Washing the car
Discussion
Has anyone noticed that it actually takes longer to wash a Lotus than any other car ??
I find that the main reason for this is that almost every person that walks past whilst washing it wants to stop and ask what the car is and then walk around it open mouthed. Today i have had numerous sets of kids taking pics of it, a couple of girls saying how much in love with the car they are and lots of other conversatioons with every man and his dog.
If i had known how good a Lotus was to gain attention i would have bought one when i was at my physical peak during the late 80`s to gain a few more bed post notches.Now the fat belly over rides the Lotus factor
Another thing i have enjoyed about the car today is that the soft top now seems a much better fit and now it is clean i actually dont mind it on the car. It obviosuly went straight back in the boot once it had dried.
Dont think the hard top will be seeing daylight until Octoberish now.
Oh and finally another good thing, my missus actuially went in it for the first time todsy. She never went in my silver 111R at all and only went in the red 111S a few times. I tricked her when she phoned me to pick her up by saying i needed to dry the brakes out.......
Just realised how many times i use the word "actually".
I find that the main reason for this is that almost every person that walks past whilst washing it wants to stop and ask what the car is and then walk around it open mouthed. Today i have had numerous sets of kids taking pics of it, a couple of girls saying how much in love with the car they are and lots of other conversatioons with every man and his dog.
If i had known how good a Lotus was to gain attention i would have bought one when i was at my physical peak during the late 80`s to gain a few more bed post notches.Now the fat belly over rides the Lotus factor
Another thing i have enjoyed about the car today is that the soft top now seems a much better fit and now it is clean i actually dont mind it on the car. It obviosuly went straight back in the boot once it had dried.
Dont think the hard top will be seeing daylight until Octoberish now.
Oh and finally another good thing, my missus actuially went in it for the first time todsy. She never went in my silver 111R at all and only went in the red 111S a few times. I tricked her when she phoned me to pick her up by saying i needed to dry the brakes out.......
Just realised how many times i use the word "actually".
Edited by hueandcry71 on Saturday 10th May 20:24
hueandcry71 said:
fatwomble said:
do you actually ever have a car long enough for it to need a wash 
This one has been washed twice already. In fact that is probably more than any other car i have previously owned. Perhaps that says something about how much i like this one...........Also - glad to see I'm not the only one whose other, and decidedly better, half doesn't even go in the Lotus, I've taken umpteen pre-pubescent starry eyed boys out in it, all her friends have been taken round the block (no sniggering), her dad has driven it, taken pretty much half the male population of the village out in it but only once have I managed to force her to negotiate getting in, and that was just to Sainsburys. I've offered countless times, told her she's free to take it for a spin but she just won't listen.
Thank goodness.
hueandcry71 said:
Oh and finally another good thing, my missus actuially went in it for the first time todsy. She never went in my silver 111R at all and only went in the red 111S a few times.
To be fair, she didn't really have much of a chance
My OH goes in it all the time, but she won't go with me when I go for a proper blat.
Mine takes two days to clean properly
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
hueandcry71 said:
Oh and finally another good thing, my missus actuially went in it for the first time todsy. She never went in my silver 111R at all and only went in the red 111S a few times.
To be fair, she didn't really have much of a chanceMy OH goes in it all the time, but she won't go with me when I go for a proper blat.
Mine takes two days to clean properly
hueandcry71 said:
my other half doesnt drive, I would love to find something to remove what i think is tar from just below the side vents. Also found that this is the area most prone to stone chips, thought it was dead flies at first..........
Next time you wash your car give the area a good scrub with the sponge and see if the spots smear ... If they do, then it's definitely tar stuck to your vents ... AutoGlym Glue & Tar Remover works effortlessly well 
Yeah, everytime I wash the car someone will come over and ask me about the car. In the first week of ownership I had an old bloke (Obviously ex-RAF, major, twidding moustache type) come over and shake my hand congratulating me on having such a fine car! It has also been described by many girls as 'cute', 'cheeky' and 'sexy'
Hey, Huey, thank god one of us is still in their prime to enjoy the benefits Again, lots of people have wanted passenger rides, the majority of my friends have been in it, my parent's friends have been in it, my ex-girlfriends's Dad has driven it and I've taken friend's girlfriends out it in ... However my ex would never want to be a passenger in it ... Either the wind messed with her hair, the seats were too uncomfortable or it was too noisy! Bah, those are the best things about the S1!
Edited by Ikemi on Sunday 11th May 22:38
If you think it is bad that your other half doesn't want to get in, i have the opposite situation. My wife wants to drive mine. We went for our first test drive last night. God i was scared. It started off with "how slow can she drive it round the industrial estate" then it moved onto "how many times can you stall it as you pull away in first." Then we moved onto "how badly can you drive a car into a bend" and finally finished off with " road rage with a BMW on a by pass." By the time we had finished i was near death, she loved it and wants to go out for another try tonight. Therefore if you are in the North Herts area tonight and see a Lotus going very very slowly on a road, give it a wide berth as it is probably us.
Really light grade clay bar will get rid of the tar. I got a megs kit from Halfords, did a v. good job at getting rid of the tar spots I had on mine. For cleaning the plastic itself, I finished with some Mer plastic trim restorer - no silicon in it, does a great job, even shifts any way you've got on them (it you're a bit over liberal like me).
TonyHetherington said:
I find best thing with tar is autoglym tar remover, very lightly, removes it perfectly. Be sure to then wax it afterwards though as it's like a white spirit and takes off any wax on the car!
Also WD-40. Much cheaper in large quantities, strips tar, oil, brake dust (as well as wax!). I bathed mine in the stuff a few weeks back after discovering the road to our house had been resurfaced 
Need to wash the car very thoroughly afterwards to get it all off.
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