mat grant

Hi all, I haven’t posted on here for ages but finally my crazy eclat project build is (mostly) complete and is MOTd and road legal after a very long and protracted build process 😊. There have a been a few people on here I wanted to say thanks to, who have helped me in various ways to get the project completed, and helped in making it as effective and usable / nice to drive as it has turned out. So I want to say thanks to: Brian Adams (who is called Grizzly on here) – he is building an excel chassis elite, and has provided me with lots of helpful advice and tips on how to do a wide range of stuff and solutions to problems. Tony Poll – Tony lives not far from me and came round to help me strip my doors and get the frames out, plus lots of info and good advice. Duncan Hayton - Dunc has given me lots of good tips and suggestions and common sense thinking on my build, from his experience with his 4.6 V8 eclat Marcus Horrell – who has built the “eclacco”. NB it’s worth checking out this project as it is an amazing build with major body and engineering changes, and a really high level of attention to detail. Marcus helped me (made for me really) top quality dashboard veneer parts using his woodworking skills to CNC the parts from wood and apply the veneering, via lots of sending wood pieces in the post. This has made my hybrid elite / excel SE dash look like a coherent whole instead of two dashboards hacked up and bodged together - which is what it is 😊 But most of all I want to say thanks to Pete Boole. Pete has helped me with tons of things on the car, from detailed and complex engineering stuff to electrical bits. He is an excellent engineer – he has previously built a flip front excel with a Chevy LS engine, and is currently restoring/rebuilding/improving an early elite and adding a supercharger 😊. I’ve been up to see the car and the quality of all the work and components he has made is brilliant. It will be a great car when it is done. He’s always encouraged me to do things properly when I’ve considered taking short cuts 😊 Pete has a serious illness at the moment so I want to say best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. And I’m really looking forward to seeing the elite on the road in a year or two 😊 Happy new year to all. Cheers, Mat.

Pity I didn't know about this, I think I chucked mine away, the tank went to the tip! I'll look in the garages and shed in case I might have kept it, but I used the excel one instead. Try Lotus bits - they may have one..... Mat.

I thought I was being quite polite(?) I'd vote for locking it as it appears to be a bit "troll-esque" if that's a word, but not deletion. In fact this is the only line I've found even remotely offensive: "there are twelve year old children with greater debating acumen and decorum." Mat.

I love how the wing is wider than the car roof - because making it fit would have been too hard. Adrian Newey would have a fit!!!! Maybe it could be removed or at least narrowed to be in line with the body. If it's meant to be funny it's not big enough. If it is for real I don't think it spent.... errrrm..... enough time in the wind tunnel

Shonky (noun) - slang term for not very well made, not great in appearance or functionality, of low quality

well obviously run it in first(!) IMO - engines should be "thrashable" within tolerances, ie temps and oil changes, max revs respected regular service and fluid changes etc. But they should be robust enough to take heavy use to the boundary of their performance subject to service intervals. you shouldn't have to "baby" them. Get a modern Ford/BMW/Audi for example and you can thrash it for a very long time before something breaks. Or my Honda fireblade - thrashed as often as possible, unbreakable...... The Honda fireblade engine is therefore a good one in my book. That is the same logic that took me to the Toyota 1UZ engine for my car - cost me £400 inc electrics and ancillaries. 260-280 bhp as standard. People run them at 500-800 bhp and they are still very reliable. And it's non-interference. People can slag off putting a V8 in if they want, but if it does break, a replacement is about £400 on ebay. Also does about 30mpg in a light car. In fact i currently have a non MOT but running Toyota Soarer that cost me £350, I'm planning to break it, keep the engine and a few other bits as spares then sell the rest of it to get my money back so it will be free spares. I considered a second hand or rebuilt 907 or 912 engine, too expensive, too risky and less power than a 1uz. So I can thrash the car as much as I want without worry. To me if an engine is fragile that's not a good thing.... I know it's Chapmans creed that a race car should fall to pieces as it crosses the line or it's too well built and therefore too heavy. But for a road car this doesn't follow for me. And if you're a relative of Jim Clark it probably doesn't sit well either. I just daren't go on the Soarer forum and hear about how I've sacrificed a perfectly good Soarer V8 to put the engine in a rubbish old Lotus. Mat.

The "f" in any such phrases is deliberately ambiguous, it can stand for: flip, frick, frigg etc, the inference is by the reader and the context. So no actual swear word has been said or stated, merely inferred by the reader. I don't see why Mark has to justify his comment, he's not the only moderator, if others see it as unacceptable it would have been removed. See you on the excel.net forum! I like that forum and there are some good people on there. I can't use it at work because it is blocked by my work browser as it has a rude word in the title. Otherwise I would probably go on there more often. Mat.

I just couldn't be bothered with rational argument, as the OP didn't understand it the first time

Nice one Dunc, now you're talking!!! And raise money for a good cause. I'd like to be there when it happens. Ideally I'd like to bring mine when it is running. But only when I've finished flagellating myself for "destroying" not only the vastly superior excel but also the even more vastly superior than that Toyota Soarer V8...... Just as long as no one swears - I hate that

Brian, tell us what to do oh great leader..... Why don't you all just f*** off and leave me alone!!!! How shall we f*** off my lord???

ha ha - it will come out over the dinner table. "Mommy why can't we go in Dad's blue Lotus?"

Hi all, This has been on my "to do" list for ages - On removal of the rear bumper, I found two pieces of wood behind the rear lights, between the rear lights and the bumper. My car is an S1 but someone has retro fitted an S2 rear bumper and light units. So I'm not sure if this is original or not - can anyone with an S2 elite or eclat tell me if their car has this? If not, what should be there? On mine (needless to say) they have started to fall to bits, so assuming these should be there, I'll get my local DIY shop to cut me two new pieces from marine ply, and coat them with fibreglass resin as I did with the crash structure boards at the front. Thanks, Mat.

Hi Dunc, Interesting review, I drove a friends early excel, I found it more "solid" feeling, and a bit more "modern" but to me it felt better to drive than my S1. I much prefer the styling on the eclat to the excel, which looks a bit "Toyota" to me, where the eclat looks more like an old British sports car, but that's just my personal preference. My car project would have been way simpler if I'd started with an excel, but I had got really attached to the eclat so went with the chassis conversion. But I guess if you prefer the eclat that's the one you should keep. Well done for getting that excel back on the road though. When you've done 10,000 miles in each of them and you have to change the rear brakes (and UJs on the eclat) you may change your mind ha ha! Mat.

Just for info: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-since-the-70s-Vol-1-Elite-Eclat-Excel-Elan-by-Robson-Collectors-Guide-/111479097686?pt=UK_CarParts_Vehicles_Manuals_Litterature_ET&hash=item19f4ac0956 Mat.

Btw I was looking through my documents on the computer, and found the Lotusbits "improving your elite" PDF. In there is a photo of Mike Taylors own yellow elite, which has the waist trim removed..... It reminded me of this thread. I can't see it being an issue until people start saying "I removed my waist trim and now may car has split in half", I'm sure the trim is a cost thing from Lotus, much cheaper to tidy the join line with a rubber trim than grinding, reshaping and refinishing the outside of the car. Mat.

And someone on ebay saying the L stamped wheelnuts were worth £25 each!!!

Hi John, I'd be interested in a leather interior for an eclat - do you have any pics. Please can you tell me what colour etc, if it's black and decent condition I'll definetely want to buy it. Cheers, Mat.

That looks terrible, I hope his surgery goes ok and he makes a full recovery.

sounds about right.....

Jonny - that's a good assessment of top gear.... it's a comedy/entertainment, it's not a consumer programme like it was 20 odd years ago. Being obnoxious is Clarksons forte. He's made a career out of it. I don't want to hear sensible reviews of medium sized hatchbacks. Middle aged guys arsing around in supercars and being funny is a lot more entertaining, my 8 year old loves it as well. If I ever have to buy a medium sized hatchback and I end up buying the wrong one I'll just have to live with it.

I think that spoiler could be a lot bigger and still look stupid

Hi, Re the pitted trim pieces, there was a thread on here where someone had found a good place to straighten and another place to re anodise the aluminium. I remember it because it was in Sandhurst..... If you so a search you'll find it. Might be a better option than going for second hand parts if you're going to all the trouble of a full respray. And i also like the bronze colour. Mat.

Hi, On my car there were loads of problems, all the dash lights would blink off and on! As mentioned above, on my car the problem areas were: - the earth on the pedal box, which is a spliced common for loads of earths of various stuff in the dash, removed, I wire brushed it and fitted a new crimp washer to improve it. - the fuses themselves with the crappy spring clips (now fitted b lade fuses on my car, mounted inside the car.) To fix i used a wire brush, contact cleaner and bent them a bit to try to increase the pressure. - the multi connectors inside the car that socket onto the prongs on the back of the fuse box. More wire brushing and contact cleaner improved this, but it was still suspect on my car. Stupid location for this if you ask me! Mine had evidence of water ingress.... Cheers, Mat.

I like how the elite in the photo above is located in a secret bunker, accessible only by the ladder in the left of shot...... It was assembled by passing the parts through the hatch....

I'm in Sandhurst so a lot nearer but my car is way off being finished let alone on the road, and way off being original - if your book is taking ages there is a chance(!) Good luck with the book, and let me know when it is published. Mat.