Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[910Esprit]

I'd love to know how much all you guys have spent, but I'm not that impertinent!  

[Fridge]

I know of a number of Esprit restorations that have exceeded that amount by a long way. Virtually all of them undertaken by their owners, with minimal professional restoration assistance, but with similar and sometimes greater levels of attention to detail. In many ways they are total nut (& bolt) jobs 😀

[Lotusfab]

I took the amount off, but it was a year ago without the interior and I have done a lot of work since then. It's real scary. The  thing that has pushed this up there was making it a Bond car. The extra parts and bespoke services have taken a toll on the budget. I still havn't built the ski racks!  Never mind I shall enjoy driving car. It's not all about the money! A flick back to the start of this blog it's quite scary at the number of parts needed. The Turbo far outstrips the S1 in parts, nearly every system is far more complex.

Here's the straw that broke the camels back!the tensioner spring.....

but there have been a few larger straws!

😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

[Lotusfab]

34 minutes ago, Fridge said:

I know of a number of Esprit restorations that have exceeded that amount by a long way. Virtually all of them undertaken by their owners, with minimal professional restoration assistance, but with similar and sometimes greater levels of attention to detail. In many ways they are total nut (& bolt) jobs 😀

Sorry, yep to be fair I know if some others that are stunning. I'm busy feeling the pressure of 5 years of Bond restos! 

The cost if those mirrors was eye watering! 

Onward! 

[drdoom]

4 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Sorry, yep to be fair I know if some others that are stunning. I'm busy feeling the pressure of 5 years of Bond restos! 

The cost if those mirrors was eye watering! 

Onward! 

Attaboy, Fabian! My S2 resto outlay has well exceeded the purchase cost of the car and there's yet a shedload of cash required to complete. Went with an HML upgraded gearbox rather than chance the state of my long idled original, by the way. When my classic Elan was sold in the '90's the recap was perhaps 2/3 of what I'd put in. The grand memories of my time with that car easily outstrip any concern for what was spent.🙂

[Lotusfab]

I hope to be flying along in this one day! That's why I won't be beaten by a gearbox. Thought I'd time myself for fun  1 hr 44 mins in!I always know where the previous owner has been as he leaves me a trail of RTV! He's been all Iover this. Lots of new bearings but a sloppy job missing the gear, unless he assessed it as ok, because only a slight part of the tooth is damaged? Pretty simply to get here when I compare it to the work on the Landrover Discovery, that things like a truck. This is like a toy in comparison. You do need a breaker bar to get the sincro bolt off. But on the Disco we're talking serious torque at least two times as much on a suspension bolt! 270NM! Some you can't undo you have to angle grind the suspension off!  Lock the gears by engaging two and this bolt is easy to remove in comparison. 

I have got pretty lucky. As you can see the driveshaft bearings are new, as are some of the others. It feels smooth. I'm not  brave enough to run this with a chip so I'll continue and replace the pinion. 

Happily the diff and other bits are in stunning order. The drive shaft bearing in the housing not so much, maybe he didn't have the tools. I'm thinking of having some tools made so this won't be an issue ever again.

Now to get the shafts out! 

[Lotusfab]

6 hours ago, 910Esprit said:

I'd love to know how much all you guys have spent, but I'm not that impertinent!  

I did post it on here and then realised it's not really appropriate, I'm very fortunate to be able to complain about how much this has cost and very lucky to own these cars. Emotion got the better of me wallowing around in the pit of Lotus for five years!  I do know of several cars that are and will be stunning! When I was walking around the car show at Olympia in 1970s I was 10 with my dad I saw the S1 spy who loved me Lotus Esprit. I was in awe. It's a privilege to now own one! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[Lotusfab]

Of course it's easy to take anything to pieces, the real skill is how it goes back together. I've a feeling this gearbox will require some precision equipment and a lot of thought,! 

[Lotusfab]

Anyone know the nut sizes of the speedo Nut and half shaft nut? I think the half shaft nut maybe 46 mm.

[CHANGES]

1 hour ago, Lotusfab said:

Anyone know the nut sizes of the speedo Nut and half shaft nut? I think the half shaft nut maybe 46 mm.

Just measure them ...  

[Lotusfab]

 Was hoping to compare. The half shaft nut is difficult I believe it's 46 mm,  the speedo one is about 36 mm, but I wanted a cross check.

Has anyone seen this disc before in their gearbox? It's not on the parts manual as far as I can see.

[Andyww]

On boxes I have worked on, the gear itself and the synchro dogs and cone are all machined as one part. But looks like on this they are separate parts. But the whole thing including the baulk ring is listed as one part in the book which presumably includes that shim.

Seems to be to limit the movement of the synchro hub which makes sense if the shaft movement itself is not limited.

 

[Lotusfab]

It looks newer than the other parts. Would be nice to confirm it’s correct.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Andy, have checked the new bearing picture and the disc/shim is correct.

[910Esprit]

3 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

The half shaft nut is difficult I believe it's 46 mm

I'll measure my 'special' box spanner tonight if you still need it.  I recall you are correct with the 36mm 'nut' securing the speedo drive 

[Fridge]

When I got my S1's Citroen gearbox overhauled it required a thin 36mm spanner to undo something inside. I can't remember what, as I had the item restored professionally.

The special Citroen tool was unobtainable, but the transmission specialist was able to thin down this tool easily and continue the work:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-Discovery-Td5-Tdi-Td-N-A-V8-Viscous-Fan-Spanner-32mm-36mm/230620797702?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20190212102350%26meid%3D6fe4222274a44a5da8e30125e00cea28%26pid%3D100012%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D142246694013%26itm%3D230620797702&_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985

[910Esprit]

I also used a viscous coupling spanner (Ford)  - that's how I recalled it was 36mm

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Chaps. I've ordered a vintage flat spanner 36mm. Peanuts on eBay, hope it fits. Has anyone found a ring spanner solution for the half shaft rather than just making one? It would be very useful to have.

[Andyww]

Harry @dsvitesse1 makes and sells the special tools I believe.

They likely are pricey but its nice to have the proper tools. But then I am a tool junkie, I buy tools like my wife buys shoes and handbags.

[910Esprit]

2 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Has anyone found a ring spanner solution for the half shaft rather than just making one? It would be very useful to have.

??? It just needs a 'boggo' large box spanner, I'll photogragh and measure size later.  The only 'tricky' tool is the one used for measuring pinion height 

[snowrx]

6 hours ago, Andyww said:

Harry @dsvitesse1 makes and sells the special tools I believe.

They likely are pricey but its nice to have the proper tools. But then I am a tool junkie, I buy tools like my wife buys shoes and handbags.

A fellow tool junkie!   Vice or Virtue, that is the question......

[snowrx]

When I saw this solution to the speedo nut, I wondered just how tight the bugger might be? 

You might custom grind a punch tip to get that deformed nut well clear of its keyway before giving it the twist.

[Lotusfab]

It's a worry if it's that tight! 

[Andyww]

19 hours ago, 910Esprit said:

??? It just needs a 'boggo' large box spanner, I'll photogragh and measure size later.  The only 'tricky' tool is the one used for measuring pinion height 

Are you referring to the same thing here, the bearing seems to be retained using a ring nut not a hex. This tool is shown in the parts book, although a piece of tube with cutouts at the end would likely work.

 

[Lotusfab]

There's a 46 mm nut in there and a ring nut, two tools.

So part 12 is 46 mm. Then part 10 is the ring nut.

I may not need to take out the secondary shaft as the gearbox has already been rebuilt. I just need to replace the third gear and maybe some of the rusted selector forks. Depends how they clean up.