The Lotus Grand Tourers

Early Excel wing mirrors - the ones from the Rover SD1.

My car failed its MOT this year because there was a significant difference in brightness between the two sides. Evidently that leads to confusion on whether you are braking or not - hence the test.

While the bumper is off I'd suggest doing both sides rather than just the one.

My car has just passed its 2nd MOT in my ownership, and im pleased to say ive had no issues with the rebuilt rack - the seals I replaced are still holding fluid. I have had trouble getting the power steering fluid pipe that returns to the tank to seal though - I have ended up putting an O-ring into ...

My Early Excel sounds to have been the same as Bash's - threaded studs top and bottom, so with the undertray out the radiator hangs from the top mountings in the top ducting. Sorry to hear about the leak though Richard. Thats a pain. Im going to keep a close eye on mine now, but Ive not done many mi...

I felt brave yesterday so started to remove the Aerial. It turns out that what I thought was a cover bung is in fact a bolt head. I used a left handed drill bits and started to try to drill out the bung/bolt. After a little while the bolt actually came undone - which is actually what I had hoped, he...

Im sure Ive seen a post on this topic recently, but as always I cant find it now. The aerial in my car has gone floppy, in that the part that can be tilted up and down slowly droops down until it is lying along the roof. Does anyone know if the hinge is actually a bolt that can be tightened up? ther...

Im not near my car to take a picture at the moment but Ive just replaced some of the trim on my 1983 Excel with the stuff from SJ's ( https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/B076U6005MTR.htm ). Its a very close match to the original with the very slight step in it. Take care to follow the...

Did you have to move any shims around - and so do you have any idea how much difference to the castor angle each size of shim makes?

On my 1983 Excel I found the Winner radiator was physically thicker than the original. From memory it was 5cm thick instead of 3.5cm. That 1.5cm difference turned into a bit of a faff to fit, as the new radiator clashed with the reinforcing ribs moulded into the upper and lower radiator ducts. I had...

There is a thread on hydraulic lifts here https://lotusexcel.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11978&sid=cda9b91c89ba1d2ca24b8afe0248a2ac My concern with the type you show is the size of the lifting pads, they look quite short and so may not extend to the area around any jacking points - that could put stress...

As I said above I have also bought a 'winner' radiator recently, and got around to fitting it last weekend. I have an early (1983) Excel, so thought I would note here some of the differences and pain points to fitting. In the early Excel the radiator is mounted with 2 threaded studs through the radi...

Interesting. My 'winner' radiator arrived last week and ill fit it when I get the dashboard back into the car ('83 Excel). I already noticed that the mounting studs on the new radiator are M10, but the ones on my current radiator are M8 or smaller (from memory). I have not offered the two up alongsi...

I used part 'Toyota 12371-34020 - insulator, engine mount, rear' for my 1983 Excel. It was identical to the originaly fitted part. I purchased mine from Amayama. It was £22, but another £40 for shipping (10 days for delivery). Hopefully this is a picture of the old and new parts https://www.thelotus...

Its great to hear that life is returning to normal and enthusiasm is coming back. Your list of jobs is remarkably similar to the list I have been working through over the last few years. If you have not found it yet Ive been posting a restoration thread on the other side https://www.thelotusforums.c...

Hi,
Can I ask how you got on with your MG TF radiator swap?
Mine has just sprung a leak so im looking for ideas and like the thought of something as widely available as the MGF/TF radiator.

Thanks