Making a license plate that fits

Some things just don't fit right on the Lotus Elise.  Like a front license plate.  Mine had a mount that scraped the driveway so I needed to fix this.  I removed the huge plate and found it left four 1/4" holes that needed covered. I took my wife's silhouette craft cutter and cut some letters and numbers in black vinyl and added them on top of reflective white vinyl.  Now it's a nice fit!

And it reflects light like a real plate.

Keeping the battery charged. I love Projects!

I have already experienced the dead battery problem.  My car often sets from Monday morning until about 3pm on Friday afternoon up on the lift in the garage.  During this time a battery can be drained by the demobilizer of the alarm system.  The original 3 year old battery of the car just gave up!  I got a new Interstate Battery installed and decided it was time to prevent the possibility of this happening again.  I looked at the Battery Tender and other brands and then found a small float charger at Harbor Freight on sale for $3.99.  That's cheap enough I will give it a try!

I hung it from the storage rack above my work bench and can plug it in when I unplug the lift after raising the car.  Then I pull a concealed two prong plug out of the back of the Lotus above the license plate and plug it in.  It looks like it will work great!

Easy $4 Lotus clock from Walmart

Walmart sells a $4 nine inch clock (6.5" dial) that can easily be made into a custom clock.  I removed the plastic cover and hands then printed a new clock dial on a sheet of photo paper.  Then I cut it out and inserted it over the old face.  I think it turned out nice.  I have this new clock face file as a PDF if anyone else would like it to make one, just send me your e-mail.

I feel like making stuff!

I like to make stuff.  Especially if I can design it on my computer.  So we had a Lotus Club party this past weekend and I needed to bring a gift.  I decided to make a cool lotus clock!  This is from a Walmart picture clock.($16.95)  Only I took it apart and cut a LOST lotus decal and put in the middle and added tire tread vinyl decals around the outside. (My wife got a new Silhouette SD craft cutter for Christmas and I love it!!)
Then I took pictures of different Lotus models and placed them in the photo circles.

My wife also needed to bring a gift so I designed some Lotus embroidery and I put it on a towel and throw blanket. I used our Brother embroidery machineand the PED layout software.  Both gifts were a big hit at the meeting.  I guess I'm just a crafty guy.

Welcome to my new Blog! Mike's Adventures and more!

Hi,

I'm Mike and this is my blog to tell the world about my adventures with cars, boats, motorcycles, home theaters and more.

You never know what will capture my attention next and I will pour all of my attention into. Just ask my wife. I think it drives her crazy.

The Lotus Elise has captured my attention.

I bought a used 2006 Elise. Actually, I won it on eBay! This thing is a blast!!!

It's an English built sports car withToyota engine and drive train.

 This is not my daily driver. So I had to come up with a way to fit it in the two car garage with the other two cars and my son's scooter.

Enter the Four post 8000 lb Lift. This thing was heavy and I had to borrow a work truck and trailer to get it home. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UNLOAD ONE OF THESE BY YOURSELF. Two months later and my back still hurts.

But it does it's job well. Operates off standard wall outlet and lifts either my MINI or LOTUS to the top.

Of course I thought the whole plan through first!  I also drew it out in AutoCAD.  It was too close to not get it exact.  I had to change the antenna on my MINI to a short stubby on to get this all to fit.