1992 Excel SE - How far is too far?

[Dwaynem884]

Well, we're on a mission. Will we see daylight one day or am I becoming far too familiar with Sisyphus and his perpetual yet vain endeavour.

First task - figure out how to post photos here...



Fantastic, At least there is hope.

Well here she is, infamous as she is...

First proper job - front valance.
No before pics but it received a nasty clout to the rh side which needed repair along with cracks at the pop rivets, stone chips and battle scars with sleeping policemen.
Bring out the green goodness.


and finally good for paint


I've heard rumours about a black lower lip that lives here on late cars but alas, not to be found here. Has anyone any more info on this?

Plenty more done since and I plan to keep you all updated here, all advice and expertise welcome.

[AlSmith]

I have one on mine (89my), you can get it from SJ have them for about £80. I’ll add a photo shortly.

[Tanz]

Mine had one of those black lower strips but it was so battered by speed bumps that I didn't replace it when my bumper was resprayed. Much better for day to day life with out it where speed bumps are concerned. It does stop the front end lifting when you are doing 130MPH but I don't ever reach those kind of speeds.

[Dwaynem884]

I have one on mine (89my), you can get it from SJ have them for about £80. I’ll add a photo shortly.

Interesting... Looks like nothing but a piece of flat rubber/plastic. My first reaction is, can I make it

I do have the band that fixes it.



In wonderful shape as you can see... Going to get it remade out of stainless.

[Dwaynem884]

Mine had one of those black lower strips but it was so battered by speed bumps that I didn't replace it when my bumper was resprayed. Much better for day to day life with out it where speed bumps are concerned. It does stop the front end lifting when you are doing 130MPH but I don't ever reach those kind of speeds.

Yes, my thoughts also, I've already encountered speed bumps... low enough already maybe

[AlSmith]

Interesting... Looks like nothing but a piece of flat rubber/plastic. My first reaction is, can I make it

I do have the band that fixes it.



In wonderful shape as you can see... Going to get it remade out of stainless.
[/quote]

It’s about 5mm thick rubber, flexible but hard wearing….it’s been scraped a few times

[Dwaynem884]

It’s about 5mm thick rubber, flexible but hard wearing….it’s been scraped a few times

How deep is it from the underside of the valance down?

[AlSmith]

It’s about 5mm thick rubber, flexible but hard wearing….it’s been scraped a few times

How deep is it from the underside of the valance down?

So I’ve got my tape measure out and it is:

when measured from the bottom of the valance it 60 mm wide

also it is actually 7 mm thick

[MetBlue]

Interesting... Looks like nothing but a piece of flat rubber/plastic. My first reaction is, can I make it

I went down this path last year, but I did have the rubber piece. It was the retaining band that was totally shot on my car.
Some photo's and details here :
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11643&start=105
I replaced the steel band with 3 pieces of Stainless,

Tony

[Dwaynem884]

Next job - the saga of the lock barrel.

When I purchased the car in London, she had little or no fuel so the first station I spied, I pulled in and filled up. Got back into the car, stuck the key in.... and it would not budge. The key physically would not turn in the barrel as if the steering lock was on. After quite an entertaining turn of events albeit, to long to type up here, a hero of a fellow Irish man from the south side of the border gifted me with his prized Draper flat head screwdriver.. and I drove the car home starting her with my newly acquired flat head.

Upon disassembly on the forecourt we discovered the entire housing had been busted, previous attempted theft or intentional by a previous owner I don't know, but all that was holding the barrel in place was a jubilee clip.

So... thanks to SJ's she is now gracing a NOS lock barrel and housing

Not the worst job to do but I've discovered a new bane in life, that is, shear-off bolts. Didn't realise what it was at first, thinking it was a dowel but my father soon explained the function of this hateful piece of metal. Know your enemy and you'll know how to defeat it... in this case a nice little grinder and a lot of blankets to cover the interior and victory was to be had


Still can't get over the fact that Lotus sent these cars out with Toyota emblazoned over the key.

[Pete Boole]

Good progress! It always feels good to sort out other peoples rubbish "repairs".

Pete

[Dwaynem884]

The previous owner unfortunately deemed himself capable as a bit of a DIY man and the leatherwork fell victim to his self-acclaimed aptitudes.

Here's an example of what we're dealing with.




It's a slow progress but by using products from Leatherique & Leather Repair Company I'm getting all that muck off and reapplying dye where needed (most of it). The biggest problems that I'm encountering is avoiding stitching and removing the plaster and reapplying dye to the perforated leather.

I've some 1mm masking tape that hopefully will do the trick on the stitching.

For the perforations, it's been well clogged up, so something like a toothbrush and toothpick may be my only hope...

[MetBlue]

Oh that's so familiar. Looks like same colour too. - Lotus referred to it as "Gold"
If you haven't found it, my experiences tracked here
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=12213&p=97201&hili ... air#p97201

Tony

[Alan_M]

This is what I was advised to use by Furniture Clinic to mask stitching - Winsor & Newton 3039759 250ml Watercolour Masking Liquid Artist Masking Fluid Used for Paper Masking 3039759 https://amzn.eu/d/hsfR4Xq

[Dwaynem884]

This is what I was advised to use by Furniture Clinic to mask stitching - Winsor & Newton 3039759 250ml Watercolour Masking Liquid Artist Masking Fluid Used for Paper Masking 3039759 https://amzn.eu/d/hsfR4Xq

Interesting.... jar of it on its way now!