Loltus Exige

[andybond]

On today’s trackday I noted the following.

Max IAT ; 45 deg C.
At WOT in 4th my lambda was 0.8.

I didn’t note any other figures and nearly stacked the car at Bunga Bunga due to a bumpy track and suspect ABS on my exige.

Was fun. Thanks to @seriouslylotus for squeezing me in for a once over ( the car, not me )

 

[Paul B]

It was a wonderful day, I have never seen so many go off on that corner, marshalls agreed too..must have been a line of something down , they checked but couldn't find anything..
But we did see the caterhamfield with no fuel cap ... numpty

 

[Adey]

what no pics of vids. piss poor if you ask me.....

 

[Paul B]

No vids from me, corrupted SD card...
Pics are being uploaded to FCTDC page as we speak so should have some nice pics up soon.

 

[andybond]

what no pics of vids. piss poor if you ask me.....

What Paul said

 

[Paul B]

First 2 downloaded

 

[andybond]

A few more words after yesterdays fun!

Blyton Park - Franks Charity Trackday Club - Frank's Charity Track Day Club - FCTDC

I got onto the circuit fairly early for me. Normally I like to get on after the first 30minutes to let all the mega keen people fall off the track or learn their newest, latest braking points. Not today though!

This is the first time round Blyton since my suspension refresh and ( race drive excuse 1 ) the first time since Anglesey trackday with ClioSport a few weeks back.

I was flying, not literally but absolutely monstering the track. Everything felt great. Until it didnt. Let me explain

Here is a track pic , so keep up at the back please ..



On lap 20 or so of this stint at Bishops I noticed a bit of a weird sensation. The cars brakes locked. They have never completely locked before. Got off the brake and reapplied voila. Sorted.

Hammer down the straight between Bishops and Bunga Bunga and stood on the brakes and this time full on lock up again. No turning left just an armful of lock and it wouldnt go left. I am now looking at a whole lot of raised grass on a bank. Just like this, except I am off track now and on the stones.



FuckinHellItsAllGoneWrong.

Off the brakes , jump back on them again straighten the wheel , onto the grass now, turn gently left, and in slow mo go over the lowest part of the crest and rejoin the circuit.

WTAF went on there?

I coasted back to the paddock. Sat in the car with the engine off and darent get out. I didnt want to see the damage.

After what felt like an hour sitting in the car , lid still on I got out to find ;

Nothing more than grass stuck in the rim of the tyre.

A very kind gentleman of this parish ( @Paul B ) got me a low jack , a breaker bar and we checked over everything. No signs of component failure. I then went to the fantastic chaps @SeriouslyLotus for a proper in a garage once over. All passed fine other than a knackered rear arch liner

I refilled with fuel and went full send again on track. The problem never manifest itself again.

I have spoken to a few people and I think its a combination of old tyres that have heat cycled on the front and new tyres on the rear caused whats know as ice mode on the Exige. It literally felt like I was on ice, the fronts doing all the braking until I got off and back on again the brakes.

All in all other than me mentally preparing myself for a hefty repair bill that never happened it was a bloody good day out. Everytime I drive the car I learn something new about it , and me. I am getting faster, I am more controlled and I am improving. I think.

Here are a few pictures.

My friends Mazda Avec Boost.

Not my friends but Id quite like to be his friend rep 6R4 that sounds amazing and goes like the wind.



My plastic shitbox



Co-incidentally has anyone found any way to get marks out of Tillet seats?

Summary :

~90mi on track
~40l of fuel used
~1 near miss
~1 pair of pants binned
~ 2 new front tyres needed

 

[Paul B]

@andybond , you may remove the stain, you will never remove the smell .

As far as the track goes, first time I have ever been with a full crop of corn that actually obscured the circuit,to the point we had several blind corners at 60mph+..awesome.

Secondly, we now know ,in hind sight ,that at least 1 car dropped lots of fuel for having no fuel cap and could very well be the reason for your car detecting "ice" , acting like a dumb computer and throwing you off the circuit with no apparent care for your safety or how strong your pants were..I have to add,I honestly didn't see a quicker car round there yesterday, you were flying...every time you go by I can't help but smile/grin..
I never got close enough to see if you were popping flames.

The 6R4 replica is foooookin amazing for a driveway build,what he couldn't make he tried to buy,and when he couldn't buy it he just made it anyway..proper guy,it tried to kill him, so he rebuilt it with a broken pelvis,broken arm, several broken/bruised ribs and made it faster..guess he is northern and drinks tea,lots of tea.

My best time of the day was 1.15 ,(previously 1.17)put this down to the 6 speed box and bigger diff I fitted, still struggling with a massive misfire,intermittent and no cause or effect..you can have 1 good lap and then 12 bad ones,really didn't care,just sent it . I have certainly found the limit of the brakes now and will be my next thing to sort.

148 miles on track,
60 litres of momentum 99
AFR were dipping to 9.5 and 10 on boost.eeek.
Used 3 litres of oil..( POSS misfire cause/effect)
Smiles...thousands..
Near death experience..2

 

[andybond]

The roof lining has started to sag again. Its too far gone now



I have whipped off the roof and taken a good look



Yep borked.

At this point I was at a cross roads. Its borked and put it back on or rip the thing off and see whats what

So I did the latter



Two hours with my new best mate Stanley and a sander and its better. Not perfect but better



I am at a cross roads now.

Do I :


* Paint it?
* Attempt to recover it?
* Send it somewhere as they know what they are doing?


I appreciate I still need more prep as the surface is still grainy to the touch.

 

[Paul B]

Well done, now..to paint it you have so much work to do to even get a shit finish.. or you use a textured rubberised paint to cover it.. your car is too good for that..

To trim it needs a little work, buy some fake alacantra and some good contact adhesive.. trim it close , follow the instructions on the glue..
If its says both sides and leave half an hour ... just do 1 half of the roof at a time so you have time to adjust and make it good.. trim to a finish after it's done .. if you have a wallpaper seam roller this helps,or the 4 inch foam rollers...
If you don't like it, then send it to trimmer and buy some anusol to relieve the burn

 

[andybond]

Any tips?

Have read this : How to Replace the Roof Fabric Material (Headliner) in Your Car or Truck

Which says start from the middle and work your way outwards

These guys stay fold in half and do one half at a time : https://www.autodoc.co.uk/info/en-how-to-fix-or-replace-a-headliner

I am thinking something along the lines of :

1. Spray adhesive on one quarter of the roof from the center to the left leaving 1/4 unsprayed.
2. Move onto the left 1/4
3. Repeat on the right
4. Await glue to go off / head rush to stop
5. Cut the excess

Something like that?

 

[Paul B]

If you need moral support you are more than welcome to pop over to the unit anytime, we can lay it out on the big table and your in no rush and not making the garage ,house smell of glue.. (good stuff is usually smelly) .
When I glued up the roof carpet in the van I can honestly say I was high as a kite for a couple of hours,needed a kebab ....
It's always best to have a spare pair of hands to hold up the material and keep it taught while you work from start point , stops it drooping and sticking before you can smooth it ..

 

[andybond]

If you need moral support you are more than welcome to pop over to the unit anytime, we can lay it out on the big table and your in no rush and not making the garage ,house smell of glue.. (good stuff is usually smelly) .
When I glued up the roof carpet in the van I can honestly say I was high as a kite for a couple of hours,needed a kebab ....
It's always best to have a spare pair of hands to hold up the material and keep it taught while you work from start point , stops it drooping and sticking before you can smooth it ..

This might just be an idea.

I love kebabs.

Anyway - back on topic. I could always sling the roof in the potato and come on down.

 

[DaveL485]

Send it somewhere to flock it.

 

[andybond]

After my shenanigans at Blyton and flirting with the bank I ordered a right rear arch liner which is a part thats for the 2004 - 2006 exige only.

I ordered via scottrussellsportscars as he often has a few used parts in but not this time so ordered new.

Fairly straightforward part to fit with some minor words of encouragement required as some of the holes dont quite align without some minor manipulation.

All wrapped up


Knackered


Wheel off


Up in the air


Finished


I am psyching myself up to to the roof liner, but thats for another day

 

[MartijnTrophy]

Did you make up yet what you are going to do with the roof?
Do you still have the fabric? It seems that the fabric came loose from the foam. Seeing you've removed the foam, you can replace the foam and then glue back on the original fabric. Would take 2 layers of glue but should work?
Else redoing it in alcantara/suede with foam backing should be a doable job with some patience. I'd happily help out but i'm across the pond.

 

[andybond]

Did you make up yet what you are going to do with the roof?
Do you still have the fabric? It seems that the fabric came loose from the foam. Seeing you've removed the foam, you can replace the foam and then glue back on the original fabric. Would take 2 layers of glue but should work?
Else redoing it in alcantara/suede with foam backing should be a doable job with some patience. I'd happily help out but i'm across the pond.

Hey @MartijnTrophy

The original material was dead. It had its time.

I have bought some 2mm foam backed material and am still trying to psych myself up for it! I want it to be lekker!

 

[andybond]

I have been putting off my saggy roof for some time now. Avid readers will recall that I got to this phase ..



After a solid 13hr sleep ( must have needed it! ) and a decent morning watching my youngest play football I found myself with a free afternoon. I mean how hard can it be retrimming a roof on a lotus?

My though process was if it all goes to shit I can just rip off the fabric and start again , or send it to a trimmer or just buy a carbon roof in the man maths reality that its cheaper to sell this mohawk to someone and buy a carbon one than pay someone to retrim ..

Anyway, with the thought of carbon long gone I made a start. I laid out the fabric on the roof. Reality set in. I really have no idea what I am doing here ...





I watched a few youtubes in the garage and armed with a 2inch paint roller and a can of adhesive off I went ..



I did the main section on the left , then the right. At this point I could smell the colour 13 so went for a walk outside for a bit. I returned after about 30mins and removed all the creases , used a gallon more adhesive and knicked the wife's "best" scissors to trim the edges.

It resulted in a more than acceptable finish. There appear to be some marks on the lining on the image but I think its just due to the long exposure. There are none visible by eye ..



Happy chap.

Now I am £300 closer to yet another upgrade on the Lotus. Whats next?

 

[Turbell]

Looks bob on to me, if it cost feck all it's a win.

 

[andybond]

Looks bob on to me, if it cost feck all it's a win.

£20 in materials

Happy with that tbh!