1981 S3 V8 conversion

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Now you need to slap on a pair of superchargers, the uprated con rod arms I sent you the link to, and a custom set of pistons at about 9.6:1 ratio. A pair of intercoolers for good luck and bingo 470 + bhp.

Not that I looked into it of course ....................... no, no, .............. not a bit................. well not for an Esprit anway

Sounds stunning though dude and a very impressive job.

[hilly]

I have got a spare set of heads with cams, so the plan is to get the car up and running to iron out all the bugs, of which there will be plenty I am sure. Then I'll flow the spare heads and get the cams re-profiled with a more aggressive grind to release a bit more top end power as the power curve is currently tailored to an auto box. This should get the output well above 350bhp which should be more than enough, whilst keeping the engine NA and the bottom end standard.

Bahhhh, who am I kidding, you can never have enough oomph!!

I already have started on some design ideas about supercharging with a built-in chargecooler using the spare engine to figure it out on, probably a winter project that one.

The only thing that may put an end to the upgrade is the gearbox power handling, as any more than 400bhp through a 2wd Audi 01X gearbox may cause it to implode

Hilly

Edited August 19, 2007 by hilly

[markt]

Nice bit of progress as usual Andy

Dead right about the 'box imploding trying to stuff that amount of horses through it... 350 BHP on that standard box you're using should be okay. 400? - I'd start shopping around for another box and beef it up with Porsche internals if I where you...

Cheers - Mark

[hilly]

It was a bank holiday here in the UK and to help out even more my girlfriend went off for 2 days over the weekend to visit friends so that meant loads of time to work on the Esprit

I got a call early on Saturday morning telling me my powder coated parts were done and ready for collection, this just gets better........

This means I can finally fit a load of bits back on the car

The radiator header tank was the first to get the treatment.

Next the oil cooler went back on.

Then onto the exhaust.

The exhaust will be supported by a pair of stainless steel straps which go around the silencers and then bolt up to carrier I made.

With the rear exhaust section off I could cut, bend and drill the straps and fit them.

Here is a picture of the rear section bolted up the carrier, with it off the car you get a better view of the crossover and the exhaust routing.

The carrier is a bit difficult to see in that photo, but that is what happens when you get stuff painted matt black.

Fitted back on the car the whole assembly is now much more rigid, so that is another job ticked off the list.

As you can see from the photo there isn't a lot of room left, but everything is now in there (except for possibly a gearbox oil cooler if I find I need one in the future) so that is not a problem.

Got a few other job done like finishing the wiring for the rad fans with some decent waterproof connectors, got the fuel tank sensor to work (I bent the arm the other way round) along with a couple of other minor wiring issues.

With that done I could then finally re-fit the dash and the rest of the interior panels which have been off the car for the best part of a year now, I was beginning to forget what it all looked like.

Here is an old pic of the interior from a couple of years back, I'll have to take a new one with the McLaren dash........

So what does all this mean......... the short answer is that I have actually been able to take it out on the road, Yippee!!!!!!

I haven't been far (just to the petrol station to fill it up and back) so I haven't even started tuning the fuel maps, but it actually goes quite well.

Initial thoughts so far are :-

The spring return of the gear lever from 1st/2nd back to 3rd/4th is still a little weak , an extra spring up by the gear lever should sort that.

I need to sort out the idle control as it tries to stall when braking, but other than that it is all good stuff.

The exhaust noise which was a concern of mine due to the limited size of the silencers is actually very quiet until you press on the load peddle and then livens right up which is just what I wanted, video of that will appear when I get the mapping sorted a bit as at the moment it backfires all over the place.

Phew!!!!

And after all that I also managed to find some time to sort out Danny's (Silverfrost) engine loom as it needs modification to connect up to the VEMS ECU I chose.

Take one Audi V8 engine loom, chop off all the unwanted stuff like auto gearbox bits, cruise control etc and this is what you are left with.......

The lom required a fair bit of fiddling with as the ignition drivers for the VEMS works in a differnt way to how Audi designed it so I had to re-route a bunch of stuff.

Anyway, get the connectors for the ECU and splice them onto the loom.

Then finish off by adding a load of loom tape to tidy the whole thing up.

That should help Danny get a bit closer to getting his car running

HAPPY DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hilly

[John V6]

Well done Sir, another good weekend !!!!!!!!!1

[Simon350S]

Fab stuff mate....

Glad its all finally coing togeather for you....

Can't wait to see & hear it in the flesh.....

Simon

[t70]

Man... Your skills amaze me again! The last bit of work you've done has been absolutely fabulous!!

[silverfrost]

Great progress Andy

The exhaust system and brackets you have made look well smart

and you even had time to do my loom

hurry up and get the beast mapped and on the road! i need a good vid posting

of it running and revving and accelerating off!

regards danny

[hilly]

Done a bit more on the car this week.

I had to take the speedo out of the dash to change the calibration switches to get it to display the correct speed. Just need to check it is right using my Tomtom One now.

Only been out once during the week so I haven't had much time to refine the ECU map, though it is a fair bit better than at first start up, hopefully I'll get a few more runs in this week, at which point I can take some more vids.

This weekend efforts were concentrated on re-fitting the engine panels.

The surround and rear boot floor went in without much drama.

However when I tried to get the cover on it wouldn't shut as some fool had thrown a great big V8 in the way.

There was nothing else for it, I'll have to get the saw out. 5 minutes later with the jigsaw switched on and the cover shuts

Only trouble now is that all the messy oily bits are visible through the back window, so the plan is to make up some molds out of alloy sheet and then glass in new extra bits of fibre.

Out with the saw again and after a while things are taking shape.

A few hours later a full set of panels are riveted in place.

Believe it or not, this took most of the day to get this far!!!!!!!

What I'll do next is turn the cover up side down, lay up glass fibre and when it has set I can then drill out the rivets, clean up what is left and then repaint the cover.

But this will have to wait a couple of weeks as I am off to Greece for a bit of windsurfing, so don't expect an update for a while.............

Hilly

[bigsi]

see now that would look the part in carbon fibre hilly

are you going to lose the audi symbols ? and keep the v8 and the 4.2 bits?

[hilly]

see now that would look the part in carbon fibre hilly

are you going to lose the audi symbols ? and keep the v8 and the 4.2 bits?

Simon

Hmmmmm, it would look good in CF, but that would be a shed load more work.

I would need to finish off the old cover as a master, make a new plug from that then make the CF cover, 3 times the effort.

So the answer is I am a lazy sod and it will just be done once then painted black.

Nope, Audi symbols are staying, it is an Audi engine after all.

Hilly

Edited September 1, 2007 by hilly

[silverfrost]

Andy,

Looking great mate Its looks a lot smarter all box in, hurry up and get

her mapped so i can watch the vids

Have a good one in greece regards danny

p.s i have had the jigsaw out myself this weekend will get you some pics when

the panel is complete and its not the engine bay....

[t70]

Such simple beauty!

[Michael Blue]

Ho-ly Je-sus!

I just found this thread...I must've been under a rock!

Hilly, you are simply a master of your craft and an inspiration to us all.

One day I'll be able to start on my project, and yours will always be the benchmark I will try to hold myself to.

...Not that I could even come close...But not being able to be Holy hasn't kept people from using Jesus as a benchmark, either.

Thank you for sharing your incredible project! I can't wait to see it completed!

~M

[hilly]

Ho-ly Je-sus!

I just found this thread...I must've been under a rock!

Hilly, you are simply a master of your craft and an inspiration to us all.

One day I'll be able to start on my project, and yours will always be the benchmark I will try to hold myself to.

...Not that I could even come close...But not being able to be Holy hasn't kept people from using Jesus as a benchmark, either.

Thank you for sharing your incredible project! I can't wait to see it completed!

~M

Thanks................. though you probably want to hold back with the "master" comments if you had seen some of the monumental cock-ups I have made while doing this conversion.

If you think I may be able to help answer any questions regarding your S1-LS1 project then drop me message, I'll do my best to come up with a sensible suggestion.

Hilly

[hilly]

Crikey!!!!!!

Go on holiday for a week and my conversion thread gets bumped almost off the first page of the Project & Restoration' Room...............

Had a chance to get on with a bit more on Saturday.

Now this weeks efforts are not V8 conversion related, but will certainly be of interest to a lot of S3 and Turbo Esprit owners with cars aged between 1981 and 1985 (pre front suspension re-design).

The above cars use front suspension components sourced from the BL pats bin, this was done to reduce costs by utilising compnents accross the Lotus range. So what these models have is suspension uprights from Triumph Herald Vitesse/GT6 cars with lotus lower/upper arms and hub.

Instead of using a ball joint for the lower suspension link like on the older and newer cars, Lotus were stuck with using trunnions.

A trunnion is basically just a threaded pin (part of the cast iron upright) which fit into a threaded socket (brass unit fitted to the lower suspension arm) as you can see in this picture.........

Now these trunnions have a whole load of undesirable issues

1) The suspension geometry changes as you turn the steering wheel as it is going up/down a thread (not much, but it does).

3) They need regular oiling (not grease as this can harden and cause the following problem)

2) They have a tendancey to snap off at the base of the thread which BAD news!!!!!

The threaded pin on the upright has a hole drilled up the middle of it to allow oil to be pumped into the joint via a grease nipple.

This drilling combined with material loss due to corrosion (remember the upright is made from cast iron so rusts) or poor maintenance can mean that the upright snaps causing complete loss of wheel control. Now I have yet to see this on an Esprit, but I have on a number of Triumphs and the results are not pretty.

As time goes by this is bound to start happening to Esprits and as they are a fair bit faster than a Herald, the damage will probably be worse........

This has been an issue I wanted to address since owning the car and after a long search for a solution, one has arrived.....

A company called Canley Classics have developed trunnionless front uprights.

You get a pair of complete new re-designed uprights which are a swap in replacement for the old ones.

The trunnion thread at the bottom has been replaced with a fitting for a rose joint and the whole area beefed up, plus no need for regular lubrication.

Here are the new uprights along side an old one.

And a close up of the new ball joint.

Comparing the old and new you can see there is a lot more material where it matters plus there is no hole drilled up the middle to weaken things.

It takes a couple of hours to fit each side, but it is all simple stuff.

Canley Classics sell 2 types and the Esprit uses the more beefy GT6 uprights (CATKIT1).

A pair of uprights come in at

Edited September 24, 2007 by hilly

[Esprit Aviation]

That is a fantastic conversion!! Anyone that has a Spitfire, GT-6, etc, should take advantage of them as well. I have seen some of the old design snap off @ tha last thread!! Can you imagine that happening in a high speed corner?!

Is there a place to mainstream the use of these in another part of the forum? Perhaps in the G-Room?

These could really be a life saver!

Regards, Lee

[giorgio67]

That is a fantastic conversion!! Anyone that has a Spitfire, GT-6, etc, should take advantage of them as well. I have seen some of the old design snap off @ tha last thread!! Can you imagine that happening in a high speed corner?!

Is there a place to mainstream the use of these in another part of the forum? Perhaps in the G-Room?

These could really be a life saver!

Regards, Lee

They look very good!!

Are the same used in the S2/ S2.2 Esprit or are good only for the early S3 model.

I'm very interesting to the conversion if they will fit my car.

Anyway, very good jobb

Ciao

[hilly]

They look very good!!

Are the same used in the S2/ S2.2 Esprit or are good only for the early S3 model.

I'm very interesting to the conversion if they will fit my car.

Anyway, very good jobb

Ciao

Unfortunatly they will only fit S3/Turbo Esprit from 1981-1985.

Not that it is a problem as the S1/S2/S2.2 use Opel front supension parts which do not have trunnions.

I'll post a seperte thread on this in the 'G'car tech room and the Wiki as well.

Hilly

[Günter]

just another part of english engineering history i have learned, wow!, cant believe that this was a save solution in the past...

But what is with the sealing of the new joint?

[hilly]

Getting in early this week with the update as I have had the week off work, so have been able to get on with some stuff.

I have got a pretty busy weekend coming up, so this is as far as I will get with the Esprit for the time being.

The MOT ran out while I was away on holiday so that needed doing.

And would you believe it........ it passed no problems, phew!!!

Next on the list was to sort the rear ride height as it had dropped about 10mm due to the extra weight of the ABZ, just a tweak of the rear coil overs spring seats, or so I thought.

One side was fine, but the drivers side had corroded up and wouldn't budge. The only answer was to take the bloody thing off and free it up.

With that done onto more interesting stuff, the engine covers.

The old air inlet hose had to move because there is now an extra bank of cylinder in the way and this meant that there was a whacking great big hole in the side of the engine surround that needed blanking off.

I considered this would be a good point to practice my glass fibre skills on before trying my hand at the top cover.

A mold surface was fitted to the surround (bit off a cornflake box) and gel coat applied, when this had started to set I added the surface tissue.

Slop on some epoxy and more matting and were are left with this.

That should do it, there are a couple of air bubbles in there but no big deal, the black Gel coat almost looks the part

I would call that a success, so onto the the top cover then, gulp......

I had to do a little more work on the mold to get it in a usable state.

First clean off the inside with a wire brush to get a good surface to bond to and then tape up the joints.

A 90

[bigsi]

see now i would love to spen a day or so and paint that up to a glass gloss black for you

[Simon350S]

Looks fab mate......

My house mate is giving me grief about all the Carbon Fibre cloth I have lying around the house and keeps pestering me to get started making bits for the car with it....!!!!

Neither of us have done any mouding or anything yet so I'm being a bit cautious at present as I dont want to waste it.....

Got 5m sq of 2x2 twill and 5m sq of two different types of carbon Kevlar mixed weave.... could make something pretty special looking with the stuff.....!!!! Just need to buy some glass fibre and resin now to have a play with...... any recomendations or are you using a standard poly resin...

The stuff I've got in my repair kit dries in about 15 mins so it wount be any use for propper work.....

Simon

Edited October 2, 2007 by Simon350S

[hilly]

Ta......

I am just using standard Poly at the moment, but I do fancy having a go at making a few CF bits when I get some free time (yeah!!! right!!!)

Trouble is with the CF is that you need decent molds to get a good finish and that can start to eat up time, plus you need somewhere to store them.

Hopefully I'll have the cover finished this weekend, so more photos.

Hilly

[Simon350S]

Can't wait mate...

You really are an inspiration....

Simon