New member - Excel SA
Moderator: Board Moderators
-
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 3712
- Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 21:28
- Model: Elite
- Colour: Monaco White
- Year: 1974
- Location: Nottingham
Re: New member - Excel SA
Those seats look great Neil and will probably be much more supportive than the Excel ones which aren't great to be honest. Good find! I'm going to check out some black ones now
Pete
Pete
- Excel SA
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 06:11
- Model: Excel
- Colour: White
- Year: 1987
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Re: New member - Excel SA
The seat installation has been covered on a separate thread: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=12520
Other progress - the new air intake system is almost complete - some minor bits left to do still - but here it is mounted to the upper radiator duct:
Another angle - the green arrow is where I added in a fiberglass angle to strengthen and stiffen the front edge of the duct as it was pretty flimsy after the hole was cut:
The angle was also used to make the fixing points for the intake to be held in place - 3 nutserts were used - here I used a saddle for electrical conduit as a mold, and filled it with a resin and microfiber mix to the top of the nutsert - I did use mold release on the saddles, so they just popped off once the resin had cured.
And a view from below, installed in the car. Fixing points and high stress areas were reinforced. The whole unit still needs to be cleaned up and painted. Access from the lower radiator duct still has to be sorted out.
A bit of an issue cropped up when connecting the pipe work to the engine intake - when the bonnet is opened the support bar across the front of the bonnet was touching the silicone hose. I need to install a solid piece of tubing for the MAF sensor, and pushing that closer to moving parts of the engine when opening the bonnet would have been a problem!
To solve the problem I removed the support bar and introduced a bit of a curve into it - I don't see that there will be any other ill-effects by doing this - there will still be some fettling required to get the bonnet and body work lined up nicely.
Neil.
Other progress - the new air intake system is almost complete - some minor bits left to do still - but here it is mounted to the upper radiator duct:
Another angle - the green arrow is where I added in a fiberglass angle to strengthen and stiffen the front edge of the duct as it was pretty flimsy after the hole was cut:
The angle was also used to make the fixing points for the intake to be held in place - 3 nutserts were used - here I used a saddle for electrical conduit as a mold, and filled it with a resin and microfiber mix to the top of the nutsert - I did use mold release on the saddles, so they just popped off once the resin had cured.
And a view from below, installed in the car. Fixing points and high stress areas were reinforced. The whole unit still needs to be cleaned up and painted. Access from the lower radiator duct still has to be sorted out.
A bit of an issue cropped up when connecting the pipe work to the engine intake - when the bonnet is opened the support bar across the front of the bonnet was touching the silicone hose. I need to install a solid piece of tubing for the MAF sensor, and pushing that closer to moving parts of the engine when opening the bonnet would have been a problem!
To solve the problem I removed the support bar and introduced a bit of a curve into it - I don't see that there will be any other ill-effects by doing this - there will still be some fettling required to get the bonnet and body work lined up nicely.
Neil.
- bash
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 2210
- Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2005 15:34
- Model: Se, V8
- Colour: white
- Year: 1986
- Location: Doncaster
- Contact:
Re: New member - Excel SA
This is probably a dim question from a dim person, but, how are you going to change the air filter at service time.
Bash
Bash
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
- Excel SA
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 06:11
- Model: Excel
- Colour: White
- Year: 1987
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Re: New member - Excel SA
I did plan for that
The filter housing comes out, it will need to come out through the lower radiator duct, which I will need to split into 2 to keep the radiator in place. So a few bolts to undo, nothing too major compared to some modern cars....
Neil.
The filter housing comes out, it will need to come out through the lower radiator duct, which I will need to split into 2 to keep the radiator in place. So a few bolts to undo, nothing too major compared to some modern cars....
Neil.
- bash
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 2210
- Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2005 15:34
- Model: Se, V8
- Colour: white
- Year: 1986
- Location: Doncaster
- Contact:
Re: New member - Excel SA
I thought you had a plan.
Cheers
Bash
Cheers
Bash
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
-
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 3712
- Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 21:28
- Model: Elite
- Colour: Monaco White
- Year: 1974
- Location: Nottingham
Re: New member - Excel SA
Air intake looks great Neil - very professional! I hope you're going to do a sound clip when you get the V8 running
Pete
Pete
- Excel SA
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 06:11
- Model: Excel
- Colour: White
- Year: 1987
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Re: New member - Excel SA
Thanks Pete, will be a while before there are any V8 sounds....
Here's a pic showing how the air-filter box comes out - once unscrewed it hinges down and into the radiator duct to be removed. There will be a seal between the fixed and removeable section - the gap changes when it is actually installed, compared to when it is out of the car - tightening things up an a fiberglass body means some distortion apparently.
Neil.
Here's a pic showing how the air-filter box comes out - once unscrewed it hinges down and into the radiator duct to be removed. There will be a seal between the fixed and removeable section - the gap changes when it is actually installed, compared to when it is out of the car - tightening things up an a fiberglass body means some distortion apparently.
Neil.
- Excel SA
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 06:11
- Model: Excel
- Colour: White
- Year: 1987
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Re: New member - Excel SA
A million jobs done - another million to go....
The oil filler neck on the engine was too long - it would have needed a bonnet scoop all of its own, and we know how those are frowned upon!
I cut a section out and took it to the wheel repair guys up the road who can weld aluminium and had it welded back together:
It needed some work to make it look a bit more standard...another niggly job out of the way.
Put some of the car together, and found that the 3D envisioning section of my brain doesn't work that well - a bit of contact between the air inlet and the radiator fan (the red circle) - this will need extending and a notch built into it to give some clearance.
Spent a good chunk of the weekend on getting the center console/dash sorted - it went in and came out a good number of times whilst things were fettled. A few more minor tweaks and then I can look at getting it all covered. I have bought a radio that is a 1/2 DIN size - no CD player so the body of the radio is quite short - which allows it to fit in the space chosen - a bit higher up in the console, without (hopefully...) hitting any of the plumbing at the back. Yes, the USB port is upside down....There must have been some people with very small hands and great dexterity working at Lotus - getting nuts and washers onto some of the bolts is a challenge.
Neil.
The oil filler neck on the engine was too long - it would have needed a bonnet scoop all of its own, and we know how those are frowned upon!
I cut a section out and took it to the wheel repair guys up the road who can weld aluminium and had it welded back together:
It needed some work to make it look a bit more standard...another niggly job out of the way.
Put some of the car together, and found that the 3D envisioning section of my brain doesn't work that well - a bit of contact between the air inlet and the radiator fan (the red circle) - this will need extending and a notch built into it to give some clearance.
Spent a good chunk of the weekend on getting the center console/dash sorted - it went in and came out a good number of times whilst things were fettled. A few more minor tweaks and then I can look at getting it all covered. I have bought a radio that is a 1/2 DIN size - no CD player so the body of the radio is quite short - which allows it to fit in the space chosen - a bit higher up in the console, without (hopefully...) hitting any of the plumbing at the back. Yes, the USB port is upside down....There must have been some people with very small hands and great dexterity working at Lotus - getting nuts and washers onto some of the bolts is a challenge.
Neil.
- MetBlue
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 1405
- Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 21:00
- Model: Elite 74 & Excel 92 (SEish))
- Colour: Metalic Blue
- Year: 1974
- Location: Northampton
Re: New member - Excel SA
Starting to look very co-ordinated. More so than the standard lotus auto selector.
Nice work. Looking forward to seeing it covered.
Tony
Nice work. Looking forward to seeing it covered.
Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 2224
- Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 15:06
- Model: Elite S2.2 Automatic
- Colour: Essex Blue
- Year: 1981
- Location: Worcestershire
Re: New member - Excel SA
Very nice work Neil.
Cheers, Richard
Cheers, Richard
-
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 3712
- Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 21:28
- Model: Elite
- Colour: Monaco White
- Year: 1974
- Location: Nottingham
Re: New member - Excel SA
Great work Neil - going to look really good once it's all covered. As Tony says - better than the Lotus original!
Pete
Pete
- Excel SA
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 06:11
- Model: Excel
- Colour: White
- Year: 1987
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Re: New member - Excel SA
Thanks all - a bit of an improvement on version 1 as shown below I think....
The surround for the gear lever is not flat, so everything needs to curve so that it all lines up on the surface.
Neil.
The surround for the gear lever is not flat, so everything needs to curve so that it all lines up on the surface.
Neil.
- Excel SA
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 06:11
- Model: Excel
- Colour: White
- Year: 1987
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Re: New member - Excel SA
It's been a while since the last update - a few jobs have been worked on, much frustration with "loadshedding" which has been quite severe - when it's from 8 to 10 p.m. it interferes with prime workshop time...
The leather on the dashboard had shrunk and the result was a cracked and bent fiberglass base around the passenger side air vent. There is a strip of foam under the leather that helps seal/finish off the leather around the vents - this had ben pulled, twisted and deformed by the shrinking leather - the driver's side I was able to unglue the leather, and reposition everything. The passenger side required some repairs and re-shaping of the fiberglass as can be seen below. The leather strip running just under the base of the windscreen and around the vents will also need to be replaced. To give you some reference on the picture, the black box at the bottom is the rear of the cubbyhole....
My 3D brain imagery of the intake system failed a bit more - there is a clash for space with the radiator fan - red arrow. I have had to cut some relief into the intake tube, to get it to clear the fan, and I will put a rubber spacer where the red circle is to ensure there is no contact.....The intake unfortunately comes out over the fans at the worst possible point - I will also try to move the radiator forward a few millimeters, but I'm not up to remolding the whole part!
The front bumper is mostly complete - some final sanding and cleaning up is required, but the bulk of the work is done. The lip at the front of the car, just above the bumper, needs a bit more fettling, it's not a uniform thickness across the car, so a bit more work required to even that out.
The driver's side rear quarter panels have also had some attention. The previous repair had involved removing almost all of the gel coat and replacing it with 3, 4, 5, 6mm of body filler that hadn't properly set in some places. I have removed all of that and re-set the body back into shape, but the fiberglass was quite flexible - pushing on it made it "tin can" quite easily. I have now applied a layer of 240gsm cloth over the panels with the usual epoxy resin. Peel ply was also used to give the surface some texture - the section behind the rear wheel is shown below with the peel ply still on:
I did the section above as well - this shows the fiberglass layer after the peel ply was removed, and in this photo I had applied a light skim layer of body filler over the lower section and then sanded it smooth.
I have also been practicing my upholstery skills using some cheapish vinyl - it's not so easy to cut, sew, bend and shape leather to fit around trim! I have managed to find some red leather that is a pretty good match to the original in both colour and texture, it came in a hide-sized piece (4.9m² to be exact), so will be used where necessary. The leather in my car had been re-coloured at some point - wiping the paint off with thinners does improve the feel and suppleness of the leather somewhat, almost as if the paint had hardened in the sun and heat - maybe it was applied too thickly??? The picture below shows some of the Lotus leather - half of the headrest has been "cleaned" to remove the paint, and the bit with black stitching is BMW leather from the seats, all laid on top of the hide.
Neil.
The leather on the dashboard had shrunk and the result was a cracked and bent fiberglass base around the passenger side air vent. There is a strip of foam under the leather that helps seal/finish off the leather around the vents - this had ben pulled, twisted and deformed by the shrinking leather - the driver's side I was able to unglue the leather, and reposition everything. The passenger side required some repairs and re-shaping of the fiberglass as can be seen below. The leather strip running just under the base of the windscreen and around the vents will also need to be replaced. To give you some reference on the picture, the black box at the bottom is the rear of the cubbyhole....
My 3D brain imagery of the intake system failed a bit more - there is a clash for space with the radiator fan - red arrow. I have had to cut some relief into the intake tube, to get it to clear the fan, and I will put a rubber spacer where the red circle is to ensure there is no contact.....The intake unfortunately comes out over the fans at the worst possible point - I will also try to move the radiator forward a few millimeters, but I'm not up to remolding the whole part!
The front bumper is mostly complete - some final sanding and cleaning up is required, but the bulk of the work is done. The lip at the front of the car, just above the bumper, needs a bit more fettling, it's not a uniform thickness across the car, so a bit more work required to even that out.
The driver's side rear quarter panels have also had some attention. The previous repair had involved removing almost all of the gel coat and replacing it with 3, 4, 5, 6mm of body filler that hadn't properly set in some places. I have removed all of that and re-set the body back into shape, but the fiberglass was quite flexible - pushing on it made it "tin can" quite easily. I have now applied a layer of 240gsm cloth over the panels with the usual epoxy resin. Peel ply was also used to give the surface some texture - the section behind the rear wheel is shown below with the peel ply still on:
I did the section above as well - this shows the fiberglass layer after the peel ply was removed, and in this photo I had applied a light skim layer of body filler over the lower section and then sanded it smooth.
I have also been practicing my upholstery skills using some cheapish vinyl - it's not so easy to cut, sew, bend and shape leather to fit around trim! I have managed to find some red leather that is a pretty good match to the original in both colour and texture, it came in a hide-sized piece (4.9m² to be exact), so will be used where necessary. The leather in my car had been re-coloured at some point - wiping the paint off with thinners does improve the feel and suppleness of the leather somewhat, almost as if the paint had hardened in the sun and heat - maybe it was applied too thickly??? The picture below shows some of the Lotus leather - half of the headrest has been "cleaned" to remove the paint, and the bit with black stitching is BMW leather from the seats, all laid on top of the hide.
Neil.
-
- Senior Poster
- Posts: 3712
- Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 21:28
- Model: Elite
- Colour: Monaco White
- Year: 1974
- Location: Nottingham
Re: New member - Excel SA
That front bumper looks fantastic compared to when you started! The red leather interior is going to be fab! Can't wait to see it at Lotus In The Peak!!
Pete
Pete