off the chassis in line with where the bottom joins and then remove the additional 20mm that's been added to the new part to allow for a square fit.
The front end shouldn't require much to get it to line up with the old cut-off points, but from experience as the old parts of the chassis are cut, they can spring back to a neutral position, or can warp depending on how rusty/rotten it has become. Once welded on, painting is recommended, or you could choose to galvanise it first - however this makes welding difficult as the paint will need to be ground off to allow for a clean weld. Note: if galvanising, additional 6mm holes will need to be drilled to allow for zinc to get out, or it will fill up the upper half. This applies to any dead end/leg when galvanising.

Please note these are supplied as bare steel, so a very small amount of surface corrosion will be present.

Also available in stainless steel.