excel to buy or not to buy
Discussion
hello again just want some advice on what to look for ie common problems with the excel.
been offered an a reg excel bodywork and interior are tatty as hell but im looking for a project so that doesnt matter.
what should i be worrying about when it comes to the mechanics of these old classics.
what goes wrong and how hard they are to work on.
also how hard is it to get hold of parts?
thanks for your help guys and gals.
been offered an a reg excel bodywork and interior are tatty as hell but im looking for a project so that doesnt matter.
what should i be worrying about when it comes to the mechanics of these old classics.
what goes wrong and how hard they are to work on.
also how hard is it to get hold of parts?
thanks for your help guys and gals.
Bodywork and interior are surprisingly expensive things to fix.
A smoky engine in the high-compression variants is bad news (4-6k for a rebuild when required). Blown head gasket on a 100k+ mile engine might be a false economy to fix without doing a full rebuild. I discovered this the expensive way.
The doors are built around a box-section steel beam. When this rusts through, the door needs rebuilding. Opening a door to have it fall off the car at your feet is often the first sign of the problem. Replecement beams are not too expensive from lotusbits.com but it's a time consuming, fiddly job to make everything fit back together again.
IMHO - buy a good, expensive, car for £4-6k (see why an engine rebuild looks expensive?) and run it into the ground. Then buy another good one for less than the cost of rebuilding the old one.
Be prepared for a constant stream of small jobs on a project car - window motors, pop-up lights, wiper linkage etc etc.
Rob (40k Excel miles in the last 2 years)
A smoky engine in the high-compression variants is bad news (4-6k for a rebuild when required). Blown head gasket on a 100k+ mile engine might be a false economy to fix without doing a full rebuild. I discovered this the expensive way.
The doors are built around a box-section steel beam. When this rusts through, the door needs rebuilding. Opening a door to have it fall off the car at your feet is often the first sign of the problem. Replecement beams are not too expensive from lotusbits.com but it's a time consuming, fiddly job to make everything fit back together again.
IMHO - buy a good, expensive, car for £4-6k (see why an engine rebuild looks expensive?) and run it into the ground. Then buy another good one for less than the cost of rebuilding the old one.
Be prepared for a constant stream of small jobs on a project car - window motors, pop-up lights, wiper linkage etc etc.
Rob (40k Excel miles in the last 2 years)
I'm looking to buy one - having proved that child car seats can fit in the back!
Just have to get rid of my old fiat and find a reasonable late example Excel to play with - definately not a project car. My dad decided to restore a Europa as fun project and it's taken him five years. Ouch.
Just have to get rid of my old fiat and find a reasonable late example Excel to play with - definately not a project car. My dad decided to restore a Europa as fun project and it's taken him five years. Ouch.
Skyedriver said:
Thats interesting, never thought of an Excel how do the child seats fit? Are there rear belts? How do you lift the little darling in and sort them out with no rear doors?
I think rear belts were an option on earlier cars, standard on the later ones.Not all booster seats will fit in the rear - the seat bucket is deep and narrow. A recaro start just about squeezes in there, but it's bloody difficult to reach the belt buckle with the seat in place.
The doors are long and the front seats tip forwards for access - not a huge problem. If necessary you can sit on the sill while you manoever the sprog into the seat and fasten straps. A rear-facing baby seat would have to go in the front.
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