Very good. I have not read this is detail but it looks like you have the panel with the NACA ducts the wrong way up. The plastic “scoop” should be on top, into the engine bay. At least that’s what my memory tells me and it’s too cold to go and check. It would be a shame to fettle everything for a perfect fit and then find it does not fit the other way up. Keep up the good work.
Oh, I don’t think the chassis numbers sequences matches the build sequence. I had never noticed the optional fixings.
S1 Exige Conversion
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jamesjeffery
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:37 am
Oops, ahh well it gave the position of the diffuser and is off the car again so no harm done. I'll have to take better care when putting everything back together.
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jamesjeffery
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:37 am
I didn't know what to do with the spare wing mirror pieces not going on the car so decided to keep as much as I could for spares.
Really boring to sand as they're fiddly and hard to get up into the grooves, but took the plinths mostly back to the plastic.
I decided to sand as many pieces as I can (hopefully will get the plinth that is stuck on the car off in one piece but I'm not very optimistic) and will spray them all and choose the best looking to go on the car.
I think everything had been painted differently over the years as some were taken back to the bare plastic pretty easily, others had thicker primers and every primer was a different colour, even on pieces that were the same base coat colour.
I added a bit of filler on one cover due to some nasty stone chips but they're all ready for primer.
Really boring to sand as they're fiddly and hard to get up into the grooves, but took the plinths mostly back to the plastic.
I decided to sand as many pieces as I can (hopefully will get the plinth that is stuck on the car off in one piece but I'm not very optimistic) and will spray them all and choose the best looking to go on the car.
I think everything had been painted differently over the years as some were taken back to the bare plastic pretty easily, others had thicker primers and every primer was a different colour, even on pieces that were the same base coat colour.
I added a bit of filler on one cover due to some nasty stone chips but they're all ready for primer.
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jamesjeffery
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:37 am
I almost didn't bother posting this as it was pretty pointless, but I've always hated the immobiliser on my car. I had my first immobiliser go into meltdown and left me stranded and because of this I don't trust them. I've always wanted my car to be as simple as a turn of the key like my first S1, one less thing to go tits up!
With this in mind I thought I'd take a punt on an immobiliser bypass plug.
I am pretty sure I'm currently running the Rover system, but had no idea what I would find inside the plastic cover. With the clam off it is much easier to access so decided to investigate.
To fully remove the cover you have to drill out the pop rivets. Thankfully I was able to grab what was inside and pull it out through the hole in the back.
Turns out the set up was identical to what I bought, a plug that had the wires blanked off.
I decided to swap it out anyway and test it. Nothing happened and I still had to use my key fob to start that car, so seems it only bypasses the Cobra systems but not the Rover one. Looks like I'll have to put up with the immobiliser for a bit longer and have no idea how the Rover system is completely turned off, but might be something I look for in the future.
With this in mind I thought I'd take a punt on an immobiliser bypass plug.
I am pretty sure I'm currently running the Rover system, but had no idea what I would find inside the plastic cover. With the clam off it is much easier to access so decided to investigate.
To fully remove the cover you have to drill out the pop rivets. Thankfully I was able to grab what was inside and pull it out through the hole in the back.
Turns out the set up was identical to what I bought, a plug that had the wires blanked off.
I decided to swap it out anyway and test it. Nothing happened and I still had to use my key fob to start that car, so seems it only bypasses the Cobra systems but not the Rover one. Looks like I'll have to put up with the immobiliser for a bit longer and have no idea how the Rover system is completely turned off, but might be something I look for in the future.
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jamesjeffery
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:37 am
Another boring post but decided to replace the rather worn out wiper blade. No idea if it has ever been changed but for £7 why not.
I decided to replace with the same size as the current one at 24". Apparently 26" would fit too but I didn't want the blade to go any further over the Lotus sport sticker on the sun visor than it already does.
Really simple to fit, first is to remove the split pin.
With the pin out the centre pin slides out.
I could have used the other fixing hole, but I wanted to keep the same position so drilled the middle out to 5mm to allow the pin to go through.
I popped both pins back through and job was done. Will see if it does better when I can actually drive the thing.
I decided to replace with the same size as the current one at 24". Apparently 26" would fit too but I didn't want the blade to go any further over the Lotus sport sticker on the sun visor than it already does.
Really simple to fit, first is to remove the split pin.
With the pin out the centre pin slides out.
I could have used the other fixing hole, but I wanted to keep the same position so drilled the middle out to 5mm to allow the pin to go through.
I popped both pins back through and job was done. Will see if it does better when I can actually drive the thing.
I would get shot of those chock connectors in the wires, they are the work of the devil and invite problems. If I have to splice into a wire (as I did for my shift lights) I do the following.
Melt a small collar of insulation off the wire you are joining to with a soldering iron.
Solder the joining wire onto the exposed part.
Secure with a good quality insulation tape (the stretchy waterproof sort).
Perfect electrical connection, cheaper and lighter as well!
Melt a small collar of insulation off the wire you are joining to with a soldering iron.
Solder the joining wire onto the exposed part.
Secure with a good quality insulation tape (the stretchy waterproof sort).
Perfect electrical connection, cheaper and lighter as well!
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jamesjeffery
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:37 am
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/vistapro ... -485771139
Got a sale on so should bring the price down a bit
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jamesjeffery
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:37 am
Struggled to get the rear clam into the rear garden (had to take the side gate door off) but it is much easier to cut all the holes I need with it off the car and get it ready for the body shop.
On my new fog and reverse light housings I needed to drill the holes for mounting.
On the inside the moulding has a guide which is handy and made it easy to drill straight through.
Rather than making a template I was just going to find the position by eye and a tape measure. I held the housing in place and marked the edges and where to drill. I then used the tape measure for one of the edge lines and did the same on the other side to ensure they matched.
After drilling the first hole I then popped a screw through and held the housing in place to drill the other 2, using the housing as a guide, ensuring everything would line up.
The hole for the wires will need to be opened up a little to get the connectors through, but I need to grab the loom to test how small I can get away with. The connectors are square so I won't open the circle up any more but I'll make it more rectangular instead, that way the hole is more likely to stay covered by the light.
Duplicated both sides.
I forgot to take off the spire nuts from my Elise clam when I sold it, so I bought some new M4 nuts. I held them in place so I could see right through the hole, then marked where I'd need to open the hole up to.
Not the neatest hole but it won't be on show and the nuts fit very well. You could just put a normal nut on the end of the bolt and skip this step of opening up this rectangular hole. However it would be very difficult to get to that nut when the clam is on if you want to remove the light for whatever reason. With this in mind I decided to go the extra step to allow me to remove the light with the clam on the car.
Very happy with the position of both lights, I didn't check which way round the lights go (I think this is right) but I did make sure the writing in the lenses were the correct way up!
On my new fog and reverse light housings I needed to drill the holes for mounting.
On the inside the moulding has a guide which is handy and made it easy to drill straight through.
Rather than making a template I was just going to find the position by eye and a tape measure. I held the housing in place and marked the edges and where to drill. I then used the tape measure for one of the edge lines and did the same on the other side to ensure they matched.
After drilling the first hole I then popped a screw through and held the housing in place to drill the other 2, using the housing as a guide, ensuring everything would line up.
The hole for the wires will need to be opened up a little to get the connectors through, but I need to grab the loom to test how small I can get away with. The connectors are square so I won't open the circle up any more but I'll make it more rectangular instead, that way the hole is more likely to stay covered by the light.
Duplicated both sides.
I forgot to take off the spire nuts from my Elise clam when I sold it, so I bought some new M4 nuts. I held them in place so I could see right through the hole, then marked where I'd need to open the hole up to.
Not the neatest hole but it won't be on show and the nuts fit very well. You could just put a normal nut on the end of the bolt and skip this step of opening up this rectangular hole. However it would be very difficult to get to that nut when the clam is on if you want to remove the light for whatever reason. With this in mind I decided to go the extra step to allow me to remove the light with the clam on the car.
Very happy with the position of both lights, I didn't check which way round the lights go (I think this is right) but I did make sure the writing in the lenses were the correct way up!