S1 Project car - part 2 - the continuation

[Lotusfab]

The oil leak is now all sorted. The car went through an extensive check  with Tim at lakeside engineering. The only fault we found was slight play in the driveshafts. Thanks to Lotusbits they provided almost a door to door delivery service. I met them at Cobham services they were on the way to Brands Hatch and they handed me the driveshafts!  Of course I took my S1 to meet them, as I am looking for traffic jams these days as part of the testing and the M25 was happy to provide one! The three Kenlows handled the high temp by themselves. The bilge blower doesn’t seem to move the temperature gauge very much. I measured the temp inside the engine cover and it was 84 degrees above the carbs! The carbs themselves were much cooler because of the cold air scoop. The bilge blower brings the engine bay temp down quite a bit from 84 degrees when its turned on. The best policy I think is to have all of them on in traffic. The high temp didn’t give an running issues at all! Tomorrow I will replace the drive shafts if the originals come out of the bearings easily. If they don’t I will do them at a later date. The Lotusbits driveshafts come ready to fit and look very good quality. I must have done several hundred miles of testing and did a full engine tune today. The car is running really well!

First pass clean. Just a couple more to do and its as good as it gets for my S1.

 

[Lotusfab]

The driveshafts Lotusbits supplied have Hardy Spicer 163 UJs. I believe these are the original ones Lotus used and are no longer available. They must not be confused with inferior UJs.They look substantial compared with the ones I have in there.

Just a short bit about the rear wheel bearings. There is a lot of confusing info on here. They come apart when you remove the rear driveshafts because the U channel clip is held in by the driveshaft. When its pulled out there is a point the shaft no longer holds the clip, so it pings out and half the bearing  comes with it. There is no reason you cannot reassemble it provided the races and balls are in good condition, its clean and greased. You must ensure the U channel clip is inserted correctly. These bearings should last a very long time as they are way over specked for the task. Don’t loose the balls when they fall out! If you can’t find all of them buy a new bearing!

[Lotusfab]

Well thats about it for my overhaul, just a bit of cleaning to do. The car is driving very well and the tune up has made starting easy, first time on the key again! 
Now where to go?

[Fridge]

The Panoramica Cugnana, Sardinia.

[Lotusfab]

37 minutes ago, Fridge said:

The Panoramica Cugnana, Sardinia.

Its on my list after Cortina in the Turbo!

[JonSE]

Did I see you on the telly???

[Bibs]

 

[Lotusfab]

1 hour ago, JonSE said:

Did I see you on the telly???

Yep it was me! At last it has been proved a Lotus can drive  at 2.6 mph for 70 mins no issues! It drove there and back as well in the rain! What a fun day.

Parked at Horseguards before the drive.

Then a quick change!

[Lotusfab]

I don’t own the music rights. This is a glimpse of  what it was like driving the Esprit.

 

 

 

[Lotusfab]

I wasn’t allowed to say anything before the event , but all the work was to to prepare the car for the extreme driving conditions, 2.6 mph for 70 mins. It all worked perfectly even the drive of over an hour in heavy rain on the way home. Thanks to Andy on here who helped with the mechanical jobs and Jon who gave me some blower fan guidance. I think I will leave it installed as it all worked so well. Also thanks to Lotusbits who came up with a cam cover at short notice.

[Paul Coleman]

Glad to see you were 'keeping the British end up'

[obi-nu]

Fantastic stuff Fabian,

I missed your recent updates on this thread with the overhaul work you've been doing. Really useful info for us other S1 owners dealing with similar issues so thanks for continuing to share your experiences and knowledge!

You've done the marque proud and proved an S1 can be engineered to pass it's ultimate test!🙂

[Lotusfab]

https://www.cineworld.co.uk/films/the-spy-who-loved-me-bond-60-anniversary/ho00008665#/buy-tickets-by-film?for-movie=ho00008665&view-mode=list
 

60 th anniversary James Bond The Spy Who Loved me, currently showing in the surrey area! I will have to go as the last time I was 10 years old in 1977!

[deanb]

Fabian it would be absolutely tremendous if you could bring one - or both! - of your Esprits to Lotus in the Peak at Chatsworth in July.  The punters - we have 266 Lotuses booked on already - would go absolutely mad for it!

[Lotusfab]

On 18/06/2022 at 16:15, deanb said:

Fabian it would be absolutely tremendous if you could bring one - or both! - of your Esprits to Lotus in the Peak at Chatsworth in July.  The punters - we have 266 Lotuses booked on already - would go absolutely mad for it!

Hi Dean, I would like to come, but due to distance and work I don’t th8nk I can make it this time. 

Just had a great day at Brooklands. The S1 took first place in class, pride of ownership concours! I had a chance to exceed the speed limit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack Stone]

Congrats Fabian. That’s my former boss (and Flight International editor) Allan Winn inspecting your 907 unit in the pic. He (fondly) dubbed my Essex Blue Turbo Esprit a “Tupperware Speedboat”!

[Lotusfab]

25 minutes ago, Jack Stone said:

Congrats Fabian. That’s my former boss (and Flight International editor) Allan Winn inspecting your 907 unit in the pic. He (fondly) dubbed my Essex Blue Turbo Esprit a “Tupperware Speedboat”!

Thanks. Wow, I didn’t realise he was editor of flight! I used to spend all my time looking at the jobs section in there! All three judges were very fair and complementary! 

On 17/06/2022 at 21:01, Lotusfab said:

https://www.cineworld.co.uk/films/the-spy-who-loved-me-bond-60-anniversary/ho00008665#/buy-tickets-by-film?for-movie=ho00008665&view-mode=list
 

60 th anniversary James Bond The Spy Who Loved me, currently showing in the surrey area! I will have to go as the last time I was 10 years old in 1977!

Saw this yesterday, excellent on the big screen!

[deanb]

17 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Hi Dean, I would like to come, but due to distance and work I don’t th8nk I can make it this time. 

Just had a great day at Brooklands. The S1 took first place in class, pride of ownership concours! I had a chance to exceed the speed limit!

 

 

 

 

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That's a shame! It would have been great to see you and your James Bond cutout!

Well done for the award. Very well deserved.

[Lotusfab]

7 hours ago, deanb said:

That's a shame! It would have been great to see you and your James Bond cutout!

Well done for the award. Very well deserved.

Thanks Dean, I will try and make it next year. 

[Lotusfab]

Back to serious stuff. The rear wheel bearings on the S1 can be split apart, cleaned greased and reassembled if the races are ok. They probably will be as they are over engineered. There is a clip in the middle which comes off. You can then split the bearings and take all the balls out. This is preferable to buying new ones. The originals fit really well and have little play.I have almost finished replacing the nearside driveshaft and servicing the bearing. I held off on this until after the pageant, as sometimes these jobs are unpredictable. Should have it all torqued up tomorrow and then a test drive! Unfortunately, speed restricted unlike Brooklands! 

[deanb]

14 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by deanb

[Lotusfab]

Rear suspension

Both driveshafts now replaced with the heavy duty ones from Lotusbits. Offside rear bearing replaced with new old stock. Nearside perfect so a clean and grease was all that was needed. There are two things left to do that annoy me.
A light intermittent rattle  in the steering column, so I have a new column to fit over the next few days. The other thing is the sticky speedo needle. Most S1 s suffer from this issue. The plastic Veglia needles bend outwards over the years and rub on the clear perspex, stopping them from working. I heated the needles and bent them back eight years ago but now they are curved again! This time I will use spacers to move the perspex away. Then thats it until the next maintenance items appear. I am glad the Jubilee motivated me to go through everything on the car. Its now running extremely well and a pleasure to drive.

[Paul Coleman]

I spent ages taking the dials out of my car to bend the speedo needle and add spacers to the perspex and the speedo is now fine but the bloody rev counter needle is now sticking!

[Lotusfab]

Oh noooooo!

[omegaman]

Do they bend towards the screen because they are painted on one side and can't expand as much in the heat ? Would be interesting to paint the back and see if it stops it bending as much.