Blackngolds3turbo

Hmm 🤔 It can’t be worth a fortune, from a guess it looks like it’s been sitting there for over 5 years from all of the mildew/mould/fading, the bushes are going to be shot, wheels are really looking in a bad way, the water pump has probably rotten out, head gasket and header tank are probably gone too, let alone the brakes! Fuel tanks are almost guaranteed to be rusted through, plus all of the cosmetic work... We have seen Esprits in a bad state a fair few times... barn find... driveway find... lost behind trees and bushes finds... On ebay, with potential buyers never having looked around it properly, it could probably get to £9k Real world money however, it would be sensibly priced at £6k

Not if I get there first😂

The anticipation is killing us 😜

Dare I raise my name here 🤭 any info you have about the car and it’s location would be greatly appreciated... drop me a private message 😊

Blue evora on a 16 plate coming out of rye

@LotusLeftLotusRight believe it or not, the paint was mixed up to go on his old boss’s race car... which happened to be an Exige! Said boss saw the swatch of the colour and decided it was way too bright! So there was a quantity of virtually fluorescent green paint and an imp which needed a respray!

Yep! A few may remember Alex’s imp 😂 it’s not exactly easy to forget! That and his old green N/A S3 esprit... which we are still trying to find!

Cheers @martynv and everyone else who went, it was a fantastic spectacle to see so many Lotus’, in particular the turnout of esprits!

@cweeden I had some of it documented in an old thread, but haven’t been very good at keeping up with it! In the next few days I will try to update it with some nice new photos of how it’s getting on.

Definitely following this! Fascinated already!

Really common problem, always when they’ve been left to sit for a while, you have a seized on clutch! Theyre a complete pain to get off, the easy way is start the car up in gear foot on clutch, handbrake on, it will hopefully desieze. if that doesn’t work, make sure you are somewhere that you can drive forwards! start it in gear foot on clutch, once it is moving forwards, you have to be a bit violent with the handbrake with your foot still on the clutch. Hopefully the clutch will then release. Final option would be to remove the gearbox and remove the clutch manually and the replace it with a new one. With a good amount of time, effort and technique, I’ve never had one that won’t de seize, but they can be extremely stubborn!

Anyone else coming from Sussex/Kent area? Specifically A21/M25 Dartford?

Hi Chris! Good to see a soon to be new esprit owner. We are serial esprit collectors, and have seen an awful lot of esprits in general! I have not personally seen that car (knowingly!) but if you would like an eye cast over it, are happy to help. On the 4 pot vs. 8 pot argument, there are strong cases for both! We have lots of 4 pots and a v8. What I will say is a lot of V8’s look great from the outside but may need some love to get them as good as they should be, that’s all fine as long as you are happy to open your wallet! The parts are almost always more expensive than for a 4 cylinder. Having just completed a full suspension rebuild and in the process of an engine and gearbox rebuild on our v8, the suspension is all very similar to the other cars, the gearbox virtually identical to any s4s. The engine however is a very different story! To give you an idea, the cost for an s4s or s4 engine rebuild would set you back maybe 4-6k depending on what you specified for parts... a v8 however will lose you that in only the parts, not including the labour. Usually the engines are very strong if they have been well looked after from the start, sadly many haven’t. Any questions drop me a message, always willing to help! Don’t like to see anyone get stung when buying a Lotus!

All booked in, see you there! @ChrisJ can we wear helmets and leathers in the Esprit then to make up for the lack of bike? 😂

@martynvif there’s a space leftover I would bring the S3 turbo? Got to go past the area on that day so would make a great detour!

Afternoon Chaps/Chapettes, As you may or may not know, we have owned a 1981 Esprit S3 N/A for around 5 years - with the exception of it spending a year with Barry - before that, I had looked after it for many years for the previous owner. Anyway, I have it back and am giving it a thorough tidy up to get it ready for a new owner. It is having the engine fully serviced, interior tidied up and re trimmed as necessary, body resprayed and all mechanical components repaired/replaced as necessary. Barry had the wheels refurbished whilst he had it, so they look like new! All round, it will make a fantastic little car for someone, I will be very sad to see it go - but a certain V8 Esprit is rather demanding on the wallet! The car itself is one of a very small number made in 1981 - I will clarify with Andy Graham shortly. It has done only 23,000 miles from new which can be backed up by myself and the owner before me, and quite honestly it’s condition! It has never been crashed, the only reason it needs some work it due to the owner before me leaving it untouched on his drive for a few years. It is Calypso Red with gold pinstripes and a cream interior. I will add a few pictures as it progresses. Contact me for any more information or for price. I am willing to see at any point throughout the build for the right price.

@TheKevlarKid thanks so much for getting back to me. The blocks and cranks all arrived yesterday and look perfect. I will start looking into machining them up once I've measured PGA's block and crank up.

Hi hope I haven't missed the boat! If there's any left I'd take one... Maybe more! And cranks if you've got those too? Have sent a PM.

Maybe I'll put a spare engine in the back just in case who knows how many cylinders we'll have with that lol

The main difference is that the 912 has a different sump and lower crankcase, obviously the 912 is 2.2l rather than 2.0l. The 912 was really a more refined engine. the 912 is inherently a smoother engine, whereas the 907 is more bitey if that makes sense, in power output, they're much the same but it depends on your driving style as to which you'll prefer! The 907 is more fun for going for a blast, the 912 has similar performance but isn't as harsh, more for GT purposes, it also usually lives longer!!

Welcome to Elite ownership! Lovely story and good luck with bringing her back to life Looking forward to seeing it come along, I'll be starting to rebuild my Elite very soon too

PGA has been accepted see you there @Paul Foster @Barrykearley

SJ's for the stepped side trims

Have had many Japanese bikes, road and race, but nothing can beat my rattle bike It's a 916, high compression Pistons, ported, polished and gasflowed race heads, wide mouth exhausts (50mm), racing throttle bodies, larger injectors and remapped... Along with the rattliest clutch around! Like an Esprit, they're quirky, spend most of your time repairing it but for the time that it's running you just can't beat it Got a few other bikes but none compare to it!

@eeyoreish you going out tonight