1986 Lotus Excel - Running report

[discostew]

I have been thinking about getting a car that is more fun to drive for a while. I have had a few 924s, which I have enjoyed and a couple of Scimitars, which made me vow never to buy a plastic British car ever again.

Whilst out cycling with my son a couple of weeks ago we went down a road in the village that I don't often go down. You also get a different viewpoint from a bike than a car, which is probably why I had never noticed what was hiding behind some old shipping containers...

There was nobody about and I was pretty certain that the house opposite was nothing to do with this site so I left a note under the windscreen wiper. To my surprise I got a call first thing on Monday morning. The owner hadn't been thinking of selling but since I was asking, it might be for sale. So, what have we found?



Here is my son checking it out.

The good news is that it is the SE model so it came with the 180 bhp engine. It is the good old twin cam Lotus 2.2 with a big pair of Dellorto carbs. It seems to have a few decent bits, such as stainless exhaust and the seller tells me it has had new brake discs and calipers fitted.

The not so good bits are that it has been stood quite a while. Most of the lacquer has peeled off the paint. The interior is a complete disaster area, water has been getting in and it is pretty much ruined. The clutch is seized solid and I haven't seen it run yet. I'm not expecting a single electrical component to work either...

[79cord]

Very nice, hope '85 is late enough for Lotus to have started raiding Toyota's parts bin.

[minininjarob]

I saw that last night too! Rode past it on a bike ride I was doing.....

I think I may have had dealings with the landowner previously through work and he was a ok chap when I met him (if it is the same guy).

[discostew]

Small world!

It looks like it has the Toyota gearbox and some switchgear. I should get it home at the weekend and give it a proper asessment.

[discostew]

The previous owner kindly dropped off the Lotus last night. I haven't had chance to have a good look at it yet though. I did connect up a battery, the ignition lights came on, the fuel pump whirred.... and it just gave a faint click. I'm not sure if the starter is stuck, there is some kind of dodgy old immobiliser preventing it from starting, or just good old dodgy connections.

[discostew]

It lives!!
Holidays and a trip to the Grand Prix prevented any work on the Lotus but I had a quick play with it this evening. It turns out that there is a relay on the starter switch, which had failed. A bit of hotwiring and it fired almost straight up and ran really nicely.

The next bit of investigation was the clutch. The master cylinder is seized solid but the slave cylinder looks OK. It is a Toyota part so I will see if I can get something from my friendly local motor factors.

[markgenesis]

Happy days, should sound good with the stainless exhausts, i'd bung a new timing belt on it and check the water pump, they can start leaking if the car has sat for a while.

[Deleted]

Are those rear lights from an SD1?

[MonzaPhil]

Yup

[discostew]

Quick update. I put on the new master cylinder but still no clutch! After a bit of head scratching and some guidance from the Lotus Excel forum, it seemed that the pushrod connecting the pedal to the cylinder was too short. I managed to lengthen it by welding bits of the old and new pushrod together, hey presto, we now have a clutch. A quick shunt backwards and forwards confirmed that it now goes into gear smoothly. It is quite heavy in operation so we will just have to see if it frees up with use.

Now that it goes, I can see what else it needs to be roadworthy. A new timing belt is definitely on the agenda before it goes anywhere.

[DWDarkWheels]

Nice. I do like a British plastic car.

I had a look at one a couple of years ago and was impressed how good they are to drive. I found it just as composed and eager as our '07 2.0 MX-5. Just goes to show how good Lotus are in the ride and handling dept. (i.e. 30 year-old design with 30 years of use).

Hopefully minimal Trouble awaits you.

[bazzateer]

Always liked these since watching Jan Howard drive one in Howard's Way.(Yes, I'm old!)

[stefan]

I remember the car in Howards way, although not thought about the program for a long time.

Anyway car looks great do like these

[discostew]

Things are progressing. My aim is to fix one thing each day to get it a step closer to the road. I've replaced most of the relays and bulbs as well as spent time cleaning connections and switches to get most of the lights working. I thought the wiper speed controller was dead but it turned out that the wiper spindle was seized. Next up is the air horn.

[discostew]

I hit a bit of a brick wall when the clutch gave out on the way back from the MOT station. A new slave cylinder made no difference, it had to be something internal. Now, most of my experience has been with aircooled VWs and I would have dropped the engine and changed the clutch on a Beetle in a morning without really breaking a sweat. However, I really wasn't sure about taking out the engine and box from an overly complex old British sports car.... So, I decided to sell it....

My ten year old son gave me a severe talking to and it later dawned on me that I really should fix it and have some fun, like we intended at the start.

Right then, time to get to work.





I've started to strip it down, ready for the big extraction. I should be picking up an engine crane tomorrow, I'm hoping to crack on at the weekend.

[Mercdan68]

Great news your keeping it, such a lovely car,, funny how young sons talk sense!!, my 12 year old always offers up great car advice, hence that's why he has the project escort estate now! Good luck with the lotus fella

[luckygti]

Love the Excel, and yours looks good for sitting in a field. Well done for saving it and keeping it, how did the MOT go?

[skozra]

Good luck with it and i'm glad you decided to keep it, would have been a shame to sell it - they are such cool cars !

[gazz81]

Great news, there is far more to be gained from having a good project for you and your son than any amount of money could replace.

[sciclone]

Too bad you don't want to change to a Toyota lump... A 4A-GE, 3S-GTE or 1JZ could bolt to that gearbox... and everybody loves over-boosted 1JZ'S