Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Lotusfab]

Well it had to be done! I stumbled across a number plate with the same font with the exact number 8. I contacted them in Ireland and they had plates in stock from the 1980s. They kindly went above and beyond helping me to complete this project. Anyone who wants an accurate period plate can’t recommend them highly enough. Very reasonable pricing and came to the UK the next day, thanks Michael! 
Heres their website and a picture of their work, should anyone else be crazy enough to build a Bond car!

https://www.fancyplates.com

[stephenwhyte]

Good work Fabian - that’s as near as it ever needs to be and well worth the effort. This one in truth won’t be noticed.....which is exactly the way you want it to be!😉👏🏻
Well done yet again👍

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Stephen. I still have a few jobs to do. I used a Hunter systemto measure the camber, caster and Toe on the S1 then maths and a laser spirit level to shim the chassis. The car ride is perfect and it makes it very noticeable the Turbo needs setting up. This time I am goingbto use the Lotus factory and F1 method. I have a selection of shims. I will be using two poles, 4 jacks and some fishing line with weights. Since this method is still used by racing teams today and the procedure is laid out in the manual I think it will be more that good enough to set up the Turbo suspension. I already had some of it done,  but not the rear toe. They also made an error with the front toe setting. Which I ended up correcting with my Trac ace. I will report back the results. 
 

[Lotusfab]

Heres the manual extract.

[red vtec]

Not Lotus but Bond related. I made the book that was sold with the DB5 from "GoldenEye" The car sold at auction for £1.9million, the book covered the history of this particular DB5, I hand made the book, and case. 

[Lotusfab]

Looks superb quality!

[James.007]

3 hours ago, red vtec said:

Not Lotus but Bond related. I made the book that was sold with the DB5 from "GoldenEye" The car sold at auction for £1.9million, the book covered the history of this particular DB5, I hand made the book, and case. 

Excellent job, I do like handmade products, the attention to detail is superb 

[red vtec]

@James.007 Thank you. 

[Lotusfab]

I need to change out the run in oil. What oil is everyone using? I Think a synthetic oil may be better than mineral. there are lots of choices.

Millers 20/50 synthetic

Valvoline racing oil mineral 20/50

Mobile 1 racing oil 15/50

whats everyone using?

[ChrisJ]

I used Castrol Magnatec for 10000 miles before switching to synthetic.

[Barrykearley]

Millers nanotechnology 👍

it’s frankly amazing stuff

[Lotusfab]

This stuff Barry? Thats what I was looking at? It reads very well.

[Barrykearley]

More like this one @Lotusfab

https://www.millersoils-shop.co.uk/cfs-10w50-nt-plus-engine-oil

cant remember the exact grade I used - it’s in the garage and it’s cold and dark 😂. Happy to take a pic tomorrow.

having drained out some castrol which had only done a couple of thousand to find it looked like thin black piss - I decided to change it up a bit. This stuff is unreal - it’s got a sticky lube like feel when you get it on your hands - it’s really a very different product offering 

[Lotusfab]

Just found this on Millers website. I was surprised by the viscosity!

https://www.millersoils.co.uk/which-oil/

[Lotusfab]

From the Lotus Manual

I’ll call Millers technical later and quiz them on why the lower end viscosity is 10?

[910Esprit]

Can you also ask them why the 'hot' end of the grade is only 40?   Most, if not all, recommendations I've seen are '50' or '60'.

[Lotusfab]

Yep that as well. Is. 60 too thick for a rebuilt engine?

[Lotusfab]

Ok Just called them. A dutch company do all of their oil recommendations for every vehicle. So not really an answer , but experts have decided the oil spec.
I have decided to use Millers Classic Sport High performance 20W50 fully synthetic motor oil. It has nano tech. Pricey, but nothing is too expensive for my Lotus! 

[jep]

The racing Jaguar boys tend to use Valvoline Racing 20 50. It seems to be the preferred oil for the XK engine that debuted in 1948 and was still going in the 80s. 

I use it in the Excel and LotusBits use it in all their engines if I recall correctly. 

I know nothing about the tech side so just pass this on for info. 

Justin  

[jonwat]

2 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

I have decided to use Millers Classic Sport High performance 20W50 fully synthetic motor oil. It has nano tech. Pricey, but nothing is too expensive for my Lotus! 

Classic synthetic sounds like an oxymoron to me 

[Lotusfab]

I looked at the Valvoline racing oil. I didn’t choose it because its mineral oil. I think synthetic is better at handling the high temperatures,

[jep]

I always tend to default to original spec, which Valvoline was for Lotus in the 70s and 80s. And as I change the oil annually with relatively low mileage (sub-8K pa), I figure it will do the job.

But this is based very much on technical ignorance of more modern oils, which may well be much better for the engine. As I don't know, I stick to the old school. If you try to find out for sure, you just don't seem to be able to find a consensus with regard oil for older engines.

If LotusBits told me to change from Valvoline 20/50, I would probably follow their advise as they do race the 9 series engine and specialise in servicing/rebuilding them.

It would be good to hear how you get on with the Millers.

Justin

[Lotusfab]

Mike at Lotusbits has done lot of development work on these engines. I don’t know what he uses but whatever it is he will have tested it in his race engines.

I am sure the Valvoline is good enough. I just fancied the modern sythetic approach.

[drdoom]

There is a great deal of information to be found on the forum, "SpeedTech", hosted in America. A very recent discussion was graced with what I find to be the most comprehensive summary yet offered in any such thread. Will attach a link in the next submission.

From all I've read to date I'd go with Valvoline VRP synthetic 20W-50.

Cheers 

[Lotusfab]

Good choice.