Artie

Mikie, Try emailing Forced performance! They have some very sweet turbo upgrades and adapters specific to the Esprit 2.2L engine variant, as I looked into this route many years ago, although I ended up getting a second hand low mileage WC turbo Stage 3. The Turbo and parts associated with the upgraded Forced performance turbo I want to say was in the same range as WC's turbo, about $1500! FP are a Mitsubishi 2.0L Evo 9 and 10 specialist and make very reliable turbos, as many of my friends have Evo's that make north of 500hp at the wheels very reliably! Artie

Okay, been feverishly repairing lots of broken and damaged fiberglass on a few parts. Got the wheels off to be painted, so hopefully they'll be back soon and I can see how they look. My rear lower valance has seen better days! The opening for the exhaust has been severely scorched by my exhaust so I've glassed and filled the opening and while I was at it, I finally fixed the cracked leg adjacent to it that has been broken since I've owned the car. I cleaned the back side of the fiberglass and sanded it with 80 grit paper. I proceeded to run 4 layers of glass mat and resin up and down the full length of the leg to support above and below the cracked piece. I filled it with body filler after sanding smooth with 80 grit paper and cleaned it with grease and wax remover. I also had to glass and fill either side of the valance due to cracks that had occurred before my ownership of the car. Apparently someone who did the body work was in a hurry because they didn't prep anything and just filled over the cracked fiberglass with bondo skim coat, especially thickly applied, it just cracked! Uploaded with ImageShack.us http://imageshack.us...ancerepair.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us/ Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us There is another coat of skimcoat that I need to add to finalize the contours, but the valance is much more robust than previously. As I have disassembled the car, I have noted a few flaws or oversights in some of the designs of components. One thing I've known for some time, is that, Lotus used a lot of non captive retainers for things. In other words, there are lot's of things that are attached through an inaccessible portion of the car, or relatively inaccessible parts of the car with a simple bolt, washer, lockwasher and locknut assembly. One such example is the door striker plate. As I removed hardware to prepare the car to prep for primer and paint, I removed the bolts holding the plate on and heard a nice clunk! The backing plate fell straight down under the fuel tank! Another issue I have found is that there are a few loaded assemblies that are attached straight through the fiberglass with the same type of retaining assemblies, bolt, washer, lockwasher and nut. The decklid hinges just aft of the sunroof are simply bolted throught the fiberglass roof and have small washers on the inside, hidden by the header panels of leather inside. I plan on rectifying this particular shortcoming by using some .20ga steel backing plates that I will bond to the fiberglass before reassembly to spread the load of the decklid out better. Another shortcoming I have found is that the original early model door handles are attached directly to the thin fiberglass of the doorskin. When you pull on the handle, you are putting a substantial amount of pressure on that fiberglass with the very small areas of contact from the rear holding bracket. I have made a .16ga steel backing plate to address this to spread the load over a larger area. My door handle openings have several hairline cracks above and below the handle, and I believe it's due to this less than ideal design. I have rough cut a set of escuchen plates out of steel to better spread the load of the door handle. The angle on the end is so it fits in the outer edge of the door. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Here it is behind the door handle. Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Also, seeing as how they are built with a stainless steel body, I'm thinking the rust is a "non-issue". The paltry and anemic renault V6 leaves a lot to be desired in the power dept that's for sure.

Thanks for the heads up, already discovered the same problem with mine, I just trimmed the end of the ducting and don't plan on molding or using adhesive on my sills. The rivets will work fine. I've installed many body kits on several of my cars and the rivets make it easy to remove damaged parts if needed. The sills are light enough they won't cause any issues being riveted in place. Thanks. Artie

Okay, a bit of a slow weekend. I did some more wet sanding and smoothing of a few old drip spots in the clear and on the front windshied cowl piece. I also finally got started disasssembling my 3 piece wheels, which I am also going to color match to the car. The bolts will be repolished and the center face will be painted black and the barrel will also be painted and cleared. I'd powder coat them but I'd rather paint them since I won't have to disassemble the adhesive bond that is still perfectly intact. I've seen problems before when people have disassembled their three piece wheels completely and put them back together

One step ahead of ya Travis. I sandblasted the old black coating off all the way to the base metal, then slightly ground each possible friction point for the coating! I also put small bolts in each bolt hole, removed the little rubber bumper under the back of the handle and sanded the sharp edges of the hole for the lock cylinder so the powdercoating wouldn't build a lip there and prematurely cause a failure point of the powdercoating surface.

Okay, another installment today. I sent off a few items for blasting and powdercoat. I wanted the door handles to be a bit more robust in their finish and the flat/satin factory finish leaves something to be desired. I stripped them and had them along with the fuel fill trim rings, sunroof stopper tabs and front tongue guides powdercoated so they would last longer than just paint.

Thanks Sanj, and since it's retained inside, there is no need to investigate further! I have enough crap apart at this point! I don't need more screws, nuts or retainers to label and put in Ziploc baggies on my workbench!

Nic, yes, you are correct. Stainless is more brittle than mild steel. It is a fine substitution for certain fixings and bolts, but as far as a structural substitute I wouldn't do it. I am leaving the fixing points and all original metal as is. My frame and mounting points are not corroded or damaged in any way so no point in retrofitting any other material. I simply am curious about the bolts that have no retainers on them!

Hey guys, I've been posting up my progress on the disassembly of my esprit for a fresh respray. When I removed the door sills, I found several bolts with nuts and washers, but in the middle of both sills, there is a bolt sticking out, but no washer or nut. Both sides are like this. I am curious, as it was pointed out by another member in the project thread that it may be a mounting bolt for the seatbelt? Is this the case, and if so, should there be a retaining washer and nut??? It's the bolt in the center lower portion of the sill, just to the left of the two bolts with retaining nuts and washers on them........ HMMMMM???

Good question, but both sides are missing an outer retaining nut/washer. Seems unfinished without a nut and washer. Hmmmmm.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us Mark, Thanks, mine seem to be in fairly good shape. I didn't notice much corrosion considering what the lower links on the suspension look like! Lol! By The Way: Does anyone know what the bolt sticking out to the left of the two cross tube bolts are? And is it supposed to have a washer and nut on it? I find no reference in my service notes to it. I did make some more progress today. I removed the old standard turbo sills and fitted up the SE sills which will go back on when I reassemble the car. Everything fit fairly well, a bit of trimming to the inlet on the sills rear ductwork and she will fit as she belonged there to begin with! The first sill took me the better part of an hour to remove. It had all the original factory rivets and without reference I had to find the three under the fuel tank overhand by feel with a narrow chisel. Managed to get them off without damaging the old sills or the body. Lot's of adhesive to clean up and rivet remnants to remove, but a productive session for me today. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us I will take a break from the car tomorrow and get lumber to build my spray booth and install the water separator for my compressor. I will make a downdraft ventilation system for the booth to aid in removing particles from the air so the paint goes on as clean and dirt/bug free as possible! I never imagined there would be this many pieces to contend with when I started! WOW!

Have dropped many swivels, screwdrivers and flashlights. So I do what most would do, I go get an alternative tool to finish the job and think to my self "Okay, don't forget to fish the spanner out before you put everything else away"......Only to forget and realize later that I'd forgotten and said tool, light or swivel is now decorating the pavement along the freeway somewhere between mile marker 122 and 129! Bloody Hell!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us Well, I got the front bumper off and am ready to have a go at the sills. Anyone cut off their old sills have some tips or shortcuts to the procedure? I like having a heads up to shortcuts to make it easier. I have all the tools I think I need. I may pick up a hot knife today to help with the glue/adhesive. Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Black and gold was the first thought, but I wanted a little "different" flavor! I'm temped to rebadge the front and rear "Lotus" emblems with the older black and gold however!

Well mates, it seems I cannot leave a good thing alone! The car has been running excellently for the better part of 2 months and about 2200 fairly "reliable" miles since the engine overhaul again. BUT, I've decided with winter closing in and boredom not far behind, I need a winter project is in order! A slight change is brewing! I seem to have some parts laying around my garage.... Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us I haven't gotten the entire car broken down yet, but hopefully tomorrow I will get the front bumper off and can start working on the old sills. The weather should be nice so I will pull her into the driveway to start cutting and chiseling away at the sills. I will finally install the SE sills that I have had for almost 4 years now, and most importantly I will be doing a colour change to BLACK! I have a few area's on the car that have some cracks in the gelcoat that need to be addressed and then reinforce the LotusPrepared by Claudius V8 light panel that I bought and installed a few years back, as it has developed some cracks at the rounded corners due to flimsy construction. I will be blacking out most of the car, to include the custom 3 piece wheels I had made 5 years ago. I will disassemble them and paint them all black including the wheel barrel and leave the rim bolts that hold the center piece on the rim, silver. I will also have a shop do a professional black out of the round V8 taillamps as well as change the esprit emblems and some other badging to a custom yellow close the Lotus brand colours. DON'T worry! The yellow accents will be minimal, just a subtle hint of color! I think it will look fantastic. I have never been happy with the white paint on the car as it's an off-white and it has been painted several times for different repairs, so every corner has a slightly different blend line and slightly different colour. This will address all of those issues. I will post progress as I work on it. I am taking my time on this, as I want the end result to be nearly flawless! Wish me luck! Artie

Rich, Any update? I have a Rostra universal unit ready to install in my 89 Turbo, but haven't found my motivation to install it yet as the car is slowly proving reliable® than previously, however, not sure I deem her reliable enough yet to warrant a long enough trip for a cruise control switch to taunt me! Artie

Always get asked "is that real?" Suggesting its a fiero kit car! I promptly respond "Nope, its fake" and drive off in a cloud of dust and flames!

Sorry guys, my girlfriend captured this little naughtiness while driving home tonight. I was having too much fun on such a beautiful night. She caught me being a pyro again. Sorry for the sideways format, but turn your volume way up so you can hear the glorious exhaust note! enjoy! Artie

The car stays! Got rid of the wife now no one to tell me NO! Hence the garage filled with cars and toys! The wife cost me my dream car! With the $100K she walked away with, that was my Diablo! No more wives for Artie!

Man, sorry to hear that Trav. I have always used the Goetze gasket. Seems to be holding fine so far, almost a thousand miles into the break in again. I've heard that Cometic makes a MLS version for our engine, however, I don't know the reliability or the sealing capacity of it. Now I just can't seem to get my electronic boost controller to control boost properly. .65 one minute, 1.65 the next! Always something! Artie

Even if the spring in the wastegate was broken the minimum boost the turbo would make is .65. The wastegate flapper will be wide open and allow only enough exhaust bypass to make .65. Perhaps the studs/bolts holding the turbo to the manifold, or the exhaust manifold to engine gaskets/bolts have worked loose and allowing exhaust to leak and never reach the turbine housing at all. This seems most logical to me. Artie

Already have a 40" flatscreen in there!....no hammock yet........

Yessir! No expansion with paint! But if you look at my first pic with all of the boxes, You can see remnants of paint on the floor...... I had applied a product, to remain anonymous, to the floor when I was building the house back in 2002. I followed the instructions to the T! I even went so far as to blot the 657 square feet of floor dry with paper towels while wearing an automotive painters suit and rubber gloves as to not contaminate the freshly etched concrete. I applied said product, which by the way was not cheap and is sold regularly in the back of auto magazines in a bucket with special instructions. After the paint was allowed to cure properly, I used a climate controlled oil filled set of 4 radiators suspended from the steel truss that ran the width of the garage to keep the cure temperature at exactly the recommended mean temperature. I didn't move in to the house for another 2 weeks as we closed earlier than anticipated and finished the lease on the previously arranged house. After 2 weeks in the house, my RX7 rear passenger tire, pulled up a 3 inch piece of the product. I called the company and they obliged me with a "patch" to fix the piece. About a month later after a weekend track event, I was lowering the car with the jack and the front tire/wheel from the jack popped another 3 inch chunk of the product off the floor. Again, I called the manufacturer, but this time they sent a technician out to my house to inspect. The technician, after small talk and some admiration of my collection, notified me that I had VOIDED my warranty by using a jack on the floor! "The product wasnt intended to be a work surface" I was informed, just a "parking surface"! So, be warned my friend! The fine print is always fine! My floor tiles have not shifted nor expanded in the recent summer heat. I left the required space at the edge of the tile away from the walls and garage door. Just my experience, if you just park, then more power to you! BTW, I DO have 2 air conditioning units that will be going in the wall this fall, to keep me cool next summer when I'm working on the cars!....Or sleeping in the garage!

Thank you Jim! Makes work much easier on the cars to have everything organized somewhat!