Fridge

"Where there is a will there is a way" - Don Logan (Ben Kingsley), Sexy Beast. I built my car on a driveway and in a single garage. I fitted the pump easily. The problem if away from the garage is carrying the right spanners and stuff to blank off the fuel lines momentarily. Not something I'd want to do, but could allow a journey to continue if away for an extended period.

It looks like a good, solid fuel pump. A few folk had issues with the standard SU pump after a faulty manufacturing batch. I've considered carrying a spare just in case.

I can't remember. I'd have to have a think. I seem to remember it was relatively trivial, and may involve an erroneous earth. It was obvious when I was looking at it. It may be the additional relays in the S2+ wiring that switch and provide power to the headlamps. [ADDED] I can't post photos on here, but check the earthing of those two headlamp relays, one is missing I seem to remember. Pretty obvious when you spot it, and anyone who knows how a relay works wouldn't wire one without an earth. It is correct in the original B&W wiring diagram in the Lotus WSM. The diagram originates from the US Lotus Talk forum, or Bill Galbraith's resource on HolyCows, which is who sent it to me years ago.

Pity you're so far away, I was in the same position as you and struggled to find someone who could do the tricky things and add some new wiring upgrades. In the end I found that things were not that complicated and with a rudimentary understanding of basic auto-electrics and soldering/crimping practise as applicable I was able to do the work myself. What areas are causing you problems? I think there's a minor error in that diagram, but obvious when you spot it.

Yes, I've done similar, but using original style relays behind the millboard finishers adjacent to the lefthand pod motor. They take direct power in dedicated +12V and earth via junction boxes via an additional fuse box next to the original two in the glovebox. I wasn't sure high amp circuits would benefit from dedicated "fat" earth over running it via the original earth in the loom? My electrical knowledge isn't that extensive, I just applied common sense. I could do with adding relays for the horns as per the Esprit S2 wiring.

That junction post is ideal for running clean +12V to the cooling fans, headlights and window winders via fuses. I also ran a dedicated earth from back there too, rather than earthing those items through the loom.

It's always while returning to a difficult job. Good result!

Did you try West Country Trimmers near Newton Abbott?

Yes, that's the problem with Alcantara. Even at its most thinnest it hasn't enough give to get around the negative and compound curves of the interior panels. Marcasite had just enough stretch. It's such a problem finding a suitable replacement. I think an expert trimmer taking their time and understanding the original requirements would be able to nip and tuck Alcantara to achieve a good result. The problem is that the Esprit is so uncommon, particularly the earlier series that few trimmers have anything to go on if the panels are already stripped or in a very poor condition. I took very detailed photographs of all my interior before stripping to save trim costs. I even have the old material stored for future reference. At least the JPS Commemorative edition is leather which is more easily available. Though the gold fabric is another unicorn material it seems.

Though we often doubt them during our restorations, those designers knew what they were doing 😆

Yes, it's good to strip those under dashboard items down and get them media blasted and powder coated satin black. Otherwise they rust like originally. Don't forget the pedal box and heater box (if rebuilding and not going with an Economy 7 unit). Keep chipping away. You'll need all those bits quickly once the body shell goes back on the chassis. Your binnacle should repair easily. Filling that hole made for the missile switches, or whatever.

Having only just recently trimmed my car you might want to rethink trimming the header and cant rails in the roof lining material. If you think about it, the cant rails, header (and in a green & tartan interior of an S1, the bulkhead) form a frame, which also extends down the 'A' pillars. Whereas the headlining essentially forms an inset. It is even a single piece which goes underneath the panels. Even modern car interior spaces are designed as such. Trimming those panels differently to the rest will look a bit odd.

From left to right: Air duct to binnacle Air duct to windscreen defrost in binnacle top Binnacle LHS switch gear Binnacle RHS switch gear & heater control wires

The only loom that goes anywhere near the steering column is the steering column mini loom with the block connector for the stalks and ignition barrel. The binnacle wiring routes through the holes in the upper dashboard beneath where the binnacle sits.

Well, mine works fine. But quality, Del'lorto authorised parts and original Lucas distributor with the original power curve. It's all in the detail. I never use e10 fuel in any of my cars.

A carb rebuild with quality parts from Eurocarb (not eBay), a proper tune and a refurbished distributor help. How many people overlook the latter after 40+ years (like the springs in the cambelt tensioner), or fit a cheap aftermarket distributor made in China? Remember, these cars started OK from new.

My Esprit is on DHLA45's and it would start no problem. You don't need EFi to obtain that.

Owner's own.

I haven't, and have used that road from Birk Brow to Whitby a lot as I had a long term client job in that area and further south (actually east down the coast), but I've only seen Police at the side of the road once, south of Scaling Dam. However I been away filming in Spain for 5 weeks this winter. Most North Yorkshire Police or camera partnership vans seem to be on the A19 near Thirsk, which then move to the Sutton Bank to Helmsley road, and then Helmsley to Scarbados road. No Police seem to exist within the North York Moors itself even though Heartbeat would suggest otherwise 😁

Directly south of me, across the North York Moors and Yorkshire Wolds, but 62 miles. If you're venturing into the Moors let me know. Though the weather is mixed and I store the Esprit further away.

Whereabouts in t'Yarkshire?

It looks like I'll have to do a deep dive into Restopower, but seems like they use CANbus for power delivery ie stability control etc, no doubt as well as other things. Especially EFi of course. I assume your DTA ECU can also perform EFi duties if required. I noted that the MicroSquirt device could function solely for ignition timing without hindrance thus allowing expanding the functionality to EFi at another time if desired. I have heard good things about the Jenvey throttle bodies. There are a couple of restomod cars up here eg BMW 6 Series and Delta Integrale (I think) with such setups. All very clever stuff. And the place who does my final fine carb tuning are experts in such wizardry. I think they recommend Jenvey. I think @LOTUSMAN33 has been "playing" with such magic on his S1. By "tuning" CANbus I meant snag testing, as that shiz won't be easy to perfect I suspect. It'll be interesting in what you throw at it as regards functional requirements as no doubt it will allow numerous "upgrades". PNM amongst others have been selling red sheathed braided clutch pipe hose for a while. Hopefully that's what you saw on the Esprit chassis at the NEC. Always best to replace that old thing! My own visit to the NEC today, after planning to go 5 years ago when I was deep into my own Esprit restoration, went well. Obtaining the necessary information on some devices I'm now in a position to add. It was a long day on the road after an overnight in Sheffield en route, and a venture into the Metrolips of Birmingham to meet with ex-colleagues, before hitting the Great North Road back to North Yorkshire this evening. I was reminded after hitting gridlock traffic in central Brum why I prefer the open roads of my present locale. I've obviously been spoilt over the 17 years I've spent back up here.

An interesting retro implementation of CANbus. I've never heard of that being done, apart from adding engine management. It's certainly a highly capable communications protocal, as we can see in modern cars with all their functionality running over the same wiring via multiplexing. As I said earlier, it would certainly make my life easier if all the engine and speed information was available in that format. However, sounds like a nightmare in waiting to me compared to the simplicity of the original electrics. As for EFi you could always move to that in the future if you decide otherwise. I think I'd have gone the whole hog with throttle bodies if going to the effort of implementing something like a MicroSquirt ECU. As now you'll have two separate systems to tune and perfect. People do retain carbs, but IMO it's a bit of a hammer to crack an egg just for the benefit of ignition, which can be more than adequately improved for road use with a good quality Lucas distributor refurbishment, with correct advance curves etc. Note, not an aftermarket PowerSpark or similar dizzy. The ECU ignition will work fine, but it'll be interesting how the CANBus performs, and what other benefits it may provide.

The Sky advert was shot in South Africa using locally sourced vehicles.

Oh OK. There must be a benefit which I'm not aware. CANbus (with OBD-II) would make my life very easy when developing embedded systems, but it seems a lot of work to implement from scratch for little gain given the relatively simple loom of the G-Esprits. Unless it improves the engine management via an ECU etc. Which is why I expected you to have EFI with throttle bodies or something via a mini-loom. Not implemented across the whole car. Have you upgraded to ABS also? I'll have to some more reading.