Jacques

Cheers! Little Red Riding Hood runs perfectly and thanks for a jolly good day Mind the gap! Jacques

Yes I did, and they replied, that it is essentially the same oil, renamed. There is no longer two kinds in that particular segment. Do I believe it? Hmm... Kind regards, Jacques

Nice solid one. Is it audible? Kind regards, jacques

In my country, it's the same and still available. I heard that on some markets, it's rebranded, bust same oil. Kind regards, jacques

Hi alan, Oh yes, they do that as well. I installed that on my car years ago, and it's fine. Contrary to the rusting original item, which will leak and send rust into the cooling system - great... Kind regards, Jacques

Alan, Yes they do. I bought mine there, incl. plug and everything. It is very far from all ther Lotus parts that show up on their webpage, which is slowly expanding. So, if need be, just give them a call and have a kit. I am still using my kit many years alter and it works perfectly. Kind regards, Jacques

Yes, but no, as this number would apply to cars just a few years younger, but no, not mine apparently. So I drove the crap out of it - ehrm, took a nice little slow tour around the island. I was being told yesterday by an authority on the subject, that there will be new rules passed this Summer, to more precisely specify these subjects. Can't be more specific as of now. We'll see. Cheers.

All right, so to be a little on the precautious side, I've been to a MOT tester, and had the Esprit measured for noise according to present day laws, setup for testing etc. It was 81,6 db including an Alunox exhaust manifold, modern cat and the Quicksilver exhaust system. So under the limit of my car with 84db plus 3db as it's a used car. Phew. As I've heard today, there has been a little exaggeration on both sides, the law enforcement as well as the owners, so for now, it's a stand still. More later as I find out. Kind regards, Jacques

Nope, it's a mufler from Quicksilver Systems, the version with a silencer, not the straight through. And since I also have an Alunox exhaust manifold and a sportscat, it is a bit on the loud side. It sound very potent, not extremely loud. New rule says 74 db and since my car is older 1990, it is allowed a little bitmore noise, +3db as it'sa used car, not factory new. Hopefully I'll pass the test next week, or I may have to open up that one small silencer, and modify it internally. I just spoke to Quicksilver, and they don't have any db measuring for my car and system. Anyway, they told me straight to modify my mufler if need be, instead of the original back silencer. I'll get back with more when I know more. Kind regards, Jacques

I'm afraid it is. The law was passed a few years ago as mentioned, but came into effect now. Yes, pure madness. Kind regards, Jacques ps: if anyone have a standard very silenced left hand driven cars exhaust mufler for a Esprit Turbo SE, please give me a pm. Or an idea thereof. Or if someone knows how to cut open my mufler and make it far more silent.

I'll try to answer to the best of my ability as of now. The thing about reckless driving is a whole other ballgame and is outside this news/debate. Yes, it's true that there is very little about it right now, but I can for example refer to some video postings on flutube made by "High on cars" (in Danish). They discuss that problems there. One of the central points now is the limits for smog and noise have been lowered so that the cars and mc's which were legal before because of higher limits being old before such and such a date, cannot pass them. For example there are a lot of US old cars in Denmark, which is being driven only during Summer and on good shiny days. Apart from many of them having other bigger more powerful engines etc. the have a very hard time passing the new rules when being measured by the inspection and police in road side razzias, which are the ones we now see. There are some expectations as to the police and inspectors relaxing down again, but this is not certain. Another way is to take it to court. There are now money collections to help funding court cases against the state as a matter of principle. In general it can be said that these "new" laws are not new as such, but went into effect by 1'st of March 2022. They were passed some years ago as a compromise to the EC demanding annual or bi-annual inspection to motorcycles in Denmark (al of EC), and in which Denmark said "no, that is not needed, as drivers take very good care of their bikes". Then there came a debate of noise and smog, and Denmark wanted to get lower limits than the rest of the EC, and at a time Germany told Denmark to "just leave the EC". Germany later that day gave an apology to Denmark. The compromise was that we could have stricter laws on smog and noise and loose the inspection of bikes, but by 1'st of March 2022, start doing severe road side inspections as explained. For example, the police fill a whole big parking lot with their people and equipment, and stop every single car and mc getting near the area. Inspect them and confiscate if anything is wrong/illegal etc. even on suspicion. Before 1'st of March 2022, you would get an order of driving home and repair or correct anything they found, and eventually show up at an inspection MOT facility to have it passed. Not so now. There are a number of problems in this case. For example there is no official number printed on the message of choice you will receive. That is probably illegal, so the police and inspectors handing these out, are probably doing something illegal, therefore leaving it up to a court to decide later on. This will take a lot of time to look into, as courts have many hundreds of cases waiting because of the last two years of covid, thereby dragging this into the future. As soon as I hear about any decision on this, I'll post it here. Denmark does not have any single special approval of a vehicle such as for example Sweden does. We are too small a nation, and does not have a national inspection/tech institute, so we refer to EC and German TUV papers etc. Therefore for example the Nitron suspension kit that we all know by now, is illegal in Denmark, despite Nitron making an official paper stating this was made special for this car and so on. Not a problem in the EC, except in Denmark. Matters can be done to some extent, but as I wrote here, it's not a practical approach in reality. I read the test procedures, and it's pretty extreme. Some years ago, there was even a Danish demand of a test example of a car with such parts on it, demanding to make a crash test, thereby crushing the car. If it passed, then you could drive with the surviving 2'nd example. But you also have to pay a new registration tax - 180% of the cars price. As you may know, the extreme 180% tax in Denmark on cars and mc's are lifted a bit for electric cars and small new mini cars. But not for old cars such as for example a Lotus Esprit. So I paid nearly the same in registration tax, as I paid for my whole Esprit, thereby doubling it's cost. If you then want to say install a Nitron kit, there is a new reg. tax again. That will be an evaluation of the car itself as well as other sister or brother models, such as for example the Sport300 or V8, which was more expensive than mine, making the potential tax higher, as well as combined with a Danish evaluation of what the car is worth in sale here and now, on the national market and the international market (without tax). Btw, I spent several hours a few days ago reading the newest laws imposed, directly from "retsinformation" which is the publication of laws to the public, with regards to tuning, smog, rebuilding, noise, changes etc. They are very strict and even though there are ways to do some, it's mostly contradicted by other laws, in effect making it very hard to pass anything, even original cars and mc's. My own Laverda is an example, which was made being somewhat loud. It can easily be driven being damped and not noisy, which I do, but now, the old limits for noise also rules over this mc, so despite being original, I cannot any more pass inspection and thereby also road side razzias. As you know, there are very specific designs to parts and their function and for example using or making up parts that does limit noise on this bike, is unfortunately illegal, as they do not contain a relatively newly decided EC conformity number. By then, you will have to have the bike towed to the other end of Denmark, and paying an inspection company a (large) sum of money to perform tests (in Germany), as well as engineers to test the design and strength of said parts. And by the time this may succeed, you will have paid more than it is worth and choked the engine completely, making it not able to drive. In reality, it is not realistic. I am still looking into ways of having my car legalized to the new rules. It may take a few years to complete. I'll be back asap with more info as I find out. Kind regards, Jacques

Cheers guys, I'll try to answer to the best of my knowledge right now. So, it is for all cars ad mc's, including classic and oldtimer. It is also for all because the old rules of more noise allowed is moved down to lower limits. Likewise for exhaust smog. It is not only modified classic cars. All cars and mc's. So far I've heard that a few cars from Sweden was confiscated because of this. It has not been confirmed so far. It might have been a case of "madness driving" which also is a new law, passed last Summer 2021. If a policeman tracks you speeding 100% above on freeway, bye-bye car. Likewise with a lower limit inside towns or on countryside highways. Yes, it's very dictatorial. And yes, it's a very clear case for a bright lawyer. Today was the first shiny blue sky for a long time, Sun was out smiling and it was 12-15 degrees cel. Normally, there would have been a swarm of classic cars etc. out on the roads. Today: near none. I'll get back as I retrieve more info. Meanwhile: my Esprit is sleeping again. Cheers, Jacques

As I have been informed, Danish law is by 1'st of March now so, that my car is illegal, as it makes too much noise, even though it passed it's regulations, as the law has now been changed for older cars. Therefore to get rid of all these cars and motorcycles which are now illegal to drive, but legal to own on private property, without license plates of course, as they cannot pass any inspection now, are getting confiscated immediately by the police in big hit squads all over the country. Since 1' of March between 600 and 1000 cars and mc's in just central part of Jylland, have been confiscated by the police in Denmark, and you either get the choice of freely giving over your car or motorcycle to the police for ever, thereby saying goodbye and loosing all of it's value, or having it towed, inspected by the importer of what ever brand it is, and if no one is there, it's getting either crushed or sold to whoever wants to buy it (for exhibition), or having it 100% turned legal at your own cost but by the system mentioned, plus a court case and a heavy fine. Big money here, typically over 12000 usd or way more, as there have been examples of. Since this law passed, there are none, I repeat none classic cars and motorcycles on the streets any more, apart from those who didn't hear about it yet. It takes place in such a way that a huge force of police are encircling a group of cars say at a harbor exhibition or similar, and they are held back by force, not allowed to leave freely, until the inspection is done. The inspection itself is done by police and special educated inspectors who then perform the inspection on site. If they either can see something that is now illegal, or have a suspicion thereof, the owner or driver will have a piece of paper given to them (without an official certification number on the paper), on which it is stated the above mentioned choice. The driver or owner have to decide on the spot and this is then performed. For example there are newly passed levels for conformity, such as ec numbers imprinted on parts, e.g. a cat, or E11 number stated on parts, new level of less noise accepted etc. As for the tests, there are now one former chiptuner in Denmark, who is now appointed to inspect software installed in engine management chips, and this alone cost around 2000 usd, plus they are specifically instructed to drill a hole through the complete controlling box, order a new one from factory if possible and install that. This of course is not possible on many older cars. I have spoken to someone close to those who educate the special selected policemen and testers, and it seems to be correct. One this is the installation of streamers on wind shields, dark film on windows, headlights, extreme tuning, extreme noise etc, another is the levels of noise and co, co2 etc, being in effect now, effectively making it extremely hard to pass any classic car or motorcycle. For example, it is no more enough to have the original parts on the vehicle, as these would often be louder or more smoking, than the new law allows. Likewise, there are many parts that were produced before say 1' of October 1990 (date of first smog law limit going into effect), that does not have any EC conformity, simply because it was not a requirement at the time, these being now illegal, which leads to confiscation of the car or motorcycle. There are hundreds of court cased being prepared as we speak, which because of covid19, can be expected to be delayed fort a very long period of time. The Danish organisation of motor owners FDM, have been very silent about this, not stating anything official as of yet, as they initially voted yes for the pretext version of the new laws before being passed. Stay tuned for the development on this. Kind regards.

How is it going with this project? Kind regards, Jacques

I've had many people coming forward to me asking the same. I am not selling a gearbox, I am building one, including a lot of different special parts, and as I apparently have a wrong primary axle (the GTO, which is geared towards track or a V8 Esprit), and not an EMCO or Holloway, I am searching for the EMCO or Holloway one to swap for my GTO axlekit. If I find such a set without the swap, I will afterwards sell my GTO kit, because it will be in surplus. Kind regards, Jacques

Mglp!!!

Same happened on mine. A new one if cheap, works well, and I used a few cotton swabs with isopropylalcohol to clean the copper rill traces in the alternator. Works well ever since. I'll bring another one if I travel abroad with the car Kind regards, Jacques

I'm on there, but haven't, as the Renault spline is not used on GT40's rather the Ford spline. What I need is an EMCO or Holloway kit specifically made for the Esprit as we know. Then, I'll sell my own GTO (Renault spline) kit, which is the same, just a tad higher geared. My gearbox project is on halt until I fins such a kit. Kind regards, Jacques

For my Lotus Esprit with Renault UN1 gearbox, I'm making another gearbox and I have all parts, but finally discovered that the Holloway kit I bought 3 years ago, is in fact a GTO kit. The EMCO or Holloway kit does have a slightly taller 1' and 2' gear, and is stil a street kit, but my GTO kit is a bit taller geared in 1' and 2' still, so more track focused or for a strong V8 Esprit or a tuned 4 pot Esprit. Ideal for track or racing, but can be used on public road as well on the aforementioned cars. I am willing to swap kit if you have either a Holloway or an EMCO kit, or just a pure buy. And I'll sell my GTO kit after having the new kit. All kits consists of a one-piece primary axle and two gears plus a couple of bearings and a few smaller items. It does not matter if the Holloway kit or EMCO kit is used as long as it's in good order. Or new. My GTO kit is used and I bought it like that, but in very good condition and only slightly used. All kits now cost a small fortune today and are rare. It will, no matter what kit, make your Renault UN1 gearbox MUCH stronger, but eliminating the weak points that UN1 have with a strong car like Lotus Esprit. All kits are for certain versions of UN1, namely the 026 and 027. Can be used on the 028 as well as far as I know. It is of course with a Renault spline that Lotus use, not the Ford spline. My kit is ready for shipping, safely packed, and I would really like to either swap kit or buy the one I need, and then sell mine right after getting the Holloway or EMCO kit. Should you either have such a kit or know of one, please let me hear from you, as soon as possible. Kind regards, Jacques

I'm afraid that is the ways of the new world, where motorists are banned and cyclists are welcomed, more so if they are on a 90 kilo heavy 2 children carrier box on 3 wheels and plus a great deal of luggage. No way of overtaking, no way they can brake if need be. Close to me, there is a side street that leads to the easiest and most environmentally friendly road to the freeway, off of Copenhagen. Now, there's a whole team of road workers spending gazillions of our hard earned tax money, which have closed the road connection, so everyone will have to find another way around that area. Upon asking what they are doing, I was told by their leader "well, the police wants us to help cyclists, with whom there's been some accidents". So, driving there (on bicycle) at least 6 times per day, I've never ever seen a single accident in my 27 years of passing by. At the same time I asked why the car line is made extremely narrow, when in fact there's plenty of space? "so we can control traffic", he replied. But why? I asked. "so we can irritate them (car drivers) enough to park the car and take the bicycle", was his honest answer. "so do you take your bicycle yourself? I asked. "Oh no, no way, I live south of Copenhagen, and I would never take the bicycle, I always take the car". Get the f..k out of my town, I replied and went on my way. Of course he pays 1/5'th for his big house and driving a big Mercedes, and he had clearly never been on a bicycle judging from his bodyshape and weight... They are a mafia traffic gang in Town Hall and their idiotic inconsiderate ME ME ME roadworkers and co-criminals. GGrrrr.... I spend most of my life on a bicycle to be free of cues and having no parking spaces for miles, and all I get is worse and worse conditions for everyone. While we spoke for those two minutes, I noticed 5 cars making an illegal u-turn, because the road has been blocked. I also noticed that local residents in that area have protested, but to NO avail. The criminal gang of politicians and the co-thieves are extreme and have taken power in my town. For example, the housing prices are so extreme here, that a house or a flat costs 3-5 times more than in the rest of the country, but this is where you can have a job, not in the country side. And the rest have since long moved to china. Everyone need to drive by car to Copenhagen. Trains and busses are an absolute joke, never working and being extremely slow. Who wants to spend 2-3 hours each way? I thought so. So, in their misunderstood to put it nicely, the local gang I mentioned before, removed 40.000 parking spaces from Copenhagen as well as making every single main into town a single lane, creating extreme cues and extreme frustration. And lot's and lot's of automatic speedcameras to catch those dangerous individuals who try to reach their job and have the absolute nerve to speed, going 52 km/h instead of the enforced 50 (or 40 km/h), making 2 km/h a CRIME! If I once ina while take the Esprit, I am constantly being waved at, asked questions and what not, usually while parked. So, the same people who express that they like the Esprit, are surprised when I tell them, that I drive it. You drive that dinosaur? For real? Oh well, .... I reply. Why don't you get a Tesla or another electric car, they ask. Because it's a piece of crap and pollutes far more than me in my 31 year old sportscar, driving 1500 km per year, I reply. My neighbour just sold his new electric car and got an old Scirocco instead. Why? No where to charge it. The only six places in that part of Copenhagen, are either defect of taken, every single day. Read that again: every single day. I tell you, there's a very real traffic mafia here in Copenhagen. And they are untouchable. I am on a bicycle every day since age 12, and I keep the law and show respect to everyone. Also when on a racebike in the freetime. I NEVER do like those half-brains. And if I am on the MTB, I show respect by keeping a distance, and braking for others, incl. people with loose dogs and what not. The way traffic is enforced in Denmark and more so Copenhagen, is extremely counterproductive to say the least. I tell you guys, the UK is a HEAVEN in comparison. EVEN if there are lot's of idiotic bicyclists... Kind regards, Jacques

What I mean is, any example commands a price. Now, a well worked one would commend a higher price. And personally, I wouldn't give mine away. Because of parts and labour costs, a good one should and will be more expensive. Kind regards, Jacques

I agree. There will be lots and lots of small parts you'll want to renew or resurface or similar, once taking it all apart. All sorts of brackets, hoses, cables, finishers, support items and what not. My personal view on this is, that it adds to the value of the car, thereby stating that it is not a lost amount of money. I generally don't agree with the market value idea, so not being a question of how many are on the market and how many people will pay for one. It's worth what it's worth to you, the owner. And that should be a lot. Example: my current gearbox project should be, well, just a few little items, looking at the bearings etc, but in reality, it's a new stronger shell, all new bolts inside out, new 1 piece primary axle and new reworked 1' and 2' gears, new bearings and shims etc, A new Quaife atb, another taller 5'th plus fittings for that, new end casing and parts for that, new gearmaster, a whole variety of very expensive (imported) sticky stuff to smear this and glue that reinfocing brackets, gearstick, cable, brackets, exhaust suspension frame, new better clutch, flywheel, gearbox mounts, special made lighter washers, machined bellhousing, new system of actuation of clutch, special made shift fork for 1/2 and a lot more. What was initially thought of as just a few bits and bobs, are in reality a fairly decent amount of money. But will be for the better, once finished. And while at it, there may be other areas as well, which is the right time to do, so add to that as you go. Hence the wish for new carpets when doing the gearmaster etc. Then there are the market related potential extra costs, depending on where and how the car was drive and stored. While having deep respect for our UK Esprit driving colleagues, there was at least a time when some Esprit were being used all year round in the UK, making a lot more wear and tear on some cars. That will add more expense, if this is the case. Thinking of for example fan frame, suspension parts, shims, bearings, brakes etc. just to name a few. Happy days working on the car Kind regards, Jacques

Here in DK, 67% of all cases are BA2, 99,9% of all cases are omicron of some sort. Kind regards.

Nice! Great music from a big scope of movies. Enjoy! Kind regards, jacques

You'll probably need to bring a fresh pcr test when arriving. Likewise if one needs to visit a nursing home and at hospitals. May I ask what koncert? (I'll try to make some wheelspin outside, then Kind regards, Jacques