js43lotus

Yes, the 81 Eclat Riviera did sell to a man in New Jersey. I do not know if he is keeping it in the US or exporting.

Just an update on the listing of my Lotus Eclat Riviera. As it turns out, after their comprehensive review, BAT approved my Lotus to be sold on their site at my requested reserve. However, they informed me they are so busy that their lead-time to draft an ad for my review was said to be "more than 3 weeks". As such, I have shifted gears and will post the Lotus on eBay on Sunday. My apologies for the confusion, but I wanted to bring the forum up to date. Thanks to everyone who responded to my posting. I am hoping this car is purchased by another Lotus enthusiast who appreciates how few of these Rivieras are still on the road.

David: I liked your idea to post it on Bring a Trailer. So, I submitted the Lotus for their review today. We will see what happens. Thanks for your suggestion and research.

Don, The former UK registration plate was WNG45X. The Excel seats were what the car came with when I bought it. Not sure if I still have the original steering wheel, but I will look before posting an ad on eBay this weekend. Your question about the lift-out roof panel confused me. There is no canvas, just a 1-piece fiberglass panel with vinyl exterior and upholstered inside. See the pics I attached.

The time has come to place my 1981 Lotus Eclat S2.2 Riviera up for sale. I purchased it in 2008 and shipped it home to the US as a RORO, which means it ran fine. Then I proceeded to buy (2) Excels, (2) Esprits & (3) TVR's over the next 10 years. As such, I lost interest in the Riviera along the way and it sat (unloved) in storage. In the 6 months (Covid), I have completely gone through it and brought it back to an excellent example of a now fairly rare Lotus. It is ready to be sold. As you can see from the pics, it is Black/Gold. The Lotus archives letter state it was built Dec 1981 and 1 of 69 mfrd for UK market. All numbers/colors match the build data and it has 85K miles on the clock. The 912 was rebuilt in the UK at 62K miles, it starts, runs and drives well, all electrics work, lots of new bits, leather very good. Some respray work from years past, have full history of all (6) keepers, all the way back to the first owner (a Lotus Manager), no history of body/chassis damage. The negative bits are thin black paint on panel edges, routine crazing after 39 years and the seats are from a later model Excel. So, here in the US, I have previously sold Lotus/TVR cars on eBay and that is what I will likely do with this one. Any thoughts from the group on an asking/reserve price? I am at a loss, as many here (even some club members) will view it as just another wedge and the RHD does not attract most buyers. Anyway, hoping to get some feedback in the next few days before a post the ad.

This spring my 85 Esprit Turbo developed a crack in the front windscreen, starting from under the top trim strip. It has now spread in multiple directions covering the LH side. My annual inspection is due in October and this will clearly not pass. I live in St Louis, MO and have inquired with the local Lotus club asking for a local installer recommendation, but no one had any ideas. Also contacted most installers in the area and none will even quote the job. So, now I am posting on the forum for suggestions on collector car glass installers anywhere in the Midwest USA. Hagerty has approved the replacement, but had no suggestions on who might do the work. All of the installers I called said the glass is no longer available, which is a surprise to me since there are still many G-body Esprits on the road in the States. Perhaps someone on the forum knows of a restoration shop or glass installer that I can contact. At this point I would be happy to trailer the car in a 8-10 hour radius of St Louis. Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Hi Damien: OK, I will collect them. I land at Heathrow on Sunday, July 17th ay 9:00 AM. I still have your address. Would sometime before noon that day work? Thanks, Jerry

Hi Damien. Do you still have the calipers? If so, I am interested. Jerry

My 85 Esprit Turbo is running very roughly and I have narrowed down the issue to the carbs. I rebuilt the (2) Dellorto DHLA 40's myself a while back, but it is still not right. Does anyone know of a trustworthy rebuilder in the St. Louis, MO area that is exceptional with Dellorto's? Thanks, Jerry

Purchased an 85 Esprit Turbo last year (UK version). After much work over the past year, finally took the first road test yesterday. Never owned a turbo "anything", so no knowledge on what to expect. Seems the turbo starts to kick in about 2500 RPM. Surprised how loud the whine is from the turbo, even at 0.5" boost (driver's window down). At first I thought it was the cam belt too tight. Can someone describe what I should see in terms of designed turbo performance? For example, what RPM should you hear the unit start to spool up, expected boost at 3K, 4K, 5K RPM, etc. I rebuilt the wastegate with new parts, so it should be working to spec, but I did not push it on my first road test.

Sparky, you were correct. The clutch was stuck to the flywheel. With the car on stands, revving the engine in gear (clutch pedal depressed) and slamming on the brakes, on the 3rd try the clutch freed itself. Now works perfectly. Drove the Esprit for teh first time yesterday. Now new issues, but for another post. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Sparky, if 17.5mm should be ample travel, but I cannot put the car into any gear with the engine running, could it be that the clutch plate is stuck to the flywheel? The car has been on stands in my workshop for 8 months while I performed numerous repairs. Molemot, the slave adjustment sleeve is set exactly 22mm beyond the locknut face, just as described in the manual. It is with this setup that I achieve the 17.5mm travel. Any additional thoughts?

Can someone confirm for me what the actual slave cylinder pushrod travel should be (at the bell housing fork) on an 85 turbo? For full travel on the clutch pedal, with a new 5/8" master cylinder, a new 7/8" slave cylinder, 22mm adjuster nut setting, using both original rods (master + slave) and all the air bled from the line, I measured an actual slave cylinder pushrod travel of 11/16" (17.5mm). That is not enough to actuate the pressure plate and shift into a gear while the engine is running. Clearly, I need more travel at the slave cylinder, but I don't know how much I am short of the design spec. Before I removed the old master + slave cylinders, the clutch operated fine. Never thought to measure the travel before disassembly!

I have just completed replacement of all engine coolant/heater hoses and all new aluminum tubing sections on my RHD 85 Esprit Turbo, only to find when I did a pressure test that one of the pipes in center tunnel has a substantial leak. I purchased the car in March and it was leaking coolant at that time. So, I went about replacing all of the hoses. I had also replaced every one of the short aluminum pipes because they were riddled with pin holes where the hose clamps had been. The ends of all (4) tunnel pipes looked clean and were not corroded at all during disassembly. But, as luck would have it, one of them must have a hole. In the morning, I will air pressure test each one to find the bad boy. But my question for the group is: Assuming the leaker is one of the engine coolant pipes, how do you replace? Or, what is the retrofit method to resolve the issue? Jerry

Recently purchased an 85 Esprit Turbo with AC in the USA that was built to UK DOM spec. Want to replace the complete set of coolant hoses, but cannot source in the USA, as federal cars were all piped different from the DOM units. And, the AC fitted DOM cars were even more unique piping. Sent a few emails to Steve at SJ, but no reply. Any suggestions on who to contact in the UK for a full set of these hoses? All the silicone kits on Ebay look to be the wrong bits in their photos. Thanks, Jerry