Hello lotusforums - Esprit V8

[swindon_alan]

Hi all, hope that you are doing well

 

I've recently bought a '96 Esprit V8 in Lotus metallic green, only 44k miles with full provenance, service history, receipts and so on.

 

I have wanted an Esprit since they were introduced in 1976 when I was in short trousers and now I have finally got one!

 

 

 

It is a fantastic car and completely gorgeous...except

 

I should have known not to take it out in the winter. Nine days in I was coming off a roundabout a few hundred yards from my house, driving carefully, hit a patch of ice, lost it completely. Went straight across the road, up a verge and demolished a two pole road sign. One of the poles was hit by the middle of the front end and went down flat, the other one grazed the driver's side. Luckily nobody was coming the other way or it could have been so much worse. No injuries, just a bit of shock. I drove the car back home pouring out coolant.

 

 

 

 

What sees like a long time later I have got a cash settlement from the insurers to repair it. It took a lot of effort to convince the company not to write it off, they employed an independent assessor in the end who described the car as "beautiful and must go back on the road".  A flexible insurance company? Well yes, in this case.

 

So I am now working with a classic car restoration specialist who has a lot of experience with fibreglass to get it sorted. I now understand how difficult spares for them are to get, particularly body panels. Lotus have destroyed the moulds apparently, surely it would have in someone's interest to take them off their hands and make some occasional money on replacements?

 

My mission is therefore to scour the Internet, the forums and the Lotus specialists to see what I can get hold of.

 

In the meantime, if anyone has any of the following knocking around surplus to requirements or can point me in the right direction I would be very grateful:

 

S4 front bumper

S4 V8 front spoiler

S4 RHS driver's door

S4 RHS sill cover

S4 rear bumper

 

If these are indeed like hen's teeth then the other option is to pay the labour to repair the damaged panels but that is going to be pretty expensive.

 

The windscreen took a whack at the bottom edges from the bonnet and is cracked, so will need a new one. Any suggestions on suppliers or pricing?

 

I need a coolant radiator as well, I see that Radtec do an aluminum one, does anybody have any experience of them? http://radtec.co.uk/products/536/Lotus-V8-Esprit.htm. Oh and anyone know what the fans were off? Fiesta Mk 2?

 

Target back on the road date: 30th April, parts permitting. Wish me luck!

 

Cheers

 

Alan

Edited March 10, 2015 by swindon_alan

[Bibs]

Welcome to TLF

[espritmania]

Hi,If you don't get any luck i have the front spoiler which fits the S4,s4s and ealry V8's .It is in azure blue and in vgc.Cheers Paul.

[The Pits]

Welcome to the forum. What a dreadful start to Lotus ownership after waiting for so long! Hope you can get the car fixed and put in all behind you in time to enjoy the summer.

[swindon_alan]

Hi,If you don't get any luck i have the front spoiler which fits the S4,s4s and ealry V8's .It is in azure blue and in vgc.Cheers Paul.

 

Cheers Paul, I might well be interested. Can you check it against the picture at the start of the the thread as I think that the V8 spoilers are different to the S4/S4S, in that the ducting is bigger and they have small aerofoils on the corners?

 

This one is on eBay but it doesn't look correct: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ESPRIT-GT3-S4s-FRONT-LOWER-SPOILER-/300390533160

 

Thanks in advance

[swindon_alan]

Cheers Paul, I might well be interested. Can you check it against the picture at the start of the the thread as I think that the V8 spoilers are different to the S4/S4S, in that the ducting is bigger and they have small aerofoils on the corners?

 

I think this is correct as the parts manual for the first V8s says:

 

"ESPRIT MODEL HISTORY ‘96 MY on

Esprit V8: May ‘96

Esprit V8; VIN: T 5009

As S4S with following principal changes:

...

New one piece road wheels and restyled front spoiler."

[espritmania]

Yep,same as SW Lotus But the mesh in the air vents are fitted.

[Andy Esprit SE]

Heres a front bumper

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221708647888&alt=web

Has this car hust had a new clutch, radiator fans and oil coolers before you bought it?

[swindon_alan]

Heres a front bumper

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221708647888&alt=web

Has this car hust had a new clutch, radiator fans and oil coolers before you bought it?

 

Thanks Andy, appreciated.

 

I'm a bit confused what model that is off though? The bumper looks ok but I can't place the spoiler? Does anybody know what it is from?

 

Yes, it had those replacements from the owner before the one I bought it off and it was up in your neck of the woods in Preston. Do you know the previous owner or saw it around?

Welcome to the forum. What a dreadful start to Lotus ownership after waiting for so long! Hope you can get the car fixed and put in all behind you in time to enjoy the summer.

 

Thanks very much Jonny and to everybody who has welcomed me.

 

I am beginning to understand Lotus ownership now! It's dedication...

[Andy Esprit SE]

Yes i know the previous owner, he was good with the tools and spent alot of time and money on that car, heres a blog he wrote

http://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-carpool/lotus-esprit-v8-turbo-ph-carpool/30656

Ive got some photos of my car parked with yours ill dig them out, im glad your going to repair it, mechanically it should be well sorted that car

[swindon_alan]

Thanks for the link Andy, yes it was Mark. He is an aircraft fitter by training so knew what he was doing and he did some great mechanical work on the car. So once the bodywork is done it really is going to be a great ride. Hopefully I will get a lot longer than nine days this time!

 

I look forward to the photos, the two together must have turned some heads

[CaptainBigleux]

Hello,

nice comfiguration of colors for an Esprit imho. Just OZ futura and would be perfect

 

Good luck for the repair

[swindon_alan]

Hello Captain, pleased to make your acquaintance and thanks for the best wishes.

 

Erm, yes the OZ wheels definitely look good, much racier, but I kinda like the AWIs. Isn't there a feeling about originality is better around the forum though?

[CaptainBigleux]

just noticed the plates ! very nice

[swindon_alan]

All parts now sorted. Thanks to everyone who helped!

[ramjet]

Welcome to TLF Alan.

 

Good to see you have the bits sorted and will get it back on the road. A friend of mine lost his esprit on a roundabout. Not sure where he is up to on the rebuild. Best of luck.

 

Any questions or issues with using the forums, feel free to ask one of us mods. We're here to help.

[swindon_alan]

Welcome to TLF Alan.

 

Good to see you have the bits sorted and will get it back on the road. A friend of mine lost his esprit on a roundabout. Not sure where he is up to on the rebuild. Best of luck.

 

Any questions or issues with using the forums, feel free to ask one of us mods. We're here to help.

 

Pleased to meet you ramjet!

 

Yes, I'm hoping it will be back on the road by the target date of 30th April. Ha, my car restorer is a car fanatic and mainly restores Aston Martins for a living. The Esprit V8 has always been one of his favourite cars and I think having mine in his shop has convinced him that he really does need one

So I have passed him the details of an ex-factory (until last year) very late Final Edition example that I know about. So tempting!

 

A question for you - and all Esprit owners come to that - about road conditions. I know that they have been raced in pretty bad conditions but I seem to hear a lot of stories about pretty frightening experiences in the wet, losing them on roundabouts and so on. Like I did big time. I can understand that in the dry with grippy tyres they are brilliant, but it crosses my mind that even with tyres the size of road rollers, perhaps because they are very light they don't have enough weight holding them down on the road when it is damp? Just conjecture really but I would like to hear other's experiences and thoughts.

[ramjet]

I ended up in a very big sideways position after a puddle on a two lane road. Needless to say, the speed limit had been surpassed. My friend with me shut his eyes as he thought it was all going to end badly. Maybe it was the track day I had just attended, maybe it was the car, maybe it was providence, but I am still here and so is my friend.

He said on the day, he did not know how I got the car back under control.

 

Needless to say, I have no issue with the car in wet conditions. I attempt to always drive within the conditions, so maybe I have never been adventurous enough.

[qwerty123]

The problem with losing it on the road is regaining it without sliding into anything. Reasonably straight forward on track but then one hasn't got traffic coming the other way or kerbs/lamp posts/trees!

Best thing I ever did was driver training (some at Hethel with Mr Donnelly which was excellent) and track days. Beauty of track days is that no matter the weather one can explore the limits and get some practice under/over steer in. In fact, I think I got more benefit from wet days as the speeds and wear and tear lower.

My 2p