Erikl Posted January 14, 2022 Report Share Posted January 14, 2022 I am thinking of having a friends S300 engine brace and mount bungs copied at a fabrication shop near his house in Minnesota USA. They have to build a jig so there are some up front costs. We will not know exactly what they look like until they are done so there would be a non-refundable deposit. There is substantial effort required to install the mount bungs on the chassis so keep that in mind. If anybody is interested in the $1K US range please reach out. Shipping over the pond would be terrible I am sure. If anybody knows of a place that can knock out an engine bay brace please let me know before I order. Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted January 15, 2022 Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 Erik, I think it should be somewhat updated, as the Sp300 engine brace aluminium part is really heavy. I am sure, a carbon fiber version with high strength and stiffness, could be made and resemble the aluminium part in shape and form. I would certainly like to have such a version for my car. I can take a few pics if need be? Kind regards, Jacques 1 Quote Nobody does it better - than Lotus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted January 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 This Fabrication facility only works in metals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted January 15, 2022 Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 Okay, so we need to have it scanned or measured up and spoken to a carbon specialist. I will try to see if I can find someone around here, who could possibly so some of that. Kind regards, Jacques 1 Quote Nobody does it better - than Lotus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted January 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 Update - the fab shop will do 3 for $900 each (plus shipping). I will probably do something a little different with a fab shop close to me (similar to back half of X180R cage) if we dont get 3 buyers. Since the motor has to come out and the body jacked up to install mount bungs either way, might as well get exactly what I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted January 15, 2022 Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 The x180r cage - rear - is far stiffer than the Sp300 solution. Kind regards, Jacques 1 Quote Nobody does it better - than Lotus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted January 15, 2022 Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 So, if you can copy that, and the body is off, and you'll use the car for tracking, do the cage instead. I would in that case, meaning ability to run stiffer springs etc. Kind regards, Jacques 1 Quote Nobody does it better - than Lotus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted January 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2022 Thinking something like this, but the hoop inside the engine compartment right behind the engine compartment window. The legs of the hoop would mount the same as the front mount bungs, they would be a bit of a funky shape for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 Looking good and good thoughts on the matter. I think there was a scheme showing the stiffness for a variety of cars, incl. the normal Esprit, the Sport300 as well as the X180R, where you can see, that the stiffness in chassis on the X180R is just a lot higher. And... if you see or hear about an EMCO or Holloway set, please notify me asap, and I'll sell my GTO (higher geared still) set to you if you still want one by that time. Kind regards, Jacques 1 Quote Nobody does it better - than Lotus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumdeplakmuis Posted May 4, 2022 Report Share Posted May 4, 2022 If this tread is still active. I'm in for increasing the stiffness of my Esprit GT3 chassis. Either chassis brace as per the Sport 300, or full cage even better. As long as I can keep the original interior and use it as a 2 seat road car. How difficult would it be to organize a group development/buy for a bolt in roll cage? Quote VAN DER LEE Turbo Systems - www.vdlee.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted May 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2022 Hey Jaap, I am still working on a local solution for a "copy" of the X180R cage. Have talked with several fab shops that were not interested. Have a couple more that I need to get the details too. That said I talked to Lotus Bits in the UK, they indicated they had experience with such things. I immediately asked a couple of other questions and they stopped responding. I think they stay very busy. I think they would be able to produce what I want and ship it to us if they had the resources. I will reach out again and let them know we might be in for two or 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumdeplakmuis Posted May 4, 2022 Report Share Posted May 4, 2022 Hi Erik, I know Lotus bits have experience with racing their sunbeams, but racing Esprits I'm not sure. The original X180 were made by safetydevices in the UK. http://www.safetydevices.com/ but I don't think they have any data. This cage was a bolt in cage, https://www.classicandracing.co.uk/projects/lotus-esprit-turbo-race-car/ but difficult to judge if it is compatible useful for a roadcar. Nevertheless it would be a great base for road cage. I build a custom cage in my Esprit S1 racecar, but that process would mess up the interior and only works if there is a body of restoration. If you have any idea to make a kit that can be fitted in a car with remaining most of the interior that would be great. Otherwise i think it is just as easy to make a custom unit for each individual car by a local company if you take the engine and interior out. 1 Quote VAN DER LEE Turbo Systems - www.vdlee.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giniw Posted May 5, 2022 Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted May 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 Yeah that is the data that convinced me to go with a full cage and not just the rear brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumdeplakmuis Posted November 13, 2022 Report Share Posted November 13, 2022 Hi Erik, any news on your search for a cage solution? Quote VAN DER LEE Turbo Systems - www.vdlee.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Erikl Posted November 13, 2022 Author Solution Report Share Posted November 13, 2022 Hey, I am sort of working parallel paths on this at the moment. The gent who posted the above Gt2 video is working on a cage design for his track car. I may have his cage fabrcator make a copy for me when he builds his cage. Assuming the designer and fabricator are willing and everything went perfectly. I also have a cage/chassis fabricator a couple of hours from me that has looked at my car and the photos and may be able to take on a custom solution In December. My plan is for the bolt in solution I use to be "inspired by" the X180R cage - but using modern bolted joints and possibly some smaller bars in some areas so its less intrusive in the cockpit. The solution I am planning will retain most of the interior and be "streetable". The version I am planning now will have the main hoop inside the cockpit and not in the engine compartment as i was considering at one time (see above). Also, Lotus Bits did come up with a workable proposal for a near exact copy of an X180R cage. They have access to one of the original cars and the car was going to be in their shop (owner was willing). They also have a bear shell, they were going to design a cage off the original and send the bare shell to a cage specialist they work with. They were prepared to make copies. The cost was just out of my comfort zone before shipping. If we could have found 4 or 5 people interested the cost would have come down but I was only able to find 2 or 3 people tentatively interested world wide. I did not persue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumdeplakmuis Posted November 14, 2022 Report Share Posted November 14, 2022 I'm interested but not sure if shipping from the US will make sense Quote VAN DER LEE Turbo Systems - www.vdlee.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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