V8-tt Lotus Esprit Rebuild

[mac1]

A little about myself, I still have my 818 but what really has been a dream of mine was an Esprit, the wife agreed 100% with me and we searched really hard for 6 months till this one fell on our lap. Learning so much about how the Brits build and engineer cars back in the day. Some of it I agree and some I dont. So i'll dedicate this thread to my adventures with fixing, modding, updating, and what all is wrong with these at 42k miles.


And here it is the day we picked her up just 10 min from where we found our 818 in San Diego.




Driving it home ...

[mac1]

had to build a frame to hold the hatch as high as possible

[AZPete]

Very cool. Thanks for posting pics. What's your plan for mods and updates?

[mac1]

Issues that dont apply to my Lotus............
-Un-keyed timing gears/chains can and will cause a timing jump with an Interference engine.
-trans input shafts break when romping in 5th gear
-ECU failures (fixed prior to me buying)
-A/C sucks, compressors lockup (too hot)
-Alternators dont last (too hot)
-OEM radiator/fans suck (Mine are upgraded)


What did happen to me..................
the weight of the unsupported turbo sheers off exhaust studs


the oil pickup screen separates from the thin wall tubing. bolts break and end up in the pan, then then the whole deal starts to knife edge the nearest counterweight leaving a trail of metal shavings flushed thru the entire engine and both oil coolers mounted up front. this is the 3rd case i've found but dont believe the other 2 went past simply replacing it the pickup!!


Just like earlier Subarus the halfshafts use roll pins to lock the axles in place............BUuuut, Lotus went a step Backwards and shoved 2 roll Pins into
the same hole, one inside of another making it exponentially harder to pound them out, hence the stuck half shafts on mine


Wet type CYlinder liners have poor sealant from the factory causing water/oil mix

[mac1]

20 years and 42k miles



all good and no warping

[mac1]

Very cool. Thanks for posting pics. What's your plan for mods and updates?

I only have 1 custom made part so far and will get a good pic

[mac1]

Megasquirt build


Water injection


Ls1 coil conversion

[michael everson]

My neighbor has had one of these sitting in his yard since about 1990 or so. its some kind of special edition black with tan interior. Just rotting away. Last time I got a look at it the mice had really done in the interior. He has a DeLorean doing the same thing.
Mike

[lance corsi]

My impression of Lotus cars is that they are little more than factory built kit cars. They don’t hold up well.

[mac1]

Very typical
Most owners of v8 are too afraid to drive them.
They are a constant worry in hotter weather.

All that just makes this car stand out more in any event. Pop up lights and a nice little rumble.

My neighbor has had one of these sitting in his yard since about 1990 or so. its some kind of special edition black with tan interior. Just rotting away. Last time I got a look at it the mice had really done in the interior. He has a DeLorean doing the same thing.
Mike

[mac1]

My impression of Lotus cars is that they are little more than factory built kit cars. They don’t hold up well.

I will not disagree on that. You have to work thru the bugs and improve what you can