Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Lotusfab]

Ps, engineering oil is better than grease in my opinion for the bronze bush lubrication. They are impregnated with lubricant anyway but now mine rotate with hardly any friction.

[giorgio67]

Hello Fabian, my car is going well, interior nearly finished but I'm doing a huge work on bodywork, hope to be ready for paint job next month and then for re- assembling everything. Still looking for the heater fan motor and some other bits.  As you can see i have removed 1kg of filler on the front corner, very good job done in the past by a very skilled bodyman ?... so i have reglassed and reprofiled with fiberglass and resin as it should be. Long and tedious job but the result is very good, problem is that i have other five or six areas with the same issue so i have still a month of work prior to paint!!! 

 

[Lotusfab]

Wow, great repair!

The car will be stunning when your finished!

[Lotusfab]

Door pins

this is what I did with Matts pins to get them as the originals,

You have a bolt and a threaded tube. Measure and saw the bolt so that when fully screwed in it's the same length as the original pin. Saw off the excess and put the cut end into the tube. Job done!

 

Door Frame

I have started work on the door frame repair. Matt has had a repair piece of steel made which matches the original window in 2 dimensions. It's very strong steel and fits neatly in the groove in the outer frame. It has to be drilled and tapped with the screws countersunk in the inner frame groove. You can see the repair pieces in the right of the picture. Matt says four screws, I always over engineer so am using 6 screws. You need a really good drill bit or several. This stuff is like diamond! It then has to be  tapped. Like all things easy with practice. Matts done such a good job of getting these repair pieces to fit perfectly once they are installed it will not be necessary to weld the frame, although I think I will weld it anyway. These bits are more tricky than the door bushes but still well within the capabilities of most to fit. Will post some pics when they are done. I have new felt ready to go over the top. Then have to check the four wheel plate and replace any that are flatted and make sure they rotate freely. It can all be reassembled and and on to the next job. Trouble is now the passenger door needs the full treatment also! 

[Paul Coleman]

On 09/04/2017 at 10:47, Lotusfab said:

Please feel free to critique anything I've written, it's all a learning curve and I promise I won't be upset!

I used a reamer on the bushes rather than filing them. We just happened to have the correct size in the workshop at the college where I work.

[jcslocum]

On 4/8/2017 at 14:18, Lotusfab said:

Thanks to Matt have just received his Bronze bushes and door pins together with the door frame repair sections which are shaped in two dimensions and very strong. Like all things Lotus work is required to fit these. Matt has explained to me how to do it so can post it all here if anyone is interested?

Where do the bent ion parts go in the door???

[Lotusfab]

Hi Paul, yep a reamer would be much better, I'm in the Stone Age but it works! Have you got any pics of your car at the show?

Jon, the bent bits go on the outer edge of the door where the bracket is that bolts to the door itself with two tiny bolts. You have to drill the rivets out and remove the bracket. Then tap this for the two small bolts. I will post much more detail when I have finished the Mod.

[Lotusfab]

Jon, it replaces part two in the picture and is different in that it exactly matches the door profile.

Incidently does anyone have door finishers fitted to their car? Part 31????? If so please can you post a picture. Thanks.

[Paul Coleman]

50 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

Hi Paul, yep a reamer would be much better, I'm in the Stone Age but it works! Have you got any pics of your car at the show?

Somebody posted some on the chat thread. I didn't take any because I didn't go.

[Lotusfab]

You didn't go? 

[Paul Coleman]

8 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

You didn't go? 

Correct!

[Lotusfab]

☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️

[Paul Coleman]

On 10/04/2017 at 20:16, Lotusfab said:

☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️

I don't own a camera either!

[Lotusfab]

Paul, why don't you sell that etype and add a dry sump Turbo to your collection? The restoration is eas the second time around?

[Paul Coleman]

Just now, Lotusfab said:

Paul, why don't you sell that etype and add a dry sump Turbo to your collection? The restoration is eas the second time around?

Wash your mouth out I don't know what a dry sump is or why I'd even want one!!! I'm not really a petrol head to be honest.

[jonroberts]

12 minutes ago, Paul Coleman said:

Wash your mouth out I don't know what a dry sump is or why I'd even want one!!! I'm not really a petrol head to be honest.

A "dry sump" is one where all the oil has leaked onto the floor isn't it ?  :-)

[Paul Coleman]

5 minutes ago, jonroberts said:

A "dry sump" is one where all the oil has leaked onto the floor isn't it ?  :-)

Oh well in that case I've already got one

[jcslocum]

On 4/10/2017 at 14:04, Lotusfab said:

Jon, it replaces part two in the picture and is different in that it exactly matches the door profile.

Incidently does anyone have door finishers fitted to their car? Part 31????? If so please can you post a picture. Thanks.

I just fixed part num 2. It took 2 pop rivets to repair this part to the window frame. I look forward too seeing how these fit and improve the window frame.

 

i have just picked up part 31 to replace a broken part on my left door; drivers door here in the USA. I can send pics, let me know what you need. 

[Lotusfab]

Hi Jon,

any pictures of part 31 would be great, thanks.

i guess your not selling the etype then Paul??????

[Andyww]

3 hours ago, jcslocum said:

 

 

i have just picked up part 31 to replace a broken part on my left door; drivers door here in the USA. I can send pics, let me know what you need. 

The part 31s were missing on both doors of mine and I looked everywhere for them and phoned SJ and he said I would never find any.

I ended up using pieces of rubber sheet cut to shape and curved but they dont cover all of the joint between the frame and door. Black silicone filled the gap and it looks OK. The picture makes it look worse than it actually is.

These parts need to be added to the list of vacuum-formed parts which someone with the necessary kit should re-manufacture.

Replacing part number 2 with a longer equivalent presumably means you cant fit the add-on secondary door seal from the later cars because this pushes into the channel all the way around the frame. This is a worthwhile addition and I would miss this.

 

[RichardJGC]

Andy

Were these parts fitted from day 1? My 82 Turbo didn't have any and I've seen many cars without them. 

My attention was only drawn to them when leafing through the parts list many years ago.

I bought one front and one rear but never got round to fitting them. Seem to remember they were expensive for what they were. They do finish the corners off nicely though.

Richard

[Andyww]

When I spoke to Steve he said most cars dont have them because they always split and then owners took them off because the split part looked worse than none at all.

[Lotusfab]

Could make some if I had a picture? Havent seen that rubber seal before? Anymore pics please?

[RichardJGC]

1 minute ago, Lotusfab said:

Could make some if I had a picture? Havent seen that rubber seal before? Anymore pics please?

I can take pictures of my originals but if they are prone to splitting, a revised design may be in order.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Richard, that would be helpful.