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1986 Turbo Esprit
Chuck Nukem:
Well boys....it finally happened....I got another broken Lotus....:)
This one seems even more special somehow. It satisfies my longing for a wedge shaped car that has existed since I was a very small boy.
The car came with the engine deposited in the bay via front end loader. There was about a gallon of water in the cylinders and exhaust. The motor still turns over smoothly so I think I might have gotten lucky on this one.
It looks better in the pics than it is in person, the paint is pretty rough. I keep telling myself about the lessons I learned with the black car....Just get it running first....don't paint it yet you fool....
There was a bit of an adventure retrieving this from Houston. My pilot bearing in my truck had been ticking for a little while. I had bought a new clutch and pressure plate in anticipation, but I kept putting it off because....Well now it was truly sounding bad. I promised myself I would change it when I got back. I picked the car up without too much fuss. Halfway back I lost the ability to change gear via the clutch, so I had to rely on rev matching. This was fine until I hit rush hour traffic in Dallas....I saw the sea of red lights on the horizon and I prepared for an arduous several hours. I made some space and rolled down the road crunching as infrequently as possible....my clutch began to judder a bit when being lugged. Somehow I made it through the mess and decided to take the back road to my house. Only one stoplight remained between myself and wedgey glory...As I exited toward the final stretch of road my pilot bearing made a KLJSDFKLJSDKLJFKLJADS;FKLJASD;LKFJAS sound which I initially mistook for all the teeth of every gear simultaneously shearing off and recirculating in the transmission. I was coasting uphill at 40 mph keenly aware that I would not be making it home without assistance. I tried a lower gear and to my surprise I could still get some power to the rear tires at low revs! At a crawl I towed my red prize over the dark Texas road with a train of annoyed headlights behind me. Up the hill....down the hill....up the hill....down the hill....I approached my final hurdle...the stop light! As I neared the glowing green beacon a wave of despair came...I knew that my luck had just run out. I would not make it before the change. I arrived at a long red light and had to stop for traffic. It was there my truck came to rest like Pheidippides proclaiming victory at marathon...but alas I was still one mile away.
Luckily my neglect and wrong doing was not met with real consequence. It was a Casey Anthony style verdict for me as I had already purchased the new clutch and pilot bearing. I had intended to change them to address my leaking rear main seal. A light skim on the flywheel and she should be up and running again to tow another broken Lotus!
The little kiddo in the last pic is my nephew....he approves!
TurboFource:
Nice, beautiful cars! The last pic is the best ;) Yours?
Chuck Nukem:
--- Quote from: TurboFource on Wednesday,November 23, 2022, 03:35:57 AM ---Nice, beautiful cars! The last pic is the best ;) Yours?
--- End quote ---
He is my little nephew! We are going to be pals :)
dakazman:
Congratulations on your quest , Chuck.
It’s nice to hear there are still some true finds out there . Loved the story you’ll tell your nephew in the future. Hopefully you will have it running without much trouble.
Dakazman
BDA:
Congratulations on your successful completion of a harrowing trip home and your new project! I might warn you that if you don’t start completing Lotus projects, your nephew will never know what it’s like to ride in a Lotus let alone drive one! ;)
I’m really anxious to see how (one of) your Europa projects come out and interested as well in what you do with your Esprit!
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