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LOTUS ESPRIT
LOTUS
ESPRIT
This is a Series 2 Esprit, that has been modified for race and track use. Although it's road legal, it's mainly used for track days. The car came to me with a water leak, and a rough running engine, along with a few other small issues. Part of the rough running was a leaking brake servo. The vacuum pipe connects to the inlet side of the engine, so a leak can cause problems with fuel/air ratio. Another servo was obtained, and I tested it to make sure it worked correctly before it was fitted.
Above is the replacement brake servo fitted with a test plate. A vacuum pump was then
attached, and a vacuum applied to the servo. Fortunately it performed properly, so it was cleaned up and painted, then fitted to the vehicle, and connected up to the brake master and pedals.
The next problem to attend to was the water leak. The cooling system was pressurised to 20 psi, and it quickly became apparent that the leak was the water pump. The pump was removed, stripped down and the casting vapour blasted. It was then rebuilt with all new internals, and fitted to the engine. It's very
inaccessible to fit the pump, and takes some time to install.
The next task was to replace the battery, and correct some of the wiring issues. Then the ignition timing was reset to the correct settings, which along with no air leaks from the leaking servo, improved the running no end. Finally, the carburettors were balanced and mixtures adjusted.
The car has returned for a brake upgrade along with a few modifications to the brake system and alternator. On the left you can see the new brake discs and upgraded callipers. The hubs are to be remanufactured shortly as the existing dimensions aren't ideal with the new brakes. (Shown Below) New alloy centres will be made and anodised gold. This will correct the mis-alignment and mis-matched thread sizes.
The picture above left is the new brake bias valve brackets, and remade brake pipes. However, when the car was road tested, the brakes weren't up to scratch. The rear brakes were larger than the originals, and the master cylinder was the standard 19mm one. A new larger servo and 22mm master cylinder was obtained to solve the problem.
The larger servo meant that the body needed some modification in order to make it fit, but once that had been done, the new master cylinder bolted on, and a new pipe made to finish the job. Unfortunately, the servo was corroded inside and was unusable. So a new one had to be obtained quickly as the car was racing in two days time. The servo was bought from a company called "Lotus Bits" based in Warwick, so I called them to seek a solution. They offered to drive another servo to me so the car could be finished. The replacement servo failed a vacuum test and couldn't be fitted. To my astonishment, the offered to drive yet more servo's down, the same day. The man (Joe) turned up at 8 o'clock at night, with 5 servo's in a box. These were of an earlier car, but would do the job for the race until a serviceable larger servo could be found. I don't think I have ever dealt with a company who not only were super helpful, but went way above the call of duty to make sure this car was ready on time. A really huge thank you to Mike at Lotus Bits for outstanding service.
The hubs have temporary 3.5mm spacers between the gearbox flange and the hub casting to bring the new brake discs into the correct position for the carrier. This was solely for the car to compete in the race, but isn't a long term solution. The picture on the left is the new hubs being manufactured to the correct size so there are no spacers or shims. Once completed, they will be anodised gold so as to be in keeping with the colours of the car.
