1992 Excel SE - How far is too far?

[Pete Boole]

I've found a plastic seat wheel - what's it worth?

Pete

[Dwaynem884]

I've found a plastic seat wheel - what's it worth?

Pete

Sent you a PM Pete.

[Dwaynem884]

Into the darker evenings, work on the car has slowed up a bit but progress is being made, hoping that we will get a good bit done over the Christmas holidays.

Headlining is in, all original except the front roof section, some leftover material from a Cavalier Turbo restoration matched in well. Everything else was taken out, given a good cleaning and re-glued where necessary. It was nasty and mouldy but cleaned up pretty well.

Stripped down the visors. the joint had come apart in places so hand stitched them and then coloured the vinyl side with black marker to blend it in. It would certainly benefit from an entirely new headlining but it's reasonable and will suffice for now.


New set of Cobo's looking fierce


Seat belt brackets
The original's speak for themselves

Look away now but getting them out required drastic measures.

New SS brackets from Lotus bits fitted well


And here's the rear interior all fitted again


And the seat tilt knobs are also finished


A couple of set-backs

This one was self inflicted.
Whilst fitting a new boot seal, getting it up around the top corner proved awkward with the boot lid in the way. Deciding to remove it, one side came off perfectly but the other was a bit of a horror, first bolt sheared off and the second ripped the captive nut out of the fibre glass. Had to cut of the bolt just to remove the lid.


Had to cut open the boot, remove the original captive nut plate, make a new one, fit it and then fibre glass the boot frame again. Haven't fitted it yet, hoping it holds.



Also currently in the middle of trouble shooting the passenger door light & central locking. Had to pull out the fuse board in the passenger foot well again for the 3rd time stretching some seldom used muscles to get to that one each time. Some corroded spades in connectors replaced and we have a working light again, central locking is still a mystery though.

Another mystery is the battery cover
She didn't have one when I got her, so i got a replacement from Lotus Bits, but for the life of me, I don't know how it's supposed to fit in place, what the quarter turn is to clip into and what part to play does the threaded rod on the angled clamp have.




The car was originally sold by SGT, but no window stickers etc, came on the car. Trawling through google, I found this, apparently from 1998.


Currently in the process of replicating it digitally and then will get a new one made.


and to finish off, my Father must have become jealous of Lotus ownership as he has went and bought his own

[Hawaiis0]

Your SS seat brackets do not look sealed. You should try to ensure it is sealed from water ingress which will make it in via the bolt holes

[Hawaiis0]

Your battery cover is a strange one and every day is a school day.

The cover looks like my MY87 version with a twist lock. That should fit into a female part on the mounting bracket.

However, your bar looks like what i see in the manual which apparently the cover drops on to the threaded portion and then a screw down knob locks it in place. But you have 2 unmatched systems. Unless the blue knob i see is able to screw down the thread part

[Dwaynem884]

Your battery cover is a strange one and every day is a school day.

The cover looks like my MY87 version with a twist lock. That should fit into a female part on the mounting bracket.

However, your bar looks like what i see in the manual which apparently the cover drops on to the threaded portion and then a screw down knob locks it in place. But you have 2 unmatched systems. Unless the blue knob i see is able to screw down the thread part

Looking at the manual now, the threaded rod that the clamping knob screws onto looks perpendicular to the long side of the angle whereas on mine it's parallel to the long side. Maybe I can just remove the quarter turn, It looks the same as the manual otherwise. Is number 30 in the diagram supposed to tilt back so the angle sits into the top edge of the battery?

[MetBlue]

The threaded rod sits vertical, with the clamp angle at the top edge of the battery. It should not be sitting across the middle of the battery as in the above photo. Easy to just bend the foot of the rod slightly. On my car, the battery cover just has a hole in it. I bought a threaded knurled knob for the top - don't know what the original fixing was like.
This probably doesn't make a lot of sense. I'll take a photo later.
Tony

[Dwaynem884]

The threaded rod sits vertical, with the clamp angle at the top edge of the battery. It should not be sitting across the middle of the battery as in the above photo. Easy to just bend the foot of the rod slightly. On my car, the battery cover just has a hole in it. I bought a threaded knurled knob for the top - don't know what the original fixing was like.
This probably doesn't make a lot of sense. I'll take a photo later.
Tony

It's a strange design...

I get what you're saying Tony, it definitely doesn't want to sit naturally in this position but we'll make it work. I'll have to set the battery up on a plinth as currently the threaded rod is too short for the hole in the cover ( I just removed the quarter turn) I think I have the original fixing for the cover, I'll post a photo later for the records.

[Pete Boole]

I'll have a look in the lock-up for my spare battery clamp - ISTR last time that I saw it (couple of years ago) it was one designed for the quarter turn fastener.

Pete

[Pete Boole]

I think this is the part you need to match your cover:





Pete

[Hawaiis0]

I think this is the part you need to match your cover:





Pete

Yes thats the one i have, but the insert is missing

[Dwaynem884]

It's been sometime since I've given an update, photos have been lacking from any work I've done but be assured, plenty has been done.

I've been driving the car steady for nearly a year now. It's been a lot of fun and I think I've become immune to frustration caused by issues and problems.

Fuel pump failed two Christmas's ago, so new SU unit was fitted.

I had replaced all belts but at the time, I found the power steering pump impossible to slacken off so I removed the pulley wheel (stamped Ford, off a Capri), slipped the belt into it and fitted the wheel back on. It worked but with not being able to adjust, it proved too tight and eventually snapped the belt. So, faced with the need to not take shortcuts we finally got the pump loosened with a lot of heat and hammering. New pulley wheel and belt and we were going again. However, the already weeping pump did not appreciate such torrid abuse and was leaking like Niagara. New pump was ordered but did not land to the eve of my very own wedding ( in which, the Lotus was our leaving car) but we were not deterred and got it fitted. So we said 'I do' with lotus blood under the fingernails.

Next, whilst driving home one evening in the rain, the wiper decided upon a change of heart and gave up the vocation of wiping. I could hear the motor still going, so I feared the worst.... shattered wheel box. Stripping down the instrument cluster for what now must be the 561st time and the binnacle (mostly.... that absolutely ridiculous design of a nut that is loosened via plastic pipe had me beat, but nice to know that the intact pipe means I was the first to remove it) I found that the nut that fixes the worm gear to the motor had worked itself loose some how, one 19mm spanner bent at 90 degrees later and our wiper sought reformation and repented of it's wayward ways.

There are other less insignificant things that have been done or sorted, leaky diff, new tyres, door handle flap, a lazy eye, two speedo cables (my own stupidity regarding routing) &c.

And then there was last night.. once again driving home, all of a sudden the throttle went straight to the floor with no revs... uh ooohhhh, throttle cable said bye bye. New one ordered from SJ's but I've read the horror stories, again... doesn't bother me now... every fix is a horror story on Excels it's just part of the terms and conditions of ownership. Who knows, the access hole might be already there, wouldn't surprise me, infact, I hope it is.

Jobs in the waiting.... exhaust manifold is blowing, at least two studs are missing completely, I've been postponing it so I can gather up the muster plus this winter has been focused on getting my Mk3 Escort Ghia sorted. The headlining needs attention. I had got swatches from LotusBits, I read it was thee stuff due to the backing, but truthfully the match isn't even in the same townland. We had some left over from a Mk3 Cavalier Turbo which is a pretty darn good match so at some stage, I'll look about more of it.

Carbs... I did get them looked over, a PO and his flathead screwdriver, had made a hash of them. Replaced what needed replaced and rebalanced and tuned... however there is a hesitation on initial throttle, so needs looked at again but I don't see the point in doing so until I sort the exhaust manifold.

I think that's been the jist of it, as we say in Ulster.. some craic.

[Dwaynem884]

We're back repairing the very first job we did on the car, the front valance...

I've said before about the notoriety of Northern Irish roads and this is very much proof of such. Maybe blame the driving, however, I'll be in complete denial over that

There is an ulterior motive to this. I can't get the car into the shed with the valance fitted. I'll have a week off work in July so some time will be dedicated to sorting out the exhaust manifold and need the car in for that.

Once that is sorted, she'll be sent off to get the carbs one final setup.