My Esprit V8 project time to post a thread
Discussion
Ok it’s been a while? Yes I still have the Esprit and progress has been very slow! Have been tinkering with some bits and bobs and some parts have been removed/changed re-fitted, removed and some things are new to the project.
Have had some down time well in fact had a mental break down! which never helps and took a couple of months to get back to wanting to do anything with life and cars……..life sucks at times and things go to s
t.
The Carcoon was a bit of a disappointment I still had a damp interior and mold was growing again! But it did help keep the car paint and bodywork clean and protected, so its worthy of being used but shame it does not do what it’s claimed to do.
The air ride is still fitted and has been upgraded with a computer based control system which lets me store 3 ride heights into memory and can be remotely changed with a key fob (can’t wait to catch people out when it’s parked!) This works really well as I was having issues trying to set the front at a consistent height and having issues with tracking/bump steer. Now it can be set accurately every time with just a press of a button.
Once I get some more miles done and found the ride height I can live with I plan to get it all setup as its not right at the moment steering feels like a hyper sensitive go kart at 60mph and the slightest input/movement of the steering wheel is exaggerated to dangerous levels! The heavy steel air tank has gone and I have a twin pair of alloy air tanks.
Have extended the side ears around 15mm and made both just air inlet now, as the stock setup had the lower part inlet and upper outlet? The tailgate now has locking bonnet pins instead of the original catches, they kept undoing and the tailgate would open which was really annoying as the tailgate stays upright fully open when you get up to speed! I got stopped by the police and was oblivious to the fact the hatch was fully open while driving around! I can now lock it place (open a jar) to allow heat out.
Front radiator has been removed and in the process of fitting a bigger 60mm core Cosworth alloy rad, also changed the angle/rake of the rad. Engine bay boot floor area again has been ripped out and being redone, I think the issue with the rear hatch catches failing was due to the rear body flexing? I have made a steel frame to support the rear body, and rethinking the boot area again, was never really happy with the finished look so still working on that. Started to fit the new carpet, the hand brake gator is a total ass and just does not fit too good? These carpets are not cheap and never worth the money.
Will do a proper update soon with some pictures and more info.
Have had some down time well in fact had a mental break down! which never helps and took a couple of months to get back to wanting to do anything with life and cars……..life sucks at times and things go to s
t.The Carcoon was a bit of a disappointment I still had a damp interior and mold was growing again! But it did help keep the car paint and bodywork clean and protected, so its worthy of being used but shame it does not do what it’s claimed to do.
The air ride is still fitted and has been upgraded with a computer based control system which lets me store 3 ride heights into memory and can be remotely changed with a key fob (can’t wait to catch people out when it’s parked!) This works really well as I was having issues trying to set the front at a consistent height and having issues with tracking/bump steer. Now it can be set accurately every time with just a press of a button.
Once I get some more miles done and found the ride height I can live with I plan to get it all setup as its not right at the moment steering feels like a hyper sensitive go kart at 60mph and the slightest input/movement of the steering wheel is exaggerated to dangerous levels! The heavy steel air tank has gone and I have a twin pair of alloy air tanks.
Have extended the side ears around 15mm and made both just air inlet now, as the stock setup had the lower part inlet and upper outlet? The tailgate now has locking bonnet pins instead of the original catches, they kept undoing and the tailgate would open which was really annoying as the tailgate stays upright fully open when you get up to speed! I got stopped by the police and was oblivious to the fact the hatch was fully open while driving around! I can now lock it place (open a jar) to allow heat out.
Front radiator has been removed and in the process of fitting a bigger 60mm core Cosworth alloy rad, also changed the angle/rake of the rad. Engine bay boot floor area again has been ripped out and being redone, I think the issue with the rear hatch catches failing was due to the rear body flexing? I have made a steel frame to support the rear body, and rethinking the boot area again, was never really happy with the finished look so still working on that. Started to fit the new carpet, the hand brake gator is a total ass and just does not fit too good? These carpets are not cheap and never worth the money.
Will do a proper update soon with some pictures and more info.
Edited by s1v8esprit on Sunday 14th June 02:31
Thanks, yeah ready to get back to it
Here are some pictures of the stock Esprit rad and the new alloy Cosworth rad, it’s a bit bigger and the core is much wider so I will gain more water capacity and hopefully improve the cooling.
Fitting fans to the new rad is easy as it has more brackets unlike the original item
Picture of how I had the original Esprit rad laying near flat due to clearance issues with running a low car.
Here are some pictures of the stock Esprit rad and the new alloy Cosworth rad, it’s a bit bigger and the core is much wider so I will gain more water capacity and hopefully improve the cooling.
Fitting fans to the new rad is easy as it has more brackets unlike the original item
Picture of how I had the original Esprit rad laying near flat due to clearance issues with running a low car.
Mounting the rad is simple with the stock Cosworth side lugs, I just made up some mounts from alloy U section. Not yet finished, have some spare time today so hope to get it done today.
When fitting the rad I have decided to change the angle and have it sloped forward as apposed to backwards I have seen other cars like this? Not sure why it may work better? this actually worked out better fitting the hoses and fans with it angled forward, I cut the front lower floor to gain more room and to enable the rad to stand up a little more to increase the amount of air forced into it.
Also checked clearance for fitting the A-Frame and made sure it fits wouldn’t want to remove the rad every time I towed it! Yes I expect break downs! The car has given me no reason to trust it to be reliable………its still an old Lotus with Lucas and British Leyland parts at best. I still love it and still get a buzz from seeing it every day which is why we do it.
While I was under the car at the front I noticed a little leak from the small hose feeding the heater matrix, the joining tubes were rusted to hell and the other just fell apart when I tried to remove the retaining clips. That was a lucky escape catching that in time as that would have caused a major break down with all the coolant pumping out! All fixed now with stainless tube and new stainless hose clips.
When fitting the rad I have decided to change the angle and have it sloped forward as apposed to backwards I have seen other cars like this? Not sure why it may work better? this actually worked out better fitting the hoses and fans with it angled forward, I cut the front lower floor to gain more room and to enable the rad to stand up a little more to increase the amount of air forced into it.
Also checked clearance for fitting the A-Frame and made sure it fits wouldn’t want to remove the rad every time I towed it! Yes I expect break downs! The car has given me no reason to trust it to be reliable………its still an old Lotus with Lucas and British Leyland parts at best. I still love it and still get a buzz from seeing it every day which is why we do it.
While I was under the car at the front I noticed a little leak from the small hose feeding the heater matrix, the joining tubes were rusted to hell and the other just fell apart when I tried to remove the retaining clips. That was a lucky escape catching that in time as that would have caused a major break down with all the coolant pumping out! All fixed now with stainless tube and new stainless hose clips.
with water I guess it will work, seen a few other examples when using it for say Turbo connections etc, were also some oil can spoil on them and then they can pop off.
for Turbo connections not such problem, for water connections it will be, but then water works different on the materials, but still, better 'safe' then sorry.
for Turbo connections not such problem, for water connections it will be, but then water works different on the materials, but still, better 'safe' then sorry.
On my quest to improve cooling getting more cold air into the engine bay is the biggest problem due to engine location and lack of space, engine size and exhaust. Lotus only fitted small intakes on the side of the car often referred to as “Ears”.
This is what the intake\outlets look like without the cover (Ear), as you can see the lower hole is for cold air intake and the upper for air out.
I have made both holes now cold air intakes and made the outside cover (Ears) spaced out 15mm from the body to increase air flow into the inlets. The bottom hole is going to flow air towards the engine (exhaust manifolds) and the top hole is going to feed cold air to the air filter.
view from rear, most people may not even notice the difference at first glance
also painted the fuel caps satin black, never really liked the colour coded nonsense
not sure if I am going to leave the fronts open or fit some sort of grill/mesh. Keeping them open will make life easier and less hassle cleaning the car.
This is what the intake\outlets look like without the cover (Ear), as you can see the lower hole is for cold air intake and the upper for air out.
I have made both holes now cold air intakes and made the outside cover (Ears) spaced out 15mm from the body to increase air flow into the inlets. The bottom hole is going to flow air towards the engine (exhaust manifolds) and the top hole is going to feed cold air to the air filter.
view from rear, most people may not even notice the difference at first glance
also painted the fuel caps satin black, never really liked the colour coded nonsense
not sure if I am going to leave the fronts open or fit some sort of grill/mesh. Keeping them open will make life easier and less hassle cleaning the car.
At the risk of wasting some bytes...
I think you have an issue with your understanding of air flow on the car.
The air in the front of the car will come up/in from low down and then up and over the windscreen, that's why your old rad position didn't work. If it was totally flat, it'd be fine but was seeing no air flow through the rad as it was.
In the engine bay on a mid setup the air again comes from under the car, up past the engine and out the top. Creating a ram effect into this area will just mess up the flow and create more stagnant hot air.
You want as many outlets as possible at the rear/above the engine, not inlets.
I think you have an issue with your understanding of air flow on the car.
The air in the front of the car will come up/in from low down and then up and over the windscreen, that's why your old rad position didn't work. If it was totally flat, it'd be fine but was seeing no air flow through the rad as it was.
In the engine bay on a mid setup the air again comes from under the car, up past the engine and out the top. Creating a ram effect into this area will just mess up the flow and create more stagnant hot air.
You want as many outlets as possible at the rear/above the engine, not inlets.
when I was working on making a cowl for a aeroplane engine I was told that you need at least double the exit aperture size compared to the inlet - to make sure the incoming fast cold air can be moved out of the back when its hot and slow.
Doubling the intake, as you have, would mean you need to quadruple the exit to gain any benefit.
Doubling the intake, as you have, would mean you need to quadruple the exit to gain any benefit.
OlberJ said:
In the engine bay on a mid setup the air again comes from under the car, up past the engine and out the top. Creating a ram effect into this area will just mess up the flow and create more stagnant hot air.
You want as many outlets as possible at the rear/above the engine, not inlets.
yes I understand that and it will be getting a vented louvreYou want as many outlets as possible at the rear/above the engine, not inlets.
Edited by s1v8esprit on Thursday 18th June 14:59
Edited by s1v8esprit on Thursday 18th June 15:01
I have modified the lower air shroud/duct to fit the new rad, just used sheet alloy and pop rivets. Fits snug around the rad, and also found some front turbo brake ducts and fitted them as well, can now route some tube to the front brakes or into the car for free air con!
Not pretty but will help duct the air to the rad, once painted black should look ok ish. Well no will still look crap! But it can not be seen unless you’re under the car so if I run you over keep your eyes shut as the duct is going over you! and be a good chap let me know if you scratched the paint off……..
Not pretty but will help duct the air to the rad, once painted black should look ok ish. Well no will still look crap! But it can not be seen unless you’re under the car so if I run you over keep your eyes shut as the duct is going over you! and be a good chap let me know if you scratched the paint off……..
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