Removing Carbs on my Turbo Esprit

[zak_62]

Hello folks~
Inspired by the previous post here regarding the carb insulation between the intake manifold and the carb, I was looking at the seals this other day and found that the underside of the carburators are wet with fuels. So I think it will be a good idea to move the carbs and replace all the seals at once.
How do you normally remove your carbs? Many of the bolts are rather hard to reach with my stupid fat hands if I don't want to remove the intake manifold. And the installation of the 8 rubber rings seems very troublesome working by myself. Is there any trick to get this done?

[lotusguy]

zak_62 said:

Hello folks~ Inspired by the previous post here regarding the carb insulation between the intake manifold and the carb, I was looking at the seals this other day and found that the underside of the carburators are wet with fuels. So I think it will be a good idea to move the carbs and replace all the seals at once. How do you normally remove your carbs? Many of the bolts are rather hard to reach with my stupid fat hands if I don't want to remove the intake manifold. And the installation of the 8 rubber rings seems very troublesome working by myself. Is there any trick to get this done?

Hi,

It's really not that difficult to do. If you have a 13mm Gearwrench, all the better. Once the plenum and such is removed, the access is much better. Remove both carbs as a unit, but install separately. So far as the 'O' ring insulators are concerned, you can put a touch of Hylomar on them to keep them in place til they're snugged up. Not too tight though, because your carbs are supposed to 'float'. Use a 3/16th drill bit as a gauge when tightening as this will provide the proper gap between the intake runner/spacer and the spacer/carb. Be sure to use new 'O' rings, and Banjo Fitting washers. Inspect 'Thackery' washers and consider replacing them as well to do the job properly. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[dr.hess]

And do be careful with them O rings. Way back (20+ years ago) when I had my Europa with a Weber head, and had the motor rebuilt at a suposedly reliable shop, they put the carbs on loose with the O ring drooping down on #3, so #3 was sucking air. Well, guess what happened at 120MPH? I still have the piston. Big ol' chunk of the crown broke off and rattled around inside the combustion chamber and made one hell of a mess. But, thus started my motor rebuilding experiences, as I figured that I could screw a motor up myself much cheaper than paying someone else to do it.

Dr.Hess

[zak_62]

dr.hess said:

And do be careful with them O rings. Way back (20+ years ago) when I had my Europa with a Weber head, and had the motor rebuilt at a suposedly reliable shop, they put the carbs on loose with the O ring drooping down on #3, so #3 was sucking air. Well, guess what happened at 120MPH? I still have the piston. Big ol' chunk of the crown broke off and rattled around inside the combustion chamber and made one hell of a mess. But, thus started my motor rebuilding experiences, as I figured that I could screw a motor up myself much cheaper than paying someone else to do it. Dr.Hess

Good call! I will keep that in mind. The real difficulty for me is that no shop here in Taiwan are experienced enough to work on a carburated Esprit. Lotus were only imported to Taiwan officially in the early 90s. All V8s or Carburated has virtually no support at all. So, instead of turning it to a Mechanic without proper experiences, I think it is safer for me to come here and gather knowledge from you guys. And you guys always have more help than any other mechanic I can find locally. For that, I sincerely thank all of you who came and supported. With this forum, owning an Esprit is a lot easier.

[Lotusguy]

zak_62 said:

I will keep that in mind. The real difficulty for me is that no shop here in Taiwan are experienced enough to work on a carburated Esprit. Lotus were only imported to Taiwan officially in the early 90s. All V8s or Carburated has virtually no support at all. So, instead of turning it to a Mechanic without proper experiences, I think it is safer for me to come here and gather knowledge from you guys. And you guys always have more help than any other mechanic I can find locally. For that, I sincerely thank all of you who came and supported. With this forum, owning an Esprit is a lot easier.

Zak,

Carb rebuilding really isn't that difficult. All you are really doing is disassembling them, cleaning them thoroughly, replacing all the rubber parts and gaskets, adjusting the float heights and reassembling them, about 2 Hrs. per carb (most of this is time to soak the parts in cleaner to loosen the varnish and dirt). I taught a friend of mine to rebuild the Weber carbs on his '68 Elan+2 and when we were finished he remarked "That's all there is to it?" He has since gone on to rebuild the Dellortos on his '78 Esprit S2 on his own with excellent results.

If you're going to do your own carb maintenance and tuning, you'll need to get a 4-pot manometer. The best and ironically least expensive, is called the Morgan CarbTune II sold through Eurocarb Ltd. in the UK (www.Dellorto.com.uk). Eurocarb is also the best source for Dellorto parts in the world, boasting a larger inventory than even Dellorto themselves. Contact Matthew Cooper at Eurocarb Ltd. for all your needs ([e-mail]). They have nice rebuild kits and ship promptly. Btw, be sure to add new needle valves and seats to your order as these are not part of the standard rebuild kit.

When rebuilding, do one carb at a time. This allows you to use the other as a comparison should you get confused. Get a shallow baking pan and do the work in the pan, this will prevent losing any of the small parts (take care not to invert the carb body with the top off as there are a couple of check valves . You will also need a solvent, preferrably carb cleaner to remove the Varnish which builds up on all internal parts and surfaces and it also helps to have a compressed air supply for both drying and forcing air through all the passages and jets to thoroughly clean them. You will also need some sort of measuring tool for setting the float heights, a vernier caliper works best (you can get plastic ones pretty cheap), although a simple ruler will suffice.

A couple points to remember, soak all parts thoroughly to clean well, do not invert the carb body with the tops off as there are two check valves (consisting of a precision ball bearing and weight) which will right fall out and are easily lost - Best to place your hand over the carb and invert it to get these small parts out, carefully set the float heights as this is essential to proper operation, hand tighten all the screws taking care not to overtighten as the alloy cast body is easily stripped, If throttle plates operate smoothly and the throttle shaft isn't twisted, it's best to leave this assembled as there are only a couple bushes and bearings which will not need service if the throttle plates open/close smoothly and fully close the venturis (hold up to the light and you should see minimal or no light leaks around them).

Good Luck, and let us know if you need any further assistance. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE