Vanya

Do it!!!!!

Philippines Joke. Czech Republic.

Got myself a new daily driver. I've done a lot of stupid stuff for laughs but this takes the cake. The odometer reads 479 000km. It has no rust to speak of. The only possible explanation is sorcery or black magic. (Had a new crate engine installed at 279 000 km or so, but still on the original gearbox.)

Hi all! So sometimes my Facebook feed churns out stuff that I actually find interesting and relevant - as opposed to pictures of someone's latest spawn, vacation, targeted product ads or charged political diatribe debating the merits of liberal democracy. Some dudes in (I assume China) going by the names Mechanic Steve and Mechanic Chris put up these fascinating videos of wrecked cars that they erm..."rectify" by pulling the panels straight, cutting out sections, grafting on new ones, repainting etc. They seem to do it all. Here's a case in point: As an engineer, I can't help but ask myself to what degree are repaired vehicles like this safe afterward. The discussion on Facebook is infantile at best, and I suspect many if not most are simply opining out of their arses. So, qualified panel beaters and vehicle repairers, what say ye? (other than HOLY S##T WELDING WITHOUT EYE PROTECTION!)

355, 360, 430, Maserati 4200, Maserati GranSport - I think there was even a Land Rover that had more serious issues with this leading to catastrophic engine failure. I had a hard time visualising how you'd get suck back pressure to ingest catalyst remnants too, but when I chatted with the head mechanic at the official Maserati/Ferrari dealer I used back when I had the Mas he said he'd seen a GranSport with this issue with dust from the cat substrate on top of the valves. My Maserati obviously also had this issue with the pre-cats breaking up; however the PO had driven the car like this for years, just turning off the CEL before MOT:s - so I guess failure due to this IS rare. I switched out my cats for new ones for peace of mind, but the only right thing to do is gut the pre-cats and reflash the ECU so it stops searching. Useless technology that has no place on a weekend toy. It's justified on econoboxes and daily drivers but on small volume vehicles it is absolutely useless. It would be fine if they DIDNT disintegrate, but they DO for some reason...

I did 'em up with the car on the ground. It's not too much of a problem. Otherwise as the others point out - each corner until it just lifts off the jack stand, then tighten. But there's something rewarding about doing it according to the manual (yes I bought 150 kg cement to weigh the car down with!)

Considering it's good enough for Christian von Koenigsegg (who recently bought a Final Edition V8 from an acquaintance), it oughta be good enough for anyone, even the comments section of Pistonheads

Yep the S300 had the fantastic DMIII system. Love it. It's so retro. Damn, I forgot the side skirts are also Turbo SE on the S300 - but all that stuff I can strip from my SE. My mongrel can do without an LSD, considering Lotus didn't bother fitting them as standard until pretty recently (didn't the V6 Exiges also roll with open differentials?). It's all about the looks!

I just have to strip @Jacques car for some parts and then I think I'm all set. 😅😅😅 Also I believe some of those revisions made it into the S4s as well. Totally missed the bonded in roof!

Hi all, Another day, another silly idea. So I've seen a load of Turbo SE:s converted to sport 300 spec over the years, but has anyone taken an S4 or S4s, slapped a Turbo SE front bumper on it, and 1 inch smaller Futura's front and rear? Surely that's way closer to a legit Sport 300 (and cheaper too considering you don't have to change the doors as well). I'm guessing the bumpers are relatively interchangeable, as well as the wiring for the lights?) I've found a dirt cheap S4s which I'm considering adding to my collection, hence the question

At the same time, is it better to take a mortgage holiday and put the money elsewhere or risk throwing good money after bad if the housing market tanks/takes a hit. Many people will be underwater from the get go if prices go down - maybe better to keep the money and deal with the implications with regards to interest at a later stage? With that said, I'm gonna call my bank and see if Sweden is up to the same tricks.

Identity politics, western liberalism, and virtue signalling in their death throes. And what a death rattle it is! George Floyds murder is the western equivalent of Mohamed Bouazizi's self immolation in Tunisia which sparked off the Arab Spring.

Update for anyone out there who is going to attempt this job, here's a few quick words of advice to make your life easier. The videos online, guides and workshop manual leave some critical points out from a work environment perspective. 1. Remove the PAS-high pressure line Most guides state that, before you attempt this job, you have to make sure that the crank pulley can be removed. I would like to amend this by saying; don't start the job until both the crank pulley AND the PAS-high pressure line to the pump can be removed. The latter is difficult to access with conventional tools and might be on tight due to not being loosened over a long period. I took apart a socket-head wrench, replaced the pinch bolt, and jammed an allen key in there - this way I could fit the socket on the nut, and put in the allen key to turn it a little, bit by bit. Remove the PAS line. Period. Yes, you will lose PAS fluid, but it's a belt change (C-Service) so you might as well do it - it did WONDERS for my power steering, which became lighter and quieter after the change. I deem it IMPOSSIBLE to remove the timing belt upper and lower covers without breaking either them, or the PAS line, without getting it out of the way first. 2. Disassemble the RHS engine mount. In its entirety. Once the PAS line is out of the way, you have more room to wrench on the mount. Take it apart. Once you get the 4 allen-head bolts off you can lift up the whole mount making it easy to access the bolts normally obscured by the bush/cylinder that the through-bolt goes in. As for the allen headed bolts - I used a cut-off allen key (a tool I made years prior to loosen the aux belt tensioner at the vacuum pump on my Esprit). It's well worth having, as well as an assortment of tiny ratchet spanners - access is tight, so make sure you have good tools available, to save yourself a lot of heartache. Anyway, you will likely find out that even with the engine mount entirely out of the way, the cam-belt cover is still a pig to remove. How people do this without observing the above steps is beyond me. Even if it can be done though, it's not worth the risk - sooner or later something will break, and that's the last thing you want happening when you've gone to the trouble of doing the belts yourself.

Well this was unexpected; after many years wrenching on other cars, mostly my Esprit SE, I've gotta say my Elan SE has me more or less spiritually broken. It's my first (and probably last) time working on a transversely mounted engine setup. Spent the better part of 7 hours yesterday just trying to get at the timing belt, eventually giving up when my brother and I realised that, no, you can't remove the timing belt upper cover with the PAS pipe in situ - it has to go (I know people wrestle the cover out of the way, but on my car, either the cover breaks, or the pipe does - and we already snapped the lower cover removing it in anger).Most of those hours went into (surprise) getting at the allen head bolts holding the engine mount to the engine. So...the PAS pipe - it's perfectly positioned so you cannot get ANY type of 19 mm open ended spanner, ring spanner or socket on it - either the spanner fouls against the head, or the glass fibre to the headlamp cowling... Do you guys have any tips and tricks to make this job less painful? If I had to do it again, I'd just bite the bullet, buy a hoist, and pull the engine out in its entirety. Many many many thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.

Whatever price they might gain due to supply chain disruptions they will lose due to the global economic turndown and increased unemployment; I think the recession/depression will be somewhat delayed. There's always a great deal of latency in the system. My 2 cents. Here in Sweden where there isn't even a lockdown, used car ads are piling up and nothing is moving, even if everything looks normal on the surface. A lot of people seem to be trying to get rid of liabilities (sports cars) before the worst of it hits.

That's correct. The '92 (SE Highwing) onwards opened wider with the S4 and V8 opening about as much as any car IIRC.

I f*****g love this forum. The memes being shared are brilliant, and sometimes, demonstrably useful. Like converting kitchen roll to TP. Anyways there's never been a better time to buy a car. Currently look at winning an 86 Excel at auction for about 3000 quid. I'm gonna meet the apocalypse in a fibreglass chariot.

Dude. You are my hero. 150k on an Esprit. I will follow in your footsteps.

Is it just me or are cars nowadays designed by committee somewhere, perhaps the People's Republic? All modern sports cars regardless of manufacuturer look mostly identical - genereric, teardrop formed masses packed with technology and devoid of any sort of elegance or lasting beauty (the new DeTomaso is an exception). There's an open goal for the manufacturer that decides to cash in on nostalgia and put out an angular car, and to hell with the drag coefficient etc. If Lotus thinks releasing an Esprit derived from the Evijas design will be successful they need only look back toward the success (or lack thereof) of the revamped Europa; a car loved by very few. There should be a respect of heritage. Get Giugiaro on the case again. Me personally, I'm biased - I'd like something based on the G-Turbo or preferably Turbo SE Stevens shape - square and angular, but with a modern twist. Oh and that Bahar-era Elan was dope. It was by far my favourite of the lineup. Shame it never happened.

We can't save the world using the same tools which got us here in the first place. I have a feeling that EV will suddenly go the way of Diesel faster than you can say Wolfsburg once the true impact of EV:s and their load on the power grid (upon mass adoption) reaches the public conscience. Suddenly hydrogen (produced renewably) will seem like a much more attractive prospect. I often find myself trying to justify a Model 3 long range, but then I remember that a) I can keep driving and maintaining my '97 XK8 so that new crap doesn't need to be produced (I'd rather look after old things which are well built anyway), b) I'll only lose massive amounts of money on a modern car due to depreciation and c) I'm not ACTUALLY saving the environment because of the emissions that have already been created due to manufacture. But such is the allure of the Tesla brand (and the pat on the back you feel for going EV, because that's what the zeitgeist demands). There are strong psychological marketing forces in play which need to be actively fended off. On the subject of Tesla however: https://jalopnik.com/tesla-remotely-removes-autopilot-features-from-customer-1841472617

Just saw it. The comments section is predictable as always. Dunno if worth making a Pistonheads account help set the record straight.

How much did the Esprit dash run you? New masks, when they do show up (bookmatched sets) are hundreds of pounds, say 250-350 GBP... Mine looks like ass. I bought some burr elm (91 SE spec) years back which I haven't gotten round to doing; might be worth it sending the lot to these guys?

As Donald Trump has proven over the last couple of decades, the truth and facts matter very little when it comes to peoples convictions. You can present the most cogent argument and it won't make a dent in people. This is why the world is the way that it is. As for Greta, she is a child, and should be treated as such; we all thought we could change the world when we were 16, before wage-labour and cyncism ground us to a pulp. She will disappear and resurface in about 12 years working for Goldman Sachs. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep on rescuing the world, by not having children and driving 25 year old cars.

Thanks guys! I'll keep waiting patiently. for now I've fitted GAZ shocks with S4 spec springs, car is a lot more planted now at all speeds with no bounce so that's a huge plus.