jetace25

I remember seeing the car on the Banks stand at a Lotus show in the spring of 1994. It had been dismantled and sitting in boxes for many years and Banks had carried out an exemplary restoration. They wanted £8,800 and I almost bought it but it was snapped up by a Japanese buyer and shipped off to Japan. Consequently a chassis number search might be more likely to yield results. It had the precious original Vitaloni Sebring Mach 1 door mirrors and was perfect.

Thank you for your help. I'll start my hunt this weekend at the NEC. Thank you Filip, I'll be sending you a pm. For anyone who wants to make up an original toolkit for their cars here are some extracts from the early S3 Esprit parts manual. All tools carry the 075 prefix showing they were common to the Type 75 Elite with the exception of the 17mm socket which has a 082 Turbo Esprit code.

If there is an orphaned tool kit out there for a late model Elite or Eclat that would like a good home, please get in touch. Most of the parts are common to the S2 and early S3 Esprit and include the following : 8 x 10 open-ended spanner stamped SLM608 - KING DICK - ENGLAND 10 x 13 open-ended spanner stamped SLM6103 - KING DICK - ENGLAND 13 x 17 open-ended spanner stamped SLM6137 - KING DICK - ENGLAND Screwdriver, Posidrive No.2 (blue handle) Pliers (blue handle) 'T' bar, sliding Extension, 5", 3/8" drive Spark Plug Socket, 13/16" Socket 17mm Socket 19mm Photo attached. Many thanks, Si

Today I fitted four Vredestein Sportrac 3 tyres to my S3 which leaves a very good, original Goodyear Eagle NCT 195 60 VR15 with an even tread depth of 6mm but without a home.. Some people retain a set of original Goodyears for show purposes and If you are among them and would like this tyre, reply, I'll email you pictures and the first to show is welcome to it. I'm near Bromley, Kent. I'm restricted to only 505 bytes maximum upload although I can find no old posts with photos in to delete to increase my quota so I'm unable to post the pictures. If anyone can tell me how to increase my upload allowance I'd be grateful. Simon

I heard Lotus didn't supply a paint code for the silver BBS wheels. Did you find one? I'm trying to find a match for mine. Simon

Thanks John, I'm going to hope the park position can be reset by slotting the crank arm back a spline or two. Thanks Chris, our cars use the same TR7 headlamp motor. Sadly the manual override doesn't change the position at which the motor stops when the lights are raised or lowered electrically.

There seems no need to earth the radiator but I've left it as per original. Perhaps it is just an auxiliary earth provided for customers to use with alarms and the like. Did Lotus incorporate such things in their cars?

To clarify, the headlamp motor parks when the upstroke has commenced. Can the park position be altered by degrees and has anyone done this? Thanks, Si

I adjusted the pods, screwing out the rose jointed link ends according to the Service Notes (S3) so the pod was flush at its lowest point. When the motor was reconnected its rest position was out with the lamp raised 2cm. Is there a way of adjusting the headlamp pod motor rest / off position? Many thanks, Si

I have an early S3 and in the front compartment (N/S) there is an earth lead from the loom which attaches to the bolt securing the rad fan cowl. I started cleaning it and saw there was no continuity to the chassis. If you have a 1983 S3 please tell me whether you have an earth lead on the N/S rad fan cowl bolt in the front compartment under the spare. Many thanks, Si

Silicon grease doesn't harm rubber and I used it on my anti roll bar poly bushes.

Thanks Matt and MC A bottle of Granville EP90 GL4 is on its way to me. Si

Thank you for your very kind offer Scott. PM sent. Simon

Thanks Andy, So is that it then? Is there no one to defend the case for thin liquid, non-setting CV joint grease in the trunnion swivels? I believe Hilly used to recommend it before he binned his in favour of lower ball joints. Oh well EP90 it is. Are there any recommended brands? Thanks, Si

The orange four blade Ford cooling fans made by Lucas are secured to their motor shaft with a spring retaining clip. Can anyone tell me where I might find a replacement as one of mine has split. Lotus have none left and although Ford said there was one languishing forgotton in a Leicestershire dealeship, I discovered, a week after having paid for it and having waited by the letterbox in anticipation that this was an error. I've tried cobbling something together with a circlip and washer but I'd prefer the original item if possible. Many thanks, Simon