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So I just bought this. Don't laugh! Update: not gonna happen :(

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Bing
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So I just bought this. Don't laugh!

Post by Bing » Sun May 19, 2019 1:46 pm

That’s f***ing classy 8)
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So I just bought this. Don't laugh!

Post by Mr Tidy » Sun May 19, 2019 8:41 pm

Very 80s - it looks great (well maybe apart from those gold wheels). :thumbsup:
Coupes because stunning!
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So I just bought this. Don't laugh!

Post by john-e89 » Sun May 19, 2019 8:49 pm

Nowt wrong with a bit of 80’s tat Chris..... :poke: :wink: :wink:

Looks nice that mucker. :thumbsup: :driving:
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So I just bought this. Don't laugh!

Post by Lazza » Sun May 19, 2019 10:32 pm

This is of interest to me as I was working at Lotus around that time! I probably handled parts of it, I might have done final inspection on it. I might have even driven or passengered in it around the test track (they were all tested on the track before being signed off).
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So I just bought this. Don't laugh!

Post by Steve67 » Mon May 20, 2019 7:49 am

Chris_D wrote: Sun May 19, 2019 11:47 am
Steve67 wrote: Sun May 19, 2019 11:23 am I miss mine! I had a ‘90 SE with full leather - bought with 50k on the clock and sold with 165k, still running sweetly with compressions all even and over 200psi. At one point I was commuting 140 miles a day in it. Great car for eating the miles but also a lot of fun in the twisty bits - awesome steering feel! The engine needs some revs to get going but pulls nicely to 7k once you get above about 4K!

The best mod I did to it was fit 17” wheels so that the front brakes could be upgraded from 260x22 to 325x25 (modded mg ZT 190 discs - cheap as chips) with hi spec 4 pot callipers...

Lotusexcel.net is a great forum!
Steve67 wrote: Sun May 19, 2019 11:25 am And no, there’s no cat fitted to them, just a middle box and two rear silencers ... oh a pair of lovely dellorto 45DHLA’s ...
Great to hear Steve.
Was all over that forum for research. It's where I found out about the weird green cam filter. Sort of a CCV system for the Excel.
Must be the middle box and not a cat I'm seeing then.
Did you have any overheating issues? I've had it out for 2 test runs. On the second run I was let loose on my own and it started to go a bit warm so eased back off the revs and nursed it back to the dealer.
He's going to give it a coolant flush/renewal and check the pump and stat.
Final shakedown will be next weekend after they've done an oil-change and general service after I suggested they should really get it into some form of 'sellable' shape as it's been standing for so long (only driven 500 miles in the last 5 years!!). see pic.
The brakes were shall we say 'lively' under hard braking, so they're going to balance them and swap in some new pads. The tyres are also very old but with a decent amount of tread but they felt squishy.
The aircon works but it was feeble at best so a re-gas will also be part of the refresh by the dealer. Was happy it was actually working tbh.
Any other reccommendations, things to look out for from your perspective?
IMG_20190518_155805.jpg
The time mine started to get warm was when the otter (fan) switch only started to fail ... the fan would normally start at exactly 92 degrees on my gauge and cut out at 87. If there was a slight buzz from the relay as the fan started, that was a hint that the otter switch was starting to fail! I never had any overheating problems at speed, including track days. I found the thermostats tended to fail on the cold side and open early - temp gauge on a cruise on mine was bang on 82 deg.

The aircon was awesome on mine when filled with good old R12 - some days, it was so cold you’d get freezing fog out of the vents! It wasn’t quite so extreme on the eco R12 replacement (can’t remember the R number, not the same as modern cars!), but was still good! I found the a/c compressor took a fair chunk of power so left it switched off most of the time!

MOT time was generally ok, sometimes the carbs idle mix screws needed a 1/4 or 1/2 a turn in to get the target CO but go too far and the HC went high ... as soon as it passed, turn the screws back out so it runs smoothly!

Oh and keep a check on the condition of the cam belt pulleys - after about 100-110k my crank pulley developed sharp edges and started chewing the belt - luckily I spotted that before disaster struck!

The brakes came from the supra 2.8i and were also used on the Esprit SE turbo with 264bhp - even with calliper rebuilds and various different pads I always felt they were the weak point. Luckily the handling meant you didn’t need to use them much!

Overall, I loved that car and kept it 17 years! Feel free to PM me any questions!

Enjoy!

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Post by Chris_D » Mon May 20, 2019 8:24 am

Steve67 wrote: Mon May 20, 2019 7:49 am
Chris_D wrote: Sun May 19, 2019 11:47 am
Steve67 wrote: Sun May 19, 2019 11:23 am I miss mine! I had a ‘90 SE with full leather - bought with 50k on the clock and sold with 165k, still running sweetly with compressions all even and over 200psi. At one point I was commuting 140 miles a day in it. Great car for eating the miles but also a lot of fun in the twisty bits - awesome steering feel! The engine needs some revs to get going but pulls nicely to 7k once you get above about 4K!

The best mod I did to it was fit 17” wheels so that the front brakes could be upgraded from 260x22 to 325x25 (modded mg ZT 190 discs - cheap as chips) with hi spec 4 pot callipers...

Lotusexcel.net is a great forum!
Steve67 wrote: Sun May 19, 2019 11:25 am And no, there’s no cat fitted to them, just a middle box and two rear silencers ... oh a pair of lovely dellorto 45DHLA’s ...
Great to hear Steve.
Was all over that forum for research. It's where I found out about the weird green cam filter. Sort of a CCV system for the Excel.
Must be the middle box and not a cat I'm seeing then.
Did you have any overheating issues? I've had it out for 2 test runs. On the second run I was let loose on my own and it started to go a bit warm so eased back off the revs and nursed it back to the dealer.
He's going to give it a coolant flush/renewal and check the pump and stat.
Final shakedown will be next weekend after they've done an oil-change and general service after I suggested they should really get it into some form of 'sellable' shape as it's been standing for so long (only driven 500 miles in the last 5 years!!). see pic.
The brakes were shall we say 'lively' under hard braking, so they're going to balance them and swap in some new pads. The tyres are also very old but with a decent amount of tread but they felt squishy.
The aircon works but it was feeble at best so a re-gas will also be part of the refresh by the dealer. Was happy it was actually working tbh.
Any other reccommendations, things to look out for from your perspective?
IMG_20190518_155805.jpg
The time mine started to get warm was when the otter (fan) switch only started to fail ... the fan would normally start at exactly 92 degrees on my gauge and cut out at 87. If there was a slight buzz from the relay as the fan started, that was a hint that the otter switch was starting to fail! I never had any overheating problems at speed, including track days. I found the thermostats tended to fail on the cold side and open early - temp gauge on a cruise on mine was bang on 82 deg.

The aircon was awesome on mine when filled with good old R12 - some days, it was so cold you’d get freezing fog out of the vents! It wasn’t quite so extreme on the eco R12 replacement (can’t remember the R number, not the same as modern cars!), but was still good! I found the a/c compressor took a fair chunk of power so left it switched off most of the time!

MOT time was generally ok, sometimes the carbs idle mix screws needed a 1/4 or 1/2 a turn in to get the target CO but go too far and the HC went high ... as soon as it passed, turn the screws back out so it runs smoothly!

Oh and keep a check on the condition of the cam belt pulleys - after about 100-110k my crank pulley developed sharp edges and started chewing the belt - luckily I spotted that before disaster struck!

The brakes came from the supra 2.8i and were also used on the Esprit SE turbo with 264bhp - even with calliper rebuilds and various different pads I always felt they were the weak point. Luckily the handling meant you didn’t need to use them much!

Overall, I loved that car and kept it 17 years! Feel free to PM me any questions!

Enjoy!
Great tips Steve, many thanks!
I'm really hoping the overheating issue isn't more serious i.e. cracked/warped head. Hoping the worst case scenario is air bubbles or blockage somewhere and I'll suggest to the dealer before next weekend to look at the fan switch too.
How did you get such precise temperature measurements from yours? From the guages?

It's currently on a D service and I believe the belts are changed at C (?). It may be worth swapping some new ones in however and checking the pulley condition at the same time.

I'll PM you for any detailed questions and thanks for the offer!
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Post by Steve67 » Mon May 20, 2019 10:07 pm

Yep, measurements were just from the gauges! Unlike most modern cars, the gauge does actually move as traffic conditions change! My R53 Cooper S gauge used to show exact “middle” temperature from 77-to over 105 degrees FFS, what’s the point in having a gauge!? The Z is probably just as bad, I just haven’t checked it against the OBD port or hidden dash menu yet!

For the life of me, I can’t remember whether there was a radiator bleed on the excel - but I think there was a small bleed pipe from the thermostat pipe / outlet back to the header tank and it’s worth checking that isn’t blocked!

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Post by Chris_D » Mon May 20, 2019 11:20 pm

Steve67 wrote: Mon May 20, 2019 10:07 pm Yep, measurements were just from the gauges! Unlike most modern cars, the gauge does actually move as traffic conditions change! My R53 Cooper S gauge used to show exact “middle” temperature from 77-to over 105 degrees FFS, what’s the point in having a gauge!? The Z is probably just as bad, I just haven’t checked it against the OBD port or hidden dash menu yet!

For the life of me, I can’t remember whether there was a radiator bleed on the excel - but I think there was a small bleed pipe from the thermostat pipe / outlet back to the header tank and it’s worth checking that isn’t blocked!
Reet thx :thumbsup:
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Post by Chris_D » Sat May 25, 2019 8:41 pm

So, today was supposed to be full of joy and excitement as the plan was to pick up the Excel after the dealer promised to get it into a 'good sellable condition' after my previous 3 visits to view and test drive it. The overheating and brake issues were the highest concern and he advised that they had both been addressed, along with the replacement battery, aircon re-gas and wheel balancing.
It's on old rubber but that will have to be addressed at my expense due to the fact that I negotiated almost half the asking price away.

But, as with all the best laid plans, it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib.
I rocked up with a bag of cash and before parting with said bag it was down to business with another long test-drive.
30km in and the overheating issue sadly was still present. I was on back roads around Soesterberg with a lot of stop-start driving, giving it some beans here and there. This, after the dealer assured me it had been sorted and tested.

The braking was, if anything, worse than before! Before it would squirrel around under constant brake pedal pressure. Now it seemed to pull to the left quite badly. So it's definitely still unbalanced. The pads have been replaced though.

The only thing that did seem to have been adressed was the aircon. I actually had to turn it off after a while due to an icicle forming on the end of my schnozz!

Disappointed to say the least.

We spoke some more when I got back and the dealer went into pantomime-mode at his 'chief mechanic' who I thought was a decent bloke.
In any case, I advised that I was still interested but only if they can get these issues addressed.
Glad I didn't put a deposit down but by the same token I'm really into this car now. It just has to work!

@Steve, I advised about the otter switch relay and suggested they replace the relay to see if it makes a difference.
I also suggested to replace the temp sensors in case the guage is reading false.
It doesnt smell like it's over-heating, if you know what I mean? No boiling coolant smell or excess heat from the engine bay. But that's a dangerous supposition perhaps.
Any ideas from you?
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So I just bought this. Don't laugh!

Post by Thrustyjust » Sun May 26, 2019 10:38 pm

Nice clean car. Not many around with originality. Plenty been stripped out and ruined. Saying that , a Jag V8 or a Lexus V8 do fit in there :o
Have a look at Seloc.org for info . Used to be on there when I had an Elise :driving:
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Post by Chris_D » Mon May 27, 2019 6:30 am

Thrustyjust wrote: Sun May 26, 2019 10:38 pm Nice clean car. Not many around with originality. Plenty been stripped out and ruined. Saying that , a Jag V8 or a Lexus V8 do fit in there :o
Have a look at Seloc.org for info . Used to be on there when I had an Elise :driving:
It’s tempting to hope that the engine is actually toast on this one as that would enable me to negotiate even lower and then it would be a proper project car and opening the door to perhaps a swap-in of a tasty v8 as you suggest.
I’m a bit ambivalent however. We’ll see how the dealer gets on this week....
Feeling lucky i didnt put any money down on this already. Dealer is in for 100’s more (apparently) since we started negotiations.
Thx for that link.
:thumbsup:
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Post by firebobby » Mon May 27, 2019 8:52 am

Oh, the joys of old Lotus ownership Chris :wink:
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Post by ShaunKC » Mon May 27, 2019 8:23 pm

Here is one I saw on my travels today, a bit more of a project car, but the same model I think!
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Post by Chris_D » Mon May 27, 2019 9:05 pm

ShaunKC wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 8:23 pm Here is one I saw on my travels today, a bit more of a project car, but the same model I think!
It's quite literally become part of the scenery!
:o
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Post by Lazza » Mon May 27, 2019 9:27 pm

Check the seat belt mounting on the sill. I was in goods-in when a faulty batch came in with the captive nut welded on the wrong side. I refused to sign them off despite pressure from management. Eventually they got another inspector to sign them off and a few weeks later I was sacked due to my poor attitude. If it is the faulty batch, the seat belt mount will basically be held on by just 2 small welds rather than be being clamped by the nut.
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