I know most of you are not keen on ally tat, but I thought somebody might be interested in (or amused by) my newly customised 340R HANDBRAKE. I’ve cut the holes through the sides of it. Personally I think this is how it should always have been. Feel free to poke fun at me, or tell me how great I am
Brendan
The handbrake looks majikk, and i agree is how it should always have been. In fact the silver trim around the light switched looks good as well. Are they actuall metal or is it chromed plastic of some sort.
Also have you got two passenger footrests ?? if you have … why so ?
Other wee details i see differing from my car are the holes in the footwell partition - did it come from factory like that? and did you put the alcantara trim on the handbrake cable cover?
Did you buy the handbrake from Lotus?.. how much ?
Overall the cars interior looks great…even tho a few of the bling bits aint really for me…
You’re spending far too much time in alloy-tatting your car.
Trackdays is where it’s at, trackdays! or racing (if you have the dough)
To me: FFF (you know that, right?)
Brendan - you are the King of Bling - looks good though - how did you do it / where did you get the parts from??
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Mostly positive
Roxteddy, nope, not two footrests, but a MK2 Elise extended passenger footrest. It’s like the standard one, but with a smaller, extra footrest attached to it. Part no. LA117U0076F (�48.48) Expensive, but the missus couldn’t reach the standard footrest. She is much more confortable with this one.
The light switch surrounds are aluminium, and a simple push fit. They’re available from several places, such as Eliseparts.
The footwell divider with holes in is another Elise Mk2 part.
To fit the 340R handbrake you need the following:
340R handbrake LA340J0010F �119.79+vat
handbrake clevis pin LA075W6033Z �0.41+vat
(I believe the price of the handbrake has risen considerably since I originally bought mine )
Uldis, you’re absolutely right. Sort of. I bought all the bling bits ages ago. I’m really skint at the moment, so no track days this year Next year I intend to be doing a few. These days I have to make myself happy making and modifying bits cheaply
What does FFF mean?
Godspeed, thanks. Parts from Lotus as stated above. The work was pretty easy, but time consuming. The shape of the holes was already there, but they were just recessed, not cut straight through. I took the handbrake apart, then drilled a few holes through it. Then I used a small saw blade to cut the holes out roughly. Next comes the set of warding files to get the shape precise. Finally, I used varying grades of sandpaper to smooth the edges to a nice finish. I probably spent about six to eight hours in total, spread over three days (evenings and lunch breaks).
By the way, any particular parts you guys really don’t like? Which parts are going too far? (Uldis, you probably shouldn’t answer this )
if I was you, I would do an alloy bracket for the Stack instrument cluster. The one that’s there is too bigg and too heavy. But you can’t see it unless you take it off.
I like the double footrest for the occasional wee lady passenger.
I generally don’t like any shiny bits in the cockpit because they can be distracting if the sun hits them in the right angle.
What does FFF mean?
Form Follows Function (or Feo, Fuerte y Formal )
brendan nothing wrong with making your car look good,like the lotus sport kick plates, where did you get them and how much?
cheers Brendan
hope to meet you some day at a track or other exiges.com outing… which i hope we can have next year… we didnae do anything this year…
Uldis, what are you doing to me? It’s a bit drastic telling me about heavy parts I’ve never even seen! I can’t rest now until I’ve at least had a look at it
Form should follow function, but there’s no harm in making things beautifully functional. I see the Pagani Zonda’s interior as an inspiration. I don’t respect the car any less for having lots of parts nicely made in expensive materials. I Just hate lots of plastic everywhere.
Rob, I can’t remember the price of the kick plates. I think it was just under �100.
These are the guys you’re looking for:
Hansell Composites Ltd
Station Road
Stokesley
Cleveland
TS9 7AB
Tel: 01642-713129
Fax: 01642-713577
Email: [email protected]
Web addy: http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/
Mine came with the logo in silver, and I painted the yellow parts myself.
Cheers Rox, it would be good to meet up. You didn’t tell me which parts are too bling! Come on, speak up
… there’s no harm in making things beautifully functional…
Please, do something about your avatar then!
Cheers Rox, it would be good to meet up. You didn’t tell me which parts are too bling! Come on, speak up
nahh i didn’t because it seems a bit rich for me to tell someone else what their own car should really look like… but as you seem keen to know, and as long as you realise that i realise that this is a purely personal taste thing… then
mmmmm… the red alcantara in a yello (spice or norfolk mustard??) car is a bit ‘french colonial’ for my taste in cars … I also think the ally fasteners for the door inserts would look great on black/silver/blue and all the shades in between cars, but on our yello cars especially along with the particular style of ally windae winder you have, it pulls the eye towards this area in a way that detracts from the overall style and flow of the door/interior design crap description but want to give some idea why its not for me.
I didn’t think i’d like the ally stalks… but from what i can see, they look good… but i’d still prolly not bother.
the carbon fibre stack binical kinda looks stuck on - which it is, but when it matches the rest of the dash imho it looks better. However, i like the handbrake cover and you still haven’t told me how the handbrake cable duct got alcantara on it because i like that…
I like the kick plate especially because you painted the yello bits (i had wondered how/where that came from)
ohhh and i prefer the original gearstick top.
you also have something stuck next to the exige flash on th edash but i can’t see that properly.
Anyhow I feel like a plonker being so opinionated on this kinda stuff because none of that matters in the scheme of what our exiges are really all about … rock-on…
Brendan, I think it looks good. As you say it’d be nice to have something beautifully functional
Now I’d not really worry about a lot of this but then I have got some alloy window winders and some stud covers becauae the plastic ones DO look like a complete budget job!
Now another reason I wouldn’t really persue all this is I spend all my money on trackdays really
But it’d be nice to see what an Exige can look like inside and out as something stunning!
Plastic winders?
My car came with alloy winders, didn’t all?
nahh Uldis - ally winders were a dealer fit option.
Feel free to poke fun at me, or tell me how great I am
Well that depends if it’s any lighter?!
While you’re in the Stack how about fitting shift lights? I think that’d get past Uldis’ FFF criteria.
I intend getting some, it’s going to be a way of spending time with my car without having to leave home.
Ian
Uldis, I’ll do something about my avatar when you do something about your signature pic I get some funny looks when I’m on this site at work
Roxx, just a couple of things then… You’re right about the carbon instrument binnacle. I bought it because it went well with the carbon steering wheel. As that’s now been trimmed in suede, the effect is gone.
The handbrake tunnel was trimmed in Alcantara by Nick Whale’s when I bought the car. They didn’t do a great job, so I partly re-did it myself. If you want yours done, it would be easy to do it yourself.
Strangely, some Exiges came with alloy winders from the factory.
Some may not like the particular design of my winders or gear knob, but it’s nice that they are a matching set, along with the column stalks.
Ian, shift lights would be nice but I can’t justify the cost at the moment, and they add weight
Ian, what a coincidence, I am fitting a shift light now that I’m rebuilding the car. But a simple ultra bright one, not that sequential thing
Easy for me now with the Emerald. Just run a wire and that’s it.
Ah, and it was just about 8 quid (plus the cost of the wire)
Uldis, I’ll do something about my avatar when you do something about your signature pic I get some funny looks when I’m on this site at work
Well, think that both hats have something beautiful and functional underneath!
Strangely Uldis, I have no particular desire to contemplate the contents of either hat