BASIC INSTINCT, the Lotus Esprit V8 Project

[TBD]

23 hours ago, Escape said:

What kind of chargecooler setup are they planning on? There's a few of us looking for alternatives after the ProAlloy group buy didn't happen.

The wait must be terribly long for you (I know about that...), but with a target date you now have something to look forward to! 

Filip

Daniel wants to build something along the lines of his earlier Elise/Exige builds, but we will see. We discussed the placement opportunities for the carge coolers and that will be the initial focus. I don't want to sacrifice more boot space than necessary.

We can surely discuss adding a group buy once we know how things are progessing.

[TBD]

It's been ages since we had an update. Unfortunately Komo-tec was unable to finish the project, a continuous lack of skilled staff has rendered all their planning obsolete (it there are any skilled mechanics on here looking for a job with a leading Lotus tuner and a slightly choleric boss, give Komo--tec a call).

However, Daniel was able to install the new wheels and big brake kit before we decided tzo move the car to Ramspott & Brandt..

The car is now with Ramspott and Brandt, who were actually familiar with the this car as the pre-previous owner had it serviced there regularly . We are now moving forward,  they have pulled the gearbox and turbos and are continuously ticing items off the work list.

 

Finally, while there I had the chance to align the templates for the Union Jack design (it still needs some work).

[DH2]

1 hour ago, TBD said:

it there are any skilled mechanics on here looking for a job with a leading Lotus tuner and a slightly choleric boss, give Komo--tec a call

🤣

[TBD]

She is on the road (at last). 

Picked her up on Monday at Ramspott & Brandt for her first drive. They did a great job fixing the basics and an even better job with the gearbox and turbos. Thanks to the ECU race chip and all she is now making around 450 HP.

A bit of fiddling by Komotec with the ride height and some geo setting yesterday and the new wheels are no longer scraping.

Interior was detailed today, looking as god as new. Incredible how much dirt can hide in leather and carpets. Adding lightness by cleaning.

Next up is rejoining the wing club, i.e. fitting the custom high wing. Thne up to the foiler for the design and PPF.

[Bibs]

[jonwat]

15 hours ago, TBD said:

Next up is rejoining the wing club, i.e. fitting the custom high wing.

You need to make it an S300/S4s wing, by far the best.

[TBD]

We've made it!

still some small niggles to sort, but right now nothing to keep us from celebrating the project completion.

 

 

 

[Bibs]

That paintwork looks stunning

 

[TBD]

The initial shakedown became quit a wonderfull trip. After picking the car up at Ramspott Brandt on Agust 21, in the following wo weeks I completed the round as noted above. Note that along the way we created the new

Thom Player Special Team Lotus

From there I headed sowuth-west to the Champagne, my wife joining me there. 5 days sipping Champagne, 3 days Chablis and one day in Beaune later we joined the Club Lotus France Esprit d'Aventure, collecting 25 different Esprit for 3 days of driving and talking. The Esprit 450 TPS was the star of the meet.

All in all we completed 3.500 km by the time we got home a week ago. Aside of a small clutch leack (which left us stranded one morning) the car performed excellently. Nonetheless there is still a long list of niggles to fix in the next weeks.

 

[mike_sekinger]

Get it on a dyno 🙂 

[TBD]

On 25/09/2023 at 18:32, mike_sekinger said:

Get it on a dyno 🙂 

Need the get the charge cooler first!

It's a bit of a challenge as Daniel doesn't have time and I haven't yet found anyone else to hepl me.

[mike_sekinger]

Got you.  Predictive decals 🙂

[TBD]

So we are 6 months and about 5.000 Kms in from when I picked up the car last year. It's been quite a busy period.

When I picked the Esprit up at Ramspott & Brandt the last things he told me were that he had noticed a gasoline smell when he opened the window while driving. He suggested to replace the vinyl venting hoses.

So we drove the car with windows closed on  vacation and while bringing the car home to the Provence. Back home I started looking at those hoses. I found one that was cut in the middle, so I replaced it. That resolved the rough idle, but not the smell of gasoline. Then the hose on the fuel filter fell off, so after tightening that I thought I was done. Wrong, it took me a few more weeks before I finally found a wet spot under the l/h fuel reservoir. The reservoir was rusted through, slowly leaking fuel onto that miserable foam, from where it was evaporating. Fortunately I have a good garage not too far and after 3 weeks both tanks were replaced (of course the first ones sent ere the wrong ones). Finally, problem solved.

During vacation the clutch pedal stopped working one morning. We were able to refill the reservoir and that was resolved. But there was still a small leak, I needed to refill the reservoir every couple of weeks. Following popular advice we replaced the slave cylinder, only to then realise the master cylinder was leaking. Replaced that and I now have a completely new clutch pedal.

The dreaded EML came on 4 weeks ago. The codes said O2-Sensor failure, but I could see the sensors working when the engine was hot. Also, the engine was stalling when cold. It seemed logical that there was a problem with the O2 sensor heating circuit. We started troubleshooting, but remembered that Ramspott &Brandt had noted the same issue, so I called them. Turned out that my replacement engine has a newer engine harness than the car, with a change in the O2 sensor heater wiring. So, Ramspott & Brandt had installed an additional wire and flying fuse. Replaced the fuse and that was resolved. The idle issue was coming from a vacuum leak under the plenum, which had been removed when replacing the fuel reservoirs. 

Made a note to myself to document all changes or mods made to any circuits.

I found the headrests on the Esprit very uncomfortable when driving. Turning them around resolved that but left an ugly gap. A carbon covered 3d printed insert resolved that. I had thought about redoing at least parts of the leather interior, but some intense leather care and restoration have made that unnecessary.

What else: replaced the water temperature guage and sender (Ramspott &Brandt had bent the water temperature guage as it was off) and the oil pressure sender (also not working) and converted the front fog lights to LED Daylight Running Lights. Finally I installed a Keyless Entry Module to please SWMBO.

And I replaced the rear wing tips that I had custom designed. They didn't match the body lines as the wing was originally planned to be a bit wider. Redesigned them, giving them a better angle.

Meanwhile it took 4 months to complete registration here in France. Who was to know that Lotus Cars didn't issue a European COC before 1997, where it should have been mandatory from 1996. Thanks to Andy Graham at Lotus for resolving that.

Only thing I haven't gotten to is the intercooler. I have been looking at various solutions and seem to have found a workable solution, but it won't be before next winter that I find the time.

Right now I hope to enjoy the Esprit over the season. We have some nice trips planned.

[Escape]

Great to hear you're enjoying your Esprit and the little niggles were all fixed easily enough. 👍

[TBD]

Can't imagine why I forgot @Steve V8, thanks to whom I was able to replace the floor mats and trunk carpets.

Again many thanks!

[TBD]

Another small project. Completing my collection of folding Lotus keys.

 

 

[TBD]

Meanwhile, back to the bigger things.  I still haven't gotton to the subject of the charge cooler. This was originally to be done by Komotec as part of their work, but obviously fell apart when we had to move to Ramspott/Brandt.

I don't want to sacrifice the luggage space and was really hoping the Pro-Alloy group buy would go through. So, I've been looking through the web for inspiration and aside from the custom intercoolers that Tom Hartje built this solution on LT is so far the best I could find : https://www.lotustalk.com/threads/v8-air-water-intercooler.129177/#post-1900409 . It needs some work to improve the looks and I would use thinner, more appropriate hoses. I was able to source the intercoolers themselves.

 

I don't like the myriad of ducts and adapters he used, so I've been playing around with 3D modelling, finally coming up with this conceptional design. The actual ducts can be 3d printed in aluminium and then welded to the intercoolers. Note that I've already included the fittings for the idle air tube and intake temperature sensor, as well as the blow-off valves. Painting the intercoolers in red is just an idea right now.

Now to wait for the next winter to get to the project (enjoying the car right now).

 

 

[Escape]

Please share some more info on the intercoolers. And if you're going though the trouble of designing the adapters and such, why not try and sell a few copies? I'm sure there would be interest among those who tried to get the Alunox system.