1981 S3 V8 conversion

[dclare]

The the favorite electric pump is a Stewart EMP, it is not cheap , but it has a good flow through design (ie won't imped flow if the mechanical pump flow more at high revs), only trouble is finding a UK supplier, the search continues.

Did you find a UK supplier for the EMP Hilly? If not try Grand Prix Racewear - I saw an article in a mag recently that says they are a stockist, but I can't see it on their website even though its shown in the Coling Systems section thumbnail

Grand Prix Racewear

Might be worth a phone call....

Edited May 14, 2008 by GTMSpyder

[M Blur]

I bought mine from Oz via Ebay for about

Edited May 14, 2008 by M Blur

[rlubikey]

JB

Hilly - on a seperate note - what emissions will your car need to undergo at MOT??

I happen to know the answer to this one. VOSA rules state that the emissions test is based on the eldest out of the car and the engine. In Hilly's case it's the car. Easy - Mr. MOT looks at the X reg. number plate and does the fairly lax '75 to 86 test (see VOSA emissions test dates PDF). But when the engine is older than the car - oh, I don't know, lets say you had a 1981 Spitfire with a 1972 Triumph six up front - you have to

satisfy the examiner as to the date of manufacture of the engine

VOSA told me that a dating letter from the manufacturer would suffice or in my case, British Motor Heritage who have all of Triumph's production records. That might be handy if you're thinking of putting a state-side V8 in.

Chz, rlubikey

PS: nice work Hilly!

[M Blur]

Hmm.. good point.

I'll check with builder re engine - it's s seasoned block but not sure how old and was rebuilt but I know he raced the block for many seaosn so has a nice healthy numbr of heat cycles.. perfect.. nothing worse than playing roulette with a new high rpm vee.. alloy the worst... can't beat detroit iron for coping with heat.

Hoping engine is around age of car so - 88-90 era.. once properly re-registered and off its Q plate..

JB

so there's a cut off at 86.. were there Stevens cars in 86....?

What about for 88-91?

[hilly]

Time for an update as it has been sooooooo long since the last one.

I think I have finally got my cooling system problems licked, well I think so ......

Just a quick recap of where I was :-

The car overall was fine except for keeping it cool when idling.

It wouldn't overheat, but the temps didn't come down as I would have liked.

The cooling capacity of the radiator is not a problem because the water enter the rad at 90

[M Blur]

Andy - it coudl just be the angle of your shot; I used to have the same problem with an old Saab 900 gls many yrs ago - problem wasn't the tank it was it's relative height to he heads - you need to raise it up old bean and make it the highest point in your system.. That said new tank is nice and should be more effective as seems to be the case so far. JB

Edited July 17, 2008 by M Blur

[silverfrost]

Nice one Andy,

Glad to see you got the coling issue sorted at last mate, have used SM engineering

for a few things on my motor, they are cheap and do a fast turn round even on

bespoke stuff and the items are finished off well aswell!

Take it easy regards danny, p.s your engine bay is still looking pretty tidy

nice to see it still looking clean

[pdgessler]

Hilly,

Great Work on this car! I must say that you and the Audi V8 are fully to blame for my lack of Sunday afternoon productivity.

[hilly]

Thanks

I really need to get my finger out and do a bit more work on the heap and then post the resulting disasters on here as I have been slacking lately........

Hilly

[yeti]

A few months ago I took the liberty to copy most of what I thought was the interesting stuff from this thread into a word document. For those of you who want a copy of this document (approx 18 MByte) you can go to my website http://www.meek.nu/lotus/index.htm. Use the link at the bottom left called "Audi V8 project".

Hilly, I hope you don't mind? Your thread was just too good to not collect into one document and make it more readable.

One day when I have some spare time, I'll sit down and edit it a bit more.

Cheers,

Bjorn

[saggitarius]

Hi Bj

[hilly]

Blimey!!!!

My conversion thread has popped back up after over a year of non-activity.

I will actually have some updates to this over the Crimbo break if the weather cheers up a bit as remember I don't have a garage so everything is done out side.

Hilly

[Bibs]

I think it's still the most read project thread on the forum!

[wayneb911]

Yep i seem to frequently have a look! Probably one of the best convesrions out there.

Oh and stop being a wuss and get out there. Nothing quite like slipping with the spanner when your hands are freezing cold !!

Not that i have been out in my garage since the heater packed up !!

[TAR]

This thread was a very good read.

I notice its not been updated for over a year? Is the car still being modified?

[hilly]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Time for an update me thinks.

Well the short answer is I haven't done much over the last year as I have been doing DIY ready to sell my house and move to a place with a double garage so I can get on and start mutant 2.

This has been delayed by my girlfriend being made redundant just (literally) as we were about to put the house on the market.

The Mutant hasn't been driven very much this year due to it requiring new dampers as the front AVOs were leaking after only 2000 miles and a problem with the alternator belt.

This took longer than I would have liked due to :-

1) DIY taking up valuable time

2) the snow earlier in the year

3) I am getting soft and don't like working outside in the cold much any more ........

But the recent nice weather has allowed me to swap out all the dampers, investigate the alternator issue, make a few running changes to the trunnion-less front uprights and change the drive shaft boots.

I have also fitted a much larger fuse box as it blew 2 of the main fuses on the way home from work last month (cause unknown) and stopped dead on a narrow lane in Wokingham.

A quick frantic swapping of fuses got it going again, so now everything runs from separate fuses (24 of them now) instead of only 8, so if it happens again the engine won't conk out this time.

As it happens I was driving the car to work yesterday for the first time for ages when this thread popped back up again, so pretty timely.

As for modifications, none for a while, but as soon as I move I have got quite a big one planned for the Mutant so watch this space.........

Hilly

[silverfrost]

Andy,

Glad to see you got the shocks and alternator problems fixed mate, did you have to pull the motor in the end........... Anyway glad to see you have been getting out and about in it,

How do you find the links that you used to get rid off the trunions, only asking because the black ones got the bloody things

Also the future plans for the mutant are they on the engine by any any chance.....................................maybe involving a large attachment to the inlet manifold,,,,,,,,,,,

Regards danny

[M Blur]

Hi Hilly - always good to see latest pics or vids for your car...

If you wanted to help fund Mutant 2 - could you be parted from Mutant 1 one wonders??

I can think of one good home

Jon

[hilly]

Andy,

Glad to see you got the shocks and alternator problems fixed mate, did you have to pull the motor in the end........... Anyway glad to see you have been getting out and about in it,

How do you find the links that you used to get rid off the trunions, only asking because the black ones got the bloody things

Also the future plans for the mutant are they on the engine by any any chance.....................................maybe involving a large attachment to the inlet manifold,,,,,,,,,,,

Regards danny

Danny

Nah, didn't need to pull the engine in the end, just put on a shorter alternator belt and fiddled with the tensioner a bit and it has been fine since.

The Canley front uprights seem to be working fine, but it turns out they do need a bit of twaeking for the Esprit application, nothing drastic just a tiny bit of welding and some spacers machined up.

If you decide to go for them then let me know and I'll knock a couple of the spacers up for you.

No engine mods for the Mutant upgrade (plenty fast enough now to be honest) the changes are more drastic than that, I'll just leave you in suspense until closer to it happening.

Hi Hilly - always good to see latest pics or vids for your car...

If you wanted to help fund Mutant 2 - could you be parted from Mutant 1 one wonders??

I can think of one good home

Jon

Jon

I haven't ever considered selling the Mutant as I have put too much work into it, besides not sure if anyone would buy it as it has been so hacked about.

Funds aren't the issue with Mutant2, space and finding the time at the moment is the problem

Hilly

[Newts]

Jon

I haven't ever considered selling the Mutant as I have put too much work into it, besides not sure if anyone would buy it as it has been so hacked about.

Funds aren't the issue with Mutant2, space and finding the time at the moment is the problem

Hilly

Hi Hilly

I think you seriously underestimate the length of the queue mate !!

[silverfrost]

Andy,

Cheers for the info on the canley parts mate, As for the car as people have said thy would snap your arms of for it, I have ad loads of people asking if i wanted to sell the silver mutant, the audi running gear impresses peolpe as its modern and not some old rover lump! Im in the same boat as yourself will never let the car go as its had so much effort put into it as you know yourself, And my other lotus im the same aswell, if it just needed money throwing at it, it would be fine, its the time im lacking! still want it finished in six months though!

Cant wait to see what your build plans are for the next mutant, looking forward to it, now get the new house and double garage and get the photos on here pronto when the build comes together mate will speak soon chap.

Regards danny

[mangel]

Reckon the Queue for having the conversion done on peoples own cars maybe equally as long!!!!

[MrDangerUS]

HILLY,

It's been a while, but I still like your brave steering collumn mod.

I recon you have used Corsa C electric steering collumn? Recently, I have seen a much more compact Corsa D unit. Do you think it may work in the Esprit as well?

[yeti]

I am considering this company for installation of electric power steering in my Esprit: http://www.ezpowersteering.nl/158/Home.html

Bjørn

[jonwat]

After having owned three Esprits with non assisted steering I was amazed at how much difference the power assistance on the S4s made so I'd definitely consider getting it fitted.