mistynes

The real reason for all these cuts is that Cameron reckons we must all share the pain so no cash, he could save a lot more if HMS VICTORY WAS RECOMMMISSIONED, she would present as much threat to our enemies as an aircraft carrier without aircraft, ie none, but would do a great job of flying the flag around the world. Such a visionary move should also please, to the point of involuntary orgasm, the minister for climate change, Huhne and his lunatic supporters, because there would not be any carbon emissions,Victory would use only that great panacea, wind power, the devotion to which by our politicans will surely see the lights go out.

b ibs, i would not dream of calling or emailing you about anything irrespective of your of your location as i have yet to see any thing written by you that was of any significance.

i forgot to mention that if you know which body parts that lotus put on the excel to make it slower than contempory esprits, the hc na, take them off and the car will probably out perform any esprit that does not have a turbo. after all it has more power and a lower cd than esprit hc na( which was the most powerful esprit0 and is only very slightly heavier. i did not make this up i was told by a lotus employee.

if you want reliability and it is a prerequisite don't bother with any elite or eclat that does not have either a ford 4 speed, getrag or auto box fitted and the back axle modified to fixed upper links, buy an excel instead. no amount of care will prevent the lotus box giving way or a diff oil seal failing. the reputation, well deserved, of these cars has rubbed off on the excel and so far has kept the price of even the very best excels at the same level, people including motoring journalists do not realise that the excel is a very different car which shares only one major component, the engine. with its predecessors. however this is changing, see this months classiccars magazine article " a reliable lotus ? yes if you read our excel guide." compare the sentiment expressed in that title to the statement in a recent classic car weekly in which the writer stated, in a barely literate article, that the excel was basically the same car as an eclat.

i will be there with my wife, ( excel se) and my son and his wife ( M100). We are parking with club lotus if we get the tickets which are bought and paid for.

1) jack the rear of the car up using the diff casing and a trolly jack. insert axle stands. 2) remove rear wheels and sparre wheel 3) from the spare wheel well you should be able to get a look at the centre of the cross member. from under the wheel arch you can look along the top of the cross member, this view can be improved by using a miiror but the only to get a direct look at the top of it is to take the body off. p.s. do not assume that galvanised chassis is not rusty.

looks like an early (pre 85) excel to me.

is this the resprayed green) eclat currently listed as an eclat / excel on ebay. which the car definitely is not. rather misleading to ebay purchasers who may not know the difference. it is the car and it must be in breach of ebay listing policy as the description is misleading.

had a similar noise once, it was the cam belt rattling on the cam belt cover. the belt was properly tensioned, the cover was too close to it

dash looks like se type without the wood

there are two quick and easy way to distinguish 2.2 elite eclats, the front spoiler is full width,on 2.0s it is a simple little scoop. whilst an owner can retrofit the later spoiler to a 2.0 he cannot change the rear lights which are the rover sdi type on the 2.2, the same as on an excel.

hi guys , an old elite as art, remember dear tracy emin's definition of art; "art is what the artist says is art" so get the old thing into the living room and then your wife can hang the abused frying pan on the wall and say that it is art too.

axle stands front and rear should be placed on or near the hub carriers, they are after all axle stands. if you have a trolley jack lift the rear using the diff casing and the front using the front cross member.

hi all, anyone looking for body parts might find this of interest, no engine gearbox or interior, but the exterior looks complete and in good condition, i think the car could be restored or provide spares. to view on ebay search for LOTUS EXCEL ROLLING SHELL. strangely searching for lotus excel does not bring it up. OR CLICK LINK HERE TO SAVE SEARCHING

hi i hope thar all you guys who insist on calling the subframe the chassis are a bit more careful about your choice of words if you ever have to tell the dvla that you have changed it . the use of the word chassis could could cause you a lot of grief.