New member - new owner

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Oi_Oi_Savaloy
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Oi_Oi_Savaloy »

So.........the list of parts I think I need, the absolute minimum, to get an MOT is 10 items;

1) Passenger doorframe
2) Passenger door lock (the internal bit not the actual door handle)
3) Metal rear seat thingy (underneath the car) - someone has already linked me to that thank you
4) carb gasket set
5) wiper (not the arm, just the wiper)
6) headlight bulbs (and I've got to work out to fix the metal ring in the actual headlight holder that's rusted to nothing, on the driver's side)
7) Fix the waterpump - leaking - possible new waterpump once I investigate - hope not
8 ) Windscreen water jet tubing (least of my issues)
10) Front Upper and lower ball joints on both sides (PNM engineering for those unless there's an alternative you guys would suggest?)
11) OK so there's 11 not 10 items.....4 x tyres......I'd like OE sizes for the authenticity......but the wallet is weak in that dept.....to be continued.........
12) Drivers seat needs sorting but I've got all the parts for that so no cost.....OK 12 items......

I've got to refit the U shaped part of the interior headlining and then put door rubbers back (going to use what I've been provided but am going to invest in new once I've got the car MOT'd.

I've tried contacting lotusexcel.co.uk for the doorframes......to no avail (I know perhaps there's been a falling out there.....but he comes recommended). Anyone have any knowledge/opinions on the lotusbits ones or the SJ sportscars ones?

I've joined the celica/supra forum on FB looking for the door lock to no avail so far........anyone know where I can get them (that's not SJ/Lotusbits perhaps)?

Why is the wiper so awkward? Anyone for a Peugeot 406 arm spare/available? Think it's a 406. Perhaps 405? Either way - an alternative that allows a regular fitting wiper.

What to do about the metal ring on the headlight body? The tabs that keep the headlight proud of the body (and allow adjustment) have totally dissolved on the drivers side. It's literally hanging by a thread.

The MOT station is less than a mile from me (and it's the garage that used to MOT it for ten years up to 2012 with the same personnel still there). Plan is to get it to pass the MOT and then throw yet more money at her (cam belt, full service, new brakes perhaps - if the ones on them don't clean up, investigate the lack of blowing by the heater/blower in the car, )......and then tackle the paint and make the interior as nice a place to be as possible. Some of the internal areas, it feels like, have rusted solid (heater for example) and some of the switches are v v stiff. Is taking the dash out a massive job? Feels like I need to get in behind to do some remediation - I don't think things are broken necessarily - just stiff with standing/lack of use. Need to check fuses etc etc.

Post-MOT I want to wire brush and protect as much of the metal elements under the car and then raptor/waxoyl everything else (I know it's fibreglass and doesn't rust but nevertheless I want to protect it). I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to look at the wooden board things at the front too - that dissolve to nothing - want to make new ones and paint/protect them before refitting.

Oh - and the exhaust - am toying with buying a mandrel/pipe bender and making my own exhaust parts - what's the diameter of the exhaust at the back - the bit that that threads over/under the suspension before joining up with the back boxes? Am thinking of sourcing a smaller middle box for some more noise too (and am happy to experiment!).

Plan is to get an mot by Mid-march.......2022 not 2023.....! A hell of alot to do but I've got 3 friends coming over at the end of Feb and into early March - we're going to throw some hours at the car.

I'm also on the lookout for a workshop manual - that's been emotional so far - expensive....and rare.....Oh joy.

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rbgosling
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by rbgosling »

Good morning!

Good to have a jobs list - it makes the task less daunting when it's laid out and you can tackle things one by one.

Door window frames - The Lotusbits ones are the same that Angus Marshall is selling on lotusexcel.co.uk. Angus arranged to have them made, then sold some himself (via this site originally) and some to Lotusbits to sell on. I wasn't aware of SJ Sportscars having any, but I'd bet they are from the same source. Try the "Lotus Elite/Eclat/Excel parts and cars for sale" group on Facebook, Angus posted on there just last month that he had some for sale, so either contact him via FB or on the email address he posted there.

Wiper - I've tried to get new rubber that I can fit to the existing wiper blade frame, but can't find any profile that I can get to fit. I went with the Peugeot option in the end and I'm really happy, it bolts right on easily, there's a kink in the arm which means it sits more neatly when parked, and I can use modern flat-style blades that look neater and smarter and seem to wipe better too.

I'd go to Lotusbits for the door locks, they will have some usable used ones somewhere. They do carb gasket sets too, but you can probably find them from lots of places, they are standard Dell'ortos.

Tyres - OEM size is very rare, 205/50R15 are a common alternative so you have a much wider choice and better prices, they fit well and have pretty much the same OD, so the speedometer will still read correctly. I've got Toyo Proxes on my car, which I'm happy with.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

ianhateswork
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by ianhateswork »

Hi,
having seen the pics of your car and the rust, its just how mine was , including the holed exhaust.
Having been there I recommend you pull the whole of the rear suspension apart, its well worth the effort, including taking the diff out and the prop.
Not what you want to hear, but there is a good chance that some of the suspension bushes are past there best and the upper diff bushes too. The prop will need checking to see that the UJ`s are not out of line, a new prop is the only cure.

A unf die nut is a great buy, it makes the taking apart and reassembly so much easier, like this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282476125884 ... SwBrxh9slO

see if this guy can help with the door frame.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393921664675 ... SwWnViA9i-

if your headlight adjustment tab is part of the light bowl, unobtanium, find an alternative headlight and fixing and do some searching on here, many have done it.
top ball joint - triumph herald etc, water pump - SJ, LB or try SP Water Pumps Ltd in Warrington. some rubber rejuvenator may help your seals, i tried some and it does make a difference. Finding a workshop manual at sensible money is no fun , maybe here, https://www.thelotuscentreonline.co.uk/ ... vice-Notes
Put all your rusty parts in bilt hamber deox-c rust remover , or a similar product, it works wonders.
good luck,
ian.

Pete Boole
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Pete Boole »

If the water pump looks like it's leaking it probably will be. If you have access to a press you can do it yourself easily enough - Lotusbits sells a good kit of parts including a press tool and instructions. The hardest part is getting the bolt out that partly hides behind the auxiliary pulley.

Pete

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Hawaiis0
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Hawaiis0 »

What door lock part are you after?

The internal toyota parts are a plenty on fleabay.

The door latch is a modified leyland part off a triumph. Show us a piccy ot yjr u/s bit.

Headlights can be upgraded using landrover 7 inch bowl mounts to allow crystal modern units to be fitted. Only abit of rivetting and drilling.
Nothing is fool proof. Fools are clever!

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Crowman30
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Crowman30 »

I would not recommend buying the manual from the Lotus Centre, I did and received a photocopied version of the original manual.
A lot of the pages where unreadable.
I sent it back and got a refund.
I finally got an original manual from ebay at the same price.
The original has card like pages and is easily readable, it also has the added bonus of being a historical original workshop manual.
I know the forum has a parts list and should be able to show lots of details.
As an alternative you might want to see one of my previous posts as you can get a downloadable parts list from Lotus Engineering.

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Alan_M
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Alan_M »

Most info covered by others above, but just to add

Door frames - link to Facebook info - https://www.facebook.com/groups/eliteec ... 5007042336

Upper ball joints - try to get best quality as the cheaper ones are poor quality and likely to only last a year as rubber boots are made of disintigratium.

Headlamp - SJS do a stainless mounting ring -https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and- ... U1350F.htm or they do a replacement headlamp and fitting kit - https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and- ... 2M0004.htm

SJS also do the wiper blades.

Carb gasket sets - usual places plus eurocarbs.

Oi_Oi_Savaloy
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Oi_Oi_Savaloy »

And so to today's escapade..........which mainly involved the last 30 mins of daylight after a day of doing stuff around the yard and house (nothing to do with the storm, all good there thankfully); our son (15) has a small flock of rare-breed Kerry Hills (wonderful sheep but mad as hatters) and 6 of the 12 are due to start lambing from next week.....so the last elements of the prep needed to be sorted.

And then an outside light that had stopped working (5 min job to change a lightbulb) turned into hassle when it became clear that most of the bulb was stuck in the holder after I'd twisted it to try to get it out.....oh joy....had to take the whole unit off the wall to clear it all out etc so that took time......

But anyhoo - got to the Lotus in the end. What can I do in 30 mins? I know, I'll remove the drivers seat (that's collapsed at the base)........should be easy.....only 4 bolts......how difficult can that be.......especially as I'd got one of the nippers (whom is obsessed with WD40....) to WD40 the 4 bolts underneath the car (after I'd wire brushed the bolts the other week when it was on the ramp; ooooh, get me, that's forward thinking). And you know what? It worked! I used the old-monkey-wrench to clasp the bolts inside the car et voila, came off as easy as 'kiss-my-hand' (to quote Patrick O'Brian, the naval author).

It was only that easy because I'd used the knowledge on here to prep things of course - so thank you for that. Sadly I didn't find a blank cheque or bearer bonds or in fact anything of interest....but there was an old 10p that made me smile.

So the chair is going to get a proper clean, and I'm going to use webbing and perhaps something pliable to stiffen the seat underneath, then rub the metal elements down (grab rail at the front, side rails), repaint with hammerite or such. I'm thinking about what to do with the carpet in the car too (and that weird underlay that feels like it's had alot of water in it for along time, although it's dry now (or much dryer than it's ever been in the last 5 years).

Can I take it up? Is it easy to replace? What's holding it down?

And finally some pictures that tell part of the story.

Next chapter is - 'carbs and how I made a massive mistake trying to fix them myself'.......

Image

Image

Image

Image

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MetBlue
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by MetBlue »

. weird underlay that feels like it's had alot of water in it for along time,
.
The rubber backed sponge that has a propensity to absorb a volume of water any times its own volume?
It's generally stuck down with contact adhesive. With care it can be persuaded to come up with a paint scraper and a hot air gun, but fairly sure it's still available to buy
Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

Oi_Oi_Savaloy
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Oi_Oi_Savaloy »

Yes! That rubber backed sponge stuff! Thanks for that - have heat gun and scraper and will get on. whilst the seat is out makes total sense. There are some punchy-sized washers under the grey carpet where the back of the seat balances too that I need to make sure I don't lose. And I'm going to leather treat the interior sides of the propshaft tunnel too whilst I've got access to the the difficult bits.

Incidentally - what do people use to stick the door rubbers in with when putting them back in?

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bash
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by bash »

The door rubbers just clip on and dont need sticking.
Bash
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Lozza74
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Lozza74 »

rbgosling wrote:
Fri Feb 11, 2022 09:41
Wiper - I've tried to get new rubber that I can fit to the existing wiper blade frame, but can't find any profile that I can get to fit. I went with the Peugeot option in the end and I'm really happy, it bolts right on easily, there's a kink in the arm which means it sits more neatly when parked, and I can use modern flat-style blades that look neater and smarter and seem to wipe better too.
Richard - Can I ask you to share part numbers of the Peugeot wiper parts you used please? Ive seen them mentioned a few times, but without anything specific enough to find online.

Thanks

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rbgosling
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by rbgosling »

Lozza74 wrote:
Mon Feb 21, 2022 18:29
rbgosling wrote:
Fri Feb 11, 2022 09:41
Wiper - I've tried to get new rubber that I can fit to the existing wiper blade frame, but can't find any profile that I can get to fit. I went with the Peugeot option in the end and I'm really happy, it bolts right on easily, there's a kink in the arm which means it sits more neatly when parked, and I can use modern flat-style blades that look neater and smarter and seem to wipe better too.
Richard - Can I ask you to share part numbers of the Peugeot wiper parts you used please? Ive seen them mentioned a few times, but without anything specific enough to find online.

Thanks
I don't have a part number, sorry. I just found one listed on eBay as "Peugeot 405 front wiper arm". Didn't say if it was the left or right arm, so I assume they must be the same.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

Oi_Oi_Savaloy
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Oi_Oi_Savaloy »

Sorry everyone - been a bit quiet on here recently. Combination of helping my son lamb his ewes, buying a new tractor (a Renault 106 54, with a knackered clutch and g/box issues - never let it be said I'm not a glutton for punishment.....) and well, that's it really.

I've yet to order parts for the lotus (but got with other things out of the way I'll be back on to that) but I'm really going to pare the list down initially to the absolute minimum to get the mot. then worry about everything else afterwards.

Where do people buy nuts and bolts (specifically to replace the seat bolts and nuts for example)? anywhere in particular or is it just a screwfix job and just make sure they're 8.4 or better?

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Hawaiis0
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Re: New member - new owner

Post by Hawaiis0 »

I've used these for my suspension bolts

Brilliant people

https://nenutsboltsfasteners.co.uk
Nothing is fool proof. Fools are clever!

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