The Engine

[Drfatz]

Last night I removed the engine and gearbox from the Esprit SE. The question now is what should I do to the engine? I have no real idea of the history of the engine other then that the car has an indicated 33,000 miles on it. The oil looked okay and I will be doing a leak down check, but since the engine is out of the car and will be for many months I thought it would be a good time to possibly rebuild it. At the least I was going to get the head and deck milled level as well as the head cleaned up and the valves reset. Though I am not sure what I should do with the block. Should I change bearings, seals etc. I assume as with everything on this car, it will cost a lot of money. Thoughts?

P.S. I will be starting a post later tonight (and by tonight I mean whenever I get around to it) devoted to the project with updates and pictures for all to enjoy! B)

Edited December 20, 2006 by Drfatz

[Kato]

All depends on your budget. Rebuild using all new parts if you can afford it. But that will be quite a bit of cash. Best bet is to strip the engine down and see what parts are worn and need replacing. Piston, liners, valves and bearings could all need replacing, or not!

Would this be a DIY or are you going to get someone to do it for you. If it's DIY, then you should be able to decide for yourself once it's stripped down.

[Drfatz]

All depends on your budget. Rebuild using all new parts if you can afford it. But that will be quite a bit of cash. Best bet is to strip the engine down and see what parts are worn and need replacing. Piston, liners, valves and bearings could all need replacing, or not!

Would this be a DIY or are you going to get someone to do it for you. If it's DIY, then you should be able to decide for yourself once it's stripped down.

This is going to be a DIY all the way! Are there any common problems and/or things that usually wear out quickly on these engines?

[Jonathan]

Travis recently done his - brilliant pictures on his site :

http://www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/

If the engine's been looked after and not mullered I wouldn't have thought 33,000 miles would have done a lot to it. Depends on your time and finances - I know a lot of pushed SE turbos running into the 90,000 mile marks without major work (considering the engine BHP/litre thats pretty good going).

Perhaps Travis will pitch in with his experiences as well.

Mine's done 90,000 and only had the valve sets replaced by the P/O at 80,000 miles. It seems to run as nicely as my 34,000 mile (and half its age) GT3 but it has been properly serviced up until the last few years before I got it.

Remember the picking wallpaper effect - once you start taking bits off you can end up doing the lot for the sake of it

[Drfatz]

Remember the picking wallpaper effect - once you start taking bits off you can end up doing the lot for the sake of it

B) I will probably just port the head and check out the valves. I am hoping the pistons/rings/sleeves are okay seeing as they will pretty much break the bank if they are bad. The the absolute least she is getting all new belts

[lince]

I would recommend you to open the engine and decide, My car had 18.000 miles and we decided to check it because of low oil pressure even a low mileage car not cared for can be very bad for the engine, in my case I think they didn't use synthetic oil always and when they used it they used the wrong one. Also take advantage of the lotus prices on the piston and liners I think it

[Artie]

Last night I removed the engine and gearbox from the Esprit SE. The question now is what should I do to the engine? I have no real idea of the history of the engine other then that the car has an indicated 33,000 miles on it. The oil looked okay and I will be doing a leak down check, but since the engine is out of the car and will be for many months I thought it would be a good time to possibly rebuild it. At the least I was going to get the head and deck milled level as well as the head cleaned up and the valves reset. Though I am not sure what I should do with the block. Should I change bearings, seals etc. I assume as with everything on this car, it will cost a lot of money. Thoughts?

P.S. I will be starting a post later tonight devoted to the project with updates and pictures for all to enjoy! B)

Graham,

This engine was well looked after, but according to Harry Appleby at Viking Motorsports, JE makes a nice set of replacement pistons for our engines at a fairly affordable price, It's better to rebuild now with nothing damaged and get everything treated with antiwear and and protective coatings. I think you would/should expect less than $2500 USD for a good piston/ring and coating job with rebuild if nothing needs replaced from spun bearing/ detonation etc. Always better to replace without damage than to replace damaged parts/block. Call Harry at Vikingmotorsports.com, he knows all the parts and numbers of all the stuff you'll need! Awesome Chap he is! Tell him Art Baldwin sent you.

Art

[Vulcan Grey]

Last night I removed the engine and gearbox from the Esprit SE. The question now is what should I do to the engine? I have no real idea of the history of the engine other then that the car has an indicated 33,000 miles on it. The oil looked okay and I will be doing a leak down check, but since the engine is out of the car and will be for many months I thought it would be a good time to possibly rebuild it. At the least I was going to get the head and deck milled level as well as the head cleaned up and the valves reset. Though I am not sure what I should do with the block. Should I change bearings, seals etc. I assume as with everything on this car, it will cost a lot of money. Thoughts?

P.S. I will be starting a post later tonight devoted to the project with updates and pictures for all to enjoy! B)

DO NOT HAVE THE HEAD DECKED OR MACHINED UNLESS ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NECESSARY!!!!

I can't stress that enough!!!!!!

The Lotus cams are not part of the head, and this makes it extremely difficult for a normal engine/cylinder head machinist to work on correctly. They would need to build a very elaborate and precise fixture to be able to machine the head surface, and I guarantee they will be too lazy to do it properly.

The result will be that they WILL taper your head, and cause your belt to run towards one side of the cams, creating the most annoying whining sound known to man. And possibly shreding you belt and destroying your engine...

DON'T DO IT unless it already looks like absolute SH%T.

You can have the valves done, just tell them you will supply all the parts (guides, valves and seats). and give them copies of the Lotus shop manual for all of the specs.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Vulcan Grey

[Artie]

DO NOT HAVE THE HEAD DECKED OR MACHINED UNLESS ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NECESSARY!!!!

I can't stress that enough!!!!!!

The Lotus cams are not part of the head, and this makes it extremely difficult for a normal engine/cylinder head machinist to work on correctly. They would need to build a very elaborate and precise fixture to be able to machine the head surface, and I guarantee they will be too lazy to do it properly.

The result will be that they WILL taper your head, and cause your belt to run towards one side of the cams, creating the most annoying whining sound known to man. And possibly shreding you belt and destroying your engine...

DON'T DO IT unless it already looks like absolute SH%T.

You can have the valves done, just tell them you will supply all the parts (guides, valves and seats). and give them copies of the Lotus shop manual for all of the specs.

Something tells me that Travis has been dealing with a related issue?

[Drfatz]

DO NOT HAVE THE HEAD DECKED OR MACHINED UNLESS ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NECESSARY!!!!

I can't stress that enough!!!!!!

The Lotus cams are not part of the head, and this makes it extremely difficult for a normal engine/cylinder head machinist to work on correctly. They would need to build a very elaborate and precise fixture to be able to machine the head surface, and I guarantee they will be too lazy to do it properly.

The result will be that they WILL taper your head, and cause your belt to run towards one side of the cams, creating the most annoying whining sound known to man. And possibly shreding you belt and destroying your engine...

DON'T DO IT unless it already looks like absolute SH%T.

You can have the valves done, just tell them you will supply all the parts (guides, valves and seats). and give them copies of the Lotus shop manual for all of the specs.

Well thank you for the input! I guess I will steer clear of machining the block/head!

Dose anyone know all the seals that MUST be replaced when you strip down the block? Is this something your guy would know Artie? Rather then buying one seal at a time I would much rather order all of them at once in a sort of kit if possible.

-G

Edited December 19, 2006 by Drfatz

[Vulcan Grey]

Well thank you for the input! I guess I will steer clear of machining the block/head!

Dose anyone know all the seals that MUST be replaced when you strip down the block? Is this something your guy would know Artie? Rather then buying one seal at a time I would much rather order all of them at once in a sort of kit if possible.

-G

DO check your cylinder nip above the block, per the manual. Should be ok though.

DO check the head for distortion, per the manual.

DO look for signs of impact, probably unlikely unless something catastrophic has happened.

DO look for indentations or something that could cause the headgasket not to seal.

main seals are:

1)rear main seal

2)front main seal

2.5)anerobic lliquid gasket for front and rear main seal coverplates.

3)oil pickup tube olive

4)sump to block seal (liquid anerobic gasket IIRC

5)sump to baffle, same anerobic liquid gasket

6)oil line to turbo

7)oil pump housing, paper gasket

8)oil pressure/temp sender unit

9)head gasket

10)intake manifold to block, paper

11)cam towers to head, anerobic liquid gasket

12)waterpump to block, paper and hylomar

13)cam seals, front

14) cam tower end cap o-rings 2x

15)silicone sealant for cam retaining bolt in end of cams.

16)brass cam tower plug o-rings

17)cam cover paper gaskets

18)cam cover bolt o-rings

Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Vulcan Grey

[Drfatz]

So Travis, how do you know so much about these cars is this all experience you have gained from working on yours over the years?

BTW I should mention that I have a full factory manual which I intend to heavily use while working on my car!

DO check your cylinder nip above the block, per the manual. Should be ok though.

DO check the head for distortion, per the manual.

DO look for signs of impact, probably unlikely unless something catastrophic has happened.

DO look for indentations or something that could cause the headgasket not to seal.

main seals are:

1)rear main seal

2)front main seal

2.5)anerobic lliquid gasket for front and rear main seal coverplates.

3)oil pickup tube olive

4)sump to block seal (liquid anerobic gasket IIRC

5)sump to baffle, same anerobic liquid gasket

6)oil line to turbo

7)oil pump housing, paper gasket

8)oil pressure/temp sender unit

9)head gasket

10)intake manifold to block, paper

11)cam towers to head, anerobic liquid gasket

12)waterpump to block, paper and hylomar

13)cam seals, front

14) cam tower end cap o-rings 2x

15)silicone sealant for cam retaining bolt in end of cams.

16)brass cam tower plug o-rings

17)cam cover paper gaskets

18)cam cover bolt o-rings

Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

[Artie]

So Travis, how do you know so much about these cars is this all experience you have gained from working on yours over the years?

BTW I should mention that I have a full factory manual which I intend to heavily use while working on my car!

Graham, Have a look at Travis' blog, he has documented in fantastic detail all of the work he has done over the years to his car. Travis has an unprecedented amount of experience digging deep into the bowels of every part of his Esprit, I highly recommend you check out his site in his sig.

Artie

[Drfatz]

I actually came across his site when I first got the car and was looking around to see what other people have done. Great resource, its nice to see pictures when the manual just says "remove roll pins, Travis has a nice little step by step log of how to do it! B)

Graham, Have a look at Travis' blog, he has documented in fantastic detail all of the work he has done over the years to his car. Travis has an unprecedented amount of experience digging deep into the bowels of every part of his Esprit, I highly recommend you check out his site in his sig.

Artie

[Artie]

I actually came across his site when I first got the car and was looking around to see what other people have done. Great resource, its nice to see pictures when the manual just says "remove roll pins, Travis has a nice little step by step log of how to do it! B)

Yes he does! Have it saved in my favorites!

Artie