Joey4420

All the parts are in stock and hopefully it will be done in the next few weeks. The shop I use doesn't dedicate time to the engine building, so he does my engine when nothing major is in the main shop, it is a Lotus dealership though and he has built several Esprit V8's so I trust his work.

Well I have an update to my engine. Everything but the physical heads and block being replaced. Valves, cam, crank, rods, pistons/sleeves, and everything in between. The big news is one head has already been installed so soon I hope I should hear a running engine.

I had my Plenum and cam covers powder coated.

If this was for me, sadly I have no idea what they were before. Rebuild should be starting soon. In queue at the shop.

Here is the oil pick up that broke off.

The rebuild is due to the oil pickup breaking off causing oil starvation. Full Rebuild, Gator motorsports in Indianapolis Indiana is doing the work, they have rebuild many V8 engines including the owners (he races his a bit). They have done stock to not so stock rebuilds. He (Owen) plans to let me know more when he has it torn down, and I have asked about upgrades that may be needed. He said the only real upgrade is the pistons and that will be up to me since it is a stock rebuild. Of course if I ever did decide to add more having it done would be added value. Having owned an all out performance car prior to my Lotus, I had a Cobra Replica with an SVO 460 with 550 wheel horses and zero safety items in the car. I have no issues with how the lotus performs as a fun weekend car or even cross country trip vehicle. I have no intentions of dropping to 3rd gear at 70 MPH on the interstate to just spin tires, I had enough of that in the Cobra. I want to enjoy my dream car and just drive it.

So I am in the process of getting my V8 engine rebuilt, for normal driving. I don't plan racing or running it too hard. Are there any advantages of doing Piston upgrades, and are there any other recommended upgrades? Obviously I don't want to upgrade to the point of having to upgrade the transmission just to upgrade something else. I don't want to keep chasing the never ending upgrade path.

Like I mentioned on Facebook, same sound, my Timing belts were very loose, but sound didn't go away after changing them. Pulled the oil pan to find the pick up tube laying in the oil pan and some very scary looking scars on the crank.

Some internal oil pan pics.

The only indicator I had was just the engine running perfect, then next start up in made some knocking noises that I thought was the cam belts... well they were stupid loose, so they were changed and new tensioners, but then on start up it still made noise at RPM, then after a few minutes of troubleshooting the shop stated the low oil light came on. The pulled the pan and the damage was done.

Things are not looking great, but still ugly. The oil pickup tube broke off. So I am in for an engine rebuild.

I am hoping for the best, but I also know that it could be expensive. Either way I am going to get it fixed and enjoy it again soon.

Factory boost, had the cam belts and tensoners changed (8 years since previously done), I bought the car and drove around 5,000 miles and went to drive it one afternoon and it made noise, so I shut the car down and sent to the shop, they found the belts super loose and proceeded to change them. They are pretty sure it is bottom end noise so they are pulling the oil pan this next week.

Got an update after the cam belt and tensioner change. Sadly the update isn't good. sounds like I have rod bearing issues. At least when it is done it will be sorted and I can enjoy. IMG_2364.mp4

So I purchased my 2002 Esprit on July 15 and have put almost 5000 miles (8000 KM) since then and got a new radio installed with a backup camera. Well after driving the car home from the radio shop with zero issues or sounds. The next day I check the Blow Off Valves for hunting idle and they appeared to work correctly so must be something else. So I decided to go for a drive. I start the car and immediately heard the dreaded CAM tensioner knocking (yes I have heard before on other cars and I am 98% percent sure my issue is the tensioner. Even thought the sound was heart wrenching and almost made me sick to my stomach at least it didn't happen while I was driving home from across the country. And at least it is making noise and not just exploding the engine into expensive bits of metal. I already have a call into my local (2 hour tow away) Lotus shop, waiting for a time slot and to spend the $1600 to get it changed. I plan to have them change the radiator hoses as well since I am sure they are original.