Discussion
Hi all. I’m nervously typing this having just blown a lot of money on this.
https://themarket.bonhams.com/en/listings/lotus/es...
Anyone know the car? I’m hopefully picking up this weekend and the first stop will be my local automotive upholsters to sort the interior bits out.
Anyways, I’ll keep you all posted and I look forward to speaking to you all at some point when inevitably I need help when somethings bust on it lol.
https://themarket.bonhams.com/en/listings/lotus/es...
Anyone know the car? I’m hopefully picking up this weekend and the first stop will be my local automotive upholsters to sort the interior bits out.
Anyways, I’ll keep you all posted and I look forward to speaking to you all at some point when inevitably I need help when somethings bust on it lol.
audi321 said:
Bobo W said:
Nice car and got it for a good price, not sure about the wheels though
Interesting. I thought the same. Which type would be better in your opinion? Also which wheels does mine have, do you think they’ve been replaced at some time?A quick internet search suggests early S1’s had Wolfrace slots, S2’s had Speedlines, early Turbo’s had Compomotives and then later ones BBS, S3’s had BBS, Peter Steven’s Esprit’s had a variety of OZ’s
Advertisement says, "Inboard rear disc brakes add a touch of racing heritage, and its gearbox was shared with the Citroen SM and Maserati Merak."
My understanding is X180 models in fact had a Renault transaxle taken from the GTA sports car and which required a switch to outboard rear brakes.
With your car having received significant cosmetic enhancements yet some question marks (tired seat foam and the mention of some underbody damage at the front) I'd be tempted to put it in for full assessment by an Esprit specialist to find out what's been done and what hasn't.
Watch out for any smell of fuel in the engine bay. The carbs are directly above the distributor with obvious consequences if there are any leaks from aging fuel lines. Petrol tanks (one each side) can also leak and rectification is costly.
Should be a very nice car if carefully looked after. Enjoy!
My understanding is X180 models in fact had a Renault transaxle taken from the GTA sports car and which required a switch to outboard rear brakes.
With your car having received significant cosmetic enhancements yet some question marks (tired seat foam and the mention of some underbody damage at the front) I'd be tempted to put it in for full assessment by an Esprit specialist to find out what's been done and what hasn't.
Watch out for any smell of fuel in the engine bay. The carbs are directly above the distributor with obvious consequences if there are any leaks from aging fuel lines. Petrol tanks (one each side) can also leak and rectification is costly.
Should be a very nice car if carefully looked after. Enjoy!
Hi, I’d be tempted to use premium for the low ethanol and octane boost.
Have the car given a once over by a specialist before committing funds to the interior and build a list of things that must be done ahead of the things you’d like to do.
Regards the wheels, I switched from some split rims to this type (apologies as not that clear) and with new tyres it made such a difference.
The wheels I switched to were smaller and less lower profile, so the car looked maybe not as good but drove and handled a lot better.
Also spend some time having every part of the suspension checked, one minor variance on a bush or shim can be very disproportionate to the handling.
Finally, once you get it sorted, just drive it and enjoy it, they are fabulous cars even more so in the flesh and it’s still a huge buzz whenever I see one on the roads!
Have the car given a once over by a specialist before committing funds to the interior and build a list of things that must be done ahead of the things you’d like to do.
Regards the wheels, I switched from some split rims to this type (apologies as not that clear) and with new tyres it made such a difference.
The wheels I switched to were smaller and less lower profile, so the car looked maybe not as good but drove and handled a lot better.
Also spend some time having every part of the suspension checked, one minor variance on a bush or shim can be very disproportionate to the handling.
Finally, once you get it sorted, just drive it and enjoy it, they are fabulous cars even more so in the flesh and it’s still a huge buzz whenever I see one on the roads!
Update - picked her up yesterday and got almost home when she died on me. Think it's the rotor arm as theres no spark beyond the distributor cap. Although it's a pig to get to by the looks, so her maiden drive ended on a low loader for the last few miles.
Stacks of history, looks like the owner for the past 24 years took her to Tenerife when he retired in the 90's, but passed away 2 years ago and his brother in law had her shipped back over to Telford and although in his 70's himself, spent the past 2 years full refurbing her, just to show his sister what it was like when it came out of the factory!
Cambelt and auxillary bits for the engine seem to be all that was done on the mechanics, the rest (over £18k!) was spent on the interior and exterior. It genuinely looks like almost £20k has been spent on her in the past 2 years. At least he got his money back from the sale.
I've spoken to him earlier and he seems to think those wheels are originally spec'd from new. I have never seen those wheels on a Lotus ever, so would be interested to hear your thoughts.
I'll keep you posted on the rotor arm, my local garage who I know and trust doesn't think it's going to be a biggy, although he wonders if the part will be easily available off the shelf, so might be a specialist purchase.
Stacks of history, looks like the owner for the past 24 years took her to Tenerife when he retired in the 90's, but passed away 2 years ago and his brother in law had her shipped back over to Telford and although in his 70's himself, spent the past 2 years full refurbing her, just to show his sister what it was like when it came out of the factory!
Cambelt and auxillary bits for the engine seem to be all that was done on the mechanics, the rest (over £18k!) was spent on the interior and exterior. It genuinely looks like almost £20k has been spent on her in the past 2 years. At least he got his money back from the sale.
I've spoken to him earlier and he seems to think those wheels are originally spec'd from new. I have never seen those wheels on a Lotus ever, so would be interested to hear your thoughts.
I'll keep you posted on the rotor arm, my local garage who I know and trust doesn't think it's going to be a biggy, although he wonders if the part will be easily available off the shelf, so might be a specialist purchase.
Good luck on the arm, the distributor on my SE had been replaced with the charge cool pump for the inter cooler, using the distributor drive to power it. It’s a bit of a pig to get to the distributor, check with LotusBits what they recommend in terms of brands etc.
Let’s see some photos when you get chance!
Let’s see some photos when you get chance!
Looking Good!
As it doesn't have the GMP4 injection, Freescan won't help with any issues.
While I'm back on here, my 89SE is with Chris Foulds for some work, and an MOT. Advisory on the tyres as they are getting low but availability and price(!) seems to be prohibitive.
Any current tips on tyres? 215 50 15s on the front and 245 50 16s on the back.
As it doesn't have the GMP4 injection, Freescan won't help with any issues.
While I'm back on here, my 89SE is with Chris Foulds for some work, and an MOT. Advisory on the tyres as they are getting low but availability and price(!) seems to be prohibitive.
Any current tips on tyres? 215 50 15s on the front and 245 50 16s on the back.
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