Jacques

Hi Erik, The exact weight saving I cannot say for the moment, as it's now been extensively reworked, by taking it apart, as when I originally bought it, it was so bad made, that it couldn't be used - distorted, twisted, lack of structural integrity and fit and finish all over. Dangerous and not possible to actually put on the car, but that's old news. So, it's been through a few carbon specialists over the years, and now is perfect in shape and fitment, I hope. It's also had the lacking details corrected, such as for example having built an underside for the "lid" - the protruding upper extension of the roof, which simply wasn't there. That has now been made in carbon fiber and built together with the existing upper part. For this, positive and negative forms ad to be made etc. A huge work in total. I've had countless visits and meetings with the company who have undertaken most of the work. For example a lot of thought have gone into for example which carbon fiber to use, the weave, and which materials to use for building it together again, reinforcements, infusion of other materials etc. Further, the two main halves have been taken apart and placed in a special made gig, built for this purpose, and distorsion was measured to be more than 9 centimeters across... The halves were then corrected and put back together. Next, the structural integrity were assessed. It was concluded, that during high speed driving, the whole tailgate would distort and possibly fly off. Now, by the use of computed as well as real life previous experience, the tailgate have been reinforced with special super light pieces and induced super light structural foam, so that it won't distort under various conditions. For example, the whole upper rear section would wobble in the wind as well as making strange sounds under high speed. No longer. The bolting on to the Esprit body is also looked at, to make sure it's strong enough. We'll see about that in real life. Then there's the fit and finish. Edges all around the tailgate, has been slightly modified, so that it can actually sit on the car. Finish is as you see the original color coded red, plus a few layers of a special clear coat, that won't turn yellowish during the process of layering more layers. It's been mixed with flexi-chemicals, so that it should be prevented developing stress cracks etc. with use. The underside is now being worked on, and I've asked that the edge is being painted matt black along the edge and other smaller areas. The main area of the underside is still visible carbon fiber in dark black. This is now also being clear coated in special heat treatment matt flexi-lacquer, so that the carbon fiber remains visible but very discretely. As I've done with the roof etc. I don't want a car screaming carbon fiber all over. When it finally arrives home in a month or so, I'll need new stickers for it as per my original SE tailgate, new wiring loom for the new original Lotus heated rear window, new locking stays and new rubber seal. Then I'll install it and make a decision regarding rear wing. Of course it's going to have a rear wing, and I'll NEVER be a member of the wingless society. it's just the choice between an SE tailgate mounted one, a higher V8 wing or a Sport300 rear wing, which I would like in carbon fiber (it's actually heavy wings, all of them). That will take a looooong time to do. So weight I cannot say, but for security reasons and for proper function, I's say it's a bit heavier, plus all the paint makes it heavier. But rest assured, that it's going to loose a LOT of kilos. The idea being, that it has to be proper made, secure for driving, not just exhibition, and also importantly: look factory. The air grilles I've also done, so that I have two sets, one in red and one set in carbon fiber but matt clear coated. The fastening of these have been altered, so that it's not based on sticky tape, but aligned holes and screws. The ones I bought with the carbon tailgate, as badly made and had holes in them, that simply shouldn't be there. That is also now corrected. To me, It's also been increasingly difficult to actually handle the whole process, as I've no longer a big garage where I can work on and store all the things, including 3 tailgates. I work on the car on the street, and where to put 3 tailgates? Not in the living room, I can assure you. So I need to sell my original V8 tailgate that I also bought some years ago from Germany, and to my surprise was road damaged, despite the seller saying it was 100% okay, but it just goes to show, that sometimes one have to be carful regarding trusting other people. That tailgate has now also been completed and is 100% ready to be painted and installed on an Esprit, but since I won't be needing it anyway (probably), I'll advertise it for sale, and the buyer can pay me for having it prof painted in his or her favorite color. So only when the carbon one is 100% finished and ready to drive will be kept. More later as it happens Pricewise, it has become exorbitant expensive, and if I had known that in advance, I might not have ordered one in the first place. Just the repair of the original V8 tailgate that I am not going to use, was near 2000 USD, plus transportation etc. But hey, who counts the last dollars? Nah, delete that, I'd do it all over again, but trying to add a LOT more pressure to the original maker and timeframe. It have taken nearly six years from the start of the planning, till' it will be finished. Little Red Riding Hood will turn out to be an expensive car, in my humble view. A carbon front hood/bonnet? Yeah! Bring it on! I would tell you that working in carbon fiber is not much more difficult than glass fiber, and the weight saving is huge in favor to the carbon fiber. Do that and do it once. And think about the structural integrity, as it won't really be helpful, having it crack and fly off in bits, during a track day. But by all means, do it! I'd like to see some pics of your finished cage "There can be only one!" (tailgate) Cheers, Jacques

Getting the carbon tailgate closer to installment after some 6 years of reworking and preparation. Possibly only a few months away from actually installing in onto Little Red Riding Hood. I must say, she's a very very patient car. Cheers, Jacques

No, I put them on the shelf, never to use them again. I did though, install the high temp version (silver light greyish color), of K-nuts. Self locking. And I used 1200 celsius special thread paste. This last and it's been some years now. Works well. And they are a size smaller, so easier to do and undo in the event you need to do that. A lot easier actually. Just my two pence on the matter. Kind regards, Jacques

Patrick, may I ask a dumb question? What about the ground wires underneath on the side of the tanks? Did you do those? What if you attempt start with out the two fuel filler caps on? I've seen a case where there was negative pressure, so fuel wouldn't be sucked up. Also, When you did the tanks, you have worked with the fuel pump which is submerged into one tank. This pump have a small filter on it, sometimes a little green mesh, which can come apart and into the pump and block it. I had that problem and no start was possible, until I found that green mesh as the culprit. Started right up after that was removed. Also, if you change the pump as it can be bad over time, most will, there's a part that you do not reinstall on the new pump. Just saying. Please check these things first. Old battery btw? Not the cause probably, but low voltage may trigger all sorts of funny problems. But that's another story. Cheers, Jacques

What an interesting project, to say the least. I have no place do work on the car any more, so it's really just hibernating for the Winter. Will do more in the Spring or Summer. I've been really busy this last year rebuilding my work's building, which was a huge task. Last season was great. Not a lot of miles, but let's just call them "interesting" ones. That grip is gigantic. So, while being Winter with lots of snow and minus only God knows how much, on and off, I've bought... a Land Rover. What an absolutely great idea. More precisely a Freelander 2 with a straight six petrol engine. Runs really nice and I'll be doing lots of work on it to bring it to a respectable state. That will be our traveling and Winter car. Or just hauling Esprit parts Actually, I've been looking for a while, and settled on a Toyota 4Runner 1990 with very raised suspension, winch and really knobby tires. Or the Land Rover Freelander 2, 3,2Liter Straight Six, auto gearbox + sequential manual shift. Since I live in Denmark, and the authorities are against every single little mod on Planet Earth, and the 4Runner despite having a V6 3,0 liter petrol engine, it's really slow at 15 seconds to 100km/h and only 155 km/h at the top, I test drove both on and off road, and settled for the Land Rover. A better car I hope It's British after all. It easily runs 200 km/h and 8,9 to 100 km/h. Consumption? Hmm... Who knows? 8 km/Liter on the Toyota at 85 km/h and 12,4 in the Land Rover at 120 km/h. No worries. Since there's a dog guard cage inside it and a dirty plaid, plus a horse sticker at the back, I am now home free from militant bicycling women, who throw stones after cars around these waters. I rest assured that our British members on here can attest to Land Rovers mechanical and electrical perfection. Sort of. When I bought the Esprit many years ago, every single person told me, it was a really stupid idea. Well, many years later, I can attest to Mr. May's experiences in Patagonia in an Esprit - so far utterly reliable, save a few pennies. So what could possibly go wrong in a Land Rover? Gearbox project for Little Red Riding Hood in on the garage work table, and ready to be assembled. But as usual there is a little tiny minus: the better GTO primary axle, which in reality should have been an Emco one, slightly lowered geared. None for sale, and no money after the purchase of the Land Rover, so got to wait some more. It will come, some sunny day. The tailgate in cf is still at the painter. Hmm.. I guess he stuck it somewhere and will be doing the remaining work during this Winter. I am starting to get pretty hyped on the fit and function, not to mention the looks and the weight. On another subject, I will probably be redoing the interior of Little Red Riding Hood this coming Summer, time permitting. Needs it. I know that she'll be happy about it. Meanwhile in the shed, I am working on some titanium bits and bobs for the Laverda motorcycle, that I have been wanting to do for a long time. Also probably bigger carbs. Do I need more power? No, probably not. Will it be fun? Sure. Just last Sunday, I overheard a conversation between my Laverda motorcycle, my Corrado G60, my Lotus Esprit and my Land Rover. The Corrado said: "well, Sun's out today, I feel the need, the need for speed, so I'll go spin my G-lader". The Esprit answered: " Brrrr... are you unbraco-nuts? It's minus 11 deg. cel and 30 centimeters of snow outside and you have 4 centimeters from the front lip spoiler to the tarmac". The Laverda answered: "You are alla so crazi, just givee me some twisty backe roads... ... in Sicilia". And the Land Rover just shouted: "Snow? Rocks, mud? Yeah! Bring it on!". Such is life. Happy New Year and peace to all. Kind regards, Jacques

Don't worry Steve, a lot has been improved further since then. I'd say a lot. Mone on it's way. So next you are around, pass by and we will repeat it further on some good b-roads. Cheers, Jacques

I second that. Cheers, Jacques

Grahame, You may also want to take a close look at the intake hose from the airfilter to the turbo itself. They are getting old, fragile and are known to collapse under more demand - more throttle. Idle is fine, but once you hit it, it dies out. Anyway, the larger turbo on the later cars, such as S4s and more so the Sport300 each have a bigger diameter hose for that purpose, and they are conical. You will want the alunox tubular exhaust manifold. I have been running it for a few years now, and apart from the initial bad welding on mine, it works really well, both on a standard engine tune and a worked on engine. Really well. You should notice easier idling, cleaner running, and more power as well as torque. Roll it before and after and see the difference. Do use some of the high temp grade k-nuts - not the darker cheaper version. They lock really well, and they last. They are smaller and makes it a LOT easier to get it on and off at a later date, if need be. Also use them on the 4 turbo studs. Well, I did and it works really well. I can now take by turbo and exhaust manifold off in around 1½ hour without bleeding knuckles, swearing and a pint. Just works so well. And they are lighter. Do be aware of tubes running very close to the frame, so use a piece of exhaust wrap or otherwise to insulate, so the galvanized surface is not going bad. The heat shield maze is easy enough to get on as well. No worries. Kind regards, Jacques

I too have done the ram air mod on my SE, and I rolled it and it gave a little more Nm and like 2 ponies. I should add, that the test bench we set up so that there was a lot of extra air flow along the sides of the car, trying to simulate real life fast speed airflow. I am sure high speed airflow will be greater numbers. How about making better tubing for the intake in other materials? Regarding engines with these kind of filters, there is less of a chance to wear something down earlier, if it is not an engine with pressurized build. It's all up to you. I've seen enough dead engines to steer clear. In fact I'll just toss my two near new filter out (K&N), so it won't do any damage to any engine in the future. Kind regards, Jacques

I bought a new K&N with the metal frame, long ago, and it was not a good design, as it clogs up badly quickly and some engines do not like the filter oil. Some people spray too much of it, and it's worse still. No oil on it, and it filters badly, letting too many particles into your engine, that should best have been left out. I spoke to two different tuning companies, with many many years of experience, and they showed me dead turbos and dead (especially) compressors, that died too early because of the K&N's filtration. Won't ever use it and on a former car I had a green filter. seemed to be the same as K&N. I also used Sparco filter. Same story. Use a standard paper filter is my recommendation. These filters are not for street driving, but for racing use, and that is another ballgame, with fewer miles and far more service. I rolled it on a propper Dyno, trimmed, updated and by a super experienced operator, and he showed me the results: a little more on initial new installation, but once it gets washed with their special filter soap and reoiled, it's less ponies than a standard new original paper filter. Note: original paper filter, not aftermarket. I rolled it three more times and that was indeed the results. I then installed a new original paper filter, and voila, all ponies were back in the stable, same goes for Nm. And the curves. That is my experience and my observations + recommendations from two of the best tuners here in Denmark. My car in question is a Lotus Esprit Turbo SE, 1990. Both in standard trim and when tuned. Plus my former car, plus my Corrado G60 that I stil have. Same could be said about oil filters. Up to you of course. Want a better trim? Talk to Dave for example, about getting rid of parasitic power losses etc, or just read his thread on making more power on his SE. Kind regards, Jacques

On more than one vehicle, I've noticed that brakes, old or new, fewer or less pistons, and small discs or bigger, all benefit from running carbon ceramic brake pads. Maybe try those. They do take a while to break in. Kind regards, Jacques

I should add that many years ago I spoke to SJ's about these seat copies, and the carbon option is not genuine carbon all seat round, but an extra layer that they add on top of the glass fiber. I don't know if they have changed that since. I found a genuine S300 set meanwhile and had them retrimmed locally (phew, that was steep), so no longer needed, but they surely look great. Next Summer I may ask a carbon expert local to me, to make copies in full carbon. We'll see. Meanwhile, the seats mentioned here, are looking very nice and are seldom offered up for sale. Do they come with all bracketry? Great looking seats! And I can testify that they grip you and hold you in place during "spirited driving". Kind regards, Jacques Oooops: I now see that it's the V8 comfort seat offered for sale. Well, they are nice too, but my remarks are regarding the carbon S300 rep seats. And genuine as well. Kind regards, Jacques

Mean machine! And I like that you protect the trailer, not the car This car was made to scare the crap out of other sportscars, namely the German panzerwagen aka 911, Italian spaghetti a la 308/328/348 etc. Cheers, Jacques

Well, we all know which is the fastest and which one still runs. Kind regards, Jacques

Seems like a sound idea! That's what I did anyway. Kind regards, Jacques