910Esprit

Not watched any of the James Bond films with Lotus in them. I'd never watched Star Wars either, until earlier this year cos my daughter wanted to watch them.

This has now morphed into a 'budget' (a very relative term on these boxes) rebuild. As this is on a spare box, I can pretty much take it one component at a time and see what the options are. The most expensive bearing in the box is the pinion support roller bearing. Its a handsome bearing , 41x80x18, seems unique to Citroen and over £300 delivered from SJ. I suspect the one I have removed accounts for some of the noise from this particular box. I've just imported one from a Citroen spares place in Europe, which still cost a hefty £130 delivered. And again, it looks like a creative aftermarket solution. Its marked NJ208, which is a common bearing sized at 40x80x18. So I assume the supplier has had the ID ground from 40 to 41mm. If that's the case, they have done a nice job. Another observation is that all my spare output shaft flanges (4) are not flat. The worst was almost 20thou out of spec. I wonder if it was salvaged from a crashed car? Anyway, the new press makes an excellent 'vice' for holding the shaft vertical, while I 'tap' the flanges back to spec. Definitely worth checking if your rear discs are running out. Still waiting for the radial driveshaft seals to arrive as first one sent was supplied incorrectly

You should also take care to avoid installing the lip of the new seal in the same place as the old seal, if the crank surface showed any sign of wear. If someone assembled the engine without the correct gasket and an oil seal, I'd be checking pretty much everything very carefully.

Whilst waiting for the seal to arrive, I've turned my attention to the drive shaft bearings, which, quelle suprise, are virtually unique to Citroen and would cost near to £100 each delivered. I did however note that SJ sell them for around £39 plus the usual extras. How so? The dimensions of the bearing are 30x72x23.8, which happens to coincide with a common version of a cam roller bearing (has a much deeper outer ring than a standard automotive bearing and is typically used in industrial applications like conveyor systems). This is clearly pictured on SJ's website and is probably a LR5206KDD equivalent (you need to be careful with this bearing as not all versions have a parallel outer - some are convex/concave). It would seem that such a bearing is a satisfactory replacement for a standard double race angular contact bearing and can tolerate axial and radial loads. Unbranded versions start from around £20. (Id probably be less comfortable using it on an S1 or S2 where very high axial loads will be transmitted from the suspension.

The original oil seals used on the drive shaft housings are non-standard insofar as the ID does not bear directly on the axle, a side lip bears axially on an 'oil flinger', I suspect as a failsafe design feature to manage potential oil leakage. (as the rear discs are perilously close to the drive shaft housings) The result is preposterously expensive proprietary seals (eg approx £100 for 2 delivered). This seal has an 65mm OD and 8.5mm width (This is a standard theme with these boxes, that are also full of 'unusual' bearings). The dimensions of the shaft, housing & spacer width are 38x65x8.5 Standard metric NBR R23 rotary shaft seals are available in 38x65x8 (£6.80 for 2 delivered...) From examination of the driveshaft housing and axle, I cant see any obvious reason why a standard seal could not be used. The OD would have positive location against the outer race of the bearing and the oil flinger would still be in place to deal with any leakage, or if oil seeped directly into the housing it would be collected by the valley in the casting and leave via the 'tell tale'. Has anyone else tried this mod, or can anyone see any reason why it is doomed to failure before I trial it?

I was going to put a batten up in the garage to replace a single pendant light. However I've discovered the current 'loop in' fitting has 5 circuits 'looped in' plus the switched wire for the actual light. So my original plan to remove the 'loop in' fitting and fit a wiring junction box in the garage roof may not be the best idea. I then thought that I can relocate the original 'loop in' fitting from the ceiling and relocate it in the garage roof. I could then run the flex from the batten to the relocated fitting. Although that would clearly work, I have no idea if it would break any electrical code or good practice for that matter. I could of course just leave the pendant loop-in fitting in place and replace the pendant flex with the flex for the batten - but that would look crap Could anyone recommend what the correct 'code' approach is for this?

According to 'the book' the plain pin is at the bottom. That makes sense as the calliper is mounted to the rear of the disc.

The rubber sleeved brake pin is the trailing pin. Plain pin is leading

Because you can't join if you are already at war.

To use the 12v starter feed to bypass the ballast resistor on cranking, with the diode to avoid the coil then feeding back to the starter in running mode?

Looking on the internet an SP7665 (Talbot) is the same 13/16" master cylinder kit, with the exception of the seals that attach the reservoir. Can anyone help with the original master cylinder service kit reference for a Turbo Esprit prior to 1985?

I can find earlier and later editions on line, but haven't managed to find the Esprit range. Particularly interested in identifying the part numbers for all the original service kits.

Well the press arrived and did the job effortlessly. (Think I slightly over specified at 20 tons!). A tool would have been handy, but my low budget solution was a bar through a couple of wheelnuts resting against the floor. I used a bit of science with my bodyweight and the length of my breaker bar to 'torque' up the nut, however its not an exact science as you then need to keep going until you have access to the next split pin hole.

I'd like to think there is deliberate misdirection and a lot of stuff going on in the background we don't know about!

Maybe this? I suppose there is some sense in simple & cheap?