Matt-watts

Slow its all gone slow I started to get a bad back when moving arround and laying, blocks and bricks so I got my bricklayer lad up to help me, then there was a delay with the roof trusses. The pictures below show my progress The back wall All brick and block work finished, beams in place and roof plate filled 1st truss in place All main trusses in Rafter trusses fitted Hip boards on and hip rafter being fitted I would like to have most of the roof finished over Christmas Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for me Merry Christmas Matt

I total agree with you Bibs You put on a bloody great show last year, it was a stunning stand, well manned with really enthusiastic knowledgeable people. A hell of alot of people are going to miss you this year Its made me angry where they wanted to put you. Our only consolation .....Next year its going to be legend---ary Matt

Yay a man who understands roofs Thanks Dave for the infomation, My tiles are Marleys and mendip interlocking, but they are granular so the minumum pitch they specify is 25 deg I am not keen on the roof pitch changing option (2) I made a small model a while back and decided against it. I dont understand your option 1 but I am intrigued ! if you would be able to do a quick sketch I would be very grateful Matt Ps Gordan I wish as far along as you ! will you be finished by christmas?

Pete you found the tricky part of the build, the roof was a real thinker, Even builders I chatted to did not know how I was going to roof it with it being such a odd shape and the roof height having to be so low and using the same tile as my house. Below are the dimensions and what I came up with. I came up with a 25 deg hiped roof with a flat center section. (Above) The center section I was going to board with sterling board then lay up fiberglass on top and on the last lay up to match the tile finish, add sand and a dye. I think the roof is going to cost just over £2,000 I can't think of another way of doing it, please let me know if you can Matt

I did get a bricklayer lad up to help me get started, he was great he gave me a lesson and worked for just £100 a day. With the winter arriving here in the UK I'm thinking of getting him up again to speed things up, he can lay double what I can in a day. Trevor- Builders quoted me £30,000 -£35,000 Would be nice to get it done by Christmas Matt

In case your thinking of building your own garage. I thought I would post up the low down on building mine and the costs so far. Well I have 5 old Lotus cars and a double garage, so I would love a second three car garage. My budget was £7,500 .... not a lot for a building project of this size. I put in for planning permission in Match 2013. To keep the costs down I drew up all the plans myself so only paid the councils fee of £385 It was passed in June 2013. It had to match my house (bricks roof style and tiles), be lower than 3.5 meters and 1 meter away from the house opposite Below is a mock up I sent in with the plans to show how it should look when done Next I cleared the ground where it was going,took up all the block pavers, hired a mini digger and got to work The council made me dig down 1.8 meters because they where worried about tree roots even through there are no trees anywhere near me ! I then poured tonnes of concrete in then bricked and blocked up to the height the floor would be. Cost so far is £3,000 Next I had to have 16 tons of hard core then a layer of sand then a radon membrane then 15cm of celertex then a DPC membrane then some steel re-enforcing then the 15cm concrete floor I had spent £5,000 and had only got foundations and a floor ! so no building at all. Below is the walls starting to come up The picture above it how it looks at the moment I have now spent £7,000 So to get walls and roof I think I'm going to need another £3,000 I have not paid a builder, I have got at least three quotes on all my meterials to keep my costs down. However I have built it to the standard you would build a house to, as who wants to be cold in the garage ? I do spend a lot of time working on my cars and planed on having a log burner in there a beer fridge and a 50" TV My wife will not be happy with me if I spend more that £10,000 and have to use our savings, so keep your fingers crossed for me that I can keep it on budget. Its been very hard work so far, every weekend and alot of evenings I think I could have finished restoring both my Elans if I had spent the same amount of time in the garage rather than building one..... Wish I had never started ? hum.. Matt

I drive my 40 year old Europa every day, its been great so far, I can even get the weekly shop at waitrose in it. Pictured outside my work Its down side, I do keep spinning it on roundabouts, I need to learn how to drive it slow, I just dont seem to be able to, its like I change when in get in the drivers seat. It's great fun Matt

Hi Daz I'm going in my S1 Esprit, I go every year Will be nice to see your mint Turbo Esprit Matt

I set my fuel pressure to 2.5-3 psi thats about right for our cars, I would set the floats to 14 -15mm from top cover gasket, the fuel level in our carbs is critical ! Sorry to hear about the tank leak, I think on fuel tanks its oftern easyer to make a new tank, but then I do love wielding ! Thanks for keeping us updated John, its great to know someone is taking the time and money making a great car into a great car once again, well done. Matt PS We want Pictures !

Hi John Im glad the Engine was as good as we thought Sounds like your doing a great job of getting the old girl up and running Keep up the good work And keeps us posted Best Wishes Matt

Sounds great cant See you there

Its 15 mins from my house, Would love to go 1. Trevor Skedge 2. Mike Collins 3. Greg Wishart 4. Bibs 5. Softlips 6. Dave Edmondson 7. Alexander 8. Matthias Radestock 9. Sooty 10. Trev LTS 11. Sumsion 12. Giantrat 13. Bernard Scouse 14. Tim Burton 15. Alex Le Surf 16. Matt Watts

I brought my 11 year old son Jake a Lotus Excel for christmas. He had spent so long helping me with my cars in the garage over the last 5 years, going to every Lotus show and has been on about how great it would be to own an Excel. I thought I would post up his reaction (total surprise) on Chrismas morning when he got his fist Lotus ! Matt

Hi He is only 11 but has spent years with me working on Lotus cars as my little helper, he is now dead set on an Excel. He only has £250 I said I would match it to get him a car. I have a few 912 Engines and can do most stuff on old lotuses myself. I know hes not going to get a good car for the money just something that we can work on together and that he can feel its his. I was hoping to maybe put a bit more towards it now as its nearly Xmas and it could be a good christmas gift to. If anyone can help me find a car for Jake I would be very greatful Best Wishes Matt

My son Jake (hes 11 and Lotus mad) wants to restore a Lotus Excel Hes spent ages in the garage helping me with my restorations so I cant really say no to helping him, the problem is hes only got arround £500 (which he has saved up over 2 years) Is that going to be enough to get a car worth restoring ? I dont know Excel prices very much. Does anyone know of any low budget Excels projects for sale ? Best Wishes Matt matt@moxley.plus.com 07816666056

I had a great weekend, thanks to Bibs and Laura for organising the stand, it looked fantastic. It was great having my car on the stand, I was so proud. Thanks for a great weekend. If there is anything I can do ever to help TLF please Just ask Matt PS Jake voted your the Best Stand @ the NEC

Great work Simon It's nice to hear of someone else using their S1 Well done

I would just remove the pipes to the pump (pump end) and have a bucket ready so you can drain all the fuel out, Next I would keep straining the fuel out (through a jay cloth) and then keep tipping it back in, so your flushing out the tanks, Next I would remove the pump (bolts behind passanger seat) and just pop out the valves in the SU pump, give them a clean and then put the whole lot back together and try running the car again. Post up your finding. I would imagine it will all run fine but in the long term you really need new tanks

1&2. Bibs & Laura 3/ Trevsked 4. sparky 5&6. Bazza & Emma (Probably in the Elise as it needs a run) 7. Esprit22 8. Nigeninja & tasteless interloper who doesn't even count. 9. Herr Paul C 10. Ian May - I'll be up there by 8.30am. Got to be gone by 11.30am 11. GasmanGT3 12. Simon350S + 1 and a picnic if the weathers nice 13. Mike - MPx 14. Mark B and son Henry in the Esprit Turbo. 15. Mattwatts and jake will give the S1 a run, Let hope its sunny this year !

I've had dealings with Pete hes a real nice guy but he a bit slow doing any work. The Expert of our engines is Phil Davidson, He was the compertitions manager for rootes and developed with Lotus the 2.2 Engine for the talbot sunbeam He now Just does Lotus 9 series engine work, if you need yours doing he would be the best bet Hes not over priced and has all the parts on the shelf, maybe give him a try if things dont happen with pete, his number is 07890675727 I dont work for him BTW He has just given me excellent free advice in the past. He is based in Daventry Best Wishes Matt

Did you remove the door beem ? (I would not have) if so is it refitted correctly ? you also could try moving the striker plate out a touch. Doors can be fiddley ! Best of Luck Matt

undo top and bottom pin bolts,remove door check strap, pull out loom from door, remove door Then knock out pin with drift You may end up making new pins, i did as mine where corroded I remade mine from stainless also fitted new bushes Good Luck Matt

Hi Mark I dont seem to have any that really show what you would need Your welcome to pop round and have a look and measure. I also have a set of linkages spare you can look at compare to yours. Best Wishes Matt

Mine fits with no issues So yours should to ? I even have a whole linkage from a s2.2 I got not nowing mine would work fine and it was the same as my S1 linkage, maybe yours being a early car may need a small tweek ? Best wishes Matt

Nick is a warm, kind and frendly guy, putting every one he meets with at total ease, he is a very skilled trimmer and watching him work has always left me in awe. I will miss nick very much. My thoughts, best wishes and prayers go out to you and to all your family Matt