Excel SA

Hi Dave, Good luck with the conversion! I'm currently trying to squeeze a Lexus V8 into my Excel - it is a pretty tight fit. This will keep you very busy and your mind thinking all day (and night..) trying to work out where to fit everything! Will be keeping an eye on your progress as well. Neil.

Thanks Pete - will work out which side I have space for the fold, and will probably bolt it to the chassis rather than weld and have to grind away the galvanising. Have some brake lines to avoid as well so may need an extra hole or two for those to pass through. Neil.

I am planning to put in a bracket on the rear suspension for extra support - I believe it was a change made by the factory to later cars. If anyone has a picture or drawings of the bracket I'd appreciate seeing it so I can replicate the factory option rather than making up my own design - which would look something like this: Thoughts and criticisms welcome! Otherwise the chassis is cleaning up really nicely, all the damage to the chassis where it was used as a jacking point has been straightened out, and I am working on the repair to the damage to the front of the chassis.

I haven't been idle these last few weeks! Body and chassis have been separated - no major issues removing the body - finding some of the bolts underneath layers of carpet was interesting, and one of the bolts under the fuel tank wouldn't unscrew and I needed up shearing it off. There is no access to the captive nut for that bolt, will need to make a plan to remove the rest of the bolt - a bit easier now. I made a trolley for the body, but it needs a few modifications to make sure it's up to the task of supporting the weight of the body and being moved around. I have checked the measu

Thanks Pete, it's certainly not there on the passenger side along with the fiberglass that was around it.....will need to get a much closer look on the drivers side to see if it's there, but the fiberglass seems ok. Neil.

The bobbin on the right looks fine - if by bobbin you just mean the fiberglass body work? Damage to the chassis definitely looks like something has been used to lift it up from the bottom - but will be checking it all when the body is off. Will need to grind and clean off all the repairs so will get the zinc off - will also check the condition of the zinc over the chassis - rust and corrosion is not something we normally worry about here in Jhb, but the car has lived at the coast. Am doing a lot of other small bits that I can do inside, was quite surprised that the powder coating on the

And getting somewhat back on track....the whole front flipping forward is very neat, but I'm hoping once the car is running I'm not having to spend too much time in there! No plans for a vinyl roof either.... Had a better look at the chassis - the passenger front outrigger section has been damaged and very badly repaired, the main chassis behind that doesn't have any obvious bends or creases in it, but it's hard to get a good look with the body still on. The bottom of the chassis has been used to lift the car so a number of spots have the edge flattened out, and the chassis section

No worries! Have pretty much decided to lift off the body - there will be work to do on the chassis and body that will be a lot easier to get to without the other part in the way. My garage doors and opening mechanism will be in the way and won't allow me to lift the body too high, so will rig up a structure outside to lift it off and then go from there. It's winter here so although fairly cold it's dry. will need to have garage space by summer to keep out the rain though. I really do need a workshop with a house attached rather than a house with a garage attached! Neil

Crikey, that's an impressive way to lift up a body shell! I have a few challenges first, like clearing out the space in the garage, but I think if I need to lift the body off it will be with a bit more of a rudimentary structure that would then need to become an engine hoist.

Thanks Chris - with shipping to South Africa, that becomes a bit of an investment! I have managed to find some chassis dimensions whilst sifting through all the info I have already downloaded and stashed - Pete has got my head churning, so will have a really good look at the chassis over the weekend with straight edge in hand, and then decide whether I think I need to lift off the body and measure properly. Even without an engine in the car, things are still quite cluttered and awkward to get to. Anyone have any idea of how heavy the body is? Can it be lifted off by 3 or 4 people?

There is some chassis damage, but seems confined to the front outrigger section, which will need redoing as the repair there is as poor as the fiberglass, but behind that all appears OK. Need to track down all the various manuals for that year - but if you have those measurements available it would be useful to check. I don't even have an owners manual for the car, so fuses etc. are also a mystery right now! I have undone the front bolts connecting the chassis to the body and removed the arb, and nothing sprang out of alignment. I am not sure how much the car was driven after the accident

And there is more to be done hidden away in the murky recesses behind that panel. Will make a mold (once I can work out the amount of curve needed at the front of the car - nothing in the front is right) ad make up a panel to fit in place. Having it hidden does help, and will give me some idea of what I need to do to the areas that will be visible - without requiring tonnes of body filler. Neil.

Below is how that small visible crack developed into something rather larger....bodywork has now become the main focus of attention. Am hoping that the drivers side door area and the front are the only repaired areas - there were cracks and bodywork issues in these areas and nothing as noticeable anywhere else 😰 And the end result: The front central panel will need to be replaced - what's left is delaminating in sections and is just a mess. The car has shed a few kilos, and if patched properly, the front of the car will be the right width and the spoiler may even fit properl

Some good news - I connected up a battery and nothing went blew up, no smoke, nothing! Some things actually work - even the headlights....the passenger side one didn't move the first time I switched the lights on, but seemed fine after that, just a touch noisy. Will clean and grease all moving bits before reinstalling them. I'm not sure you'd be able to see very far at night with them on so some work still to do, but small victories will be taken! The red arrow marks the scene of the next crime against fiberglass....and paint.