Vanya

Time to resurrect this thread. After having driven 320 km over 2 years I figured I need to use this thing more often. Yesterday as we were heading back from a car meet the speedo decided to throw in the towel. It had been iffy with a 15 km/h error (on the high side) since I bought it and significant wobble at low speeds too. Luckily the Odo was still ticking so cables were fine. Despite suffering from heatstroke I wasn't about to let my Esprit lounge around with the needle permanently parked at 80 km/h. Into the Lotus Position I went and got the dash out. It's shocking how much is muscle memory with this car - I haven't done this in years but it still went super fast. With the odometer unit removed the culprit was obvious - not the gaps either side of the brass ring on the end of the shaft. I removed the black bezel at the front by prying away at it using a pick until I could get in and proceed all the way round. Its ugly as sin but not visible from the front.Sone further disassembly... Now, the other side of the rear part of the assembly: the center part had drifted backwards. It's meant to be flush with the surface. A gentle tap with a hammer corrected things: Now I've heard some Loctite this back in place to prevent it from drifting back again, but I didn't since something told me I'd be back in there anyway... Reassembling it all didn't take long. I didn't permanently re-attach the bezel. There is no need really. It sits snug in the dash surrounded by a rubber sleeve keeping the lot in place. I've just done a first drive and not only does it work, the bias is now 5km/h or so vs earlier 15, and needle wobble at low speeds is minimal. Happy times. Tips for those who also need to do this: when prying off the bezel in the final stages to get it loose from the housing, be very very careful you don't lever against the glass of the speedo - I chipped mine in 2 places , luckily both behind the bezel and not visible. But it is perfectly avoidable. Also another tip, use silicone spray when putting the speedo back into the rubber sleeve. Now, if you'll excuse me, the open road beckons.

I think its scary how close Colin Chapman was to destroying/muddying his legacy as a result of this. Even in this documentary he is a hairs breadth away from being framed as a prime suspect. It feels horrible to say, but if his passing hadn't happened when it did, he and his brilliant contributions to Motorsport might have been remembered in an entirely different light.

Well today at long last, after 9 years, I finally fitted original spec rear dampers to my SE, big shout to to SJ Sports Cars for having these remanufactured. The difference now that I am running OG bushes, shocks and springs all round is night and day. The GAZ dampers I had in the rear had literally no rebound compared to the old Lotus spec, which left me with a bouncy rear (I was also using the SE spring raye with the adjustables vs the supplied 250 lb S4 springs, which made matters worse). Anyways for those wanting the original stuff so they don't have to sell their organs for the ever more expensive LOTAC setup, stuff is again available.

Now to see if I can have walnut burl dash, magnolia hide and BRG exterior...

A few snaps I've taken of my Turbo SE, now actually cleaned and washed.... What a joy it is to walk out of the house to this sight...

In its natural element.

Home at last. I'm pleased to say that the new bearings have zero play in them. Well worth the expense. Now time for a geo check.

Quick update: I found an original part on eBay and enhanced the image. I could just about make out that the bearing is SNR - doing some digging I found a kit for a Renault Fuego or Espace (commonly known as an xref). Kit is R155.11 and contains the bearing TGB.10872.S02 - the latter of which I can just about make out on the eBay pic. Hopefully this will help someone out there. edit: aaaaand here's the final proof! Dug out my old bearing from the trash.

Hi, I got these from SJ, but Paul Matty are stocking these as well (called their parts department yesterday and confirmed). I'll give SKF a shot if I can find them readily. I am generally not opposed to alternative sources for parts but when it comes to bearings I believe I've learned over the years that you really don't want to skimp on quality, if given a choice. Of course this makes it difficult to do beforehand because you need to know the dimensions - and removing the old bearing non-destructively is impossible I think? Anyway I am looking forward to pulling my weight and contributing with a decent xref for the community. Thanks for the help guys!

Update, luckily there's a lot of cross references for these bearings, and SKF VKBA971 seems to be a match. I dunno the hierarchy of bearing quality but SKF is right up there and has worked for me in other applications. I'll try and source some and report on fitment.

Put the bearings in the press and the play is in the bearing. Even after 5 tons of force is applied there's still play. I'm so sick of these counterfeit aftermarket parts. Lose so much time and money. This happened to me when I bought front wheel bearings from the same specialist, had to grind them off because the tolerances were off and fit an SKF bearing instead. Unfortunately genuine rears are unobtainable from Lotus. Aaaarghh. FFS... Attaching pic of the bearing below. Pure garbage.

Yeah I felt SO stupid when I re-read the manual and saw that...why on earth didn't I press the assembly together, instead pressing only one half. That said, you'd think 270 Nm or so would bed it in properly.... How much force do you guys use when fitting these with a press? I probably would have stopped when feeling resistance (if the halves were together) so as to not damage anything. That's usually how I fit bearings anyway; they slide onto the spigot smoothly. Will do this afternoon! Thanks for the help guys!

Yeah I thought this might be it, but then we put the car on its wheels and torqued links to hub, links to chassis and radius arm to chassis all at ride height. Play persisted. Have I deformed the bearings somehow? It has been a while indeed! Hope you're in good health!!! I feel bad for spending so much time away from this place As for the play; I know, it's weird right? No play 9 and 3, at all. Is there a trick to installing the rear bearings on Stevens Esprits when new? I gently pressed the one half onto the hub spigot in the press and stopped when it had bottomed out. Screwed the other half into the hub carrier with the torx bolts (it fit into its recess without any persuasion required. "Cable tied" the hub part to the hub carrier so it wouldn't fall off in transit to the garage, and then fitted the lot onto the drive shaft and torqued up the nut. I can have a look tomorrow where the play is but I'm 99% sure its from the hub. It would be VERY odd if it were from the links as those parts are brand new and tight AF to fit. Maybe the two bolts holding the radius arm to the hub carrier need extra torquing up when everything is in place? Typical that this weird stuff always happens to me!

And we are back in business! Moving in to a villa (and buying cheap and crappy Alfas) has brought with it all kinds of distractions, so it's taken a while to get round to finishing the tast of rear suspension refurbishment but yesterday, after much wrangling with the re assembly of the heat shields above the LHS engine mount, the car was back together (I swear that job itself is worse than 2 seized links). So now the Esprit is back on its wheels and..well would you look at that, no longer leaning! Naturally however these projects don't always work out without some difficulty somewhere. It was generally speaking smooth sailing except for the fact I now have play at the rear wheels, both sides, at the 12 and 6 position. The bearings and bushings are all new. Am I missing something here guys?

Hello all! I've stumbled upon what I believe is an inferior batch of rear link bushes for the Stevens Esprits and wanted to see if anyone else has had the same problems. This weekend I started to re-assemble my rear suspension and began with the (generally basic) task of pressing in the bushes to the links. I had 4 bushes left over from my V8 ownership days a few years back, and 4 "newer" ones I'd recently ordered. Both are original parts with the same part number, sourced from a reputable independent supplier. The first "V8" batch had a matt appearance (similar as the bushes I'd fitted to the front of the car a few years ago) whereas the "newer" parts were shiny and felt almost harder to the touch. Anyway the older matt bushes went in without a problem using the conical tool I've previously used with success. The newer one disintegrated upon fitting. Here are some pictures of the "suspect" batch, the disintegrated bushing, and an "older type" fitted to a lower link. I haven't had this happen with bushes before. It's almost like the rubber was dried out and cracked apart. What say ye? I'm usually the first to blame myself when something goes wrong but this has me scratching my head. Note: no, I did not attempt to press these in bone-dry without any lubricant. As always, thanks in advance for any and all words of wisdom. In the meantime I'll keep myself busy by wrenching on one of my Alfas, which ALWAYS require some kind of attention...