Toolkit?

IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS AN ORIGINAL EXCEL TOOL ROLL WITH ITS COMPLEMENT OF TOOLS PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH PICS OR A LIST OF CONTENTS... INFORMATION HARD TO FIND!


I have been trying to obtain or reconstruct the original toolkit from the early Excels- i.e. the one that came in a roll. Recently one came up on Ebay and although I won it, sadly I don't think its original. To be fair to the seller all he really said was that this had come  from an Excel and the tools were "believed" to be original- well, bits probably are but overall I think not. I'd be grateful if anyone with an early car and original toolkit could confirm my suspicions. The parts manual (page 60.01A) confirms tools of this general description, although sizes and brands aren't given- possibly because Lotus simply supplied what they could get cheaply or readily at the time.


I know that Lotus used King Dick tools whenever possible and of the three spanners in this set 2 are King Dick-13/17 and 10/13mm. The 10/8mm is however a Gordon so I think a substitute.

2 screwdrivers are included, both by Spiralux. One is flat ended 100x5mm (shaft lengthxblade width)  and the other is a crosshead supadrive 100mm shaft numbered 2PT3632. I don't know this make but again it doesn't sound like a Lotus original and their handles differ in shape from those illustrated in the parts list.

 There is a pair of pliers (6.5") with blue dip-coated handles. They do look like those in the parts manual, but they are unbranded which seems odd.

Finally there is a plug socket (Gedore 13/16") with a short 1/4 inch drive extension bar  (total length 7cm), and a 20cm  T bar handle. These could be original as they resemble those illustrated although 

the extension piece shown looks longer than the one I have; probably around 15cms using the T bar as a guide.

Finally the parts list shows one extra component,  a socket. Presumably 1/4 inch drive but the size isn't clear- does anyone know what size this socket was and what it was intended to fit? Also of course was it included in the roll-up kit?

I was sent this picture of the later (boxed) toolkit

These are clearly the tools illustrated in the parts manual- even down to the shape of the screw driver handles and the length of the extension bar and the extra socket. All are Heyco branded and were clearly supplied as a boxed set by that company who specialise in this for a number of auto manufacturers inc BMW. This would seem to be a departure from past policy where Lotus assembled the tool kits from individual components bought separately. I can see that this was an up-market move bringing the cars into line with other manufacturers. However it does mean that the tools illustrated in the parts manual may be no guide at all to those  included in the earlier roll-up style kit!

 This is a very slimmed down kit from an 88 Excel SE and below

... a rollup kit from an 82 turbo Esprit. Closer in time to my own 84 kit but obviously different. The blue dip handled pliers are reminiscent of my own although these are branded King Dick.

Kit from Elite or Eclat is very similar to the kit I have includes the following :

8  x 10  open-ended spanner  stamped SLM608   - KING DICK - ENGLAND

10 x 13 open-ended spanner  stamped SLM6103 - KING DICK - ENGLAND

13 x 17 open-ended spanner  stamped SLM6137 - KING DICK - ENGLAND

Screwdriver, Posidrive No.2 (blue handle)

Pliers (blue handle)

'T' bar, sliding

Extension, 5", 3/8" drive

Spark Plug Socket, 13/16"

Socket 17mm

Socket 19mm

Photo below from net here. .. not my own.

Again this doesn't match the kit shown in the parts manual for the Elite and Eclat. In particular this showed a skeleton screwdriver and also included a King Dick adjustable girder spanner. Obviously over time tools get used/lost/broken and are replaced, so originality seems very hard to prove. This one feels right though. The owner lists two free sockets but only shows one and doesnt give the brand unfortunately. Again this includes an extn bar longer than my own. They say size isnt everything but in this case I think it may be!!!