rjwooll

Those, like me, approaching their second childhood might remember these fixings as stickle bricks! Colin Chapman would have been delighted you couldn't see any screws! Apparently he banned any exposed screws from the dash. Richard

Lovely looking car! The narrowbody is my favourite Excel. Cheers, Richard

Have you tried Lotusbits Jack? You never know ....

To your original question, Jesse, yours is not the last Eclat built, but it's close. There are two VIN number ranges for the S2.2: Domestic: 0957 - 1143 = 187 built RoW (Rest of World): 0206 - 0232 = 27 built Your VIN number is 0223, which makes it the ninth from last RoW S2.2 to be built. The 10th character of the VIN is C which means it was built in 1982, and the 12th character is G which means it is an RoW (Hot) RHD model! Production data is from Graham Robson's "The Third Generation Lotuses," and the VIN codes can be found in the parts manual. Cheers, Richard

Interesting story and car, Brian. The brown is so period - in those days, everyone wore brown or beige, it was cool!! I look forward to reading of your progress. If you hit any problems, there are plenty of people here who can help find answers. Also don't be fooled by Elite 4.9's claim that his car is 'slightly modified!' It's a very professional (and one of the original) V8 conversions! Richard

If you can find the material what about UV treating it with Scotchguard? https://www.scotchgard.com/3M/en_US/scotchgard/products/all-products/~/Scotchgard-Water-Sun-Shield/?N=4340+3294466439+3294529207&rt=rud No idea how good this is but if it works on outside fabrics it should be good enough for an interior. Cheers, Richard

An excellent test by Martin Buckley appears in the March 2020 issue comparing a yellow manual pre-HE XJS and Angus Watson's beautiful S2.2 Elite Riviera (DVG 23Y - ex Mike Kimberley) that he has owned since 1984, recently refurbished by Paul Matty. It is a close result and a good read. Well done Angus! Cheers, Richard

That's very interesting information Denis247 and Dunc. Denis, do you have any drawings etc showing the bush in question and its mounting? Cheers, Richard

Yes, it would be interesting to hear people's experiences. I doubt it was a backward step as it was overseen by no less an engineer than Mike Kimberley (who won 'the war of the top link' with Chapman, before his death). There used to be a general misconception that the Excel had 'Toyota' suspension - which I initially shared. In fact, all that happened was that Lotus started using certain Toyota components as they were well engineered, durable, and more cost-effective. I believe the top link design itself first saw light of day in the Esprit Turbo, the original suspension/driveshaft design of the Esprit being similar to the Elite/Eclat and probably not able to handle the Turbo power output. I've also heard mixed reports about the Spyder conversion; some say the geometry was flawed, but I read a report somewhere that this may be due to one of the joints being incorrectly installed. I wish I could find it! The Spyder Donnington V8 conversion replaced the whole setup with a Jag irs and diff. Cheers, Richard

Although you could put Excel running gear under the Elite, which is just as competent a setup, and much more bulletproof! Richard

SJ tends to deal in new parts. Lotusbits is a model specialist and has a large stock of used parts from their restoration activities as well as some new parts, plus they do upgrades (keep your wallet shut!) but as Paul says, they tend not to respond to emails. Their website www.lotusbits.com has some useful guides. As well as this forum you could look at www.lotusexcel.net which, despite its name, covers Eclats also. Note that the Eclat is virtually identical to the Elite apart from the rear window! Cheers, Richard

Nice looking car! As always, you could spend (relatively) little or a lot on it, depending on what you want. The rubber strip - if intact - can be reattached with suitable adhesive; it isn't structural but does hide the join where the two body halves meet. Does it need a respray? Is there any sign of fibreglass repair? Bodywork, together with engine rebuild and interior trim replacement are probably the three most expensive jobs on the car. You also need to check the chassis; the series 1 cars did not use a galvanised chassis and can rot badly. Not sure about the gearbox oil leak; this was a Lotus built 5 speed and it used Austin Maxi internals in a Lotus casing, so it is not a particularly well known unit. It can suffer from failures; some people have no problems, some seem to experience repeated problems. There was some variability in the quality of the Maxi internals. I'm sure others will respond more comprehensively but those are my initial headlines. Do you have or have access to a good repair shop that could deal with the relative rarity of this car? Most parts are available in the UK. Good luck, Richard

Sounds good, I'd be up for a set of 4 depending on cost. It could also be worth reaching out to owners of Celicas prior to around 1990, and of MR2s which used this size with the V rating on the rear. Cheers, Richard

That's beautiful work Simon. I can't wait to see your car! Cheers, Richard

I know it's not shown on the wiring diagram, but could it be the clock illumination?