83 Excel from from Finland

[Osku]

By the way where is SA?? UK? US? Germany? South Africa?

[Pete Boole]

Yep - South Africa.

Pete

[Excel SA]

With the amount of work I'm having to do rebuilding the Excel it was definitely too expensive . I've learnt a lot of lessons on what to look out for on a fiberglass car over the last year

Neil.

[Osku]

Do tell me more about the problems you have faced, is there anything beyond tje usual stress cracks and glassfiber coldroth?

[Osku]

On the otherhand the work is the same no mater is it a kitcar or a ferrari with a GRP body and the excel is from engine here as excpencive as the Esprit so the only extra is the initial hit and the weaker transmission.

[Excel SA]

Mine had been crashed and very poorly repaired - noticeable cracks in the body work hid much larger repairs - my thread is here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11679.

Neil.

[Osku]

Aa.. that is a thing and needs skill. I have been making a lot of repair work on both GRP cars and boats. And I know you can make horific work when not doing it right.
This sommer I had to make molds from a couple of doors as the repair was so bad that it was easyer to just use the orginal part as plug for the mold.

[Osku]

I checked your thread thats what one find every now and then when people who should not touch cars do it anyway. Good thing some one like you corrects the situation.

[Excel SA]

Thanks Osku - the original plan was to be done in 6 months or so - that was before the bad repairs were all found - it's been a year already and I've still got a long way to go....

Neil.

[Osku]

I have restored several cars and usually to do the job right beside every other husle life involvs I assume an awerage of two years per project. I have two complet projects open at the moment and that is beside the small project I do mainteining my cars like the stuff presented here of my excel.
So I suspect you will also hit that time and if you are faster then all the respect becaus thats blody good.

[Osku]

Today I takled the first of the issues the car came with and that was the squiling belt tensioner. I got the old one out and have already ordered a new one.

[Osku]

With the belt offcource

[Osku]

Strange is that the seller said that it was changed 3000km ago. So or so this one was making a hell of a squil. even when rolled with the fingers.

[ChrisJ]

When I bought by Excel, the belt had been changed 3000 miles earlier - 15 years previously.

[Osku]

This was alegedly changed 2 years ago and 3000 km 2000miles before and the car was kept in warm garage the previouse owner stated that the noice came a few hundred kilomeeter after the belt change. So either the guy making the change did not change the roller or he ruined it in the instalation process or thepart was sub par without grease or not hardened correctly or something.
The seller was more or less a private car museum/collection so I suspect he is not lying. But if the tensioner bearing was the type that needed to be pressed maby the shop that did the work pressed it to pieces.