Roberto Esprit

Where to start. Sorry no photos yet. So I went to start the car one day after swapping in a geraric 02 sensor. I thought I was going to eat my own words of it working because the car idled horribly again and I was back to throwing multiple codes. I did some digging and found no bolts in the manifold... That would cause a rich condition for sure. Well I couldnt get the bolts in as I had no fast source for studs and I noticed a big oil slick on the frame and all over the motor. So I started to pull the engine. Everything stated out ok. Wires unclipped nothing too bad but some corrosion that might explain the jumpy gauges at times. Then I got to the passenger side firewall. I forgot why I wanted to pull it but I wanted to. I dont know if lotus does this or this is some idiots idea of a joke but the wires had no clip. They were taped up to the ECM. That was the last straw. Carefully but quicky I pulled the following: Cat probe wire: Blue All ECM cables The ECM Ignition Crank sensor Idle stepper Oil pressure sensor and slightly unrelated I am removing the vac pump and the charge cooler pump. This will be replaced by: Mil spec short harnesses with TPFE coated nickle plated wire that is loomed and heat shrank. This will be modular seperating into Main. Ignition, Injection, Sensors and a seprate single bundle for the stepper controlling idle. Boost will also be on its own short loom. This should greatly reduce tear down time. The ECM will be a Haltech Elite 1000. Which can shut down the engine based on preset limits. Vacuum and CC pumps will be electronic. I already have a Hella vac pump for the brakes for now. This may change to no vac pump and all steppers for the aircon as I have all of that as well. This is not a happy mod without a point but rather a necessary evil as I do not want the freshly rebuilt engine to fail due to a bad ground. Speaking of grounds I am working out A new system for the electrical. Since I am not going to place the battery back in the OEM location and nor am I re using the wires that came with the unit I am at a loss of where to put the Battery. It will be lithium in a bit smaller capacity but I still do not know where I should put the unit. 4 locations come up as prime restate. Behind the passenger seat, Over the passenger fuel tank and up in the front of the car. This all has to be factored in with the fact that I am running a ton of non factory electronics including but not limited to door speaker's a DSP ignition coils that do not need an igniter and a huge altenator that may go where the vac pump once lived. I want to Keep my cable runs short but I also need enough power to run a small amp and the new electronics. I hope that by using Led bulbs and modern injection and thicker wire that the overall system load is reduced. That is all for now. If anyone has relocated the battery and is happy with their choice pleas tell me where you put it.

Well... Everything is a hassle.... I think this might lead to an engine out inspection...... How do you strip all three studs... How.... I think I see bits of helicoil in there... I dont have a speare 3 grand to spend.... Time to rob a liquor store... So I crawl under the car to pop the bolts in.... Both main seals are now puking oil. I thought I screwed up putting the pan on but half of it was dry. Everything is leaking around the trans.... I scooted up and sure enough theres bits of melted seal around the nose of the crank.... And these guys are the lotus experts.... Im taking em to court... Ive had it.... And I swear to god I will never trust a wrench to another human being as long as I live.... This ended well eh... gonna look through the book and see what it says about pulling the engine. It looks like 20 bolts or less and 4 hose clamps n some wires and the throttle cable... 1 day two perhaps.... Then I gotta find a buzz boy to fill in the holes....

Andy we dont have a local ford chevrolet volvo or lotus dealer.... I can only get the toyota bits easily.... Let me impart on you how bad this area is. I was going to make a set of hinges for some forum members... Not a hard task... I got the measurments and even bent up some guides.... I never found a local supplier for bearings or the metal... The end... Well hopefully not as I do want to make them but this area has no machines... I have more tooling than my local car shop... :'( Sparky your a prince!!! Daka thanks for the link. I will probably source some nickle alloy studs when the time comes for the manifold to be built. The car is an extreme project.

TO SKIP anything not related to the topic of this post SKIP TO GREEN! I lost some bolts and had a loose rod among other things.... I got the rod fixed but while I was down there I found out why the car has been erratic. 3 studs are missing. I have reported the builder to other classic car guys as this is one of many many issues I found with this build..... I have since taken my torque wrench to the whole motor and I need to check the valve clearances this weekend.... I am at a loss how the bearing survived with almost no damage..... Either way let that horror show serve as a warning to people buying major service cars. It may be a good idea to check the specs on the whole motor even if the guy is supposed to be vetted. The short of it is I need an appropriate bolt size to replace the studs as I am not interested in waiting for a stud set as this manifold only needs to be on the car for another 4-5 months. So if someone could please please give me either all of the bolt specs I need thread pitch length ect or just the pitch I would be good to go. Just an update on the car in general: The car is now fitted with custom door cards made by yours truly which house two McIntosh MS630s and currently running audi tweeters... Not a fan but they will do while I search around for scanspeaks or focals. The Haltech fund is getting a few donations. I got the car balanced its night and day. The idle is back to being horrible and the throttle is reading 4% open I need to consult the book about the proper resistance shut but I am suspecting some bad grounds. The car was running amazing until two weeks ago when I developed a rod and cam knock around the same time the exhaust studs fell out..... Since the car has been mostly parked while I ripped the windage tray off and found.... More loose bolts then I found #4 was not tight. I inspected the bearing and god must have had me because it was undamaged and the rod tightened up when I torqued it down. I did do a test drive after changing the oil and the car is much better but still needs those bolts and the loom inspected.

I have boosted brakes. I was saying I dont really have much issue with their power. But it could be my driving style. I have never outmatched brakes on anything newer than 70s stuff even on the track. My annoyance is with the Vacuum unit. It all becomes relative when you add to the fact that I am converting a lot of stuff to electronic creating a huge load for the altrenator. So I dont want to add a seperate electronic device just for the brake servo. the only Vac item I will have when I am done with the rest of the car is the turbo control circuits Which then if I really need a pump at least it will be at the back of the car not connected to the front. Before I made some phone calls and sent some emails I was considering a system like the delco unit... Thank god I saw this post. The thing that I didnt know until today is that the SE booster and master is rare. I would be willing to give up mine for lotus parts as I have already made my decision to shelf the part in favor for two seperate master cylinders on a pedal box for these reasons: -I am tall and the pedals sit two inches out of my comfort zone. - I am now aware that I have used non power brakes many times and didnt even know it. - I wont need to add any wiring or load on the electrical system. - I am being given 6 piston pots. ( I know this piston can handle em.) - I may have a bad master cylinder for the clutch so I might as well do the whole thing now. I will post up how it feels as I see vulcangrey was on the post of the first guy who did this to his esprit and the guy never said how it worked out... He just said it took getting used to and that it was different. Dont hold your breath though as I am modding/ restoring a lot of other small stuff right now. I feel like my previous post was a waste of everyones time due to the fact that I answered most of my own questions. Sorry for that. But please PM me as I wont be on for a while if there is an owner of an aftermarket non power setup that would be willing to share how it feels pedal ratio ECT.

After reading this I am realizing that I posted in the wrong thread before. I have to say that I think the factory system on my 90 SE would do just fine as long as it has a good vacuum source. Ive never driven anything 80s or newer that I couldnt lock up if I wanted. The reason I am saying this. ( Dont shoot me I is a just asking.) What is the problem with the master and servo in the cars??? I also looked around the gargler for 30 minutes before posting this and I would just rip that SOB ABS unit out and all the wires and any ABS lighting wiring and the bulb with it. Shove a T fitting with some nice alloy brake lines and call it a day. Unless I am missing something??? MR2 gerlig OE stuff and Japanese truck parts seem a bit far. My vacuum isn't great and mine still stops good. The reason I want to go full manual or am pondering on it very very hard is because of the vacuum. I just don't think the pedal will be that much stiffer if its done right with the right throw. I don't know where I read of someone doing this before in place of the delco unit. They used a wilwood master.

I just saw it pinned lol. EDIT: Eh Ramjet.... I read that and not quite where I am heading unless I missed a few important posts... Theres gotta be people on here racing these that use full blown race setups. I wanna know what they think about the pedal feel. The squaking is driving me insane and I would like to replace the pump with a much much smaller one or no pump at all. The reason for that is electrical load because I full well plan on a big stereo electronic charge cooler pump and possibly electronic coolant pump. I laready upgraded the alt once but I am looking at putting a 200amp unit where the vac pump is..... MAybe

HE he..... It should already be installed at this point..... Also should Glyn should have hinges.... I spent my savings on a cooking show I been doing and then I had to get summers... Best part is I saved the money again... Guess what Japan has a yearly tax and since shes a legal gal it means I have to pay 500$ or about 300 Pounds sterling. Now Back to the topic. You boys did a wonderful job of supplying information. I think in the end I am going to go with the sensor on the crand until I get a wad of cash and can machine that flywheel I want. The only reason being I dont like sharp things in the engine bay and those triggers look like open knickles to me. Theres a chunk off my happy finger right now from the damned frame. On the CAM. I dunno if I will use the charge cooler or the cam sprocket. I may go for option 3 which is using a stamped steel triger I have off the old 12V audis. I got 4 digital hall effect sensors. Its coming along. Slow as molasses. But I gotta thank you guys for such details and photos. Their worth a million words and hours of rescearch. Also an update on the car: I decided after tires AIR is a priority and the system had some pressure in it I am hoping they evacuated it and I got some naughty stuff to put in. Tires are going to be...... This is a big laugh... The correct size for the front in an off brand UHP thats stickier than the eagles and lops. The rear I had to go down to 225.... with.... thats a lot thinner but I couldn't find an equal performance tire anywhere for under a grand each!!! Shifting is buttery smooth after Lubing it up and tightening the lockout pin. But my clutch is always an issue. It may have air in it. Reverse has been getting worse and it hasnt been coming out of gear easily. The line is stainless braided. It drank some fluid but I cant find a leak.

I havent wanted to snap many photos. Because its all looked pretty ratty. I did a 2 din install and was going to make a nice aircon panel but it didnt turn out quite how I wanted so I wasnt wanting to snap a photo till now. Also I did a leather repaint which started out great until I bought the wrong clear and the stuff bubbled up. I just got it stripped off. The door is coming but that will probably be a you tube video. Theres photos of my sucesses and failures on lotus talk but I dont go there anymore due to a facebook login issue that bibs fixed for me but they never did at lotus talk. Also side plates arent even started for the stereo and the plan is to replace all of this with climate controls an audison bit 1 which I have but no amp and a multidock. Also the topic at hand. I really need to know if anyone is running manual disc brakes.

I will open with a question I have had for weeks. Anyone say F*** the powee booster and vacuum system all together and run a manual cylinder? If so what diamiter piston and throw ratio. This is also one reason I was thinking about a pedal box. I would still run a small temporary vacuum pump and plastic resivour for the flaps. Later to be replaced by steppers. This would all lead up to a big alternator and belt routing mod. Possibly an electronic water pump in the mix. So my absence cant be summed up two short. Its a mixed bag. I cant communicate two well my intentions. This leads to pissing off my fellow man. My intentions with the esprit might not be clear. Which is to make a fully reversable full interior and body modification to modern standard. Which people may not like. Also its not my esprit of choice as its an outstanding classic with not much wrong with it other than being dated and having factory defects due to age or lotuses poor choices. I wanted a totaled rolling chassis but the car was cheap and I needed a car asap. Theres a big tax here keeping me from having another car. So like it or notits my DD. I do my best to keep the paint and body clean. That said. Ive been busy with the conversion. The audi drivers door is nearly foamed in I converted the switches to 95 era audi units. This all makes it possible to put speakers in. Moves the handle up near the s4s posistion. And adds window defrost vents. Theres also power locks which I will be adding a solonoid to get rid of the manual handles. As of now I need foam and body filler then all I gotta do is leather wrap it. My carbon dash didnt go well on the left side. I ended up making a new panel from acratch using the broken one as a mold..... A P/O neglected it and added a sticker over it which only helped it warp. Weather caused my resin to misbehave and theres no saving the oem piece. Its really warped and the fiber didnt take. Crying shame. I liked the burl. But I shoulda bent an aluminum copy because the new piece was warped and my technique was bad. I ended up with an almost flat panel... Didnt fit good and a corner cracked. I also sat on it after my final sand and clear cracking it all over ruining 3 weeks worth of work... Now I have a spider cracked piece thats dull. But its not warped. Ill do it again soon..... The temporary magnesium besil looked real nasty so I set to drilling it for indication lights. I used silicone stained glass gel for color and chaned to LED lighting. Then I wetsanded the part. Paint wouldnt take so I had to sand it all off and prime it. My intake plenum which is a hopeflly upgraded copy of lotus talks loren's unit needed a lot of love. It was full of pinholes then I measured it... Some sort of error put me right at 4500cc of volume. This led me to contact Mr.Dangerus. he said the difference between 4500 and 3500 should be negligable. Im also low on fiber and wondering if I should redo it as its lumpy. Lumpy = poor flow and turbulence. Also finaly got off my butt and measured the lift gate hinges.... Anyo e can make em. Im still not rich enough to spend 50 $ on hinges and another 100$ on building a mini brake. I did however use a wire and copied the angles. So itll hapoen someday some time. And itll be in titanium grade 1 just because.... Actually its a rigidity issue grade 1 is s the softest and ss has as many issues as titanium does at those thicknesses. Money. Yearly taxes. Mods and birthdays sacked me real bad and I lost a contract right after getting a new one. This caused me to go into a small deoression. Its rather personal I know but I am honest. Im better but it was a scare. More good after that. I been herassing the hell out of MCM's marty because the forums had no moderators!! He finally caved after almost getting my self banned for calling them out. Squeaky wheel and all. So now I am there daily. Greeting members and scanning for spam. He forgot to give us the privlage to move the threads and the way that forum is organized we need it despriaely. I am into hotrodding so I fit in there. Also I been enjoying spring. The lotus gother full bath which includes stripping the engine and suspension of nasty stuff. A regrease which looks like the first in years for the shift. Which is now butter smooth minus a possibly leaky slave as the lines SS. And I been hoarding R12. Oil came and I bid on a lot of 20 cans. So those are why I been away and ... my cooking show... I want to close by thanking you all especially Bibs as I wouldnt be able to log in after the facebook login issue a few months back. That is the sole reason I no longer am on lotus talk. They never fixed it. Again thanks and please let me know your thoughts even if you think the idea is ...uunko thats japanese for shite. =D Also auto corrdct makes me sound like an english second language speaker... I mistakenky sent this from my cell... Im old enough to need a slider keyboard... Sorry for it being hard to read....

Keep me up on this. Heck I don't get on much since the cold set in. So a PM is welcome.

I am imagining theres something up with the rim. Not that I think its bent noticeably because I checked that but they do get dinged ect and thats usually when 2oz get put on. I think ill keep the weights. just one month to go and I can put the summer tires on and maybe change the brakes.

I have a bad feeling its the discs. I dont have a indicator anymore gotta buy that too. It really seems the only headaches in this car have been stuff that wasnt serviced when it should have. The P/o babied it but that dont mean he didnt ride a set of pads off and neglected to do the discs. I can live with it until the temp warms up. It keeps me off the pedal. In other words I think your right and I am just wishfully thinking its wheel weights. Another question to anyone who sees this. Should I scrape the weights off? Remember I couldnt balance the tires due to a lack of a machine.

For a while now I been running snows on the car and l mostly baby it because of the tranny and fear of slamming into a guardrail or oncoming traffic. I should start with the bad of running a car like this in the winter. She scrapes here in japan because of poor plowing. I checked my ride height compared to most other cars I am a bit higher! 2 Deep soft powdery stuff is out of the question. studless tires will burn through the snowpack to the icy road so going up hill on soft stuff wont work out. I had to back up a half a mile last night and park it ( OUTSIDE!!) The front takes a lot of abuse and the cabin does not ventilate well. There is a constant layer of fog on the side windows. I also did play around in the car a bit. The rear end wont go wont go then it likes to spin violently. Now for the good. With the right size snows you should be able to tackle anything a front wheel drive car will. Even the nastiest of snow storms and the heat hold's up good. So good in fact a jacket isnt needed. Also any slipping is predictable. The only time I got stuck was yesterday. In japan we have tire wide ditches on almost every road and they are quite deep. A foot or two... I hit some real deep snow everything was white. so I decided to back up. I was backing with my door closed which I usually have open so I can see better and plunked a tire into the ditch. I had tio lift the car and pack snow under the wheels to get out but otherwise its not been bad. Next year I am going to run a guard and build some smooth fender liners to shed snow easier. Honestly the frame and all the under parts are still the same as when I got it and I plan on cleaning and coating the frame come spring to ensure a long life.

I had to gun it in fourth from a stop because of a gearchange problem me being in the middle of the road and an approaching dump truck. Hasnt been quite the same since. I do plan on pulling it apart. I had it let go during a third gear pull on the freeway. The car is a mess right now. I need to properly go through it again but its just so damn cold. If it was summer I would have pulled the gearbox just to have a look with the mic. So hopefully thats this summer getting all that straight with a hopefully whole new box. Also my life took a major turn. I am launching a youtube cooking show and just spent the 800 bucks I had saved for my haltech on a cannon 7D. I hope I make the money back when the show launches... Because I really wanted to do the ECM. The intake ect are going to be paperweights until I can get that unit.