GFWilliams Purple, Slightly Modified, Exige V6

[MrD]

The state of those springs!

Good story, naturally the car would now understeer unless you soften the front out both ways - but you must know that already:) 

[GFWilliams]

New springs look much better!

I haven’t changed the fronts, I’ve always thought the balance is a bit off and rear too stiff.  IMO, always best to only change one thing at a time with suspension so you really get to understand exactly what each change does.  I will report back about handling balance and further thoughts once I’ve set the heights and test driven tomorrow.
 

[DangerousDave]

On 22/03/2021 at 06:58, GFWilliams said:

Little update... Spring clean was needed on my car and a few weeks ago I spent the day under the car using dry ice to clean the underside of the car and then protecting it with spray wax.   Dry ice is a non abrasive way of cleaning mechanical components and I was very impressed. It doesn't strip the surface coatings, only the dirt, so this is just a way of cleaning properly to then be able to protect for longer.   Eventually I'll do a full suspension refresh, but this has helped to protect it for a good while longer.  The trick if using wax to protect the underside of a car is to do it regularly, and as I didn't have a garage for a while I'd let it slip. In future I'll do it at least every 6 months.

Under the sea before image:

After looking much much better:

 

Before/after split image which shows how much better the car looks now!

 

My exhaust has been blowing and getting worse recently, and I suspected it was the Flexi in the Y pipe (again! This is my second one now). The decat link pipe I'd put in before was a bit of a nightmare to fit and was putting too much pressure on the flexi due to not fitting perfectly. Unfortunately this means the expensive Y pipe now has to go in the bin. To try to fix the problem more long term, I've decided to put in a 400 series Y pipe with the sports cat from Komotec.  @Seriouslylotusnow keeps Komo-tec in stock, so it was with me the next day!

Before anyone comments, yes it's suppose to have the "dent". This is to fit around the gearbox.  Hopefully by having a full komotec and OEM system now, instead of a mix of komotec and 2bular, it'll fit a bit better and not cause any future problems.

Car will be a bit quieter with a cat back in, but to be honest, I'm fed up of it being so loud anyway, so it'll be nice change. 

Eventually I'll buy the new komo-tec quiet exhaust so I can do trackdays again, as this Y pipe doesn't fit my old quiet exhaust (nothing's ever easy is it...)

Shocked that they just dont transition to tubular piping for that

[GFWilliams]

Just some random quick photos of the car in London. Was nice to use it to drive round town for a shoot I had to do.

Small update on the exhaust, I was having problems with the vacuum pressure on the valve, I had a leak somewhere and was struggling to work out where it was. After buying some long vacuum hose I tested every part of the system and eventually found that the pipe that goes through the subframe was either leaking somewhere, or blocked. I did a temporary fix and will replace that pipe, but unfortunately I will have to remove the cat to access it properly.  Lovely to have the exhaust in full quiet mode properly, the 380/410 backbox is a great exhaust with so much difference between quiet and loud modes.

[GFWilliams]

Nice to get out for a little drive this morning. Not much to report on the car, although I am planning to get clams off this winter and build it back up to make sure everything is perfect. I’ll be starting to acquire parts soon for the project which will be fun!

[GFWilliams]

[GoldenGun]

Absolutely stunning @GFWilliams  

 

what an amazing car, and superb pics. 

[Diablos-666]

That bottom photo looks the dogs! 
 

what rear hatch is that you got?

[GFWilliams]

6 minutes ago, Diablos-666 said:

That bottom photo looks the dogs! 
 

what rear hatch is that you got?

It's the carbon rear hatch from the 380 Cup/410 Sport/420 Sport/430 Cup.  Was painfully expensive... 

[Diablos-666]

Was that direct from Lotus or a 3rd party. 

[GFWilliams]

1 minute ago, Diablos-666 said:

Was that direct from Lotus or a 3rd party. 

It was second hand, but an official Lotus one from Prodrive.

[C8RKH]

Oh, I thought it was created by Nordik Elves, in the bowels of a volcano, on anvil made form Thor's hammer, with the carbon ashes of a phoenix, and fired over a 1,000 year lava flow. Hence the cost!

[GoldenGun]

30 minutes ago, GFWilliams said:

It's the carbon rear hatch from the 380 Cup/410 Sport/420 Sport/430 Cup.  Was reassuringly expensive... 

Corrected for you. 

[GFWilliams]

Out for a drive with a good friend of mine this morning:

Also, my next little project on the car is starting...  

Track-group have kindly lent me an upright from a Cup R to help me to design my own custom wing uprights. It's a project I've wanted to do for a few years now so I'm excited to finally press on with it. I've always believed that a chassis mounted wing is a better solution than wings which get mounted to the boot lid, but the drawbacks are that access to the boot becomes a bit of a pain. I'll be trying to work out a practical solution to be able to keep my hinged 430 carbon boot lid.

I'll update with how we get on, I also plan to video the process as I think the process of designing, test fitting, then fitting it, will be interesting!

[EldonZ]

Does your rear subframe have the mount that the wing support mounts to?

Later,
Eldon

[GFWilliams]

@EldonZnot yet, but I have the brackets to install soon  

[EldonZ]

@GFWilliamsInteresting because the subframe brackets are riveted on. Also, I do have the Lotus dimensions for the cutouts for the rear clam if you would like them.

Later,
Eldon

[GFWilliams]

@EldonZ - I plan on bolting through the subframe. Will finally fit my rear tow strap mount too.   The template for the cutting would be very useful!  I've measured on @Arun_D's car, but the more I can be sure before cutting into my car the better!

This is how the brackets are mounted on @Mattmahope's car.

[EldonZ]

@GFWilliamsI misspoke because I just took another look at mine. They are bolted to the subframe. I have also attached the PDF for the support slots.

Later,
Eldon

Cup R rear wing upright slot info.pdf

[Jack]

@EldonZ  -- Eldon, have you been storing your CupR under water?   

@GFWilliams -- George, please have them made 2" taller than stock, and I'll even buy a set.

[GFWilliams]

@EldonZ Thanks for the document, it's very useful!

I've been working on my car quite a lot recently with it on axle stands for the last few weeks. It started with simply needing to replace the metal vacuum pipe that goes through the subframe and over the exhaust as it had corroded and was causing a vacuum leak. Plus I needed to install the new exhaust hangar for the KT 380/410 downpipe.

The vacuum pipe was a bit of a horrible job as the bolt for the bracket is hard to get to with everything still in place (I loosened off the cat and backbox to allow a bit of space though). Eventually got it in there though, started it up and it went into quiet mode!  Great!  Tried switching it into loud mode and it wouldn't switch anymore... Swearing happened. After checking various things, I concluded that the signal to the solenoid switch was okay, but the switch wasn't actually working. Very annoying as it was replaced earlier this year when I fitted the downpipe and it was working then.   New one ordered from B&C and quick service as always, shame the part was £94.50 though.

While the car was up in the air and I was waiting for parts I decided to also do:
 - Paint subframe to protect it longer term. Also painted the upper wishbones which hopefully keeps them rust free for longer.

 - Paint inside the wheel arches with stonechip paint. This is a bit of an experiment to see how long it lasts, the car will have some professional paintwork later this year so I'm not too precious about the edge or finish, but I want to know how well the finish holds up. Plus I think it looks a lot better in black than in body colour (with bare GRP showing through from all the chips!)

 - Clean all under arches and under tray and diffuser.

 - New stainless bolts for under tray and pro bolt black bolts for diffuser. 

 - Spotted the pipe that goes between the side intake and the KT airbox was loose, so reconnected it.

Arches look much better:

Intake pipe loose... I wiped down around it, don't worry!

 

 

[GFWilliams]

About time I actually do some mods... Just ordered two of these for the front grill!

This is just a small part of the stuff I have planned for the car in winter... 

[GFWilliams]

New parts!  

Cup holder that I got anodised black, I like how subtle it is.  I'll get a strap made up in black Alcantara I think.  Has made me wonder if I should anodise the other parts which are silver in the cabin... 

Also, the Lazer lights have arrived, this is what I'm thinking, but I want to cut the front grill and recess them back so they're not quite so in your face... 

[Arun_D]

I think a bit of contrast works well (as in the clear anodised aluminium), but for the cupholder black is appropriately discreet for me, as it's not something I'd usually look to highlight.

[GFWilliams]

I don't have a clue what Daniel is saying in this, but I assume he's saying it's all awesome and does lots of aero stuff. I think it'll look good on my car...