My Esprit V8 project

[silverfrost]

   Nice picture of the esprits stance, love the fat rear tyres   Will be intrested to see the effects of the Honda

    brake servo and how much improvement you gain.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Updates and progress will be a little slow on the Esprit due to building the V8 Scimitar.

Fitted the genuine AeroCatch locking latches today. Really nice quantity compared to the rip off china crap I installed. As you can see from the pic the genuine ones are a little smaller and the locks are smaller also, they have a nice spring action and a backing plate that holds the nuts for the mounting screws so installing is also much easier.

 

The crap I fitted are called “D1 Sanko” and labeled as if made in japan! Don’t buy them!

[silverfrost]

Rob

 

  The proper ones are pretty expensive, but they do the job, sadly like most things that are built in China are utter s///e regarding quality. I looked at using those on the black car but have now decided to hide the latches, and will open stuff from the inside.

  Are those s1 looking wing mirrors you purchased a while ago still on fleabay, have tried looking but cant them,can you remember what they were listed as ?

 

Hope you get a bit more time on this motor but balancing it with another project is hard, will keep an eye on your thread on the other site to see how the Scimitar is going from time to time.

 

Don't leave the lotus too long as they get jealous and start to play up

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Hi Dan,

Not seen the mirrors again on greedbay so maybe they sold out? I think I got lucky on them.......The Lotus will play up regardless! I need a fresh project just to keep me sane! Will still do bits on the Esprit as I doubt it will be never finished! I like getting stuck into big projects and fitting V8 engines is always a buzz. I also have the Lamborghini Gallardo rep on the back burner! You can never have too many projects.......

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Got some new ARP stainless carb studs in the post, going to replace the china junk Mr Gasket studs. Have a bit of a balancing act now with the V8 scimitar build also in progress. Never enough hours in the day to get everything done……..

[silverfrost]

See Rob,

 

  Your treating her so she does not get jealous of the Scimitar

[eddie lotus nj]

Good info on the latches, I almost bought the cheap d1 sankos also labeled as JDM racing on ebay. The aeroCatch are also available on ebay.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Photoshoot for RetroCars done and dusted.

Just a couple of pics I took on location at Bristol.

 

 

 

[CharlieCroker]

Just seen the one posted from Chris on instagram, looks stunning. Expect a bit of a wait before the feature is printed, I think they work on a 3-6 month lead time, I'm still waiting to hear for my feature, there's so many retro modified cars out there at the moment, they find it hard to keep up. 

[Barrykearley]

Photoshoot for RetroCars done and dusted.

Just a couple of pics I took on location at Bristol.

 

 

 

 

now that looks absolutely bitching ......

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Few pics found on facebook at Bristol Queens Square car meet, good selection of cars on show and the first time for me.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Just seen the one posted from Chris on instagram, looks stunning. Expect a bit of a wait before the feature is printed, I think they work on a 3-6 month lead time, I'm still waiting to hear for my feature, there's so many retro modified cars out there at the moment, they find it hard to keep up. 

Chris can make any car look good! yeah the waiting sucks but so chuffed its done! looking forward to seeing them both.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Esprit is now back in the Carcoon for winter, still unable to rent a local garage? all the hundreds of garages around me all full of junk being wasted makes me sick.........

[V8-ESPRITS3]

 

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Do you lay in bed dreaming of engine installs like me?

 

After driving around now in a Jaguar XJR for a few months as my daily I have become rather fond of the grunt of the Supercharged V8 engine and think it would be very nice with a manual box and in my Esprit!

 

Greedbay got me a cheap scrap Jag V8 engine to see if it fits………..

 

 

 

 

 

Very surprised at how much room I have spare! Fits inside the chassis rails with ease!

More room down the sides than what I had with the Rover lump?

Front is tight and to go with the supercharger will have to notch the bulkhead (map pocket area)

I can live with that!

 

Also picking up an Audi S8 4.2 V8 engine tonight so also have that option!

[silverfrost]

Very cool Rob,  Yes plenty of us dream about engine conversions , Still waiting to do an audi v10 but 6k for a used engine is a bit steep lol .

Jaguar engine looks fine in that bay, is the block alloy on those,One thing that would concern me though is that it is not just the supercharger that will cause dramas, the coolant pipes will stick out quite a bit too and then you have to take into account engine travel, my v8 went in with brand new rubber mounts and bolted down firm, you will be suprized how much the engine will move when you fit a v8 pretty close   Also those exhaust headers could be changed for ss in the future that would save a fair bit on weight. Plenty of surface area on the back of that engine to give room for your trans/engine adaptor plate.

Can not see from the pics did you get the audi 6 speed box ?  My choice all day long would be the audi 4.2 engine as it has been tried and tested and the audi conversions pack a lot of punch and bolts straight on to the audi box.  Major outlay will be the flywheel and ecu, however things have moved on since Hilly and myself and few others did them as you can get the stock ecu to run on them now.

Look forward to the updates on what ever engine you choose either way you are in for the long haul. 

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Thanks Dan,

Just got home with the engine it’s a 1998 D2 S8 (AHC) and it already has a brand new OEM Euro spec single mass flywheel fitted and clutch, also comes with loom and ECU. 

I will be going ahead with the Audi V8, already have the Audi 01e transaxle so going to try and get it running with the Audi ECU.

Can not believe how compact these engines are! The Jag engine was just a curious see if it fits kind of thing and is a possible fit, but I think the Audi S8 is what I will be going with.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

7 hours ago, silverfrost said:

Very cool Rob,  Yes plenty of us dream about engine conversions , Still waiting to do an audi v10 but 6k for a used engine is a bit steep lol .

Jaguar engine looks fine in that bay, is the block alloy on those,One thing that would concern me though is that it is not just the supercharger that will cause dramas, the coolant pipes will stick out quite a bit too and then you have to take into account engine travel, my v8 went in with brand new rubber mounts and bolted down firm, you will be suprized how much the engine will move when you fit a v8 pretty close   Also those exhaust headers could be changed for ss in the future that would save a fair bit on weight. Plenty of surface area on the back of that engine to give room for your trans/engine adaptor plate.

Can not see from the pics did you get the audi 6 speed box ?  My choice all day long would be the audi 4.2 engine as it has been tried and tested and the audi conversions pack a lot of punch and bolts straight on to the audi box.  Major outlay will be the flywheel and ecu, however things have moved on since Hilly and myself and few others did them as you can get the stock ecu to run on them now.

Look forward to the updates on what ever engine you choose either way you are in for the long haul. 

yeah the blocks alloy, I have also been looking at the V10 engine! agree way too much money at the moment. 

[silverfrost]

Your extremely lucky to get the audi engine with the euro spec flywheel already fitted, rare as hens teeth and you can no longer source from audi. The 01e is a good find also, I used it in my first build as the steel bearing housing provides a lot more protection, also pretty rare now as a lot of mid engine kit car users want them rather than fork out for porsche g50 boxes as they can handle plenty of torque. 01x is still good though  for a little more than standard power. 

You just now need to chop off that sump and get it thrown in that engine bay, I would also order the oil cooler adapter plate from 034 as it saves a lot of hassle of drilling and tapping the block for the new oil unions and saves potential oil leaks and it also keeps the same oem audi oil cooler seal which is a bonus. 

[Rolls]

11 hours ago, silverfrost said:

Very cool Rob,  Yes plenty of us dream about engine conversions , Still waiting to do an audi v10 but 6k for a used engine is a bit steep lol .

 

I don't think its steep when compared to the cost of a rebuild! I've just had a 907 rebuild quote - about $15k for a 160hp engine (some durability and torque internal mods)! I did ask about a 200bhp upgrade and he was highly concerned that the end product would not have enough torque and wouldn't be as pleasant to drive. 

If i could find a near bolt in solution with double the grunt (and efi reliability) it would be very tempting (keep the original engine in storage) I have done this to an early 901 and it has totally transformed the drive-ability and enjoyment of the car and i absolutely love it. 

I am worried that at 160bhp vehicle may not last long in my possession after i finish the resto. 

Edited September 8, 2016 by Rolls

[silverfrost]

Hi Roland,  6k is just for the engine lol, you have to add to this everything else including lots of custom fabrication and plenty of trial and error.  Sadly no such thing as a near bolt in sollution which would be nice, but the audi engine requires no chassis changes or body mods so all the audi v8 esprit changes can be put back to standard very easily if you wanted too. 

As tempting as it may be Roland i would leave your car stock S2 are lovely, If you wanted a converted car its cheaper to buy one already converted to honest as most people want factory standard ones these days. I kind of miss tinkering around with the lotus 16v 4 pot. And may put one back in one of my esprits 

[silverfrost]

Just had a look back Rob at some of your alterations to the radiator on the front of your car, You will no doubt have to alter the location and angle due to the cooling atributes of the audi v8.  I say this because when driving my car in summer or winter it gets a little hotter than normal static, this is because the audi v8 water pump is not designed to pump the amount of coolant that the lotus holds due to the mid engine location.  As the pump is on the cambelt assembly this cant be altered.  So on idle the coolant circulation is not as the audi engine was designed to run, but it does not overheat. 

However when i pull off and drive the car the coolant temprature drops rapidly and im talking seconds due to the increased rpm hence the pump is going faster and aided by the the larger radiator. This is where you will have a problem with your current layout as the audi engine needs the air forced into the radiator more so in the audi conversion or you will cook head gaskets quickly. 

[V8-ESPRITS3]

On 5/24/2017 at 15:59, Buddsy said:

Did you ever get the jag engine in?

 

buddsy

Wow been a long time since I was on here! no going with the tried and tested Audi V8. The esprit is in bits and untouched for quite some time I hope to start work on it again soon.

Have some big changes planned also with the chassis and suspension setup. 

Shame Photofukit has gone crazy and greedy and destroyed many peoples build threads.

[silverfrost]

Glad to see you are still about Rob and that the build is still going ahead   Will be intrested to see what you do with the suspension... are you going back to just adjustable suspension ad ditching the air ride ?   Also what are the plans for the chassis, this is the only bit that concerns me as there is no going back after this point and it was pretty well designed from when it left Hethal imo.......    The only thing i added to one of mine was some extra support bars for the front clam but that was as far as i was willing to go.   If you are looking at widening the car, use the later stevens esprit hubs rather than widen the chassis to suit 

 

[V8-ESPRITS3]

The problem I have is with the air ride and the original suspension location points, when I lower the car a lot the suspension is at awkward angles way too much negative camber and restricts the amount I can lower it. Also the tyres touch the arches which also stop it going lower. I am looking into possible cutting the whole frame ends off and welding them back on higher up or maybe a whole new space frame chassis being made. This would be done by a Professional welder. I am also planning to have the rear flip (clam) like the F40 getting tired of climbing over the back to work on the car! May even do the front flip clam also.

anyone know who owns this esprit? really like the nice wider arches