dave excell
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About dave excell
- Birthday 22/01/1946
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While Motorcycle racing in the 60s one guy arrved in the Brands Hatch paddock with a similar Daimler but with the back stripped out to carry his racing Norton on one side, and a workbench on the other. A very practical alternatine to the standard Ford Transit.
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As I approach 76 I woudnt go for onof the above. Present everyday car is a Skoda Octavia VRS. Anything slower would drive me nuts.
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Angus Mrshall had a batch of elite, eclat, excel door window frames made. I expect ther are still some left. Not sure how to contact him. try lotusexcel.net
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Speak for yourself. I wouldnt ever change my Esprit V8 for a 4 pot. 800 miles on european autoroutes isn't pleasant.
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Just as a note. My Excel has iron liner and its been running with the SE Mahle pistons for a number of years at around 220hp and it is still running as good as new.
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For aerodinamics see in link https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/this-was-the-week-for-the-new-lotus-olympic-track-bike/
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Keeps VAG in profit !!
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That looks like Alesford. Uused to cycle through it on theway to my first job in Chatham Royal Dockyard
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You got 34mph out of your v8 esprit????? I have managed to get 20mpg averaging 80 mph. Yikes,
Anyways I like what you are doing with the 918 into the Excel And i'm curious what method you used to make the adapter plate?
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Hi.
I measures the Toyota W58 bell housing and it was longer than the V8 bell housing by 26mm. So I am using the V8 housing with a 26mm alloy spacer. I aligned the Toyota geabox input shaft with the hole on the V8 bellhousing using a shaft that fitted V8 on one end and Toyota at the other. The alloy plate was counterbored with the holes to fit the toyota box so they were slightly below the surface. This then left the plate clear to drill through holes to bolt the V8 housing on. There was a clash of one bolt on the V8 bell housing , so another was redrilled off set enough to miss. You would need a lathe to make the shaft up or a friendly machine shop owner. The spigot bearing in the V8 crank is swapped for the Excel one (same outer diameter but bigger inner) The two slide togrther perfectly. next job is to make the clutch friction plates with toyota splines instead of the AP clutch Reault splines. Apologies if this is not clear I am not very good at describing things. The geabox needs to be perfectly in line with the crank to avoid any reliability problems.
The tip I got about the V8 economy was from Phil at South West Lotus. He said keep the speed under 100mph and boost low and 30 mpg is acheivable. I normally get about 24 mpg from the Esprit using it locally. My Excel 2.2 does about the same with those dellorto carbs. Anns M100 does about 35 mpg on a run. All 3 cars have done the Monaco, Italy run and the Excel is the most uneconomical of all.
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Have a good day Bibs. All the best for the future.
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Nice to see your car again Leigh. A long time has passed since that trip to Monaco. I hope COVID wont effect the historic in 2022.
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To retire. Or not to retire. That is the question?
dave excell replied to C8RKH's topic in General Chat
Certainly not. Cancer is something no one can predict. But you can do things that aggravate its onset. Smoking cigarettes at 40 a day wont help. -
To retire. Or not to retire. That is the question?
dave excell replied to C8RKH's topic in General Chat
I have just retired at 75 and don't regret it. I have worked with people on the electricity supply industry take early retirement on a full 50% final salary pension and laugh at me. I am sad to say most have sat on their backsides and done nothing at all but go to the pub watch telly and sleep. Most are now dead from either heart attacks or cancer. What ever the choice just keep active, keep the brain working, (my brother in law suffers from Alzheimer's and he is still in his sixties). The choice is yours and yours only, just make the most of life while you can. -
Fitting an Esprit V8 engine into an Excel
dave excell replied to dave excell's topic in Engine & Ancilliaries/Gearbox
The Toyota W58 has/is used in many competition cars and conversions and will take the 350bhp OK. I have talked to many people to make sure. To be honest it looks a lot more robust than the Renault UN1 it had in the Esprit. The car is to be used as a GT car traveling through Europe and wont be subjected to 7000rpm dropping the clutch getaways. Again the diff is more than adequate being Toyota but will have to be changed anyway for the gearing. Which means the driveshafts will also change. The conversion has been thought through as best as possible. Brakes are already changed to 320mm discs and 6 pot calipers. The main reason for the conversion is, apart from being a one off, is the fact that it is going to be more economical than the 2.2 Excel. On a trip from England to Italy via Monaco my Excel did 22mpg. My esprit V8 on the same trip a couple of years later did 34mpg. Weight of the two vehicles is about the same as is aerodynamics. -
Fitting an Esprit V8 engine into an Excel
dave excell replied to dave excell's topic in Engine & Ancilliaries/Gearbox
The turbos will stay, I will fabricate new manifolds in stainless to ensure they fit. I have tried a block and it looks as if there is room. I will need a few weeks of fiddling under the car and probably a few wasted stainless tubes. it took 2 attempts to make the gearbox adapter plate and a scrapped alloy plate (£60.00 down the drain). First looks put the turbo outlets too close to the body. I think I have the gearing problem solved by changing the diff. I will list all mods as I go.
