83epritturbo

Hi, I ended up without any handbrake after pulling the lever very hard while trying to park the car in a steep hill. The cable operates well on both calipers but upon removal I found that the thread in the black part in the attached picture is damaged (on both calipers). Does anybody know where I can find a replacement part? I just need this black part and not the whole caliper. Thanks.

nope, no more grounding in fact, the space between the front wheels and the front wheel arches is more than 1 inch than it was before i changed the springs!

Well, I've just managed to change both front and rear coil springs and the 'spongy ride' is now cured! Thanks! The car now just needs wheel balancing and wheel alignment and all will be perfect (hopefully!) :-)

Thanks guys! You're really supportive! As I said, I'm new to Lotus, having been a Porsche owner for well over 20 years. I still love these cars but these past few years I became disappointed with how the company is proceeding. So instead of buying a Boxster or something similar, I was on the look out for something more interesting and last year I found this nice, original example of the Turbo Esprit which was, unfortunately, neglected for some years. After pouring in fresh fuel and changing the spark plugs, the engine fired after a couple of cranks. A test drive revealed that it was in a very good condition, including the turbo. The disks and brake pads are new and the body is still in a very good condition. However, I could not put it through the VRT (the equivalent of UK's MOT) due to these suspension problems. The shocks were dead so I ordered four new ones and replaced them. And yes, the grounding started when I fitted these new shocks. In fact, the car is now sitting lower (especially at the front) and small ramps which I could easily tackle with the old shocks are now impossible to ride over. The springs and bushes are still the original items. I did not suspect that the bushes were the culprits because they still look fine. But now I think that I should change these as well, after I change the springs all round. Once again, thanks guys! Will keep you posted after I order and fit these parts. dion

The car is standard all round. The springs are the original items while the dampers are new but non adjustable at the rear and adjustable at the front. At the front, the Protech dampers have been adjusted to their hardest position but the problem remains the same. It's a very strange feeling I never experienced in any other car. It feels as if the whole suspension system is made of rubber. I'm new to Lotus, having bought my Esprit a year ago with dead dampers. When I press the car from the corners or try to gently lift it up from the wheel arches, the shocks feel firm and the car doesn't bounce like it did before I changed the shocks. However, the ride quality is so terrible that on a lightly bouncy road I even managed to rub the middle of the car to the tarmac! It doesn't inspire confidence so much that I almost never use it and when I do I rarely exceed 3000rmp or use higher gears than 3rd! Which is a shame cause it's a really nice car.

I have just changed the front and rear shocks on my '83 Turbo Esprit. I bought the shocks from SJ, normal dampers at the rear and adjustable at the front. I set the front shocks between their softest and hardest position, however, the ride feels sort of spongy. Even when braking at parking speeds, the car continues rocking fore and aft as if it's made of rubber. And driving on normal roads feels really horrible, with the car bouncing. So I set the front shocks to their hardest position, but still this made no difference in this area. Any ideas? Just for the record, I fitted the two rubber bushes, each sandwiched between two metal washers, one below the mounting point and one above. Now I'm also believing that the car is sitting even lower than it was because it's hitting even the smallest ramps!

lol! I've just bought my first Lotus, an '83 Esprit Turbo and saw this dirty bag at the back. Was going to throw it away as I thought it was something the previous owner forgot in the car. Will give it a good clean and put it back in!

Hi, I've just bought my first lotus - an Esprit Turbo from 1983. The radiator fans are not working and the seller told me that he removed the faulty fan relay to replace it but lost it! He said that the new relay should fit in the front luggage compartment, near the windscreen water bottle. In fact, there is a plug which is missing a relay. This has a rectangular shape with round-type pins. Is this really for the radiator fan relay and if yes, can anyone tell me the part number or from where I can buy this? Thanks!