GrantTuscan

Thanks Kim

What happened to that car? I know it was rebuilt to a high standard and then up for sale in 2011 - who's got it now? Also who's got the silver GT1 replica that was around in 2008ish? Anyone know?

Hi Mike Bibs sent me the link to your build thread. Great to see you're making good progress. The car really couldn't have gone to a better owner for sure - great work, can't wait to see it completed. Cheers, Grant

Thanks for the info very useful. My e-mail is grant.wardrop@bbc.co.uk GT1 pics very much appreciated. Good points re the length of manifold - the lag issue had occured to me. Coating the turbos could help. The thing that worries me is that pistons 3 and 7 get a hard time cooling wise and I'm tring to think of anything that might improve cooling. Running air feeds to the turbo area may also help a bit too. I can't remember if there is enough space between the block and the turbo to get a sheet of the hi-tec heat shield material in with an air gap?

Hi Guys, I'm looking for any photos showing the GT1's engine bay (or any other V8 racer). Showing the position of the turbos, roll cage etc. I'm thinking about extending the manifolds on my Esprit V8 project to allow the turbos to be positioned further back - the idea being to move the red-hot turbos away from the sides of the block to help cooling and also possibly allowing larger turbos to be fitted (GT28RS's). I've already decided to lose the boot area so I'll have space to do it, and I'll also fit a mesh back panel between the rear lights to help vent heat from the engine bay. Also any pics of the open GT1 style bonet that vents air from the water radiator up and over the car would be very useful too. Thanks very much. Grant

Yes Superchips had a couple of goes at tweaking the ECU - the code is extremely difficult to crack. They ended up putting one of Johan's chips in and then playing around with the signal from the map sensor - I think one of the problems they initially encountered was that it was going very rich / dumping fuel after a certain level of boost. I think ultimately they had it running at about 466BHP @ 6977RPM (but the clutch was slipping during the power run on the dyno - so there was probably more than 466BHP). And Torque was a bit disappointing at 397 lb/ft at 5323RPM. The turbos were re-built / hybrid(ed) buy Owen Developments - really good people, Lee Owen did all of Peter Solberg's WRC turbo builds at one point. They also did the development work for Mitsubishi on the Evo FQ400. Mike - do you know who manufactured the crank and rods for the GT1 engine? I know the team did the first race on a standard road crank as the race one wasn't ready in time. It survived so they must be reasonably strong.

Thanks for all of the responses guys. Yes Rob, this car was the old Fifth Gear project car, which has sat unloved since it went pop and they ran out of money! I bought the car about a year ago meaning to crack on with the project and get the car to do 200mph myself. Anyway been a bit busy so it's taken until now to get things moving again. To answer a couple of questions. The cone filters are positioned next to the rear quarterlights so are seperate from the engine bay and are fed with cold air from the side air scoops. Brakes are AP 4 pots on the fronts. No quaife ATB at the moment. Cooling is the big issue you're right Mike, it seems to be one cylinder in particular that gets especialy hot and does a piston (all be it they were cast so not as resiliant as forged) - so a new ally rad with more cores is definitely top of the list. Also having a look at how water flows through the engine, I think the flow may stagnate in the back of the engine so this need investigating. Possibly tap into the block and create a return pipe. What would you have to do to make a GT1 spec engine? Ported flowed heads, GT1 style intake plenum, steel crank, forged pistons, con-rods, bigger turbos, chargecoolers. But what else? As I understand it, unrestricted that engine would make 600bhp. Did Johan ever get his G50/50 box fitted to his car - has anyone got this working succesfuly?

Hi Guys, Thought I'd pick your collective brains. I'm about to have my V8 engine rebuilt after piston failure. What are the parts to use and who are the best sources / manufacturers? The idea is to get a reliable 500bhp. FYI It already has twin charge coolers, hybrid turbos & uprated waste gate capsules, twin cone air-filters, uprated larger primary injectors, ECU re-chip, race cats, twin dump-valves. (G Box has been uprated too by GTO) I'm about to take delivery of a set of forged pistons - Omega (very highspec motorsport piston manufacturer) are making these up. It's the first set of Esprit V8 pistons they've made. I sent them an unused original to copy. Once it's on their system it'll be a lot cheaper to get more pistons made up - so there'll be another supplier option out there for everyone. I've been talking to JAE in the USA who seem great and I'm buying an upgraded headstud kit from as well as a pair of steel head gaskets from them. Con rods - I'd like to upgrade these, any ideas? I've started to talk to Arrow. Any other quality suppliers out there who may have made V8 rods before? Crank - Again I'd like to get a steel crank - although the original is pretty strong to start with apparently. Anyone know of a supplier already doing a steel crank for the V8? Can I upgrade the bearings on the standard crank? Any other parts I should be considering upgrading (or tips) for building a reliable 500bhp V8? I have been considering getting the cam-shafts re-profiled too. Thanks, Grant

That does look pretty cool. More powerful headlights and less drag too!

I've seen these kits for MR2s where they fit 4 small HiD type lamps and then change the cams so that the lights only pop-up about a third of the height that they did with the original large lamps in. It actual looks pretty good even if it might sound a bit MaxPower. http://www.roguesystems.co.uk/forms/Product.aspx?ID=298 I think this would look great on the Esprit, updating the look of the headlights. Does anyone know of a kit for the Esprit? If there isn't someone should definitely make one.

Any ideas guys? Thanks, Grant

David, I agree with the other comments, go for it. I'm tempted myself where is the best place to get one from? And how much will it cost?

Guys In people's experience what is the best straight through, turbos back, exhaust system? Looking to junk the heavy silencer and the cats of the standard system. Thanks Grant

Thanks very much for the pics chaps. Anymore greatfully received. Grant

Hi I'm wanting to fit an SE Glassback tailgate to a V8 in the hope of reducing drag. Does anyone have any pics they could e-mail showing the tailgate in detail (engine cover, bulk head etc). Just wondering how it all goes together and if fitting the SE tailgate might create any cooling issues? Thanks Grant