Spinney

That's lovely. Was it from Bell & Colvill?

I can't stand not knowing!

Any update on what the noise is/was? Mine was a kind of creaking metallic noise, if that makes sense and was particularly noticeable when I came on or off the power.

I had this same noise on mine shortly after an annual service, which became worse when hot but then disappeared when it rained. The noise was coming from behind me, seemingly from the bulkhead and was driving me crazy, completely spoiling the drive every time I used the car. I took the car back to where it had been serviced and they had it up on the ramps to discover the rear undertray fixing screws were all slightly loose! They obviously hadn't been properly tightened when the tray was replaced after the service. It was a real pleasure to drive the car home afterwards and the noise hasn't returned. Would be worth checking these out.

I would occasionally see 105-106 deg on my old S2 SC when in heavy summer traffic, but never higher than that. On my V6, I think the highest I've so far seen in similar conditions is 102 deg. I used to worry, when I owned the SC, that these temperatures appeared extraordinarily high, particularly when compared to my daily driver, where the temperature gauge just doesn't seem to get any higher than 87 deg, no matter the ambient conditions. I've now come to the conclusion this is normal for a Lotus and no longer worry about it. The temperature always drops again very quickly once on the move anyway. Provided the car is otherwise running well and being looked after/serviced well, I wouldn't be unduly concerned.

That's a shame. 2 weeks ago I drove to Spa and had a few sessions on track over 3 days, before driving home again and mine is still fine, so I'm sure it can take the heat. Did you rub the plastic part down sufficiently before applying the initial black resin coat?

I removed the masking tape by using a modelling knife just where the cloth folds over the inside and you do need to do it a bit at a time and be patient. It will come off. Yes those little splinters do flaming well hurt don't they! Use some coarse sandpaper on the inside to take off the small splinters, then finish with a light coat of resin to hold the edges in place. I found they do look better and better after every coat, so do persevere and you will get there.

I weighed the larger of my 2 covers before and after carbon skinning and it added a mere 104 gms, so probably less than the difference between drinking a glass of water or not before you drive the car or having a half full w/screen washer bottle. Totally inconsequential in other words. Just to make it clear, whilst it doesn't make the cover a true carbon fibre component, it isn't a 'carbon effect' either. It is genuine 2 x 2 carbon twill cloth that is laid over the cover and finished with the same type of resin as would be used in conventional laying up of carbon fibre components. I appreciate it wouldn't be to everybody's taste, but to my eyes, it really finishes off the look of the engine bay.

I wish I could find a good solution to this problem. Not for me, as I'm a very reasonable 5'-9", but for my 6'-4" son. We were on track at Spa last week and with the skid lid on, he just doesn't fit in the car with the soft top in place. The plastic bar is immediately above his head, meaning he would have to cant his head right over towards the centre of the cabin, which isn't ideal. Luckily it didn't rain while we were on track over the 3 days (unusual for Spa), but that can't always be relied on, obviously. He just about fits in the cabin without the helmet and the soft top on for road driving, but there's no more that a Rizla's thickness above his head. I love doing track days with him and have thought about getting an Evora, to get him comfortable, but trouble is I really love my Exige.

I probably spent no more than 5-10 minutes on each component, using 240 grade paper. The rough finish is actually a painted coating and will come off as you start rubbing it down, although you don't actually need to take it off as such. You just need to provide a good key for the first resin coat.

Will you be there over the weekend of 13/14/15 for the Spa Classic? I'll be there with my son in our V6, on the event organised by Bell & Colvill. It includes three 30 minute track sessions over the weekend, as we did on the same event last year. It's a great track to drive.

Try Fullers Tyres here:- http://www.fullertyres.co.uk/ they are near to Brooklands and will come out to you to fit on site. I had them change all four tyres recently at Brooklands Museum and they were very good.

Yikes 40 quid + vat??? How on earth do they justify that price when you can buy decent ones on eBay for £6.50?

Thanks for all the positive responses. I reckon if you just take your time with preparation and follow the online video instructions to the letter, you should be able to end up with good results. Trickiest bit is wrapping the carbon cloth around under the piece as it is very easy to pull strands out of the carbon. I used masking tape to hold it in place, as on the video, and nicked some of the wife's clothes pegs to hold the carbon tight to the edge. Once that is done and the first coat of resin applied, it is all quite easy from then on. The good thing about it is if you are at all unhappy with the final finish, you can always give it another coat of resin to take out any minor imperfections before finally sanding and refinishing. I was surprised at how good the results were that I achieved actually.

For the modest cost of the Carbon skinning kit and a few spare hours, it could be yours Tony.

Finished the smaller cover today and fitted it back on the engine. This is the view through the rear window, which I'm really pleased with.

Not really too much work although it does take several days, only because of the time taken waiting for each coat of resin to cure. The actual mixing and brushing on of each coat probably only takes about 15 minutes. The final rubbing down and polishing, once all resin coats have cured, is probably around 1 1/2 hours in total which I don't think is too bad given how it looks. Each to their own though.

I love love love that roof. Would be very happy if Lotus could make something similar but with a central joint so you could stow both sections behind the seats and some sort of clip arrangement that doesn't require a spanner or Allen key to fasten. Can't help thinking Lotus are missing a potentially lucrative opportunity here if they ignore something like this, or maybe I've unwittingly just described the Evora Roadster roof. I prefer the look of the Elise/Exige with a hardtop but the problem is that once on, you are stuck with it when out and about and if the sun comes out, you can't obviously take it off to continue the journey. This pano roof seems to offer a pretty good half way solution though.

Just about enough, but you need to measure out and cut it very carefully. If you are at all unsure, I would go for the next size up and be sure. I was thinking I should have done this, but have managed to leave myself enough for the small one

Just finished carbon skinning the bigger of the 2 plastic engine covers on my car today. I had a quote of £250 + delivery to have them done professionally but then found a great kit online http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/starter-kits/carbon-fibre-skinning-starter-kit.html Really pleased with the end result, so getting on to the smaller cover next. It is genuine carbon fibre cloth with 5 coats of clear resin, followed by sanding to flatten and finally polishing with the compound supplied. Took a few days to do, mainly because of the extended curing time for each resin coat, but well worth the effort in my view and looks the part fitted to the engine.

I don't quite understand what you mean here, so can I ask you to clarify for me please? When you say tighten the washer, does that mean it is threaded and can you get some kind of hand tool on it to tighten? Thanks.

I'm sure that's the right decision and is likely to attract more owners who, if they choose, can always walk over to the museum to take a look around anyhow. They would have to pay to get in, of course, but it's worth the effort. OK, I may be a bit biased!

Although its on the 'Brooklands' site, the main meeting isn't actually within the museum boundaries and not being promoted as part of their own calendar of events. As a Brooklands volunteer steward myself, I would love them to have a dedicated Lotus event but sadly, the marque isn't really anywhere near old enough to be of real interest to the organisers. Generally, they try to encourage marque clubs where the car types represented might have raced at Brooklands in period (1907-1939) but, having said that, income is king and they will accept any club that's willing to pay the entrance fee!

Yes, something along those lines. I'm tied up for the next couple of weeks, but I'll play around with something after that.

Thinking of a towing eye with extended shaft and, if possible, maybe positioning the bracket so I wouldn't need to cut the plastic grille. At worst, perhaps cutting out a very small section of it. Thinking on a bit further though, rather than replace the post, it might be better to fabricate a bracket that bolts in place using the existing screws like the proper Lotus towing eye, but then position the threaded socket to hopefully minimise, or do away with the need for cutting the grille. I'll give that some thought and knock up a test piece using card I think.