My Esprit V8 project

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Nothing like getting your priorities in order, 100 jobs to fix! Oooo lets get some new mirrors! 101 jobs to do…….

 

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Random pic of my rear e-level sensor.

 

[markt]

Those mirrors are quite nice - where did you source them?

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Greedbay

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201361580778?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Nice new shiny header tank

The advantage of breaking two Jaguar XJR’S and a Ford Transit, lots of good quality heatsheild, multi layer and very light. Cuts easy with kitchen scissors (but don’t let the wife see you!) and it bends to any shape with ease. You could always get some from a car breakers, I have often seen it left on body shells and it’s easy to remove just a few clips.

Have you seen how much this stuff costs new! Crazy money!

In full swing again cracking on with the car.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Thought I would add a spec list to what’s been done.

 

Engine spec:

 

TVR V8 4.5 built by V8 Developments.

Originally a (Rover) 4.3 BV from a TVR Griffith

 

Fully balanced fitted with forged Cosworth pistons 93.5mm bore (PM0209) & HRC1037 rods. Cross drilled & balanced HRC1400 iceberg crank 80mm stroke. High volume oil pump. Stage 3 big valve heads, stainless steel 42.8mm inlet & 36.8mm exhaust valves, fully ported and gas flowed. Uprated valve springs (VSSV8). Piper steel vernier timing chain set, Piper BP270 camshaft, Rhoades anti pump lifters, John Eales billet rocker posts & head stud kit. Edelbrock performance inlet manifold fully ported and gas flowed to match heads. Edelbrock performance 1404 (500cfm) 4 barrel Weber carburetor, K&N turbo plenum with large K&N cone filter. Mallory performance billet distributor with electronic ignition, Mallory pro 8mm plug leads & Mallory high output coil. TVR big bore exhaust manifolds reversed, twin 3” bore bespoke made stainless steel exhaust system, lightened race steel fly wheel ARP bolts & uprated clutch. Rover SD1 sump, Esprit developments engine conversion kit alloy bell housing adaptor and custom input shaft. Custom made mounts and turbo rubbers

 

setup on engine dyno

Power: 289 bhp @ 5500 rpm

Torque: 300 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm

 

Suspension

Front hubs modified to 5x112 PCD & 66.6 centre bore. Canley Classics forged front uprights (trunnion free). Gaz gold racing adjustable front alloy coilovers, Universal air aero sport bags. Front top and bottom suspension arms modified (also boxed welded), uprated poly bushes. Rear hubs also modified to 5x112 PCD & 66.6 centre bore. Protech rear alloy coilovers, Universal air aero sport bags. Accuair e-level system, fully remote with AU4. Air Zenith OB2 compressor, Dakota digital quad air pressure & tank gauge kit, Twin seamless alloy 3 gallon air tanks.

 

Brakes

Front Audi 100\200 314x30mm X-drilled vented discs, custom fitted to rear of hubs.

Porsche 996 Brembo 4 pot alloy calipers, fitted with bespoke billet mounts.

Rear Mondeo discs 280x12mm X-drilled and slotted, custom fitted to rear shafts.

Esprit rear calipers, carriers modified to take larger discs. Stainless braided hoses.

 

Wheels & Tyres

Super Star 3 piece splitrims (made in japan)

Front:8J x 17 +25 offset, Yokoharma parada spec 2 205/40/17 ZR Tyres.

Rear: 11.5J x 17 +20 offset (were 9J but modified with image wheels 5 inch outer lips)

BF Goodridge Comp TA 315/35/17 ZR Tyres.

 

Transaxle

Stock Esprit Citoren SM 5 speed

Redline MT-90 oil full 3ltrs, fairy dust and fingers crossed!

(yes I know its on borrowed time!)

 

Interior

Stock teddy bear cloth (refreshed with black dye), Nardi Personal 350mm steering wheel,

MX5 suede gearstick gator, leather Lotus g/knob, Stack wideband lambda gauge, Dakota digital air pressure gauge, SJ Sportscars black carpet set, Accuair Switchspeed controller.

 

Body

Side scoops (ears) widened & modified to be quad intakes, Rear hatch locked ajar\open with flush locking bonnet pins. Modified front air intake & revised radiator location. Rear bumper X-drilled to improve air flow output, Rear engine bay floor removed & engine bay bulkhead modified. Extra space frame chassis brace fitted with alloy heatshielding.

 

Cooling

Sierra Cosworth 60mm core alloy rad, Twin electric 12” fans rear mounted (pulling)

Davies Craig EWP 80 pump and controller, Extra booster pump fitted at rear.

Mocal Remote oil filter and oil cooler rad, Alloy header tank and swirlpot.

 

Still lots of work in progress and improvements needed.

[V8-ESPRITS3]

The old White shitter got a lot of interest at the Classics at the Castle july 19th

What’s that another Rover V8! You find them everywhere and why not! They sound great!

This one is fitted in the John Player Team Lotus Muir Hill f5000.

Poke in the eye for all those who bashed me for fitting one in my esprit!

Also have found out one is fitted in a VX220 excellent!

[Wilf]

There is probably very little that has not had a rover v8 fitted to it

http://www.v8church.co.uk/your_cars/

[V8-ESPRITS3]

I have decided to up rate the water pump, the Davies Craig EWP80 pump that I had installed just didn’t seem up to the job of keeping the V8 cool? This is the last thing to try now and hope to put an end to the over heating issues. The black pump is the EWP80 and is rated at 80 litres a minute, the alloy turbo looking pump is the EWP150 and yes it’s rated at 150 litres a minute! I plan to just use the EWP150 at first and see how it works out? And may even install the EWP80 as well and use it as a booster pump. The EWP80 is supposed to be able to cool a 5.0 V8 and if the engine is in the front of the car and has nice air flow through the front aiding it then maybe it can? But mid engine cars with all the air and water flow compromises? Any one thinking of getting a new EWP? Demon tweeks are doing a £80 saving on these when brought with the controller on greedbay at the moment.

 

My next build is a Reliant Scimitar SE5, it was free and I have always fancied having one so I can now at least scratch that itch! I did plan on doing another Esprit but the days of finding a project at sensible money are long gone! Shame…….had a really wild project in mind.

[silverfrost]

    Hi Rob

 

              Great conversion and very cool idea with the air ride,  the wheels look great and the whole car infact.

               Good find on the greedbay mirrors think I will have to bag some of those for the track car.!

,

 

              Your overheating problem should not be that bad as I run the v8 in mine and it uses a n/a tailgate,

               did you upgrade the radiator to triple core and fit three fans? Also not sure what the rover v8 engine

               layout is as I have never played with them, well one just head gaskets on range rover but many moons ago!

               Can you fit an additional pump for the head coolant circulation?

 

              Sorry to see you could not find another old esprit but as you say the supply is drying up for wrecks and

               people are asking more than realistic money these days

 

               But on a good note if you found a free car and its what you have always wanted that a fab deal to

               start with

 

               Would be intrested to see what you had planned for another esprit. But the bad thing with 2 esprits

               is you always seem to be neglecting one when building or working on the other ! I am neglecting

                both at the moment   having taken the interior out of the v8 for a retrim and not got round to finishing it yet ,

                nothing more ugly than an esprit with no interior

 

 

               Hope you get the cooling issue sorted soon

 

                Regards Danny

Edited August 8, 2015 by silverfrost

[CharlieCroker]

These projects are never easy and I raise my hat to anyone that attempts to work on these cars let alone modify one to the extent that you have. The overall look of this esprit is killer in my opinion and you simply must see this through and get the reliability up a notch so you can use it more often. Stick with it, I know how hard it can be at times but believe me once you've cracked it you'll feel so great that you'll be doing the 'feeling epic' dance!

[V8-ESPRITS3]

thanks Guys, I think my biggest problem was doing too much all in one go and never really finishing any thing 100%. It then gets overwhelming with the amount of things to finish! and then you think its done only to get kicked down again with some thing else needing work, its coming together now and it is a real buzz driving it! Its not nice to drive, its horrible in fact compared to newer cars but I just don't care? its all about how it looks and sounds and I have built it how I see it should be, when its parked at work the amount of constant people looking at it and taking pictures is incredible? and that also is a great buzz knowing its mine and want I have made into. 

 

Dan its been a while? nice to see you back. The rad is a brand new 60mm alloy core Cosworth item, and using 2 large fans. (details and pics are in the thread) I also did use a booster pump to help aid the other pump and for boosting the heater matrix system.

 

The last thing you try is usually the fix! getting to the point of trying the last thing is never easy!

[silverfrost]

  Hi Rob

 

            Like you said its all about ironing out the glitches and that takes time, everybody who has spannered on projects 

             likes these knows exactly where you are coming from about been proud of your achievements              Yes been a while but had a divorce to sort a few years ago and when everything turns into money values

               and the things you own like old cars,projects that where once called rubbish by the x all of a sudden they value them

               at stupid amounts sort of took the fun out of my car collection,

 

              Bought a new house and spent a long time getting it how I wanted it !  spend most of my time now with my partner

              in the land of the rising sun so still cant touch my cars even though I would love to get the spanners out

 

             Regards Danny

[Barrykearley]

Get in Danny - you are now clearly on the other side.

It's not cars or projects that are the problem..... It's women!!'

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Dan,

glad you have your life back on track, shame about not working on the cars must be nearly as painful as divorce! I know done that as well very messy!

 

just starting a ratrod scimitar project if any ones interested link to RR website

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/181428/shocking-slammed-reliant-scimitar-project

[silverfrost]

   Hi Howard

 

               Don't think it looks to bad for free, think your nightmare will be the suspension though, looks the same as my

                basket case project after 20yrs in a field, plenty of cut knuckles for you me thinks cracking of those nuts

               and bolts

 

               Nice of one of the guys to photo shop the car lowered gives a good idea of how the car will look and to be

               fair it looks pretty cool and think you will end with a nice looking retro ride

 

               Will keep an eye on this one,  good luck and enjoy

 

               Regards Danny

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Trial and error yet again………..Oh what fun!

 

 

New pump still has not cured overheating! So have had another rethink and decided to mount it as close to original location as possible, I think having the pump close to the rad was pulling the water to quickly away and not having chance for the rad to dissipate the heat? As some have already suggested. The hotter it got the faster the pump would work which was making things worse! I had to cut some more bodywork away to gain enough room to fit it. It’s also a real sod to get at, Aaaah! the joys on modifying cars….

[CharlieCroker]

Just read this on the RR forum. What kind of driving are you doing when testing? Is it getting ridiculously hot or are you driving in traffic which gives you the impression that it is overheating drastically? I mean my elite is fine, sits in and around 90d when driving along long stretches of road but the second you hit traffic the temp gauge will rise into the 100s? What temperatures are you getting?

[silverfrost]

 Hi Rob,

 

   Sorry to hear you are still having dramas with the overheating

 

   As Charlie said above what are the overheating problems it would help to describe them.....

 

   1.  Is the problem while static or when just normal driving or high speed driving ?

 

   2.  How is the overheating shown are we just talking high guage reading or boiling over on the expansion tank ?

 

   3. If its the first i.e your just going off the guage have you tried an infa red gun guage it can put your mind at rest

       and gives you real data on all components on the car i.e pipes, rad different areas etc and can be a fantastic

       tool, I swear by them !

 

  4. Does the temperature rise gradually and fail to reach a level plane, have you tried one of those headgasket

       check kits once again don't rule it out.

 

 5. Your radiator assembly does not look the best layout as it looks as if air will pass it by as air always takes the

      easiest route.

 

 6. Personally not a big fan of electric pumps as I always think that you just cant beat engine speed rpm  to water flow

     mechanical pump, I know the problem with the rover pump as my basket at one time had a rover v8 and the

     person who fitted it chopped the round chassis bars and relocated them, which I still have to undo

 

7. The only problem I ever had cooling wise with my audi v8 was normal driving as the waterpump is on the cambelt

     assembly, static traffic was great, normal driving used to run a little hotter than normal, give it some beans

     and the engine would cool extremely quicky, Basically as the audi pump was not designed to circulate all that

     extra coolant.

 

 8.  Also have you tried additives that help coolant, have never used these before but some people swear by them.

 

9.  Like I said if you can describe the overheating issues in detail I am sure we can all get to the bottom of this. 

 

Also any chance of some drawings or pics of your pipework layout expansion setup etc.

 

Regards Danny

[V8-ESPRITS3]

Problems:

Could drive for around 5 miles before temp goes over 95% then would slowly get to around 100% and start to boil over (would stop before this happens and let cool down)

Temp goes to 90% when driving but when stopped in traffic would go to 95% and higher.

Sometimes it has worked better and sometimes worse? Depends on ambient temp of the day, drive it in the evenings when it’s cooler and stays cooler for longer? Drive it in a hot day when lots of traffic and its going to boil over! Has gone from 90% down to 80% when Fans kicked in but not always? Never consistent other than its going to get too hot!

Capillary temp reads a little lower than the smiths electronic. Have tested for head gasket failure with the sniffer test (blue fluid vacuum tester)

 

 

Current setup as finished today with new pump fitted next to engine. Not road tested yet but ran it up to 90% standing on driveway fans kicked in and temp never got higher, but never got colder either?

 

Main water ways 32mm bore.

Header tank cold feed to rad 16mm

Header tank hot inlet/return 10mm, may restrict this to a smaller size.

Filled with Halfords advanced anti-freeze concentrated, 7-8 litres with around 2-3 litres of water.

[silverfrost]

  Hi Rob,

 

            Sounds hot !  

 

     Right well head gaskets checked and passed then so we can potentially rule that out

 

     Sort of Lucky really that its shows signs of getting to warm been static and short running time

     as this saves the drama of intermitant overheating.

 

    A few things jump out while looking  at your diagram of your cooling system layout.

 

  1.  The inlet/ return from the top of the coolant header tank, I kept the standard lotus alloy

    pipe not only to keep the fan switch but the layout also, think you should plumb this into

    the pipework the same as the lotus layout. 

 

    Also the where the feed comes of the engine does not look right to me ? i.e on the

     engine ? but without seeing the rover engine layout its hard to tell.

 

 2. The feed from the bottom of the header tank, looking at your diagram it feeds all the

     way to the front of the car ?  On the original engine this just connects to the bottom

     of the water pump if my memory serves me correctly, so cant see why you would

      make the feed so long ?

 

 3. At the front of the car i.e from the two alloy chassis channel coolant pipes after those

     what size pipe do you use to the radiator, do you still have the lotus alloy pipes as

     I think they reduce in size ?

 

4. If you run the car up static on the drive, let it warm up, and feel all the main coolant

    pipes especially the radiator pipes do they feel pressurized I.e can you sqeeze then

    or do they feel solid ?

 

5. Personally would ditch the swirl pot.

 

6. Think expansion tank is a must,

 

I personally feel that it will be your pipework layout as something seems odd about it but not been

  able to see it and check it in the flesh makes it hard.

 

It sounds more like a flow resctriction problem but that's just stabbing in the dark.

 

Probably worth ditching the Halfords for the minute and use water with a cheap ethylene gycol coolant

 while you are playing around with the cooling, not sure what that Halfords stuff is anyway never

 seen it but 3 litres of water to the coolant ratio sounds low.  cant remember what the esprit holds but

  its a lot !

 

Also how is the car heater is it working ?

 

One more question before I forget, the electronic water pump temp sensor, where did you install that, I only

 ask as in one of your pictures you have an external sensor fitted on the manifold ?

 

 Regards Danny

[Elite 4.9]

Over heating solutions are many.

 

Synthetic oil is one of them. Less friction, more power, less heat and emissions. They cost more but in the long run pay for themselves in fuel mileage alone as well as way better protection and they don't turn into a solid like conventional oils do at high temps, floating all that carbon around inside your engine wearing it out faster.

The one I use:

 http://www.royalpurple.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=rpgeneralbranded&gclid=CIG-vc70rscCFUNhfgodA6gKLA

 

A "Systems 1" oil filter is another very effective solution.

This aluminum housed stainless steel filter is very high tech and cools the engine almost as much as the radiator according to the manufacture. And because you can take it apart at any time, one can check the internal condition of the engine to see if any foreign parts are coming loose and floating around the engine. Easy to clean and put back together without any further costs. It also traps smaller particles ( 30 microns ) so your oil stays cleaner longer.

http://www.system1filters.com/oilfilters.htm

 

I have both on my conversion as well as an enlarged radiator ( 4 core, 4 gallon ) double the size of the original.

 

Bigger rad fans also a must with a separate remote dash switch besides an internal thermostat which also can be lowered (lower temp to open ) to help. If you didn't enlarge the radiator, it may be the fix you need to do first as it will make a huge difference. 

 

You are producing way more power, thus more heat so you can easily see, there is a need to get rid of the excess heat.

 

By the way, nice conversion and who needs to have a high revving engine? What a true sports car needs is ample power and at a low rpm especially for the street. Other wise, what is the use for all the upgrades in performance with the exception of power. Might as well just be a poser car to look good in and not for high performance.

 

Just look at what Lotus finely did fitting a V8 from the factory so they were aware of the shortcomings of the 4 banger ( even turbo charged ) that IMHO should have never been put in a modern Lotus of this size. 

 

 

Richard

[CharlieCroker]

Sorry Rob, need to ask a question regarding the synthetic oil. If it does in effect aid engine cooling then this is something that would interest me in the 907, does anyone run a synthetic oil in their 907 and if so what preparation do you have to make before a change, or is it simply not recommended?

[Elite 4.9]

your engine doesn't know if you are using synthetic or petroleum oil but if you want the best protection and all the other benefits, synthetic is the only way to go. Far superior in every way and it will  lower your operating temp. 

[Elite 4.9]

The only time not to use synthetic oil is, if your engine has a lot of miles on it as then, the super detergent oil (synthetic oil ) will clean all of the gunk out of your engine and more than likely plug up your filter. So if you decide to put it in, then at about 100 miles, change out the filter with a fresh one. It also might loosen up some of the tolerances that were heavy laden with sludge thus making your engine a little noisier. 

This is another reason to use synthetic oil as it keeps everything much cleaner inside your engine reducing the sludge and carbon build up dramatically.  

 

Been using synthetic oil in all my engines including lawn mowers and small engines unrelated to autos for decades. Increases the life of the engine every time besides reducing friction and emissions while increasing power and mileage and longevity of the engine.

Whats there not to like? 

 

If you aren't using it then it's time to make the change. Most all new cars come from the factory with synthetic oil these days just to get that last mpg increase.

 

no one drives a model T any more except for parades.

Not sure why anyone would not use it unless they simply don't care about all the benefits.

 

atb

Richard