Edmunds CarPool

Fortunately, my choice expletive was not picked up by the helmet-mounted camera. Man, and it had to happen at turn two. I had to get it all the way around the track to get into the pits. Meanwhile, that loose turn signal is beating the living daylights out of the front clamshell. I nursed it back into the pits and checked out the damage. The top of the clamshell is really messed up. The turn signal is hanging on by two thin wires. As always, I mutter, "that's gonna be expensive."

Well, it could've been pricey. I spotted a small tire strike on the lens of the signal housing and one of the mounting clips was missing. No salvaging it this time. I called the closest Lotus dealer -- Galpin in North Hollywood -- and got prices for a new turn signal ($184.85) and gasket ($9.50). Yikes! I found a housing on eBay for $71.75 including shipping -- sold. The gasket was harder to find, so I ended up getting it at Galpin.

Installing them was a no brainer. The whole process took less than two minutes. The scratches, I feared would be significantly more difficult.

A while back, the good folks at Turtle Wax stopped by our offices and dropped off a few samples. One of the boxes was a product called Black Box -- a specially formulated polish for black cars. It's a two-stage process and includes applicators and a spray to facilitate easier residue removal. I tried it a few months prior on the rear clamshell with spectacular results -- it even garnered unsolicited praise from a co-worker.

I started applying the wax, thinking that if it doesn't work, I'll break out the buffer and rubbing compound. No need, as it turns out, the vast majority of scratches were gone after the first pass. The rest were gone in the second pass. Now, all that remains is a slight ding on the edge of the paint protection film. Beginning to end, it took less than 40 minutes, including time for pictures. Score one for the good guys.

Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor @ 37,058 miles