New Excel SE Owner

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If you are new to the Lotus position introduce yourself here. Please try to keep your the post to your introduction and your initial question/problems to the right formum.

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AndyD
Junior Poster
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 21:10
Model: Excel SE
Colour: Calypso Red
Year: 1986
Location: Sunny Kent

New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyD »

Good morning All

Just by way of an introduction – I purchased my 1986 Excel (early SE) in November from Lotusbits after being lucky enough to be invited for a ‘Dream Drive’ in a 1976 Lotus Elite by Classic Cars Magazine. The Excel was the ‘chase car’ so I got a good test drive.

Mike had gone through the car mechanically as it had been standing since 2014 and I managed the drive back to Kent from Coventry with no issues other than misting up as she’s a little damp inside. So mechanically she’s well, cosmetically less so.

Since then intermittent running has been solved by fitting a new solid-state fuel pump plus a new filter and I have solved a number of electrical gremlins and fitted a new radio.

Rear Bumper has been off and I have repainted in the correct red and also the sills. Currently the front bumper is off and I’m busy prepping that though the cold weather doesn’t help with paint curing times.

Looking forward to contributing a few posts and being a member of this small group of enthusiasts and getting out and about in the Excel once I’ve sorted the main teething problems.

All the best,

Andy

AndyC
Senior Poster
Posts: 2196
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 20:01
Model: SE x2 + Celebration x2
Colour: Gold,blue and green
Year: 1987
Location: Norwich

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyC »

Hi Andy.
Welcome to ownership, great choice in terms of the SE having that little extra power. I'm sure you'll enjoy driving the car, and you'll find that's one of the best ways to maintain these as those few years of standing will not have helped but the check by Mike will hopefully have picked up any problems.

Regards
Andy

richardw
Moderator
Posts: 2224
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 15:06
Model: Elite S2.2 Automatic
Colour: Essex Blue
Year: 1981
Location: Worcestershire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by richardw »

Welcome to the forum AndyD - I echo AndyC's remarks!

Cheers, Richard
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Ray-s
Regular Poster
Posts: 188
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 15:04
Model: Excel
Colour: calypso red
Year: 1988
Location: Grantham (close to)

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by Ray-s »

Hi Andy and welcome, car looks nice love the colour...
Ray...
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ray...
Why is there always bits left over ?

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Hawaiis0
Senior Poster
Posts: 4130
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 18:39
Model: Excel SA (No 3); Elite 504
Colour: BRG; Dirty White
Year: 1986
Location: West Oxfordshire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by Hawaiis0 »

Hi Andy. Welcome.

Just wondering where Sunny Kent is! Cant find it on the map.

Stu
Nothing is fool proof. Fools are clever!

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AndyD
Junior Poster
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 21:10
Model: Excel SE
Colour: Calypso Red
Year: 1986
Location: Sunny Kent

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyD »

Thanks Guys for the welcome and kind comments. :mrgreen:

Stu - 'Sunny Kent' is purely wishful thinking on my part as the weather has been rotten down here the last month or so.

Mind you, the time it's taking me to prep and paint the front bumper it will be sunny by the time I'm finished...

Cheers

Andy

TrevorK
Senior Poster
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 17:47
Model: Excel SE (Now gone)
Colour: White
Year: 1988
Location: Northamptonshire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by TrevorK »

Welcome to the cult, Andy. :lol:

Has the issue with your dream drive been published yet? If your dream drive was an Elite why did you buy an Excel? Was driving it that changed your mind?
What car is that?

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AndyD
Junior Poster
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 21:10
Model: Excel SE
Colour: Calypso Red
Year: 1986
Location: Sunny Kent

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyD »

Hi Trevor

The Elite was my dream drive as I sat in a new one in 1976 at Camden Motors in Leighton Buzzard when I was 8 years old. Despite the showroom having Astons, E Types etc, the Elite was just out of this world at the time - it stayed with me.

I wanted a car I could use regularly and Mike was able to convince me that the Excel was a better bet in that regard. Plus the fact that at 15k the Elite was beyond my 'toy box fund'. It was mint though - the article will be in the issue after next, on sale end of Feb I think.

My Excel was in last month's mag 'on the forecourt'.

Cheers,

Andy

TrevorK
Senior Poster
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 17:47
Model: Excel SE (Now gone)
Colour: White
Year: 1988
Location: Northamptonshire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by TrevorK »

Ah! The red and silver one I read about on the magazine's web site last night. Congratulations on the purchase and I'm sure many would agree that the Excel is a better bet for regular use with its stronger gearbox and better clutch release set up.
What car is that?

richardw
Moderator
Posts: 2224
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 15:06
Model: Elite S2.2 Automatic
Colour: Essex Blue
Year: 1981
Location: Worcestershire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by richardw »

AndyD wrote:
The Elite was my dream drive as I sat in a new one in 1976 at Camden Motors in Leighton Buzzard when I was 8 years old. Despite the showroom having Astons, E Types etc, the Elite was just out of this world at the time - it stayed with me.
Andy, that is a great quote and it sums up the feeling many of us had when we first saw the Elite. Everything else looked so old fashioned!

I may well ask you if I can use it in the inaugural Elite/Eclat/Excel section page in the April issue of Club Lotus News.

Cheers, Richard
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AndyD
Junior Poster
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 21:10
Model: Excel SE
Colour: Calypso Red
Year: 1986
Location: Sunny Kent

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyD »

Richard, feel free to do so. I was well chuffed when I was offered the opportunity by Classic Cars. Mike at Lotusbits who supplied the Elite said I was like a kid in a sweet shop!

A timely reminder also that I must get round to joining club Lotus.

By the way the red 520 you referred to in your nostalgia post has 2 pages dedicated to it in the Elite/Éclat/Excel book I've just read. 4 speed gearbox and single exhaust. I never knew that.

Cheers, Andy

richardw
Moderator
Posts: 2224
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 15:06
Model: Elite S2.2 Automatic
Colour: Essex Blue
Year: 1981
Location: Worcestershire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by richardw »

Thanks Andy!

Is that the Matthew Vale book you are referring to? I never bought a copy after Stu (I think) showed me his. It features a picture of my Elite (at a Brands Hatch Lotus Festival) with me sitting in it eating my lunch - he never even came across to say hello! He also took a close up picture of my instrument panel, labelling it as that introduced on the S2.2. Well I am flattered but it isn't! I have dispensed with the plastic instrument surround panel and used a contrasting blue vinyl for the instrument and centre console panels. Had he spoken to me he would have discovered this.

Anyway, more seriously, does he show the picture I posted or something similar? I know about the base 520 and its specification, but had never before seen a picture showing the steel wheels and single tailpipe. Most have been 'optionned up' to look like the more expensive versions.

Cheers, Richard
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AndyD
Junior Poster
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 21:10
Model: Excel SE
Colour: Calypso Red
Year: 1986
Location: Sunny Kent

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyD »

No probs Richard.

It's the Vale book, yes. I have just dug it out again.

Yes he shows your pic and another of the same car on pages 96 & 97. The car is red with beige interior. Single fuel filler another identifier and £5729 at launch as opposed to £6483 for the 501 (if you believe Mr Vale of course)...

You are indeed eating your lunch I assume in the blue Elite on page 11 and your pic of the moulding process is on page 69; the mould is a sort of yucky green colour.

It's not the most eloquently written book in the world but there is some interesting detail and it helped me with knowledge of the Excel and where mine sits in the evolution. It's a little unusual in being an SE without leather and with later dash but no roundels on the side window vents.

Cheers, Andy

TrevorK
Senior Poster
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 17:47
Model: Excel SE (Now gone)
Colour: White
Year: 1988
Location: Northamptonshire

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by TrevorK »

I've read that Tony Rudd said that the base Eclat, with the steel wheels and 4-speed gearbox was the one to have as, with the narrower wheels, you could really exploit the handling.
What car is that?

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AndyD
Junior Poster
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 21:10
Model: Excel SE
Colour: Calypso Red
Year: 1986
Location: Sunny Kent

Re: New Excel SE Owner

Post by AndyD »

Better for today's potholes too!

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