frommerstop

Funny thing about that depiction is it's of an American spec, so it has our 50lb bumpers & corner marker lights... don't think those would still be there on a "real" race car!

I wonder where exactly it is, and if they'll put it up in ebay, or if they'll auction it off locally. If it's anywhere near me, I'd like a crack at getting it myself.

Mine were rotted entirely away, I replaced them with generic poly bushings from local parts store, and they work just fine.

I wouldn't be too suprised if your coil is starting to break down... especially if it's original.

I'm currently looking for a radiator replacement, as the end cap on mine broke off! Because of the remote location you need a radiator made to use a remote resevior & cap. I fear the cap on a Mazda radiator will get in your way. I was thinking about mounting an after market all aluminium (mid 80s) VW Golf replacement - looks like it should fit, and improve cooling over the stock Lotus rad. Unfortunatly it will require considerable hose rearrangement, both hose fittings are on the right. But the VW uses side tanks & a remote resevior, and a boss for a fan switch. "Performance" aftermarket radiators are pretty cheap for a Golf, and a used set of VW fans souldn't be too much. Has anyone here had success with anything else? Cliff

Bruce, first off, I want apologize if my post came across a bit harsh, it wasn't meant that way, but on reread, it may have sounded a bit condisending. Like I said before, I've given this a bit of thought myself, and one possible solution if you must use a turbo, could be to reverse the exhaust manifold to put the turbo in front of the engine. Having a RHD vehicle does help a bit with space, and it may be possible to keep close to an Esprit turbo responce if you can make a tube manifold that (more or less) looks like a mirror image what Lotus used. Getting it low enough to clear the hood without burning up the timming belt would be the trick, as I see it. I didn't realize how low your turbo was mounted, I assumed they used a Lotus turbo manifold off an Esprit. Heck, on a RHD car like your's, I think that might have worked! - putting the turbo somewhere in the glovebox area. My reasons for suggesting a blower instead, were based on simpicity, and under hood temp control, but if you have enough determination (and money), I'm sure you can make it work. I'm looking forward to reading about your progress, I'm not opposed to learing from some one else, and I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger on such a conversion on mine yet. It sounds like a really cool project! Cliff

I've never heard of a really viable turbocharger mounted "in the rear", unless you are talking about the rear of the exaust manifold... like Lotus, Renault, Ferrari,Porsche etc. have all done for production as well as racung applications. Yes, I've seen a few "customs" built with turbos "stuck on" where ever they looked best, but those never perform well, at least not well enough for any manufacturer to even consider similar. Turbocharging is one possible engineering direction for improved performance, but it's not the only one, and often isn't the best one. One of the primary requirements of a practical turbocharger is that it has the lowest spinning mass possable for the needed boost, this is to allow minimal delay between engine speed changes, and turbine speed change.The proximity of the turbine to the source of combustion is even more critical, the (inevitable) delay increases exponetially as this distance increases because of temperature loss, and the "spring affect" of the compressable (exhaust gass) in transition between the two. In short, the farther you place the turbo away from the exhaust ports, the greater the "turbo lag", and the larger your turbo is, the greater affect this has because of it's greater moving mass. This is why any production car that has a turbo, uses the smalles one(s) possable, and typically mount them directly on the exhaust manifold(s). ...you don't even want to get me started on the heat issues! LOL! Cliff

If you're planning on moving the turbo all the way over to the intake side of the engine, why stick with a turbo at all? In that case a supercharger would make much more sense. Having the turbo so far away from the manifold will severly diminish it's output, not to mention create signifigant lag - especially on a 4 cyl. Placing such a heat source directly under the carbs isn't a particularly good idea either. Just saying... Cliff

Well it's certainly the first I've heard of! I doubt it was a factory development car, because it has a slightly later intake plenumn (with cooling fins) that was not introduced until the Esprit Turbo was already into production... seems likely at that point any development would be done on Esprits, or at least Ser.2 Elites. I look forward to seeing how much of the foot well was modified to make room for the turbo, and if there was sufficient sheilding to keep passenger's feet from toasting. Should be a heck of a fun ride though! Like I said, I've been considering options to put something (of similar power) in my Ser.1 Elite, and I'd prefer to stick with Lotus, rather than using a Rover V8 - just on principal. Cliff

Does it have the actual turbocharger mounted off the exaust manifold, or does it simply have the intake runner from a turbo Esprit mounted on the carbs? I can't imagine there's enough room for the turbo between the bulk head and exaust manifold on an Elite for such an installation. I've been thinking of running a 2.2L Turbo in my Elite, but if I do, I expect to replace the turbo, with a small supercharger (Paxton, most likely) geared to put out aproximatly the same boost as the stock turbocharger. It seems most likely, your car has a non-turbo engine that someone has added a turbo intake to, for visual affect. If it has been rebuilt for a turbo (or is a doner from a turbo Esprit), than without boost, it will be a real pig! I've descovered looking at the space available on mine, that a turbocharger wouldn't fit without cutting into the footwell (passenger side for you at lest - not even possable for my LHD version). Cam timing, and compression ratio are uniquely set for boost, and without it, it will not perform nearly as well as a stock enigine. Could you try to post som pictures of the exaust manifold side, near the bulkhead, or maybe where the intake is coming from? Cliff

FYI, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, if you adjust the carbs too lean, the exhaust will measure higher Hydrocarbons. Because of incomplete burning during combustion, much of the fuel will simply travel out the pipe. Generally, the smoother your idle, the better your readings will be. Cliff

I had the same problem with three, or four of the fasteners holding my bumpers on. I was changing over from Fed. to Euro bumpers anyway, so I just cut the bolts off with a pneumatic cut-off wheel. I'm not sure how I'd go about removing them, if I'd wanted to reuse the old parts... I suppose I'd still cut them off, and work on a new mounting locations. The Euro bumpers are much lighter, better looking (IMO), and allow more air flow to the radiator. They aren't overly pricey either, but shipping will cost $100-150!

I've had 7 128s over the years, and currently have a '75 Elite with it's original mirrors. Unfortunately, I don't believe they are a perfect match, close, but not exact. The Fiat mirrors are actually a little better, they don't tend to blow out of adjustment at speed like the Lotus ones do!

Could be a bit of a trick getting to that radiator cap!

I think a non-turbo 13b is a good way to go, if you're set on rotary power. Turbos raise a bunch of issues, cooling, exhaust plumbing, under hood temps, etc. As for porting, that gets quite involved on a rotary, similarly with two strokes, it involves full engine tear down. Bridge porting is worth while if you're building a new engine, but not really something doable near your budget I'm afraid. I have considered such a conversion on a second Elite that I'm looking at picking up, I think if I do go the rotary route on that one, I'll try and adapt the bell housing of the stock Lotus 5spd to it. I really like the Mazda trans, but don't want the shifter under my arm pit! I'm thinking I could take the two bell housings, cut & weld, and make one doable piece... maybe you will "pave the way" with your project. I should mention, if you use a Mazda Wankel, you'll need a bit better radiator, and I'd add an oil cooler (like the first generation RX-7s used) under/in front of the radiator. More than 60% of a rotary's cooling is by oil inside the rotors, so keeping the oil temp in check is critical. Also, switching to Euro spec front bumper helps air flow considerably - looks way better as well! Cliff