Erikl Posted January 14 Report Share Posted January 14 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 Report Share Posted January 15 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 Author Report Share Posted January 15 This Fabrication facility only works in metals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted January 15 Report Share Posted January 15 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 Author Report Share Posted January 15 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 Report Share Posted January 15 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 Report Share Posted January 15 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 Author Report Share Posted January 16 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 Report Share Posted January 17 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 Report Share Posted May 4 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 Author Report Share Posted May 4 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 Report Share Posted May 4 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 Report Share Posted May 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 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...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.