benjamincalleja

Sorry I've been away! During that time I managed to get one for 550 quid inc delivery in great condition, just needs a pearl white respray ( which everyone tells me means I need the whole roof repsprayed to match correctly.). But thanks!! This one looks good too, so long as the fibreglass is intact it should be fine.

i asked directly and it appears the answer is yes we know, and no, you will never be allowed to know. Dear Ben, Engineering hold there own records, and this is commercially sensitive data that it was all held within engineering, not even published to us. Andy Graham - Technical Publications and Archives LOTUS AFTERSALES

What's a cf one? And what fixings are you talking about I'm paranoid now this cf roof flies off cars at high speed. Oh carbon fiber. Sorry, no. Original in bag only

It begs the question though - how does the esprit manage to handle so well with such a weak chassis (by comparison, in its day I'm sure it compared very favorably).

Is that ummm yes or ummm no. Hahaha. Our dollar is pretty strong at present...

Price just went up to $1000 AUD for a roof with bag.

there it is!!!!

dont suppose there is a roof mold there so i can get my fiberglass roof made..... so the answer is no, we have no concrete numbers then. Is it the same for the M100 Elan? In its day everyone said how stiff it was but that was i guess by comparison, if i got in one now would i find that to also be pretty wet-noodle like? bibs, can you ask someone at the factory? Im dying to know, 5850nm is very obviously wrong. see list below which seems to be floating around the web...that number for the mclaren f1 seems odd too but who knows... Alfa 159 - 31.400Nm/degree Aston Martin DB9 Coupe 27,000 Nm/deg Aston Martin DB9 Convertible 15,500 Nm/deg Aston Martin Vanquish 28,500 Nm/deg Audi TT Coupe 19,000 Nm/deg Bugatti EB110 - 19,000 Nm/degree BMW E36 Touring 10,900 Nm/deg BMW E36 Z3 5,600 Nm/deg BMW E46 Sedan (w/o folding seats) 18,000 Nm/deg BMW E46 Sedan (w/folding seats) 13,000 Nm/deg BMW E46 Wagon (w/folding seats) 14,000 Nm/deg BMW E46 Coupe (w/folding seats) 12,500 Nm/deg BMW E46 Convertible 10,500 Nm/deg BMW X5 (2004) - 23,100 Nm/degree BMW E90: 22,500 Nm/deg BMW Z4 Coupe, 32,000Nm/degree BMW Z4 Roadster: 14,500 Nm/deg Bugatti Veyron - 60,000 Nm/degree Chrysler Crossfire 20,140 Nm/deg Chrysler Durango 6,800 Nm/deg Chevrolet Corvette C5 9,100 Nm/deg Dodge Viper Coupe 7,600 Nm/deg Ferrari 360 Spider 8,500 Nm/deg Ford GT: 27,100 Nm/deg Ford GT40 MkI 17,000 Nm/deg Ford Mustang 2003 16,000 Nm/deg Ford Mustang 2005 21,000 Nm/deg Ford Mustang Convertible (2003) 4,800 Nm/deg Ford Mustang Convertible (2005) 9,500 Nm/deg Jaguar X-Type Sedan 22,000 Nm/deg Jaguar X-Type Estate 16,319 Nm/deg Koenigsegg - 28.100 Nm/degree Lambo Murcielago 20,000 Nm/deg Lotus Elan 7,900 Nm/deg Lotus Elan GRP body 8,900 Nm/deg Lotus Elise 10,000 Nm/deg Lotus Elise 111s 11,000 Nm/deg Lotus Esprit SE Turbo 5,850 Nm/deg Maserati QP - 18.000 nm/degree McLaren F1 13,500 Nm/deg Mercedes SL - With top down 17,000 Nm/deg, with top up 21,000 Nm/deg Mini (2003) 24,500 Nm/deg Pagani Zonda C12 S 26,300 Nm/deg Pagani Zonda F - 27,000 Nm/degree Porsche 911 Turbo (2000) 13,500 Nm/deg Porsche 959 12,900 Nm/deg Porsche Carrera GT - 26,000Nm/degree Rolls-Royce Phantom - 40,500 Nm/degree Volvo S60 20,000 Nm/deg Audi A2: 11,900 Nm/deg Audi A8: 25,000 Nm/deg Audi TT: 10,000 Nm/deg (22Hz) Golf V GTI: 25,000 Nm/deg Chevrolet Cobalt: 28 Hz Ferrari 360: 1,474 kgm/degree (bending: 1,032 kg/mm) Ferrari 355: 1,024 kgm/degree (bending: 727 kg/mm) Ferrari 430: supposedly 20% higher than 360 Renault Sport Spider: 10,000 Nm/degree Volvo S80: 18,600 Nm/deg Koenigsegg CC-8: 28,100 Nm/deg Porsche 911 Turbo 996: 27,000 Nm/deg Porsche 911 Turbo 996 Convertible: 11,600 Nm/deg Porsche 911 Carrera Type 997: 33,000 Nm/deg Lotus Elise S2 Exige (2004): 10,500 Nm/deg Volkswagen Fox: 17,941 Nm/deg VW Phaeton - 37,000 Nm/degree VW Passat (2006) - 32,400 Nm/degree Ferrari F50: 34,600 Nm/deg Lambo Gallardo: 23000 Nm/deg Mazda Rx-8: 30,000 Nm/deg Mazda Rx-7: ~15,000 Nm/deg Mazda RX8 - 30,000 Nm/degree Saab 9-3 Sportcombi - 21,000 Nm/degree Opel Astra - 12,000 Nm/degree Land rover Freelander 2 - 28,000 Nm/degree Lamborghini Countach 2,600 Nm/deg Ford Focus 3d 19.600 Nm/deg Ford Focus 5d 17.900 Nm/deg

Hey there has been alot of talk about the torsional stiffness/rigidity of the various esprits throughout the years but no one has ever mentioned a number....the only number i can find is a very shady and unreferenced 5850nm per degree for the Esprit turbo SE but that seems unlikely given its half that of the listed figure of the elise at 11000 nm per degree when various sources state that the 300 sport was only 20% stifness of the elise. See the issue?? can anyone provide concrete numbers?

Goddamit. This is getting tough. Im offering $800 AUD for one. plus shipping. someone PM me, why doesnt lotus keep basic body parts this is absurd. ***Im not swapping my glass roof for one either sorry and im only interested in facotry original not from a mold. Must come with protective bag and be in excellent condition. ***

red one for me thanks, PM me!!

I just got confirmation from CTS that the silver 300 sport rumored to have left the country in fact did not. The owner did for awhile. The car is in WA now and the owner is thrilled with it. Sucks...I want it now that Ben Allen greedily snatched up the silk red one. The man has two 300 sports!!!!

I run the radial TAs in factory sizes and find the handling feels as it should - balanced. I don't track the car and unless you or whoever looking does, S rated is 180km/h which I won't be doing, ever!

Glass roofs usually push 500 quid. I've seen them for 200. And 700. So depends on the owner selling Thanks Dan will do

True I have considered tinting but the factory roof is already tinted anyway. The other reason I want one is looks, I like how the esprit looks with both roofs and I want the option to swap them round every so often too. There aren't even any wrecking parts, Douglas valley seems to be the only wrecked in the world with esprit chassis and they all had glass roofs. I wonder if those molds you organized to keep Bibs, included the roof molds. They are in Belgium or something aren't they? Perhaps we could make some...demand is there. Could the factory do a small run if we get enough people?

Can anyone still point me in the right direction? I can pay handsomely, I really want the other roof type, in summer the glass one is too hot here in Australia.

Well this is stupendously embarrassing. I re read everyone's comments and acted on them in order of what's easiest. When I got to Rodger/Chris comment about connecting and reconnecting coil to dizzy cap lead I nearly skipped it. But that was it!!!! It looked like it was attached but I had partially pulled it off when I flipped the floor over!!! She starts and runs perfectly just as she has all the time I've had it. That said Roger I'm paranoid and disconnecting an earth wire, still can't find that if I did disconnect one!

Ok this is embarrassing but maybe I'm testing the wrong thing...the coil is the cylinder thing in the boot right? In the closed compartment? It has a lead going to the distributor? Four wires coming off two points either side of the distributor lead? If it is indeed the coil, when I hold the voltmeter (set at 0-99 volt range) I get 0. Braided earth terminal in the floor? I never saw one. Why would they attach one to the boot floor too, it's fibrrglass? I had a good look just now and can't see anything. Can't see any braided earth terminal in the diagrams on the parts manual either, where should I be looking? And how would I test for spark at the coil, same as at the spark plug end, using the lead which goes to the distributor? **** wait did I misunderstand you sparky, I just turned the electrics on and tested, did you mean get someone to start cranking whilst I am testing? UPDATE: I read the manual and can see the page on testing the Lucas coil. So yes I know I am testing be right thing. I get a reading of 12 volts but only if I touch the SIDE of the metal coil with one probe and touch the other probe to the distributor side. If I touch one probe to ignition wire and one probe to the distributor wire I get a reading of 0. ?!

I didn't flip it over a full 180 degrees, the end of the boot floor nearly touching the rear lights ended up pointing directly skyward and was stopped falling forward with a block a wood. But I didn't disconnect anything so perhaps the manoeuvre dislodged something. I'll test the voltage on the coil, I have a volt meter but how do I do it, there is a big central rubber thing going into the coil but then four electrical leads coming out of the coil also? Which ones do I test?

I'll check, I had removed the panel covering the coil and low coolant sensor etc in the boot and when working on the boot floor I didn't fully remove it I flipped its on its back over the top of the engine. Didn't remove any leads but flipping in over might have strained some of the wires to the connectors in the boot area? What's in their that could stop spark other than the Lucas coil?

I don't have spark at the plugs, first thing I checked

Wouldn't that stop the fuel pump? I can still hear it whirring when I put the key in the ignition? Nevertheless ill check it out, is the button meant to be pushed in or out I can never remember.

Hi guys. Been working on the esprit past two days. removed all rusty items from boot, refitted all boot trim with new stainless steel parts. main job was the boot floor, the old ones were seized so it took a long time to cut the heads off etc etc... anyway, i came to start the car today and it wont start. been through the forums for answers but its a bit of a mess to sort through. so here it goes. i dont have spark strong fuel smell from exhaust when cranking so fuel pressure seems good. same when i crank minus the spark plugs. fuel smell, strong. brand new spark plugs starter motor cranks the engine strongly battery is new so that leave me with what...coil, distributor problem?? no? could i have knocked something yesterday? i retraced my steps but everything seems attached.... four days ago it was running like a dream. so seems odd for distributor or coil to instantly stop

As part of the rolling restoration underway, I took all day today drilling out all the rusted items in the boot holding boot bits in. Very pleased to see my body chassis mounts are in spectacular condition thank god!! But upon removing all the boot bits (and discovering my drop by drop oil leak was simply the loose oil feed or drain underneath the turbo) I discovered that a DPO has cut a hole about 3x3cm in the gearbox bell housing?? Piece of rubber is stuffed into the hole (though it does look remarkably well cut fit for purpose?). When you removed the rubber you can see the top of the flywheel and a pin (?) pointing down near it. 5cm above that hole is another one which looks factory, hole is covered by a sheet of metal and screwed on....is this normal?! Actually maybe it's meant to be there?? It looks the same as the 300 sport one for sale ..... But why it is there... Plus mine has that second hole....http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ESPRIT-SPORT-300-GEARBOX-TORQUE-BIAS-DIFF-/300504423428

Yea I need to catch up with you guys its been ages. He must be well and truly on his way now. I discovered the sills have been obsolete for ten years. It's stupid really and annoying as I have a dollar coin sized hole in the underside of mine (screwdriver accident don't ask). It's not visible unless from underneath but I was going to just replace and respray the entire sill. Now I have to try and repair the fiberglass which seems utterly impossible given i don't have access to the inside of the sill!!