The story of Little Red Riding Hood

[sailorbob]

On 08/01/2022 at 12:33, Jacques said:

May I also ask to the use of the 8 (10) bolts to crownwheel housing. Are they always renewed or can they be reused?

The bolts are listed as single use only. They appear to be similar to GM 'AA' self locking place bolts.

[Jacques]

So, I am right now building a new complete late type gearbox, stronger casings, bigger bolts, stronger special clutch, special flywheel, late type endcase and mec. with no translator, taller 5'th gear, Quaife lsd, late type gearmaster, exhaust bracket, cables, one piece primary shaft, higher 1'st and 2'nd gear, stronger metals and so on.

Only problem is that the gentleman who sold me a primary shaft kit is not a gentle as it would have seemed, as it's not the advertised Holloway kit, (which is Emco) but a Derek Bell/GTO/Quaife kit, which it taller 1'st and second still. Great kit, but not suitable for my my driving. It would suit a track car or a race car or a V8. I need the Holloway or the Emco kit. As I seem not to be able to advertise, I will do it here, and ask if anyone got a used or unused Emco or Holloway kit or willing to swap kit + eventually some payment, please give me a PM.

Till then, everything is on a halt, I'm afraid.

Kind regards,

Jacques

[Jacques]

Hmm, long time no see, hear or anything. But I am still alive and kicking. So, after having been nearly eaten by a BIG brown bear in the Carpathians two weeks ago, I am back in the mancave (my now tiny cold garage), and this Summer brought a complete belt change and all the usual service jobs. Runs soooo smooth and also pretty fast if need be. Thanks to Sparky as usual! Even the brake pads are now beginning tow work better, so only some 3 years to bed them in.

So, wanting to lighten the burden for Little Red Riding Hood, I have now been the the company with whom I left my V8 rear hatch and the carbon tailgate from the UK which was made some ... I think around 4 years ago. Since time flies and it's seriously hard to find someone who can undertake the job of finishing them, I have been in contact with these two guys over the last few years. Now it's about time in their long que, to do both tailgates. Yeah. Let's see how it turns out. Watch this space. Sshhh, don't tell Little Red Riding Hood - it's a secret.

Meanwhile, I am still looking for a US made gear kit, instead of my slightly higher geared UK made kit.

Cheers,

Jacques

[Erikl]

Thats great news Jacques.  I cant remember - will they make any of the engine hatch available on the market or is this a one off just for you?  One way or another I will make or buy a light weight engine cover some day.

Yeah I did the timing belt on my car last spring - I swear it runs better, smoother, makes more power.  I am sure its just the sub conscious knowing I have done everythign I can to keep the valves from meeting the pistons 🙂  

[Jacques]

Hmm Erik, I am not sure I understand what you are asking about: 1: a tailgate, or 2: an engine cover?

If it's the later, I can ask around for one more, as I want one too (in carbon fiber - see below).

So, mine is a tailgate in carbon fiber entirely. Seriously bad executed by it's British maker, and was 1 of a batch of 4 (or was it 3? I can't remember). I was told they would no longer make them, as it was too hard to make them well. It's split in places, twisted so it cannot be installed and close, and two halves are stuck together with some rubber glue of some sort and have a very bad finish. I spoke to a few companies, who all said the same: very very bad made and not fit for a street car, as it could either split in halves during driving, or fly off because of too little material in many important places, or wobble and make noise at high speed because of no structural integrity. Cannot recommend it at all, unless you are willing to make it finished yourself. But in all honesty, the two big multi ribbed vents are really nice made, apart from having holes drilled in them that shouldn't be there, argh... These will be mended too. But they look really good!

So, the job is to take it apart and make it structurally sound, strong enough and very good finish. Oh, and that will double the original price. Since I am already working some 50 hours per week, I don't have time for another jab. It will just have to take the time it needs.

Then, as it's a S4/S4s/SP300/GT3/V8 model, you also need the appropriate engine cover underneath this tailgate. I found an original one to renovate and make new finish on for now, but this will not be the final engine cover, but temporarily.

All this is needed to adopt the Sport300 engine braces and bridge. And for this to work, I will have to lift off the whole body complete. Oh well, some day when I find a place to take the car completely apart and reassemble.

It's super light, and will still be super light, once mended to work well and look well, which was the idea in the first place. I am not a sucker for carbon fiber as such, but would like it to lighten the car more. And more. And then add lightness. While not altering the car's look and function fundamentally.

I have asked around for a few years for a SP300 engine cover in carbon fiber, to no avail. Some day...

I am really looking forward to this maybe coming true this year or start of next year. Then off the the painter and voila, new lighter car. As they say in the movie: I feel the need, the need for speed   I'll post pics as it progresses.

No, it's definitely not just a mental impression or thought. It's very real. Drives really well. It's like the car knows and rewards you, the owner/driver, for having taken good care of it

By the way, I just became the owner of a nice Tyrell P34 six wheeler today. Came with the mail. I waited exactly 43 years for that, so hey, what's another year, as they once sang...

Kind regards,

Jacques

[Erikl]

Yes I am talking about the Tail Gate - I wont be running an engine cover going forward.

I understand now, this is one you had made some time ago and are now re-finishing.  

Yeah if you hear of one of its brothers available I would be interested in re-working it myself as you describe.

Looking forward to your progress!

 

 

[Jacques]

Yep.

Okay, I'll do that.

Cheers,

Jacques

[Escape]

Good to hear from you again Jacques!

Hope you got to enjoy Little Red Riding Hood this past summer. 😉

Filip

[Jacques]

Cheers Filip, I certainly did. It has been a dry but fantastic Summer here. Many trips in the car at a fair speed. Now, it's time to try to finish that tailgate story and hopefully get it painted and installed and lighten the burden for Little Red Riding Hood. I do have many other hobbies, and try to give some time for those as well. For example I am building my own highly sophisticated cd-player, or so it will be in the end.

Cheers,

Jacques

[MrDangerUS]

Hi Jacques,

(never say that when flying a commercial Airline! LOL.)

Could you write a couple words about your CF rear hatch project and associated weight savings?

Thanks

[Jacques]

Yup. Will do, but I haven't picked it up yet. So will have to look things over, when I get it home. Probably some more things to do, before I can finally get it on LIttle Red Riding Hood, so she can fly lower, or higher for that matter.

Cheers,

Jacques

[mike_sekinger]

For reference and comparison, I`ve had two cf rear decks:

- one based on the later S4s/V8 design with twin oval vents (weighted approx. 7Kg

- ex-GT1 version (weighs just over 3Kg)

As Jaques experienced already, there is a big trade of between overall weight and rigidity.  It will be very interesting to see how it works out in the end.

 

 

[Escape]

I got to feel the GT1 version (I think) when visiting Mike. It really is incredibly light! Such a difference to the standard SE one that is very heavy with the glass. But I do like the glass. Have been thinking of getting it replaced with Lexan or something to save a few kgs.

[Jacques]

Or a cf one with glass or even with lexan or perspex glass. Should be proper light. And if painted, one would not see any difference.

Mike is right on the mark weight wise. I'll make sure to weigh mine when I finally pick it up.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[Jacques]

John,

You got to explain me that commercial airplane thing?

In it's original state at delivery, if I would have floored it, surely someone flying a commercial airplane would have had to report a ufo in carbon fiber at a fairly high altitude, possibly even drifting around at 9-11 kilometers altitude (where butterflies sometimes are blown to other parts of the Earth)...

Cheers,

Jacques

[Sparky]

Hi Jacques = Hi Jack = Hijack!

[Jacques]

Forgive me my ignorance...

A blonde asks a brunette: "What does IDK mean"?

The brunette answers: "I don't know".

The blonde replies: "OMG, nobody knows".

 

Cheers,

Jacques

[MrDangerUS]

Hey, Jacques, any updates on the Red Riding Hood?

OR.. you're done modifying it?

In October, I started working on my 88 Esprit Frankenstein. I abandoned her in 2017 when I bought the s4s. Now, back to old  good friend.

 

Just to prove that it is possible, I started fitting a power steering rack to it. For a week, I researched many different marques/types and configurations, on the web. I even bought (and returned) 4 of them, the common problem was, that they were too "tall" and could not insert the past the "triangle" in the left side of the chassis. Finally, after taking power tubes and grinding the top "tower" sides, I could insert an original (1998 Firebird?) rack without cutting out the support beam (hypotenuse of the triangle).

Now, I'm working on developing an attachment brackets, because pre-93 chassis is different in this area. Attaching points are different all-together.

 

 

[Jacques]

What an interesting project, to say the least. I have no place do work on the car any more, so it's really just hibernating for the Winter. Will do more in the Spring or Summer.

I've been really busy this last year rebuilding my work's building, which was a huge task.

Last season was great. Not a lot of miles, but let's just call them "interesting" ones. That grip is gigantic.

So, while being Winter with lots of snow and minus only God knows how much, on and off, I've bought... a Land Rover. What an absolutely great idea. More precisely a Freelander 2 with a straight six petrol engine. Runs really nice and I'll be doing lots of work on it to bring it to a respectable state. That will be our traveling and Winter car. Or just hauling Esprit parts  Actually, I've been looking for a while, and settled on a Toyota 4Runner 1990 with very raised suspension, winch and really knobby tires. Or the Land Rover Freelander 2, 3,2Liter Straight Six, auto gearbox + sequential manual shift. Since I live in Denmark, and the authorities are against every single little mod on Planet Earth, and the 4Runner despite having a V6 3,0 liter petrol engine, it's really slow at 15 seconds to 100km/h and only 155 km/h at the top, I test drove both on and off road, and settled for the Land Rover. A better car I hope  It's British after all. It easily runs 200 km/h and 8,9 to 100 km/h. Consumption? Hmm... Who knows?  8 km/Liter on the Toyota at 85 km/h and 12,4 in the Land Rover at 120 km/h. No worries. Since there's a dog guard cage inside it and a dirty plaid, plus a horse sticker at the back, I am now home free from militant bicycling women, who throw stones after cars around these waters. I rest assured that our British members on here can attest to Land Rovers mechanical and electrical perfection. Sort of. When I bought the Esprit many years ago, every single person told me, it was a really stupid idea. Well, many years later, I can attest to Mr. May's experiences in Patagonia in an Esprit - so far utterly reliable, save a few pennies. So what could possibly go wrong in a Land Rover?

Gearbox project for Little Red Riding Hood in on the garage work table, and ready to be assembled. But as usual there is a little tiny minus: the better GTO primary axle, which in reality should have been an Emco one, slightly lowered geared. None for sale, and no money after the purchase of the Land Rover, so got to wait some more. It will come, some sunny day.

The tailgate in cf is still at the painter. Hmm.. I guess he stuck it somewhere and will be doing the remaining work during this Winter. I am starting to get pretty hyped on the fit and function, not to mention the looks and the weight.

On another subject, I will probably be redoing the interior of Little Red Riding Hood this coming Summer, time permitting. Needs it. I know that she'll be happy about it.

Meanwhile in the shed, I am working on some titanium bits and bobs for the Laverda motorcycle, that I have been wanting to do for a long time. Also probably bigger carbs. Do I need more power? No, probably not. Will it be fun? Sure.

Just last Sunday, I overheard a conversation between my Laverda motorcycle, my Corrado G60, my Lotus Esprit and my Land Rover. The Corrado said: "well, Sun's out today, I feel the need, the need for speed, so I'll go spin my G-lader". The Esprit answered: " Brrrr... are you unbraco-nuts? It's minus 11 deg. cel and 30 centimeters of snow outside and you have 4 centimeters from the front lip spoiler to the tarmac". The Laverda answered: "You are alla so crazi, just givee me some twisty backe roads...   ... in Sicilia". And the Land Rover just shouted: "Snow? Rocks, mud? Yeah! Bring it on!".

Such is life.

Happy New Year and peace to all.

Kind regards,

Jacques

[Escape]

Congrats Jacques, the Freelander 2 is a well sorted car. A huge leap from the first Freelander. I find them very nice to drive, though they lack the feeling of older Lander Rovers for me. I've only driven the 2.2 diesel, I'm sure the 6-pot petrol will be a a lot better still. And they are surprisingly capable off road, mainly thanks to excellent traction control. A mate joins us on occasions with his FL2, including pay&play sites. He doesn't shy away from the harder sections and usually amazes everyone by just driving through without much drama. 🙂

[Jacques]

Getting the carbon tailgate closer to installment after some 6 years of reworking and preparation. Possibly only a few months away from actually installing in onto Little Red Riding Hood. I must say, she's a very very patient car.

Cheers,

Jacques

[Erikl]

Wow - looks stunning - I am sure you posted this before but, how much weight are you saving?  Worth it on the cool factor alone. 

I have just started driving mine again after the X180R inspired roll cage build and install (took 8 months 😞 )

The LSD, Lightweight Flywheel and slightly stronger and lighter clutch is on its way from UK.

This fall I am going to start making a mold for a lightweight rear deck and sunroof inspired by you and Mike.

 

 

[Jacques]

Hi Erik,

The exact weight saving I cannot say for the moment, as it's now been extensively reworked, by taking it apart, as when I originally bought it, it was so bad made, that it couldn't be used - distorted, twisted, lack of structural integrity and fit and finish all over. Dangerous and not possible to actually put on the car, but that's old news. So, it's been through a few carbon specialists over the years, and now is perfect in shape and fitment, I hope.

It's also had the lacking details corrected, such as for example having built an underside for the "lid" - the protruding upper extension of the roof, which simply wasn't there. That has now been made in carbon fiber and built together with the existing upper part. For this, positive and negative forms ad to be made etc. A huge work in total. I've had countless visits and meetings with the company who have undertaken most of the work. For example a lot of thought have gone into for example which carbon fiber to use, the weave, and which materials to use for building it together again, reinforcements, infusion of other materials etc.

Further, the two main halves have been taken apart and placed in a special made gig, built for this purpose, and distorsion was measured to be more than 9 centimeters across... The halves were then corrected and put back together.

Next, the structural integrity were assessed. It was concluded, that during high speed driving, the whole tailgate would distort and possibly fly off. Now, by the use of computed as well as real life previous experience, the tailgate have been reinforced with special super light pieces and induced super light structural foam, so that it won't distort under various conditions. For example, the whole upper rear section would wobble in the wind as well as making strange sounds under high speed. No longer. The bolting on to the Esprit body is also looked at, to make sure it's strong enough. We'll see about that in real life. 

Then there's the fit and finish. Edges all around the tailgate, has been slightly modified, so that it can actually sit on the car. Finish is as you see the original color coded red, plus a few layers of a special clear coat, that won't turn yellowish during the process of layering more layers. It's been mixed with flexi-chemicals, so that it should be prevented developing stress cracks etc. with use. The underside is now being worked on, and I've asked that the edge is being painted matt black along the edge and other smaller areas. The main area of the underside is still visible carbon fiber in dark black. This is now also being clear coated in special heat treatment matt flexi-lacquer, so that the carbon fiber remains visible but very discretely. As I've done with the roof etc. I don't want a car screaming carbon fiber all over.

When it finally arrives home in a month or so, I'll need new stickers for it as per my original SE tailgate, new wiring loom for the new original Lotus heated rear window, new locking stays and new rubber seal.

Then I'll install it and make a decision regarding rear wing. Of course it's going to have a rear wing, and I'll NEVER be a member of the wingless society. it's just the choice between an SE tailgate mounted one, a higher V8 wing or a Sport300 rear wing, which I would like in carbon fiber   (it's actually heavy wings, all of them). That will take a looooong time to do.

So weight I cannot say, but for security reasons and for proper function, I's say it's a bit heavier, plus all the paint makes it heavier. But rest assured, that it's going to loose a LOT of kilos. The idea being, that it has to be proper made, secure for driving, not just exhibition,  and also importantly: look factory.

The air grilles I've also done, so that I have two sets, one in red and one set in carbon fiber but matt clear coated. The fastening of these have been altered, so that it's not based on sticky tape, but aligned holes and screws. The ones I bought with the carbon tailgate, as badly made and had holes in them, that simply shouldn't be there. That is also now corrected.

To me, It's also been increasingly difficult to actually handle the whole process, as I've no longer a big garage where I can work on and store all the things, including 3 tailgates. I work on the car on the street, and where to put 3 tailgates? Not in the living room, I can assure you. So I need to sell my original V8 tailgate that I also bought some years ago from Germany, and to my surprise was road damaged, despite the seller saying it was 100% okay, but it just goes to show, that sometimes one have to be carful regarding trusting other people. That tailgate has now also been completed and is 100% ready to be painted and installed on an Esprit, but since I won't be needing it anyway (probably), I'll advertise it for sale, and the buyer can pay me for having it prof painted in his or her favorite color. So only when the carbon one is 100% finished and ready to drive will be kept.

More later as it happens     Pricewise, it has become exorbitant expensive, and if I had known that in advance, I might not have ordered one in the first place. Just the repair of the original V8 tailgate that I am not going to use, was near 2000 USD, plus transportation etc.  But hey, who counts the last dollars? Nah, delete that, I'd do it all over again, but trying to add a LOT more pressure to the original maker and timeframe. It have taken nearly six years from the start of the planning, till' it will be finished. Little Red Riding Hood will turn out to be an expensive car, in my humble view.

A carbon front hood/bonnet? Yeah! Bring it on!

I would tell you that working in carbon fiber is not much more difficult than glass fiber, and the weight saving is huge in favor to the carbon fiber. Do that and do it once. And think about the structural integrity, as it won't really be helpful, having it crack and fly off in bits, during a track day. But by all means, do it!

I'd like to see some pics of your finished cage

 

"There can be only one!"   (tailgate)

Cheers,

Jacques