lots of pics inside with a Q and A session !

[Alex Carter]

firstly im sorry lol this this going to be me asking probably silly questions but new to this so would appreciate the advice given.

firstly picked up the esprit yesterday and took it straight for and mot

heres some pics

it passes on a few advisories all in all good but the mechanic did highlight a few issiues so i need some advice on where to get the bits and if you see anything ive missed or that i dont need to worry about he did say the car was clean and no sign of damage anywhere ive done a hpi check and its all ok so now i need to start to get it up to 100% with reguards to maintenance as it seems its been neglected a little .

ill number pics so itll be easy to discuss the photos or advice >

(chris was the mot tester)

firstly chris mentioned the two nearside wheel bearings have play in them and as i understand they are tapered so is it a case of just tightening them up or replace with new ones ? can i get one or is this a job for a lotus garage ? if not whats the cost of these bearings and where to go to get it done im in swindon wiltshire .

pic 1

off side front .the arm to the right of the black rod has rust near the bolt indicating that the arm is moving in the bush and creating wear so this needs replacing.

pic 2

near side front same again the arm to the left of the black rod shows rust near the bush indicating

wear

pic3

this pipe is in the centre front of the tub in the tunnel (kind of under the car stereo ) i think its air con pipes or power steering the pipes they follow back wards and up to the passenger side rear there are connections on the other end that suggest a high presure fitting it isnt leaking but a little corroded.

pic 4

offside rear wheel lower arm again rust under the edge of the bush suggesting movement ie warn bush where to get these costs?

pic 5

near side rear wheel again bush rust marks more movement .

pic 6

near side rear shock is damp spring is dry possible leaking shock again costs and where to buy

pic 7

same here off side rear shock damp spring dry so shocks have possible leak

pic 8

off side sports tip from what i can see the swivel bracket is loose so the pipe wiggles about a bit and isnt aligned with the back of the car . but the cat itself is obviously fixed to the turbo no move ment but the bar holding the exhaust tip seems too long and wont adjust to the right angle to i just slot drill the bar to allow me more room to adjust the tip ?

pic 9

off side drive shaft looks like outer seal from gear box leaking this needs a special tool>>?

guy i bought it from said he kept topping it up guess he never bothered to see where it all was going its leaking quite bad

pic 10

near side drive shaft again leaking badly

pic 11

centre of pic theres two rusty objects between them theres dry pink fluid im guessing coolant leak

this pis is rear of engine above gear box

pic 12

near side rear tip again lose fitting not angled right and bracket seams to long

last question for now why is it when i start the car the head lights pop up and clunk back down any one else seen this whats the fix or problem ???

thanks alex

and the passenger side mirror has taken a wack need a spare any one breaking of have one >

Edited June 24, 2012 by Alex Carter

[dodge1979]

Welcome to.the club! To quickly answer...everything is within the scope of a mechanicaly competent owner. Bushes can be a pain, but with a press the job is easier. Front wheel bearings can be tightened. Rears are not..theyre replaced. Not expensive about 30-40 quid a bearing. The rears bolt on the fronts Are pressed in. Various leaks etc are not uncommon best to replace any hose connectors and clamps with a stainless type. Gearbox seals can be done without any special tools...but make sure you read the workshop manual beforehand....the rear hubs are a particular item that requires patience and finesse to not damage when doing any work involving their removal etc...basically the lower stud that bolts throught them, the lower arm and the shock is guaranteed to be siezed requiring serious work to remove. Read up on www.lotusespritworld.com to gain insight into these jobs. Pipes going through tye chassis require the engine to be out so they can be removed rearwards for replacement. With regards to.your exhaust...from its rusty condition the bracket looks like its been added after....im not really up on v8s so couldnt say for sure..other than that wheres your number plate!!!!!

Regards, Darren

Oh, headlights tend to do that when the battery has been flat or.off...maybe theres a.bad.earth or.connection there...and wing mirrors.are rare and expensive!

Edited June 24, 2012 by dodge1979

[Gasman GT3]

If you are looking for someone to do the work, you are not far from http://www.espritengineering.co.uk and Geoff is very good. Parts, SJ Sportscars have most things. It looks as though you will need to replace all the bushes, and I would recommend using Poly bushes for a fairly permanent fix, but as Darren says the rear bottom link can be a pig, and dont be tempted to use a hammer on it as you will break the hub carrier. I had to saw the link bolt into pieces and then drill it out, full days job.

[simonb]

Has that been standing for a while?

I would get a specialist to give it a once over, and plan order of refurbishment / any immediate things to fix

I use GST in Newmarket, but you might find a closer one. You want someone who knows V8 Esprits

[V8 FOU]

I had to do some of those jobs on my Esprit when I first got it. As mentioned, it is worth replacing all the suspension bushes with polybushes, also to fit new bolts as many will probably have to be cut out. The rear carrier is a pig - I used a press to dismantle mine. It is worth painting / powdercoating the arms at the same time too.

I suspect too, that it has been stood, so you will need to consider things like cam belts, fuel tanks, turbo lines etc.

If you get stuck, pm me as I seem to be doing a few in my workshop now!! Also have 4 wheel alignment gear for setting up after changing bushes etc.

Highly reccomend the Lotus shox.

Like all these things it depends upon your budget!

[andydclements]

Above is good advice and if you want the handling to be spot on then I'd agree poly bushes but specifically the Lotus ones, and if you replacethe rear dampers then Lotus Bilstein dampers.

[Alex Carter]

so progress so far

firstly removed the 80s phone kit aerial and speaker

realised i have an led broken in the passenger side electric window switch .so need to source a spare.

removed the door cards so i can cover the wood in a nice matching grey vinyl as im not a fan of wood in cars

fitted new plates as the guy wants the private reg back

managed to move the drivers side tip into a better location to suit the bumper

but the passenger side needs some heat to remove what once was a bolt now is a brown dohnut

then set about fixing what seemed to be a loose passenger side mirror so read the manual on dismantling it had the door card off so found the two 10mm bolts up inside the door easily all came off simple as discribed .

on inspection it seemed the issiue was just this gold screw had managed to work its way loose

easy fix i thought .

but whats happend the previous owner rather than reading the manual and understanding the internals of the mirror thought drilling two holes into the shaft of the mirror cover and inserting two plastic dowels was a better idea

in doing this the collars for the pinch grub screw has split so even after tightening the gold screw the mirror is still loose

so ive drilled two smaller holes either side to ad two grub screws to try and aid some support

the olny issiue is i cant tighten to much because the collar just spreads . so im on the hunt for a citreon bx mirror i think thats what they came from ?

ive had a chat with my lotus buff aswell and decided not to go for the polly bushes as i dont want to make the car too stiff and crash around so ill be replacing them with the lotus standard bushes.

im guessing the closest parts for me are williams in bristol or do you guys know of any stockist that does complete sets of bushes that i can buy the lot and work my way through ????

also whats the gear box oil type as ill probably need to top up the sprinkler system .

keep em peeled l

also why does the rev counter bounce

[dodge1979]

Id.disagree with saying the poly bushes will make.it crash around..i as many, have them fitted and think the ride quality is great. Im.running standard suspension with them. Your always going to feel a.hole in the road or such like, but the poly.bushes are amust have really.good start on fixing the niggly items..these things make the car so much better all over! The mirrors are hard to source really at a decent price...

[J400GED]

Go with the standard bushes unless you are going to do track days.

Ged

[Loose Cannon]

Your car looks great, love the red interior against the grey, very 60s Aston Martin!

Your queries have been covered pretty much, but if you do need front bearings rather than getting away with tightening you can save quite a bit by sourcing SKF originals from a factor, here is the text I copied from member F Muurling;

"Hello, this is what I put in the x-reference list after replacing the front bearings in my 1990 SE (I used SKF bearings):

Front Wheel Bearings:

A089C8005F (Outer bearing) SKF bearing LM 11949/910/Q (Cup is LM11910/Q and Cone is LM11949/Q)

A089C8004F (Inner bearing) SKF bearing LM 67048/010/Q (Cup is LM67010/Q and Cone is LM67048/Q)

The seal has an outer diameter of 62mm, the inner diameter is 48 mm and the thickness is 7 mm. I used one with an additional dustlip. I fitted the bearings in my 1990 SE and the price was around 80 Euro for a whole set (2 Front wheels) including the 2 seals "

[V8 FOU]

Polybushes do not really affect the ride. Also they are cheaper and much much easier to fit. They aren't affected by oil either. (Lotus, leaking oil?)!!

I will have a good second hand set of shox coming up soon.....

[Simon350S]

The Lotus developed polybushes have been designed to replicate the feel of the original rubber ones without making the ride too harsh. Generic aftermarket polybushes are cheaper but are 'made to fit' not 'designed to work' with the Esprit chassis

I fitted the Lotus developed Polybushes and so have a number of others on the forum the results of which are quite complimentary.

[dodge1979]

I believe your front wheel bearings are different to the ones posted on that cross reference for the se..i might be wrong but double check..

[wookiecj]

Alex, you've probably discovered most of this already but those mirrors are a common item on quite a few sports cars. Your problem is a broken turret (or 'toad stool' as the TVR boys call them) I did a pictorial write-up (under the name of Captain Speaking... don't ask, it's a long story) on the Marcos forum a while ago which you can find at:-

http://marcosforum.org/topic/5465/Mirror---mounting-problem-solutions-Mantis---M-cars

along with ideas for sourcing parts.

The MHS referrred to in the text is Marcos Heritage Spares who are in Wiltshire, which I guess is not too far away from you.

We've replaced turrets on a few Esprits but, given that they are made from monkey-metal they don't take much of a jolt before they break.........

[cweeden]

From the pictures it looks like your shocks have adjustable height platforms. I am not aware that Lotus supplied this as standard so you may have after market suspension bits. Not a problem but thought you might like to know and I may be wrong.

cheers

-Chris

[sailorbob]

'88 through to the V8's are the same part number for the front wheel bearings.

[V8 FOU]

From the pictures it looks like your shocks have adjustable height platforms. I am not aware that Lotus supplied this as standard so you may have after market suspension bits. Not a problem but thought you might like to know and I may be wrong.

cheers

-Chris

You are right on that one! My eyesight isn't what it used to be, so missed that one.

BTW, gearbox seals are almost impossible without the special tool. Easiest to do them with the bushes, seeing as the driveshaft will be hanging off with the rear carier removed.

[dodge1979]

I did mine with the box out, without any special tool which the manual says to use. Im guessing they would be more tricky in situ..maybe the tool makes it easier in that situation. Oh, something you may be aware of but hasnt been mentioned on here yet, if you do do bush/suspension work with whatever choice of bushes or shocks..you must have the geometry set correctly. As the suspension is shimed at the front and rear corners to achieve its correct alignment its essential after this sort of work. Be aware that there are places that can do alignment and those that say they can. get recomendations from members on the forum..people have had good and bad experiences.....

Doing bushes a couple at a time isnt ideal really. The best bet is to plan a few weeks of not using the car and tackle the job head on, if your doing it yourself. Another point to note, if your doing the bushes change the rear trailing arm mounting bush. These are a prone to becoming weak and allowing the arm to move forward under hard acceleration. I would change these as a matter of course regardless of how good you may think they are. You can go for the uprated rubber version, or there is a poly version too.

[J400GED]

"Go with the standard bushes unless you are going to do track days."

I would like to change my statement above.

Having spoken to several people at work today,regarding standard Lotus bushes and Lotus developed poly bushes, I would now say use poly bushes only if they are genuine Lotus poly bushes otherwise use the genuine Lotus standard bushes.

Ged

Alex: "realised i have an led broken in the passenger side electric window switch .so need to source a spare."

I may have a spare switch you can have if you get stuck. I will check it out tomorrow evening if I get time.

Ged

[Alex Carter]

wow this is what i want a full on forum of nuts i love it thanks for all the coments there all very welcome .

will look for a set of lotus poly bushes or standard .

will be interested in the spare window switch please

and ref the suspension platforms so has some one changed for a duff set then ?> i need to look into this more i hate not knowing feels like a 100mm sprint and i bought slippers .

[J400GED]

Still, shouldn't take you long to do 100mm - even in slippers!

[Bibs]

Poly bushes

http://www.thelotusforums.com/shop/87-poly-bushes

[Alex Carter]

right i was working in burminham this morn so managed to stop at paul matty and get some bits very helpfull they were too .

ive bought four standard bushes for the rear arms and the gearbox outer seals .

been down the garage when i got back and started to take stuff appart buuuuut! it all sseems pretty solid

now this pic

can some one explain ive taken the two nuts of each end sprayed with penetrating fluid hit the rod with a copper hammer and no movement what so ever ? does it come appart is there a specific way forwards back wards? i see the carrier is alloy and the rod is steel so it it just corroded in ? how have you guys got round this ?

also managed to have a look at the shocks on the car there all adjustable and made by AVO ? guessing these are aftermarket ?

cheers alex

[sailorbob]

Do not bash the stud , you'll end up needing a new hub carrier. There's a good write up on Lotus Esprit World on how to tackle this job.

Edited June 26, 2012 by sailorbob

[J400GED]

Alex,

Unfortunately I don't have a spare switch, sorry chap.

Ged