Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[PhilW]

Choppa

Its an early car.  Aerial were on the drivers side in the early days and changed to passenger side '84 ish.

Tailgate opens surprisingly far with skis on.

[Lotusfab]

1 hour ago, Choppa said:

It looks to me that in that 3rd shot the bell boy can't fully open the tailgate because the ski tips are touching the roof stopping it opening any further.

Also in that same photo has something has been placed underneath the ski tips to protect the paint on the roof?

I hope your design will take that into account, you wouldn't want to get that smashing paint job ruined the first time you opened the tailgate with the skis attached.

Interesting that the aerial is on the drivers side, is it the same on your car Fabian?

Luckily, yes aerial is correct. The skis will have to be removed before you can get at the engine fire! 😄😄😄

[Lotusfab]

Ok Mocal  thermostat all connected no problem. More importantly the brand new thermostat works perfectly under testing. The valve actuates almost immediately as the operating  temperature is reached. Both of the original ones in my opinion were not operating correctly.  Heres the one I used. It actuates at 80 degrees not 82 for the pedantic memebers of the forum! Its better than the original because the smaller bore pipe is the same diameter as the pipe it connects onto. The originals pipe was about 2 mm too big! 

[Lotusfab]

Comsidering this car had only done 60000 miles everything seems to need changing.Having tested two that were less than ideal I can only assume other thermostats are not operating how they were originally designed. Its fairly cheap to change the two, but tricky with the engine in unless you have a lift. Not that critical provided they open eventually! Maybe a sensible upgrade when the engine is out, like the cam followers.

The wastegate valve stem and guide were spotless when I installed it. Now there is already carbon build up fouling the action. I didnt lubricate it. This may be part of the issue but it seems to have clogged up really quickly. I'll have to i spect another wastegate and compare.

[Lotusfab]

Im hard at work trying to sort the Tyrolia 360 bindings. I have cleaned them. They are the wrong colour. This means a respray in the correct dayglow orange. I matched the original colour from a 380 binding I bought. The problem is they were built not to be taken apart. They are held together by pins that have the head bent over for permanent fixing. This means masking the entire set of 8 😫😫😫Also because they are so small I will have to airbrush the paint on to get a good finish. Then of course I have to make new decals. This is well underway as I have traced the correct font. I learned about all of this after  trying to make the Burglar and headlight stickers. Should have the correct decals soon! 

[Steve4012]

1 hour ago, Lotusfab said:

Ok Mocal  thermostat all connected no problem. More importantly the brand new thermostat works perfectly under testing. The valve actuates almost immediately as the operating  temperature is reached. Both of the original ones in my opinion were not operating correctly.  Heres the one I used. It actuates at 80 degrees not 82 for the pedantic memebers of the forum! Its better than the original because the smaller bore pipe is the same diameter as the pipe it connects onto. The originals pipe was about 2 mm too big! 

Good info Fabian thanks. I take it the flow directions/ orientation of 'stat are the same as original?

[Lotusfab]

36 minutes ago, Steve4012 said:

Good info Fabian thanks. I take it the flow directions/ orientation of 'stat are the same as original?

Yep.

[v8vantage]

Fab don't forget the "360RD" is a negative decal. It's a black stripe decal with the "360RD" cut out and screen printed onto the binding.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Roo. Yep the picture was just to show to font in case anyone would like to copy it. I am trying to get them with letters only that can peel off so I can spray the black and pull the letters off. This might be tricky because the letters are small. So option B transparent letters and a blackmbackground decal.

[Lotusfab]

Finally, front of car all done with new oil cooler and hoses. Now just need my engine! Till the block comes back its fiberglass moulding and ski bindings! Should take me a while! 

[Lotusfab]

Arrrrrgggggggg!

Thank goodness thats done!!!

Now to airbrush!

Primer, base and clear!😫😫😫😫😫😫

Then the black bits!

I have started to perfect the ski rack plugs. Every time they are changed the epoxy has to be redone, else the polyester resin will melt the styrofoam! 

This is a never ending task.

[Lotusfab]

Wastegate

Despite having had previous advice concerning this I have continued to research. I believe I may have excessive stem clearance, which is allowing exhaust gases to coke up the stem potentially jamming the valve. I found an old thread where a steel valve guide with internal spiral 3/8 inch ID is fitted onto the cast housing. This gives 7-10 thou clearnce. This is far less that I have. Has anyone carried out this repair? I think Nickel grease for stem lubrication is the way ahead. It has an extremely high melting point.

These wastegates according to other posts wear out by rusting with lack of use.

[910Esprit]

2 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

These wastegates according to other posts wear out by rusting with lack of use.

True - and of far more risk than carbon build up.  Mine it worked well for 100K miles, but was in ruins internally & externally (wear, corrosion and seat cracks).  I suspect it remained functional as my car has never been significantly off the road and is used all year round (when I can find salt free days).  It was only replaced due to swapping out to the Alunox set-up.   

Although the device appears to be very crude, I guess the original choice of materials were selected to run without any effective lubrication.   Presumably the valve face can easily reach +1000c, which will be designed to be dissapated via the valve seat and the stem to the body.  Whatever you use, make sure it cannot dry out, otherwise you will risk the problem you are trying to avoid!

Edited March 16, 2020 by 910Esprit

[Lotusfab]

thanks Steve, the whole design of this is not really satisfactory. The other post talked of replacing the seat, but the original poster is no longer contactable. It would have been interesting to see how the mod worked. I did start on an alternative external wastegate design.  I could switch back to that system, but it would mean making mods to the exhaust. Another job delaying my return to the road! The later manifold and Turbo design is far better.

[Paul Coleman]

20 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Arrrrrgggggggg!

Thank goodness thats done!!!

Now to airbrush!

Primer, base and clear!😫😫😫😫😫😫

Then the black bits!

I have started to perfect the ski rack plugs. Every time they are changed the epoxy has to be redone, else the polyester resin will melt the styrofoam! 

This is a never ending task.

Out of interest can you/do you ski?

[Lotusfab]

No! Last time I tried I was 14 years old. I skied down from the top of the mountain because of a dare,  I came down most of it on my back - but then I had only been learning to ski for two days! 

[Paul Coleman]

4 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

No! Last time I tried I was 14 years old. I skied down from the top of the mountain because of a dare,  I came down most of it on my back - but then I had only been learning to ski for two days! 

Well that makes it doubly ironic that you'll be driving round suburbia with skis on the roof!

[Lotusfab]

They do look cool though, its a welcome diversion from all this Corona stuff!

Shame the restoration show is off and just about every other car meet.

The good news is I just got a lot of time back in which to finish this project, although I have a feeling I'll still be working on the ski racks long after we have all forgotten about the current Corona problems! 

[Paul Coleman]

31 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

They do look cool though, its a welcome diversion from all this Corona stuff!

My wife reckons I've had 'car owner virus' for years ;)

[Steven162]

Regarding the wastegate, Lotus Engineering owned my 87 HC for about 10 years before I bought it from them in 2014. Here is a photo of the work log of the car when it was being looked after by Brian and George Sharp. Top of the page.

 

[Andyww]

That would be the later HC style with the separate actuator though? Although some of the description indicates earlier one.

Interesting they had the same issue as I have had a few times, the fuse for heater fan blowing. I also know from experience this fuse feeds the otter switch for the rad fans so the engine overheats if this fuse is blown!

[Steven162]

Its the older system with the short manifold and wastegate manifold, the long GMP4 manifold came in with the Stevens cars I think.

I put a bigger fuse in, it kept blowing for me too

Another page if anyone's interested, it's a great thing to have with the car, especially as I know the guys who did the work and remember the car being around. Sorry Lotusfab, a bit off topic now

[Lotusfab]

47 minutes ago, Steven162 said:

Regarding the wastegate, Lotus Engineering owned my 87 HC for about 10 years before I bought it from them in 2014. Here is a photo of the work log of the car when it was being looked after by Brian and George Sharp. Top of the page.

 

Thanks thats quite helpful, especially as we know the fix worked. I will take my apart again to see if I can resolve the issue.

[Lex Templar]

Fabian, sorry to do this to you but there are a few more things you need to get. I too suffer from the 'completist' mentality.

 

Seiko H357 -5040 as worn in the white and Copper Fire Esprits.

The FYEO File. This was made by a prop maker in the Netherlands.

Columbo's voice recorder which plays back Bond + Kristatos conversation.

Dove Pin. Important for your car..

Tasco 7800 Binoculars which Rog had with him in the white Turbo outside Villa Sylva.

You may have some of them already  

I too had the Olin Mk VI SL skis, albeit with the wrong bindings. I ended up selling them in 2013 and regretted it ever since.

Lex

 

[Lotusfab]

Excellent! Funny enough I started to look for a watch. I like your stuff!

What watch models are they and where did you get the dossier?