strat10 25 Posted May 25, 2020 Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 Hello everyone, I will be picking up my new to me 1995 Lotus Esprit S4S from Spokane Washington this next weekend. My brother and I will be picking it up in Spokane WA, and driving it back to Orange County. It should be quite an adventure! Im so excited to have the car of my dreams. Looking forward to learning more about this car, and hopefully meeting up with some folks. in Southern California. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bibs 11,129 Posted May 25, 2020 Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 Welcome to TLF Brian and congratulations on the Esprit! Quote 88 Esprit NA, 89 Esprit Turbo SE, Evora, Evora S, Evora IPS, Evora S IPS, Evora S IPS SR, Evora 400, Elise S1, Elise S1 111s, Evora GT410 Sport Evora NA For forum issues, please contact the Moderators. I will aim to respond to emails/PM's Mon-Fri 9-6 GMT. Link to post Share on other sites
Chillidoggy 4,341 Posted May 25, 2020 Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 Nice one! Interestingly, I’ve not long sold a brake conversion kit to an S4s owner who lives in Oxnard , not a million miles away from Orange County. Quote Margate Exotics. Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted May 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 (edited) What is involved in that conversion, and what does it entail? Does it improve the ABS? Edited May 25, 2020 by Bibs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chillidoggy 4,341 Posted May 25, 2020 Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 Might be worth having a chat with the guy. I’ll PM you tomorrow. 1 Quote Margate Exotics. Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM tomcattom 214 Posted May 25, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted May 25, 2020 Nice car. I quite like that interiour colour combination. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2020 20 hours ago, Bibs said: Welcome to TLF Brian and congratulations on the Esprit! Thanks Bibs, looks like you've been through a few cars. 17 hours ago, tomcattom said: Nice car. I quite like that interiour colour combination. Im not sure Ive come to terms with the Red. Ill have to live with it for a bit, and see how it feels. One issue with the car, is that they tried to paint the charge cooler white, and did a horrible job. I will need to fix that. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nigeninja 60 Posted May 26, 2020 Report Share Posted May 26, 2020 Oh good god who in there right mind painted it white , red mate all the way 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM tomcattom 214 Posted May 26, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted May 26, 2020 Is some of the red trim custom work? Looks like the wood trim on the door has been changed for red paint/leather which I didn't think was something the factory did. That's a shame about the lack of quality on that white paint job on the engine. Easily fixed with some red crinkle paint though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 17 hours ago, tomcattom said: Is some of the red trim custom work? Looks like the wood trim on the door has been changed for red paint/leather which I didn't think was something the factory did. That's a shame about the lack of quality on that white paint job on the engine. Easily fixed with some red crinkle paint though. I was told that the red in the interior was factory. I know that I will be painting the Charge cooler, and maybe a new Steering wheel. On 26/05/2020 at 08:23, nigeninja said: Oh good god who in there right mind painted it white , red mate all the way Agreed, that White was not the best idea. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ramjet 1,086 Posted May 31, 2020 Report Share Posted May 31, 2020 Welcome to TLF Brian. Lovely looking car. Have to agree with other comments about the white. That looks horrible. I would also check the handbrake operation. To have it chocked on that slight a slope, I'd suggest it isn't holding. I mucked around with mine and followed the manual to adjust and mine holds on decent slopes quite well now. Ian's ( @Chillidoggy) brake solution gets rid of the ABS completely. Lots of positive comments about the conversion. Any questions or issues with using the forums, feel free to ask one of us mods. We're here to help. Quote All we know is that when they stop making this, we will be properly, properly sad.Jeremy Clarkson on the Esprit. Opinions are like armpits. Everyone has them, some just stink more than others. Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post strat10 25 Posted June 9, 2020 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Well, I went to pick up the Lotus, with plans to drive it about 1500 miles home. Everything was working great, until........ Went to Roll the window down, and heard a crack, and the window immediately wouldnt go up. Took the door card off and found that the nylon bushing broke in half. Posted up on site, and immediately got help with a alternate GM part. Worked like a charm! Got on the road, and the issue I ran into was that the front hood (Bonnet) would not stay locked down. I would pull the lever towards me, but as soon as there was any upward pressure on the hood, it would lift up. I used some Zip-ties and connected it to the dash light control. That held it down for the most part. Oh yeah, dont lift the headlights thinking it will keep the Bonnet down, it does the opposite! That was scary, I thought I was going to loose the hood. Jumped on the highway, and immediately noticed a pretty bad vibration in the front. I lived with it for about 300 miles, then I had to do something about it. Got some new tires, and powder coated the rims while I was at it. I had to get rid of the chrome. Turned out nice, and it fixed the vibration. Michelin Pilot 225/40ZR18 front Michelin Pilot 275/35ZR18 rear After getting the Tires fixed, the car developed a stutter at high Boost. As soon as you put the pedal to the floor, the car bucks really hard. It was very discerning. Up to about .5 Bars of pressure it runs fine, then all hell breaks loose. The car starts right up, and runs great up until that point. Also, having the car sit for while also takes care of the issue, for a few min, then back to the stuttering. I syphoned the gas tanks, replaced the fuel filter thinking it was a fuel issue. A bunch of stuff came out of the filter. After seeing clean gas, I re-filled the tanks (both) and still the issue persists. I also noticed that the temp gauge is not working properly. Sometimes it reads about half, and then it drops off to nothing, buring the needle to the left. Coolant looked good. It was at this point that I had to put the car on a flatbed, and ship it down to my house. Bummed for sure! I am sending the car directly to a guy down here in southern California that all the Lotus guys swear by. We shall see. At the same time, i'm getting the timing belt, and water pump replaced. Welcome to the wonderful world of Lotus ownership! God I love this car, even though she is testing my patience, what a joy to drive, and I really enjoy working on it. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM Escape 776 Posted June 9, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Do I understand correctly you dif all that while on the road home?? If so, very impressive, most wouldn't have gone past the zip-tie fix. And good choice on the black rims, much better than the chrome. Especially on a white car! I did the same on my silver SE, couldn't live with the chrome rims and love the black look. The buckling under high boost could be the ECU cutting fueling because it sees too much boost (to protect the engine). I.e. the wastegate is not working as it should. Maybe one of the pipes is leaking or lose, could even be disconnected. As for the temperature gauge, that's typical of a bad connection. The spade at the sender can work lose, no connection means no signal, so the needle drops to the left. Keep up the good work and keep us posted! Filip Quote I have made many mistakes in my life. Buying a multiple Lotus is not one of them. Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM tomcattom 214 Posted June 9, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Wow, sounds like you've had an adventure already. Bonnet is likely to be a cheap if somewhat fiddly job to sort. My guess would be the bushes that connect the cross shaft to the latch rods have either become disconnected or broken. I had a similar issue on mine but thankfully I only lost one of the two latches. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted June 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 8 hours ago, Escape said: Do I understand correctly you dif all that while on the road home?? If so, very impressive, most wouldn't have gone past the zip-tie fix. And good choice on the black rims, much better than the chrome. Especially on a white car! I did the same on my silver SE, couldn't live with the chrome rims and love the black look. The buckling under high boost could be the ECU cutting fueling because it sees too much boost (to protect the engine). I.e. the wastegate is not working as it should. Maybe one of the pipes is leaking or lose, could even be disconnected. As for the temperature gauge, that's typical of a bad connection. The spade at the sender can work lose, no connection means no signal, so the needle drops to the left. Keep up the good work and keep us posted! Filip Thanks for the advice on the blowoff valve. I didn't have a ton of time to really look deep, but I did check all the vacuum lines, including the exhaust valve, and didn't see any issues there. It does have the stage 3 red chip installed. Maybe I need to re-fit the stock ECU and see if it persists? 7 hours ago, tomcattom said: Wow, sounds like you've had an adventure already. Bonnet is likely to be a cheap if somewhat fiddly job to sort. My guess would be the bushes that connect the cross shaft to the latch rods have either become disconnected or broken. I had a similar issue on mine but thankfully I only lost one of the two latches. Ill have to take a look at the schematic. Ill remove the seat and get under there when I get the car back. Thanks for the tip! When you had the issue, was the lock handle moving on its own when you pull dup on the Bonnet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM tomcattom 214 Posted June 9, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 I never looked to see what the hand did if I pulled it. On mine when you pulled the lever it was only operating the RHS latch and the LHS of the bonnet could be pulled up. The fact that your lever is rotating when you pull the bonnet suggests its all still connected. The lever should rotate a good 90 degrees towards you to lock and the the last couple of inches of travel there is a noticeable spring motion to overcome as it locks the bonnet down, so maybe yours is being obstructed some how and can't fully lock the bonnet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted June 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) Yeah, I think its that the cables have stretched? It sounds like a pretty involved job to get to those cables. Edited June 10, 2020 by Bibs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM cweeden 172 Posted June 10, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 There are no cables, so one less thing to worry about, the linkage is very direct. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted June 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) Any idea's why its not staying locked down? Maybe that rod (27) (25) needs adjusting? Edited June 10, 2020 by Bibs added info Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gold FFM cweeden 172 Posted June 10, 2020 Gold FFM Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 My guess is its just adjustment that's needed, the lever has a 'neutral' point part of the way through it's arc, going beyond that and the lever should 'spring' closed or open depending on the direction of travel. I suspect its been adjusted too tight and not allowing the lever to move backward (towards you) far enough to pass the tipping point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strat10 25 Posted June 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 Thank you! Ill start there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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