Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[stephenwhyte]

Excuse my ignorance but is there no way they can fit a 5 stud hub on a Turbo Esprit? I’ve never looked at another wheel option on my Turbo but the mkre I look at these the model I must admit they are stunning.

[silverfrost]

Stephen,  

    You can fit any wheel to any car,  sometimes easy, sometimes a real pain in the arse not only money wise but time wise also ! 

The esprit is 5 x120mm   the porsche alloys are  5 x 130mm,  So hub wise the bolt holes will be pushed out an extra 10mm towards the edge of the hubs.  This would mean you would require either your old hubs redrilling and tapped ( not recommended )  due to added weakness also the front hubs would be a problem.   

Also without seeing a hub in front of me and seeing how 5 x 130 fits on the actual hub, i.e does it leave enough meat on the edges would be my concern, but it may be fine. 

Another thing is offsets ?  

But that said,  they look the dogs nuts and Mike at lotus bits can get you some front and rear hubs machined up, not cheap but all in package would be cheaper than buying lotus comps, and even then you would have to change all hubs anyway !  

Look at a deal with Fabian and see what money Mike at lotusbits can do the hubs for,  Added bonus also is your front hubs will be alloy 

Well worth the punt imo 

[Lotusfab]

Dans correct. They can be fitted. You could use PCD adapters, but the offset would be out. The best method get Lotusbits to make 5/130 hubs. The centres would then fit. The Porsche wheels are 10 inches and 11 inches wide. The comp Turbo 7 inches and 8 inches. So the Barrels would need switching to smaller ones,. I have the five stud rear BBS lips and the front BBS are available  quite cheaply. The lips on these would have to be removed and sold on. They use them for racing and on other cars and are sought after. 

Overall it would be a lot cheaper than some of the other options. I'm guessing the hubs would be about £600, but you would have to ask Mike. Adapters much cheaper but the offset would be off slightly.

I have the wheels for sale on other sights, they are very good value compare with Lotus wheels. Should be able to convert  for about £2.5k. 

Image make Lips for about £100 each, they would also be an option if you wanted to go new.

[Lotusfab]

These are the correct offset BBS rears for the Turbo  that I have for sale. The hubs would need changing, but nothing else. if anyone wants to do this, be quick as I am selling all of these elsewhere.

[Lotusfab]

The Mk4 plug was a disaster! I ran out of Styrofoam due cutting errors on the bench saw. I am having a break whilst I rethink how to construct it. It's taken three days so far. I have progressed in understanding of what is required. I don't give up and tomorrow is another day - I will. Sort this eventually! 

The biggest problem is the edges are angled and not symmetrical, which means they were shaped by hand and eye. Waiting for more foam and a Nichrome cutting wire to replace my guitar string for a foam cutter upgrade. 

[stephenwhyte]

If my car had gold decals then I’d be more serious about doing something with the gold set if as you say it was possible to fit. But thankfully ? I have black decals and my car came with BBS wheels anyway......but I do like these Compomotives so never say never.

What you probably don’t know is that I placed an order for a brand new Fire Red Lotus Exige Sport 380 2 weeks ago, so you could say that every penny is accounted for right at this time Will look like this......sorry let’s get back on topic.

[Lotusfab]

I like it!

How can we fit skis?

[stephenwhyte]

41 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

I like it!

How can we fit skis?

Thanks.....but if it’s all the same Fabian - I’ll leave it for now

[v8vantage]

2 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

The Mk4 plug was a disaster! I ran out of Styrofoam due cutting errors on the bench saw. I am having a break whilst I rethink how to construct it. It's taken three days so far. I have progressed in understanding of what is required. I don't give up and tomorrow is another day - I will. Sort this eventually! 

The biggest problem is the edges are angled and not symmetrical, which means they were shaped by hand and eye. Waiting for more foam and a Nichrome cutting wire to replace my guitar string for a foam cutter upgrade. 

Fab making these is an ideal candidate for 3D printing. Draw them up in Solidworks then print to check fitment. Print up some molds, do some smoothing if needs be. I make lots of parts for my Astons using the 3D printer, just takes a bit of time building the initial model in CAD but then easy to replicate. Certainly wouldn't have take 3 days!

[Andyww]

3 minutes ago, v8vantage said:

Fab making these is an ideal candidate for 3D printing. Draw them up in Solidworks then print to check fitment. Print up some molds, do some smoothing if needs be. I make lots of parts for my Astons using the 3D printer, just takes a bit of time building the initial model in CAD but then easy to replicate. Certainly wouldn't have take 3 days!

You would need a big 3D printer. A standard one would not be big enough. Even if split into parts the print time would be many hours per part on a basic printer.

[v8vantage]

Not really too much of a problem with the size, easy to make in pieces. I printed this 38" wingspan Spitfire for my son, flies really well. https://3dlabprint.com/shop/spitfire-mk-xvi-s3d-cura-ready/

[Lotusfab]

Hi Roo,

that RC plan is great and when it crashes you can just print the parts. My last electric Spirfire lasted about 3 minutes! Yep a CAD file would be easy if you have the software and know how to use it. On both counts the answer would be no, It’s taking a lot of time because I want them exact. I think I will have to repair miscuts rather than starting again. You have to think in 3D. If I did this everyday it would be easy, but I’m having to learn as I go along. I think Ive got it now. The outer fins are twisted and not symmetrical. Difficult to program I would guess. Just waiting for more foam and I should crack it. In the meantime I will fix all the other fibreglass bits that need work.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Buddsy,

I may try them. I'm old school and because I can spend as much time as I wish it's not costing and I can endlessly modify them till they are perfect. With a company each change will cost. They will be very difficult to code as they are curved! So will stick with plan A at the moment.

incidently I'm seeking all the wheels on a we'll know site, including the BBS rear Lips that fit the five stud Esprit. I'm selling them as two wheels. As we have said before they can be used with mods. Maybe the cheapest way for somebody to get onto comps.

pm me before they are all sold if interested, once they are gone it will be very difficult at any reasonable price to get these  again.

[Lotusfab]

On 23/01/2018 at 10:49, Fridge said:

Hi Fabian,

The first draft of the FYEO ET alarm sticker is complete. However this daft forum platform will not allow me to post an image larger than 0.0000001KB or something from way back in 1992 when dial-up speeds were 9,600bps.

Burglar protected stickers

Hi David,

not sure whether you have given up on this, but thanks for the effort. I have been talking to an expert. Apparently the original was screen printed in his opinion. It's not economical to do this with such small numbers, but I know a chap who is going to make the next best thing. A translucent sticker in the same graphic, but the Burglar protected will be added over the background. This is the only way to produce it. Will post some pics when it's done. I have scaled the sticker and it's 100 mm wide and 53 mm high approximately. Wil make them available to everyone if it's good enough.

 

[Fridge]

I emailed you with the draft design.

[Lotusfab]

Oh, thanks I didn't get it for some reason?

Just found it in the junk folder superb job, as expected! Thanks for going to all the effort it's much appreciated. Have sent you an email.

[Lotusfab]

The mice have eaten my bumper! There was more of it when I put it in the shed! Oh well there's a lot of work to do!

[Lotusfab]

Odered the decals for the body from  Decal Fever, my favourite supplier. Reasonably priced and accurate - the larger Turbo Esprit decal before they were shrunk! The wheel centres have to match the decal colour. Will put the decals on last just like an Airfix Kit, it's the fun bit!

Almost there on the wheel centres too thanks to Mike at Supaspin, another great company!

[910Esprit]

4 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

Decal Fever

Despite the crap name, I've also had great service from Decal Fever and would say there product is OEM quality

[Lotusfab]

Think I have found the carpet!

[Lotusfab]

On 30/01/2018 at 17:59, stephenwhyte said:

Wow - they are stunning. Pity they won’t fit my my Turbo as I think I’d be forced to go non-stock for these beauties

Steve, please could you measure the widths of the black side stripes on the Turbo? Thanks, I want to make sure mine are correct.

[stephenwhyte]

Hi Fabian - in Spain at the moment but will measure when I get back Wednesday if you haven’t had someone help before 

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Steve.

[RichardJGC]

Fabian...they are 30mm

 

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Richard.