1987 Lotus Excel been sat for over 15 years need some advise

[DiMarco]

Well great news Ladies and Gents. I bought some 20W50 oil today put a little down the into the boars. Got my leaver bar out to try and manually crank it over and it cranked over so easy hardly had to put any force into it so i am as happy as a Larry right now :D. I also started stripping down the front as i will need to change all the bushes extra and i am shocked on how easy they are currently being to come off. This car so badly wants to get on the road i can feel it.

[Hawaiis0]

Hi Nick

I'm in Brize if you ever need to chat. 

Stu

Edited April 27, 2021 by Hawaiis0

[DiMarco]

Well the old girl has just had close to a grand thrown at her today :). I have just purchase all the below to get her head for the streets :D. I ended up contacting Lotus bits and SJ.

Full service items including all belts, all filters and spark plugs

Front upper and lower ball joints

Front and rear shocks plus front springs

inner and outter tie rods

Discs and pads all round

new bolts for everything above

new brake pipes from caliper to hose

front calipers sent off to be completely refurbed

[andydclements]

It's scary how £1k can disappear so easily.

I should really have asked but, are the lower balljoints shot? If it's just the rubbers then much easier to just fit new ones of those. Uppers are low cost and less work to change the whole balljoint than rubbers.

[DiMarco]

Hello Ladies and Gents,

I need your help as i am close to pulling the little hair i have left out. I started tonight doing the ball joint bottom trying to get the bastard out would it come out no. I have used half a can of WD40 and heat for a long time close to red hot and still the bastard wouldnt budge. I got a spanner round it to guide it and smacked the shit out of the top with a hammer to try and knock it down and no go. Below is the other side does this go down to get it out?

Also i have the inner tie rod but for the life of me i cant figure out how to remove it as it doesnt have anything to grip hold of no nut nothing. please help.

[Barrykearley]

If that’s the same as the esprit - it’s pressed in. Took about 20 tons on the press to get em out. No hammer will succeed I’m afraid.

[Sparky]

You'll be taking the arm off to press that out.  Also check it hasn't been tack-welded underneath.  I have a tool for the rods which may or may not be the right size, so can bring it along next week...

[DiMarco]

Thanks guys ok well it looks like i will be taken them off after all :(.

[andydclements]

Is there actually a fault with the lower BJs? If not then I'd say leave them as some after-market replacements (even from Lotus specialists) may wear out faster than the ones that are c30yr old.

[DiMarco]

1 hour ago, andydclements said:

Is there actually a fault with the lower BJs? If not then I'd say leave them as some after-market replacements (even from Lotus specialists) may wear out faster than the ones that are c30yr old.

I need to change them now as i have smashed the shit out of it and one is ruined lol. 

[DiMarco]

Well the first load of parts came today for the project that would be top and bottom ball joints, front wheel bearings and rear standard shocks :). Shiny

[DiMarco]

Good evening ladies and Gents,

Well this came today from SJ  happy but also annoyed at the same time. All my parts that are here which i ordered last week and only turned up today which i had to call yesterday which if i hadn't i don't believe they wouldn't have turned up as they randomly said they will be shipped out today for delivery tomorrow. Why could they not have been shipped out sooner as the problem is now after going through all the bits there was not invoice with the bits but also my top control arm bushes are not with the shipment and i have arranged with my father in law to do all that this weekend at his engineering club so i am a bit pissed with that. The one thing that i really needed for this weekend apart from the cambelt is missing.

The battery turned up from ordering yesterday so well happy with that  as i have put it in the car and  and the electric came on so exciting and she hardly has any fuel so result there for me and Stu to empty the tank tomorrow. I am hoping to have her running tomorrow for the first time in 17 years 

Edited May 14, 2021 by DiMarco

[DiMarco]

So another little update this evening she has now got fresh oil and filter on her along with an airfilter and spark plugs i only stopped as the misses came out saying darling its 10 o'clock and your banging outside so was like shit well at least i have managed to do a couple of things and built up my 1960s work bench which is solid piece of craftmanship so i know that is going to last.

I was however shocked on how slow it took to fill the engine with oil  as 20w50 is so thick it took an age       .

[DiMarco]

Good evening Ladies and Gents,

Well what a day got a fair bit wet but bless the lovely lotus she is now up and running and i ow Gary (Sparky) & Stuart (HawaissO) everything for today. I have attached a link to a video i made on todays evens enjoy

 

 

[Sparky]

What a happy guy!  Good to meet you both, and pleased to be able to help resurrect another beauty.  Crack on, Nick.

[exeterjeep]

Good to see another excel getting back to life, they are great cars and probably the most practical lotus model.

[DiMarco]

10 hours ago, Sparky said:

What a happy guy!  Good to meet you both, and pleased to be able to help resurrect another beauty.  Crack on, Nick.

I am still buzzing this morning  so thank you very much i will be down to you when she is on the road.

 

[DiMarco]

Well i have my calipers back from Big Reds so i am loving them right now only problem is i have no discs to put them on with lol. Does anyone on here have a pair in there stock they are happy to part with?

Also still having issues sorting out these ARB bushes.

[DiMarco]

Hello Ladies and Gents well quite a bit of an update the front end is almost complete. I now have the new rad and the brake system is complete and assembled and put back into the car. All i need to do now is pump up the tyres and low her down so i can measure the gap between the wheel and the arch so i can put her back in the air and tighten up the bolts :). Then i can tackle the rad :D.

Edited June 10, 2021 by DiMarco

[andydclements]

Ah the rad job, oh what joy it brings. I hate it and that's with an inspection pit so that I can stand and do it.  (I have a bad back, it's not the job itself)

Edited June 11, 2021 by andydclements

[Sparky]

This one is now with me for final recommissioning and MoT, gulp.  Apologies for the Porsche; some ex-Lotus owner dumped it there.

Known major issues are carbs, exhaust downpipe and brake hydraulics.  I'm going to address the carbs and general engine running/security first.

This gives an idea of what we're up against:

As previously detailed, we got the engine running back in May.  Nick has since done a lot of work, and now it's with me for a few final hurdles.  I'm not too happy with the master cylinder bore so have recommended a new/recon unit rather than seals.

Plenty of age-related issues in the engine bay, all the more evident after inlet/carb removal!  Numerous hoses (vacuum/coolant) will be replaced, and it would make sense to renew distributor cap and rotor whilst eminently accessible.

It's all a bit messy in here.

After this, there's a lot to do on brake pipes/hoses, and some exhaust stuff.  Then, hopefully, we'll see about getting a ticket...

 

 

 

[DiMarco]

Thank you so much Gary. I new she has gone to the right hands :).

 

Sorry it has been ages since i have updated you all on the progress and thank you to Gary you can see what is happening with her now but before that these are all the previous pictures to that point :).

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by DiMarco

[DiMarco]

So after i finished off all the suspension the brakes were put back on both sides.

[DiMarco]

Then i started on the back replacing the suspension and sending off the brakes calipers to be reconditioned.  When i got them back i put them on however the bloody pipes spun and split so new pipes need to be made from the T piece back. That's where the first conversation with Gary took place :). We ended up speaking about the best way that car could get repaired and in the end it would be easier so ship her off over to Gary so the next Job was to send all the wheels off to get refurbed and give her so new rubber as you can see below. The second pic was a colour that Google lied to me about  so the chap who did the wheels showed me pictures of other wheels he had previously done and the Gold stood out to me and new they needed to be that :). Then off she went on Friday for delivery Saturday 

[Sparky]

Just one small issue:  now I can't get the bloody wheels off.

Anyhow, been making some progress on this one, albeit somewhat glacial.  Engine is now all sorted and runs sweeeeet.  Brake master cylinder has been sent for bore & sleeve.

Exhaust downpipe is blowing plenty.  Nick has sourced a replacement but unfortunately the current system is a custom built mongrel and every joint is a sleeve instead of a flange, and none of it is a fantastic fit.  Except for the rear silencers.  I discovered after 20 minutes of heave-ho with them that some evil human had tack welded them.  Removed the lot.  Had to cut the downpipe to get a good handle on 2 very reluctant K-locks.  Nick sourced a full correct replacement, but even that is going to be fun as bolts have been tacked to the flanges and then cut, so more stuff to do there.  Meanwhile, I was able to fit the replacement parts back to the Y-piece.  So, more fun with grinder and drills imminent.

Old stuff:

New(!) stuff, bloody annoying:

And fitted so far:

Nick has already dealt with the calipers and hoses, but left the rusty rear pipes to me.  A modicum of violence and half a trade pack of expletives dealt with them.  Rather pleased that I was able to release all the cable clips and screws without a single casualty, using a bit in a ratchet driver.  The T-piece is toast, so I'll be sourcing an alternative.  I made up the replacement pipes today.

Now waiting to get hold of the brake T-piece, the master cylinder, and some more exhaust mountings.  And more expletives for the next bout of violence.  Then, hopefully, MoT!