Well dear Reader, I started this blog to document the restoration of a fresh hedge-find, or at least a basket case of an Excel. I think this car didn't really want to be rescued, perhaps it was happy quietly returning its constituents to their natural state, and its fought me every step of the way. There have not been many occasions when something I checked turned out not to need attention.
However today is a milestone, a red letter day: The car has its first MOT!!! I've now been able tax it for the first time since 1990, bringing to an end ending 27 years of off road existence!!! Obviously there will be more work to do, not to mention ongoing maintenance (and the repair to the bumper!), but much of this will be done by professionals as I don't think I am neat enough to fix a headlining, fibreglass a repair or carry out a respray. So this is, as they say, the end of the beginning!!! I will post more about anything I need to fix but (hopefully) this will not be so regular. In the meantime, thank you for coming with me on this part of my journey into Lotus land.
Wednesday 24 May 2017
Friday 19 May 2017
Still waiting part 2: From bad to Worse!!
Welcome back faithful reader! I know I have only 1 follower so he or she has been busy viewing my blog nearly 45,000 times! So, whoever you are thank you!!!
If you have been following me for the last 2-3 years you will know what I have been through. The project eventually limped towards road-worthiness but who would have predicted the trials and tribulations so close to becoming road legal!!
Well you will know the problems with the exhaust. I have been trying everywhere to get a LC motor (non SE) system. Finally I think I've succeeded and PNM Engineering came through for me with possibly the last genuine Lotus pre-SE system in the country!! Sadly it wasn't complete and needed a new Y piece but this was made by the same company as the original from the original jig. It also lacks one back box... but hopefully mine will fit.
However waiting for the system to be assembled and dispatched has been purgatory. Finally its on its way and arrival expected on Monday... By then the garage will have had the car for 4 weeks! Apparently customers have been asking about it... I'm hoping in a good way!!
Dropped the exhaust off at the garage today. My car visible with boot open. Garage were charging the battery (thank you!) which means the battery has run down again despite my having found no earth leakage! I'm beginning to think this cheap internet Exide is a either a knockoff or just faulty and just can't hold charge. Uhfdistribution, trading via Ebay, have offered to refund me... but only if I return the battery (at my cost) and it then fails their (unspecified) test. If it doesn't then I think mailing it back to me would still leave me with a potentially duff battery and is also going to be at my cost ... none of that is cheap. I will test again for current leakage and maybe bite the bullet and get a genuine Yuasa locally. Lesson learned I think!
Update:
The new exhaust is on... apparently it fitted like a dream. Once again, despite my request to try the downpipe alone the message didn't reach the fitter and the whole thing was changed. This means I still don't know if the other system would have fitted if the garage had done as I asked and left the original down pipe which was the only part if the old system I thought that was salvageable. If so then that would have saved me £500 spent buying the new system. Also, given that we are where we are, had the new downpipe alone solved the problem it would have left me with a quality part system to sell on and recoup something of my costs. As it is the old system has been returned to me but it will be difficult to sell on as I don't really know what is needed to make it fit! However this minor gripe is a small problem compared with my later woes:
The new exhaust is on and sounds lovely. So nice in fact that it tempted the fitter to take for a test drive... not usual I think after an exhaust swap. Sadly the fitter then pranged it and I now have significant front end damage!!!
This will mean at least a new front bumper and I'm hoping that the nose and bonnet aren't damaged. To add insult to injury the garage had forgotten that the car was originally in for an MOT not simply an exhaust swap so its still not been assessed. It remains road-illegal!!!
This is getting very disheartening.
If you have been following me for the last 2-3 years you will know what I have been through. The project eventually limped towards road-worthiness but who would have predicted the trials and tribulations so close to becoming road legal!!
Well you will know the problems with the exhaust. I have been trying everywhere to get a LC motor (non SE) system. Finally I think I've succeeded and PNM Engineering came through for me with possibly the last genuine Lotus pre-SE system in the country!! Sadly it wasn't complete and needed a new Y piece but this was made by the same company as the original from the original jig. It also lacks one back box... but hopefully mine will fit.
However waiting for the system to be assembled and dispatched has been purgatory. Finally its on its way and arrival expected on Monday... By then the garage will have had the car for 4 weeks! Apparently customers have been asking about it... I'm hoping in a good way!!
Dropped the exhaust off at the garage today. My car visible with boot open. Garage were charging the battery (thank you!) which means the battery has run down again despite my having found no earth leakage! I'm beginning to think this cheap internet Exide is a either a knockoff or just faulty and just can't hold charge. Uhfdistribution, trading via Ebay, have offered to refund me... but only if I return the battery (at my cost) and it then fails their (unspecified) test. If it doesn't then I think mailing it back to me would still leave me with a potentially duff battery and is also going to be at my cost ... none of that is cheap. I will test again for current leakage and maybe bite the bullet and get a genuine Yuasa locally. Lesson learned I think!
Update:
The new exhaust is on... apparently it fitted like a dream. Once again, despite my request to try the downpipe alone the message didn't reach the fitter and the whole thing was changed. This means I still don't know if the other system would have fitted if the garage had done as I asked and left the original down pipe which was the only part if the old system I thought that was salvageable. If so then that would have saved me £500 spent buying the new system. Also, given that we are where we are, had the new downpipe alone solved the problem it would have left me with a quality part system to sell on and recoup something of my costs. As it is the old system has been returned to me but it will be difficult to sell on as I don't really know what is needed to make it fit! However this minor gripe is a small problem compared with my later woes:
The new exhaust is on and sounds lovely. So nice in fact that it tempted the fitter to take for a test drive... not usual I think after an exhaust swap. Sadly the fitter then pranged it and I now have significant front end damage!!!
This will mean at least a new front bumper and I'm hoping that the nose and bonnet aren't damaged. To add insult to injury the garage had forgotten that the car was originally in for an MOT not simply an exhaust swap so its still not been assessed. It remains road-illegal!!!
This is getting very disheartening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)