C43

yes don't watch wheeler dealers. They make the facial removal to look really difficult and it is, well not so much the removal as the refitting! On the S2 its the warning lights along the bottom that are a real pain, the S3 is easier for sure. BTW take lots of photos when you take it to pieces. Mark up the warning lights and the holders for what goes where. Removing the speedo cable was a pain on my brothers, it gets slightly corroded and is then difficult to pull off the speedo. BTW there is a plastic clip that needs removing first, again there are pictures on the forum. Oh and when you refit the speedo cable make sure it threads the right side of the bonnet release.....bit of a doh moment for me! Whilst mine was apart I fitted LED bulbs. They are much brighter so at least I can read the instruments at night. As said the switches all come apart and can be cleaned up. There are a couple of little springs and pins so suggest you take them apart over a tray to catch parts as the drop off.

Thanks its the same on mine. I find a trained 11 year old useful for the sort of job. C43

Does anyone know if the hazard, fog and reverse lights are on the same fuse on an 85 turbo Esprit? Also where is the hazard relay located (I have a horrible feeling I am going to be upside down in the footwell tonight...) ta Christian

BTW I glued bits of wood in the old mounting holes in the binnacle as the holes had got so big had lost any grip on the screws. Agree regarding silicon on the switches to keep them in place. BTW you can easily strip the switches down and give them a clean to get rid of the corrosion. My fog switch was so corroded it had stopped working. If you do this do it over a tray first time as there are some small parts that are easy to loose. cheers C43

Hi Getting the rear bumper resprayed on a World Champion Esprit S2. It is currently gloss black to match the rest of the car but we are thinking it should be / would look better satin black to match the front and the window surrounds / mirrors. Does anyone know what finish it should be? thanks Christian

good to hear. Tell the truth not changing them again. next job is to get the front bump off are resprayed..

Hi have replaced the rear suspension bushes on S2 Esprit. All pretty straight forwards but a couple of comments which may be useful: 1. The guide on the esprit forum is really useful, this should be your starting point. 2. If you are going to want to remove your rear uprights I suggest undoing the drive shaft bolt first as its too tight to get undone once the suspension legs are off. 3. Pushing the rubber bushes out the lower links is difficult event with a press. Easiest method is press out the central metal bush, then press or burn out the rubber part. Finally cut a slot in the outer metal sleeve being careful not the cut into the lower link. Once you have cut a slot you should be able to remove the sleeve with a punch. If you do cut into the lower link at all then I suggest polishing out the cut to remove any stress raisers. 4. On the esprit forum they suggest the lower through stud will be difficult to remove. This was not too difficult on mine but the split bush it runs through was well and truly locked into the upright. I had to cut another slot in it and then heat the upright to 150 deg C then use a piece of studding as a puller to ease it out. The suggestion of the stress engineers at work was not to go above 150 deg C otherwise you start to age harden the rear upright material. I used a small blow torch so took quite a long time to get to this temperature. If you use a large blow torch be slightly more circumspect. 5. Be really careful not to damage the threads in the forwards mounts into the chassis. They are 5/16" UNF. If in doubt either run a tap or a bolt with a slot down its length first to clean up the thread. 6. Don't panic. cheers Christian

have a 11 year old son with small hands who likes helping dad working on the car helps... must admit the linkage as a little stiff at first but it has loosened off really nicely now and still has very little play. C43

on my brothers S2 the pumps click fast then slow down but never stop entirely. Same on my 7 from years ago. C43

I had no problems with the self adjusting system just followed the workshop manual. I fitted new pistons as mine were shot and I was told that on the new pistons the self adjusting ratchet was not as accurately machined and to swap it over from the old pistons (the fire tree unscrews). However I could not feel any difference between the action of the two so fitted new pistons with old self adjusting mechanism and the hand brake works really nicely and pedal travel short so I guess its fine. Just remember to rotate the rear piston by the amount shown in the manual. For me the biggest pain in the arse was re fitting the handbrake cables whilst under the car as the nipple on the end of the cable is very difficult to thread through...good luck on that one! cheers Christian

makes sense. BTW interesting to watch the guys on Wheeler Dealers fighting the dash on their S3....

"wiring connector upgrade when dash is out" - not what you want to read when you have just taking out and then refitted the binnacle.... oh well next time C43 BTW of all the jobs I have done on the Esprit re fitting the S2 dash has to be the most fiddly. I think the S3 is a good step easier due to the warning lights.

I took mine to pieces and took the O ring out. I could not find anyone who stocked them (PMN and SJ don't) so I simply cleaned and refitted and all ok. If there are no cuts in the o ring it should be fine. cheers C43

sorry deleted a lot of the pictures from my phone. Is there anything specific you wanted to see. Below I have shown an image of the new bearing in place on the bell crank for the for aft levers mounted on the back of the box section of the chassis and an image of the new rose joints in place. I made a flat bell crank to replace the bent one lotus supply and this worked out perfectly in terms of keeping everything in line (I think the S3 ones are flat) I added some nylon washers to take out some of the rotation of the shafts and act as dust shields as experience from work was these can be prone to dust. let me know what else you want but all pretty straight forwards once you get into it. cheers Christian

no pb, I will try and post tomorrow depending on how busy work is. C43

I did everything. The SJ mod helps the cross gate play, the cleaver plastic bearings help the fore aft play. I did put some comments on here and I have pictures of the installation if that helps. I would start of with taking it all to pieces and having a look as it all becomes much clearer then. cheers C43

Thanks to all involved in organizing today. We had a great day out. C43

thanks mate. Got up at 6 to clean and polish the car and my little boy is desperate to do the parade laps at lunch time. see you there. Christian ps can I buy your Essex Esprit please, it would look so nice with my brothers WC S2..

just realized I only entered my brothers Esprit and not my Evora. Could we swap the two cars, its a very shiny Evora (and it would help me get over the disappointment of spending the last couple of months working on the Esprit and it failing right at the end - but then I guess that's part of owning a Lotus!} cheers Christian

Hi I wont be able to bring my brother S2 World Champion Esprit (stupid problem with some door trim). However \I am bringing my Evora which I also entered in the Concours, not sue why I can't see it in the list?? cheers Christian Sorry my brothers name is Laurie..

FYI the brakes on my brothers S2 were shot. I wanted to use the standard master cylinder so I got it re sleeved (it had heavy corrosion along the bottom of the bore where the car had stood which would not polish out). I pressure bled the brakes, drove the car for a few miles and then pressure bled again and brakes good thereafter. The comment when the car was in for MoT were brakes better than an Elise which I was pretty chuffed with. C43

for it to suddenly let go like that makes me think something has failed rather than worn out. as said check bolts tight on wheel nuts and jack up give the rear end a good pull and push. I would check the top suspension chassis mounts as fiend at work had his let go with similar comments. I doubt a failed damper would feel like a flat rear tyre but worth bouncing a corner and checking Failing that have a look around the front as sometimes a problem at the front can feel like it comes from the rear depending on experience. The bolts that hold the FARB onto the FLWBs or the chassis would be the obvious ones for me as the FARB gives the for / aft location for the wishbones. Seems a bit unlikely though as this only really starts to make the car crab when you hit the brakes. C43

In the report it talks about smart airbags being added for the american market etc. Sounds trivial I know but I remember being staggered when I was told how many engineers Jaguar have working on airbags and crash protection alone. C43

the other comments made here that will have some truth is cash, its very difficult to do much engineering without money..

thanks mate, that makes me feel much better....