Restauration result of a Lotus Excel SE
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 17:18
At last during the lock down I made some work of completing the restoration of my Excel.
I did a lot of work already and replaced/refurisched nearly everything what was NIO.. interior, brakes, engine parts, carbs cam belts... nearly everything.
But I must admit I did not drive the car a lot during the 7 years... because it didn't drive properly at all(and some other projects). It was not Lotus worthy
So the the lesson learned I had about my main problems were:
1- Brakes: Due to saggy springs in the front (drop nose) the G-force balancer was confused and added too much force to the front: After replacing with new spring from SJS problem solved
2- By testing at idle and choke the spark plugs are fooled quickly: This gives a wrong interpretation of the problems: Be sure the sparks are clean. The car needs to be driven.
3- The ignition: I expelled Lucas, the prince of darkness, out of the car by a 123 ignition system. In some way the High Energy ignition was not right. Is it because the after market parts were not right, I don't know? But still with the 123 spark was stable at all revs + programmable.
4- I had still a serious hesitation around 2000 which did not really go away (more then normal with standard idle jets): After buying an AFR reader with lambda probe and 2 bungs (1 in each downpipe) I could see that idle was perfect.... BUT during acceleration on the road, the amount of fuel from the acc pump was much too little. Although I thought that I set up the amount properly during refurb?? After some experimenting with acc-settings/also ignition, the engine was transformed in the Lotus engine I was expecting to have. Crispy throttle response and serious power YES . Not to mention the noise. To my opinion.. an AFR equipment is just a must to self adjust carburetors and would give you more reel life situation.
5- AND at last the cosmetics: Besides the interior which was already been out completely and refurbished/painted again + new dash re-trim. I also decided to respray the car + wheels (which turned out to be much more expensive) + replacing all rubbers decals etc..... Now the car is where I wanted to have it.
And here is the result on google photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EkYagcf3fEMe2guk9
Rgds Curt
I did a lot of work already and replaced/refurisched nearly everything what was NIO.. interior, brakes, engine parts, carbs cam belts... nearly everything.
But I must admit I did not drive the car a lot during the 7 years... because it didn't drive properly at all(and some other projects). It was not Lotus worthy
So the the lesson learned I had about my main problems were:
1- Brakes: Due to saggy springs in the front (drop nose) the G-force balancer was confused and added too much force to the front: After replacing with new spring from SJS problem solved
2- By testing at idle and choke the spark plugs are fooled quickly: This gives a wrong interpretation of the problems: Be sure the sparks are clean. The car needs to be driven.
3- The ignition: I expelled Lucas, the prince of darkness, out of the car by a 123 ignition system. In some way the High Energy ignition was not right. Is it because the after market parts were not right, I don't know? But still with the 123 spark was stable at all revs + programmable.
4- I had still a serious hesitation around 2000 which did not really go away (more then normal with standard idle jets): After buying an AFR reader with lambda probe and 2 bungs (1 in each downpipe) I could see that idle was perfect.... BUT during acceleration on the road, the amount of fuel from the acc pump was much too little. Although I thought that I set up the amount properly during refurb?? After some experimenting with acc-settings/also ignition, the engine was transformed in the Lotus engine I was expecting to have. Crispy throttle response and serious power YES . Not to mention the noise. To my opinion.. an AFR equipment is just a must to self adjust carburetors and would give you more reel life situation.
5- AND at last the cosmetics: Besides the interior which was already been out completely and refurbished/painted again + new dash re-trim. I also decided to respray the car + wheels (which turned out to be much more expensive) + replacing all rubbers decals etc..... Now the car is where I wanted to have it.
And here is the result on google photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EkYagcf3fEMe2guk9
Rgds Curt