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What can I say... but WOW... Dan at HPE Automotive completed the install in no time today and I can’t wait to pick it up on Friday and then test Monday at Silverstone!

Finally the ignition box back on. So whats left? The quater windows and the tailgate. Then the second fix. Then the final going over.

Im liking the cut of this chaps jib https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-49827307/attorney-general-tells-mps-this-parliament-is-a-disgrace

@ramjet the fuel filler worked in reverse and refilled you full of beer.............

An executive, out of control, as it is trying to implement the democratic will of the people whilst being undermined by those who want to stop the democratic will of the people and you think we should be proud? I'm ashamed by the whole thing and of all the politicians from all sides

As some of you know, I'm pretty new to the Esprit thing...... so I was unprepared for the reaction its gets. Two weeks ago I was at my local micro brewery members night with a mate. I was driving, so we took the Esprit and parked up. We only had the one pint and we went to leave around 8.30, just as it was getting dark. We turned the corner to walk towards the car only to find about 15 half cut men standing around and near it with pints in their hands. As it became clear that we were the ones getting into the car, there was general hubub and light hearted cheer of ooohhs and weyhays. At which point my mate received further laughter when, in sign language, he pointed out 'that I must have a small tinker'. This all grabbed the attention of a further dozen or so merry people who turned to see what the excitement was about. We got into the car, turned the ignition....and with the help of a performance exhaust, it roared into life. The previous light cheers was turned up in volume quit considerably as more people joined in. Strangely, there was then an eerie silence and everyone stared at me...... I started to sweat a little as I knew every person in the crowd was willing me to stall the car as I moved off. To buy a few seconds and since it was getting dark, I searched for the headlight button and turned on the headlights.....up they popped to the shear delight of the crowd, now numbering about 40 people. In amongst the even louder cheers someone screamed 'its even got pop up lights. Respect' as he and his mates held up there pints in a salute as I drove by with a new found confidence. We laughed so hard all the way home. Completely true story.

You are right. I finished the project last June, will have better pics to show, but for now, here some!

Well, following soldave's post about this, we took the plunge and completed the rally yesterday. For those who dont know about this, the Fireball Rally is an organisation that arrange various types of motoring holidays in Europe https://www.fireballrally.co.uk We signed up to James Bond's Switzerland one that is an endurance event planning to visit 8 countries in 4 days, totalling 1800 miles!! Many people buy cars specifically for the event, usually under £900 but we chose to take the Esprit. Now, my Esprit has never let me down ever, but the closer the rally got, the more nervous I became and sure that I was about to make a monumental mistake. However, with my son about to start at University, it also seemed likely to be a rare opportunity to bond (over some Bond) that may not arise again for some time. He got the grades, freshers dont start till next week and so we were on!! Planning is everything they say and this is no different. I went over the car with a reasonably fine tooth comb, finding a few minor faults and the need to replace all 4 tyres. The week before we were to go, I also managed to slice my index finger to the bone trying to remove some sealant on the rear quarter window. It really needed stitches but we used some superglue in the end (no different to proper skin glue but not really recommended!) Other things needed - check with insurance company that they will cover ALL countries to be visited. Adrian Flux were great about this and confirmed in writing but others had difficulty. The last minute covers are expensive so better to do ASAP. Add to that European breakdown for a classic car - the best cover will get your car back, provide a courtesy and cover all reasonable costs, along with providing some valuable peace of mind. Satnav provided by Google maps was great, as the destinations were given as global coordinates (mountains dont have postcodes) and worked very well. As we were camping, packing the esprit was not easy and infact as you will read later, created one of the worst problems we encountered on the trip!! This is with no clothes etc etc. The sleeping bags actually went in the front compartment in the and and our coats went on the little shelves but you can see the space issue. As we had just replaced all 4 tyres, we ditched the spare (gulp) to get more space and took a puncture repair kit, tyreweld foam tyre filling thing and crossed our fingers!! The Mustang that came got a flat on the first day but a French garage repaired it for free. Despite Brexit, they dont hate ALL of us!! The other fly that hit the ointment was reports of 50cm of snow on the passes the weekend before we were to go. Hadnt really expected that so, after a moment of panic, bought some snow socks. Didnt need them in the end so I now have a brand new set of AutoSocks to fit an Esprit should anyone want a bargain!!! Thursday 12th Sept and we are ready to go!! Ferry crossing to Calais at 0640 the next morning - smooth and event free. Then a 500mile run for the sun towards Switzerland, through France, first stopping at the Reims-Gueux abandoned GP circuit The main road just runs though the old start/finish straight/pit lane and is a must visit if you are anywhere nearby. The next 4 days saw us visit Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium. Amazing. Here are some of the highlights. A thing near Verdun Verdun Ossuary Piz Gloria restaurant at the top of the Schilthorn - On Her Majesty's Secret Service Grimsel & Furka pass (Goldfinger) Goldeneye Dam Stelvio pass Castle Neuschwanstein (get the Bond link???) I could go on and on but hopefully have illustrated the Lotus in places you might not expect it!!! Well, it performed very well indeed. Never broke down. Never failed to start. Was really quite comfortable, the GT as it is. We did encounter some issues though. Traffic jams around Nancy, Bern, M25 etc caused some overheating and coolant loss through expansion. I think this is due to the radiator fans failing to engage above 90 degrees - bad connection somewhere I think. The exhaust also started to blow. We lost a little power as a result but the roar in the tunnels made up for it, particularly when coupled with another roar from the sports exhaust of the MX5 we were in convoy with. The final issue we had was unexpected loss of all headlights whilst in the middle of the Black Forest (aptly named) We think was due to the overloading of luggage in the front compartment pushing against the mess of wiring/relays etc when taking a tight right hander. Not great losing light at this point!! Came back on but was very unnerving each time it occurred. Overall, an incredible trip, great people, amazing sights and putting paid to the notion of Lots Of Trouble etc etc. Everyone we encountered were amazed to see the car and Brexit has not altered attitudes as far as we could tell.

They are here!

Although an older thread, I was looking for a correct windscreen wiper and came across this topic. It seems the right part (nowadays) is the Bosch AR60N. Might help someone.. Fyi.

This is what it could look like after the wash...

The challenge is getting them to be honest... price is circa £2-2.5k from memory for all parts

I’ll be having a peak through the window at that when I pick mine up tomorrow..... looks epic Imran

Essexy

Here are the results of my efforts

Sure! These are the type of roads encountered!! The first time we met these was as we dealt with a pass late in the day (dark) and it came as quite a shock! Goldfinger Hotel (Grimsel & Furka)

Thats exactly the problem. They should have been paying CT in the UK at the UK rate but end up paying 1% in Luxembourg thanks to the EU.

I shouldn't worry about 'copying' anyone. l'd developed and fitted a tube and cone with new maf mount long before BOE got around to it. Born tinkerers like to tinker despite commercial kit being available.

I think so. There's also a percentage of tariffs (80%?) that we collect on the EUs behalf that is sent to the EU, which would go 100% to the treasury if we weren't in the EU.

I'm not sure those companies ever paid much in Corp Tax, aren't they the ones with very clever accountants.

Well, its slightly tenuous - Neuschwanstein castle was where Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed. There the links begin....... Written By Ian Fleming for his son Caspar (affectionately known as 003 and1/2) [Tragically, Fleming never got to see the printed versions of his Magic car books as he died in 1964 on Caspar's 12th birthday. Caspar was deeply affected and troubled, eventually killing himself, aged just 23.] Roald Dahl was involved in the screenplay for CCBB and the adaptation of You Only Live Twice. Produced by Albert Broccoli (Barbara Broccoli was an extra in the fairground scene of CCBB) The car was designed by Ken Adam who was responsible for the HQ in Dr No Starring Gert Frobe as the Baron (Goldfinger) Also featured Desmond Llewellyn (Q) as Coggins the scrap man ...there may be more?

Someone should calculate the figure of the entire amount of corporation tax on UK profits from the 300 multinationals which was lost to other EU countries such as Luxembourg, Jersey etc, including Apple, Ebay, Paypal which the UK has lost over the years as a result of EU membership. The figure would be huge.

I agree with Andy above. On my brothers one they actually came loose whilst running (you can feel it start to move back and forwards under braking). On my S3 with trunions I use purple poly with nyloc nut just nipped up against the bust and thread lock and they have been good for 1500 miles.

wow....has it really been that long......seems like only yesterday

Looks are always subjective @Five50 and one persons beauty is anothers pig and both are right. The good thing with Exiges, and Evoras, is it's a relatively painless, but not too cheap, process to put the latest front body work on and indeed several owners on here have created their own, hybrid and stunning Exige that takes the best bits of design from all the past and current models. They're like Kinder bars, they can be whatever you want them to be...

You can also order the parts from @TLF I believe at a discount too. IIRC and my fading grey cells are not failing me B&C took over the DeRoure operation which was obviously a very positive step forwards for parts supply. Though I guess it still needs Lotus to hold the parts for them to get them. Pleased you're getting good service. Your cars a knockout. Looks superb.

Current weight of my US spec Sport 410 w/ full tank, Headers, Harness bar & misc track gear, Ohlins TTX .. 1395 kg; back calculated weight as delivered w/ full tank, Ti Exhaust ..1397 kg

Happy 15 th.Great forum .Mike.

Old picture - but this pretty simply outlines the issue we have.

Brodit.uk , doesn t work out from UK , If you are based out , you have to order from a specific shop related to your country , in my case was : https://www.brodit-shop.de/home.php I guess , there is one for every EU area I was looking for a distributor in my country : https://www.brodit.com/reseller.html?pn=cont&sm=fd if you are in UK, life is easy then

Bon anniversaire TLF

sick of it now.....!!!!!! its just another instance where they can just prat about........delay it.....toss it off......waste time....drag the country down....... the self serving....self centred time wasters

I think it is important you take your car to someone who you trust and has a good reputation. I have had so many bad experiances with main dealers. After much reading on the net the one place I had read very little negative feedback on and lots of positive stuff was Hanger 111 - so I too make the 2 hour trip, confident I will have the job done properly by people who know the car.

Hello Having finally sorted out my brakes in my S4S I just wanted to note a few things that might help others. This is not to discuss how terrible the brakes are ( they might be, but they work!) I also want to keep the car as stock as possible and where I live it is very difficult to change brake systems legally - possible but difficult. I also want to thank Ian Lord et al. for the fine ABS delete servo brake system - I bought the kit as a back up for the future if and when I can no longer keep the original system. It is a very complete and well fabricated unit and part of me is dying to use it! Being a trusting sort of person and geographical distance found me I buying an S4s off someone who probably was not that honest with the truth - but the relevant part to this post is he had put a small square of black tape over the ABS tell tale - nice! Whats worse is I paid for a pre-purchase inspection from a very reputable lotus service garage and they did not pick up on this and a lot of other fairly easy to spot common and costly faults......all rectified now gladly. The ABS was the most frustrating and every time I thought I had it licked the little light would flash on and my heart would sink! Things I learnt : 1. Your ABS pump should come one after every 8-9 pumps......maybe 5 at the least.....any less than this and you have a problem. 2. Bleed the brakes really, really, really well. And keep bleeding the master cylinder if the pump is running too frequently - Depressurise system, ( ~40 pumps until it goes hard - ooooh!!) and then loosen both nuts until fluid flows (stop it!!) leave the brake depressed and then tighten them back up and then do a few fast hard stabs on the brake. I had to do this a few times after replacing parts. 3. If still problematic you probably need to replace the pressure switch - this is the most common part failure - I tried to clean mine but it was no help. I bought the replacement unit from lotus marques https://lotusmarques.com/parts/datasheets/823-lotus-esprit-abs-replacement-switch ...... although its completely different by appearance its bloody good and Steve Taylor is very responsive by email - he also does a fantastic water pump refurbishment . 4. Next on the list of culprits is the accumulator ( the bastard black bulb) I bought a land rover one STC2784 - although its half the price and it works (sort of) save your money as the neck on it is different and with out modification you get a slow fluid leak..... get the lotus part. I don't know how long until it gets kooky again but hopefully not for a while. I just bought a V8 also so I will compare the brakes on that to the S4S..........