v8vantage

Cleaned up the Turbo with skis photo to see more detail. Seems the rear hatch can be opened quite high before the skis hit the roof.

Just need a young sultry looking dark haired french girl for the passenger seat and it's complete.

Pay no attention to this bloke Fab, them folk up in Yorkshire have trouble reading and writing from what I've seen!

You never know Fab, sometimes people just want to help because they understand what you are trying to achieve. Not everyone is in it for the money. Who knew you would find the skis over here in my neighbourhood, yet there they are on your car in the UK now. They may have the original plates in storage and have fitted later ones. Even if you just get the originals for display that would be a start.

You can see them in this picture of 10858 Fab. Seems OPW 678W is still registered in the UK, on a Blue S3 Esprit by the looks of it, 10975. OPW 678W SCC085912AHD10975 CC912801118856 Wonder if the owner might be interested in swapping with you if it's still the original plate.

Someone managed to redo the OPW678W number plate for 10858 Bond car but it's not quite right. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/james-bond-for-your-eyes-only-lotus-esprit-41-c-ddr3f67mou

Sorry to tell you Fab but the bindings still aren't right. Good to see you found the adjustment screw cover but you need to take all the covers off now. As you can see from the original Bond picture you posted they weren't fitted originally!

You can find the details on the engine mount upgrade in this thread, about halfway down are the photos of the Lotus by Claudius upgrade I have.

Full on case of mission creep. May as well tear down the whole chassis and replace every bushing while you are at it. Strip the front end, remove the rad and recore, clean off the underside, plate all the nuts/bolts powdercoat suspension/brackets, fit new brake discs, rebuild brake calipers with stainless pistons/new seals, remove fuel tanks and clean properly or replace. Fit the Turbo radiator pack and electric fans, add new fusebox and extra relays for electrical circuits. Don't forget the upgraded turbo engine mounts whilst the engine is out. I reckon you may get to drive it by next summer unless you do the LHD to RHD conversion whilst its apart.

Yes add axle stands to support engine as the rear upper gearbox mounts would be disconnected. I would not support the car on radius arms and shocks alone, the radius arm mounts are not designed/oriented for the torsional loads exerted without the gearbox/axle shafts connected.

Dropping the gearbox with the engine in the car was really quite easy, gave me a chance to rebuild the brakes and UJs whilst doing the rear main seal. Powder coated and cad plated most of the bits whilst I was at it. Also resealed the gearbox and replaced the linkage bushings. Did the seals on the output shaft housings which tend to leak once they are worn.

Having a small garage is going to make taking the engine out a risky business, do the basic maintenance and run it for a bit to see if everything is working correctly before taking it apart. Now the engine is clean you'll be able to see where the oil leaks are actually coming from. I always take the AC compressor off the mount and to the side when doing the timing belt on mine, gives more access.

Fabulous result Fab, great looking rear end! One small thing, second ski from the left, the binding is missing the cover on the adjustment screw....hopefully it didn't come off when you were doing 70mph.

Leave it in and avoid mission creep! I did mine insitu but dropped the gearbox to fix the rear main seal. Everything else was pretty straightforward.

Nice job, what sort of paint did you use to match the original black?

That looks gorgeous Fab, what an effort and an incredible result. Just like a perfect crosswind landing...you make it look so easy!

The "8" was common to Lotus factory cars at the time, here it is on an Essex proto.

Just have some custom plates made up to put on when you show the car then put the legal ones back on for driving. Can't understand what all the fuss is about.

When you have finished it your wife won't let you drive it by yourself otherwise you'll have Pussy Galore in the passenger seat! Great job Fab, can't wait to visit the UK again and see it for real.

If you drain your tanks try and derust them with this: https://www.amazon.com/Evapo-Rust-Original-Water-based-Non-Toxic-Biodegradable/dp/B00370N1UG I let it sit for a week then drain and flush out with water and then dry with air hose. Look like new inside. I also use it in my ultrasonic cleaner to derust nuts/bolts/parts before re plating them.

With all the work you've done fab it's easy to miss a few little things. I wonder where they stored the ski poles...along with the boots!

Fab I think you'll find in the movie the rear bindings are in their down and locked position on the car. Just a little thing but the racks do look fantastic. Is it possible to rotate the fuel cap so the handle is parallel to the road like the film car?

Close Fab, but might have to dock some points for attention to detail. I'll let you work out the difference between the original and yours! Also what are you going to do for a boot rack inside the car?

Keep all the original pieces, keeps the value if you ever sell and the new owner wants to return to original. Fit the SJ rear bumper and extended valance but keep the original exhaust. Remove air pumps and piping, easy to fit bungs to the head to block the holes. My car has had this done and runs fine. Do not swap the head with anyone, it's only original once.

Funnily enough my carpets were the same as bathmats from Walmart. Fabric cleaner wont be enough for the seats, you need the hot water steamer to break the dirt/stains loose then use a wet vac to suck out the residue.