89esprit

My wife and I were at Watkins Glen for the IMSA Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen endurance race this past June. We decided to take the Elite with us this year. Found a couple of "Fans" that liked the car! They work for REGOGO Racing. Paul Rego owns a bunch of Lotus 23's that he brought and also a Mario Andretti Type 79. Unfortunately, he didn't have here time. He's waiting for an engine rebuild. I've seen it before at a Lotus Owners Gathering here in the states. Always drawing a crowd

I'd love to see a pic of that panel also. I've got three and don't think any of mine have one left. Would be interesting to see if one could be fabricated. Kenny

Hi All, Anyone have any pics of an Elite decked out in a race livery from back in the day? Were these ever raced in some sort of Saloon Car series? Thanks, Kenny

Would be pretty cool to see and at least it goes through the city streets more or less... not like that abomination that they will be having in Miami. Somehow racing around a football stadium parking lot like a weekend 'gymkhana' just doesn't appeal to me. When I heard them talk about a race in Miami, I kind of pictured a course zipping by South Beach not the"Food Court" at a football stadium parking lot... Very disappointing. Especially when you think of how great it would be to race at Watkins Glen again. Classic Formula 1 course with a great history.

Absolutey beautiful cars!!! Congrats to you on them!

Sure is pretty! It'll be interesting to see what it goes for. 🤔

That is absolutely gorgeous! Now you are forcing me to get off my arse and put the two red ones ('74 and '77) I have together ... Thanks for the inspiration!!!!!

I paid $1200 us for them. However, they are not in leather. That would have been waaaaay more. He charged my wife $1000 for the seats, console and gator in the Esprit. The material he used is very high quality and most who see it don't even know its not leather.

Thanks for the compliments.. I wish I could say I did, but there is no way I could've managed to do those seats myself. I had an upholstery shop near me cover them. They were originally that nasty cloth material. I was absolutely stunned when I got them back. I'm sure he's never seen any seats like that in his life and it sure says a lot of his talent to have them come out so good. He's also done the seats and console in my '89 Esprit and a '67 Imperial I have. Not cheap but it proves the old adage true once again... you get what you pay for. My wife and I did manage to re-cover all the trim pieces and put in the headliner ourselves. Those are covered in suede. Getting all that prosthetic leg material of that roof was horrible. LOL The seat bells were already mounted in the car by way.

Here you are @Don.Hasi

I'll dig one up!

Found this little tidbit on YouTube last night. 1976 Lotus Elite driving review and road test - YouTube

HAHAHA Believe me it's quite FULL!!!

Well when you have no choice, you're pretty much stuck with them. LOL Of course there is a good side to them. They make a great place to set your beer when you're working on them! Actually I have 3 the other is quite roadworthy! '77 503 in Lagoon Blue

It's a 503 Power steering with air in red. I bought it as a project car, it needs quite a bit of work, along with a red '77 503 that also needs work. Here's a couple pics of the '77

I don't have an answer but I have a '74 Elite here (stateside) that doesn't have it either. I just thought it was missing... now I have to wonder if they started putting them on after a certain point in production?

That white Elite is looking awesome, especially compared to that rubbish parked in front of the Ford store!

Yes and Thanks! I'm going to dig into it deeper. What does that bi-metal switch above the Ranco do? Seems to be some type of vacuum actuated switch. Thanks for all your help. Hopefully we can figure it out. It worked at one time, but now nothing. Kenny

Yes, they are in very clean and tight condition, like new. The bullet connectors are in prime condition also. I didn't put a meter on them though. Once I applied power to the gray wire and every thing kicked on I started to think I'm missing something else. I just can't wrap my head around the idea that the Ranco has power to it all the time. My understanding from the FSM is that it shuts off the power to the compressor once it gets cold enough sensing temperature though the capillary tube. It seems that the compressor would be running all the time. The ranco gets its power from the fan switch. Makes no sense. Very odd. I guess I'm over-thinking it. Back to the wiring diagram for more flow charting. LOL

Hi Pete, yes its open (power on the orange wire all the time the fan is on) nothing on the silver. I hear the both clicks as I move the lever but there is still no power to the silver wire. Is there another switch somewhere that I'm not seeing? Somewhere built into the temperature control lever cables or actuator? The FSM doesn't seem to show any. Or maybe I'm just not seeing it. Thanks, Kenny

Thanks Pete! I've got a bunch of issues with the AC. I'm just happy I finally got the fans to work at all! LOL AC compressor won't kick on unless I jump it at the ranco switch. With a power probe I applied 12v to the gray wire on the ranco and the system functions as it should. Meaning the engine cooling fans turn on and power goes to the AC clutch. The wiring diagram shows an orange wire going to the ranco and a gray wire coming out. Odd thing is the orange wire has power all the time the system is turned on. Just no power coming out. I'm suspecting the ranco is bad, because according to the FSM it supposed to act as a switch to turn the compressor on and off as the temp at the evaporator goes up or down. How can it do that if there's no power coming out of it. Also, you would think that there would only be power going to it only when you ask for AC not when the system is in heater mode, it has power all the time. Very frustrating

I'm not sure, but I noticed a lot of the new led bulbs have no polarity to them. Maybe that info will be in the paper work that comes with the bulb.

My 77 503 has an allen screw holding the blower knob on. The other knobs, headlight and instrument cluster are push on with small spring loaded button that must be depressed to get them off. Also, my heater only blows on high. No matter what position the knob is in.

I just had my center switch panel out... quite a job. I was trying to get my AC working... FAIL. But at least I got the blower to work. You have to pull the AC vents out, there nuts on either side of the panel that you have to access thru the vent holes. Also you must pull the window switches on top as there are two screws hidden above them. One through each switch hole. They screw in upwards into the dash top. You can just let the switches dangle and not disconnect the wiring. The AC evaporator is what is right behind the radio and vents. With any luck you should be able to squeeze a radio in there without pulling anymore switches than needed. I had all of mine out, the wiring is a mess back there either have a pad and pencil ready or take plenty of pics so you can get the wiring correct on reassembly. Good Luck!

I'm going to try a white LED bulb in mine when I get around to it. I'll have to put in a wedge base but that shouldn't be a problem.