Discussion
Hello everyone,
A few select forum members already know that I have sold my Esprit, but this is the official announcment.
I will take my last ride this evening as the owner of my SE when I deliver the car to it's new owner in an ajoining town. The end of this driving season for me means there will be an empty spot where the Esprit usually resides during it's annual winter hibernation, that will be very strange and I will miss the car. I will get to see the Esprit a few more times as the car has been sold with a written clause in the sales contract for 8 hours of physical work on the Esprit and 8 hours of phone/email in post sales support to help it's new owner get acquainted with the car. The new owner and I have already completed the pre sale maintenece proceedures or should I say the new owner has completed it with me looking over his shoulder.
Jim had wondered why I have been quiet lately. As many of you know in the early days of this forum I had dominated many of the proceedures and answers to the questions posed by many of you. In the early days of yahoo turbo list it was more 4 cyl owners. Gone were the days when Keen Young, Dan Curry, myself and others used to post and chat numerous times on a daily basis about what each of us had done that day.
I had originally come over to this forum from the turbo list as at the time when more and more posts came from V8 owners. That's was not a bad thing just a lot more reading to do.
This forum has grown from it's early days when for the most part it was Ernest and myself and the posting were far and few in between (sometimes days in between). I talked to Jim about a need to have a G car person on this forum as while I knew the SE, I knew very little about the turbo G cars till I helped worked on his car during his rebuild and I thank him for that.
As more of you became familiar with the S body cars I eased off on the number of my posts as many of you have become the go to person to ask for proceedures and repairs through the experience of working on your own cars. That is a great thing that many of you have accomplished and it makes me feel really good that this has happened. You are Lotus experts in your own right through your own battle scars. While not posting as much, I did manage to read just about all of your messages.
For the future, I'm not sure. I am taking the winter off before looking for something else like a S4s or V8. Maybe even an early model Diablo. I will have to do the usual research whatever will be my choice for a hobby car in my future.
I will continue to visit once in while when the need arises to have a Lotus fix by reading and chatting about Lotus cars with all of you. Thank you to all of you for a wonderful and mostly trouble free Lotus experience.
Calvin 90 SE for about 6 more hours.
A few select forum members already know that I have sold my Esprit, but this is the official announcment.
I will take my last ride this evening as the owner of my SE when I deliver the car to it's new owner in an ajoining town. The end of this driving season for me means there will be an empty spot where the Esprit usually resides during it's annual winter hibernation, that will be very strange and I will miss the car. I will get to see the Esprit a few more times as the car has been sold with a written clause in the sales contract for 8 hours of physical work on the Esprit and 8 hours of phone/email in post sales support to help it's new owner get acquainted with the car. The new owner and I have already completed the pre sale maintenece proceedures or should I say the new owner has completed it with me looking over his shoulder.
Jim had wondered why I have been quiet lately. As many of you know in the early days of this forum I had dominated many of the proceedures and answers to the questions posed by many of you. In the early days of yahoo turbo list it was more 4 cyl owners. Gone were the days when Keen Young, Dan Curry, myself and others used to post and chat numerous times on a daily basis about what each of us had done that day.
I had originally come over to this forum from the turbo list as at the time when more and more posts came from V8 owners. That's was not a bad thing just a lot more reading to do.
This forum has grown from it's early days when for the most part it was Ernest and myself and the posting were far and few in between (sometimes days in between). I talked to Jim about a need to have a G car person on this forum as while I knew the SE, I knew very little about the turbo G cars till I helped worked on his car during his rebuild and I thank him for that.
As more of you became familiar with the S body cars I eased off on the number of my posts as many of you have become the go to person to ask for proceedures and repairs through the experience of working on your own cars. That is a great thing that many of you have accomplished and it makes me feel really good that this has happened. You are Lotus experts in your own right through your own battle scars. While not posting as much, I did manage to read just about all of your messages.
For the future, I'm not sure. I am taking the winter off before looking for something else like a S4s or V8. Maybe even an early model Diablo. I will have to do the usual research whatever will be my choice for a hobby car in my future.
I will continue to visit once in while when the need arises to have a Lotus fix by reading and chatting about Lotus cars with all of you. Thank you to all of you for a wonderful and mostly trouble free Lotus experience.
Calvin 90 SE for about 6 more hours.
It is sort of sad day. I have had a lot of good drives in the Esprit. The car has been kind to me and very reliable. It did come as a shock to many as I am very pro Esprit person. I am in awe of the car even though it is a very old design. Only recent cars can come close to it's performance. So in my usual pessimistic way I look forward to brighter tomorrow and a new car whatever it may be.
I am not all the sure of a early Diablo. I only drove one once with a salesman next to me and I took it very easy as I did not want him to crap in pants. I will have to see what the Diablo can actually do compared to an Esprit as I do like to drive it as it should be driven especially on the twisties. I sure would hate to become one of those drivers that are afraid to drive it because of the costs of repairs. So maybe a nice early V8 with some mods are in order.
I just hope the new owner does not kill himself or hurt the car as the SE rear suspension has been modified to make the car neutral so a throttle let up/brake tap will help the back swings around a bit more around a turn. The new owner did take a turn in neutral when I told him to down shift into 2nd when approaching a turn during a drive. That sort of raised my eye brow in a Mr. Spock Vulcan sort of way when he did that rather than shout out what F*** was that? Oh well my hope is that both he and car will survive the 1st year as that is the danger year for all new Esprit drivers. It is the first sports car he has ever driven and the sportiest car he has driven is a 4 door 5 speed Honda. Other than that he will be very kind owner of the car and has a good attitude about maintenence.
Calvin
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Tuesday 2nd November 19:22
I am not all the sure of a early Diablo. I only drove one once with a salesman next to me and I took it very easy as I did not want him to crap in pants. I will have to see what the Diablo can actually do compared to an Esprit as I do like to drive it as it should be driven especially on the twisties. I sure would hate to become one of those drivers that are afraid to drive it because of the costs of repairs. So maybe a nice early V8 with some mods are in order.
I just hope the new owner does not kill himself or hurt the car as the SE rear suspension has been modified to make the car neutral so a throttle let up/brake tap will help the back swings around a bit more around a turn. The new owner did take a turn in neutral when I told him to down shift into 2nd when approaching a turn during a drive. That sort of raised my eye brow in a Mr. Spock Vulcan sort of way when he did that rather than shout out what F*** was that? Oh well my hope is that both he and car will survive the 1st year as that is the danger year for all new Esprit drivers. It is the first sports car he has ever driven and the sportiest car he has driven is a 4 door 5 speed Honda. Other than that he will be very kind owner of the car and has a good attitude about maintenence.
Calvin
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Tuesday 2nd November 19:22
Hi Calvin,
I'm truly sad to hear you let your baby go. The new owner certainly got a peach of a car and I hope he knows how lucky he is to have a PO like you.
I want to publicly thank you for all the help you've given me personally since I joined the ranks of Lotus owners. Since you were one of the first Lotus nuts I actually met it was your generosity and love of the marque that let me know I was in the right place. It's because of you and a few others that I gained the confidence to take the plunge and not be intimidated by working on my own car.
I hope you jump back in real soon even if it's another marque. The early Diablos are beautiful cars.
Don't make yourself scarce around here as we can still use your in depth knowledge to help the rest of us that are still learning.
Please keep in touch and Happy Trails.
Jim Knowles
95 S4s
I'm truly sad to hear you let your baby go. The new owner certainly got a peach of a car and I hope he knows how lucky he is to have a PO like you.
I want to publicly thank you for all the help you've given me personally since I joined the ranks of Lotus owners. Since you were one of the first Lotus nuts I actually met it was your generosity and love of the marque that let me know I was in the right place. It's because of you and a few others that I gained the confidence to take the plunge and not be intimidated by working on my own car.
I hope you jump back in real soon even if it's another marque. The early Diablos are beautiful cars.
Don't make yourself scarce around here as we can still use your in depth knowledge to help the rest of us that are still learning.
Please keep in touch and Happy Trails.
Jim Knowles
95 S4s
Calvin,
I thought about you yesterday... wondering how the hand-off went. I'm sorry the Esprit had to leave your stable, but glad you were able to sell it to a mutual friend in the local Lotus community.
I'm also glad you and Matt were able to join in on our last two drives into Wisconsin's Coulee roads... sort of the farewell tours. We got lucky and scored some nice weather both days. I hope you enjoyed your car.
Don't go away. You don't need to own an Esprit to be interested in them... and Lotus. Not to mention that your knowledge would still be an asset here.
And you have friends here.
See you around...
Tim Engel
I thought about you yesterday... wondering how the hand-off went. I'm sorry the Esprit had to leave your stable, but glad you were able to sell it to a mutual friend in the local Lotus community.
I'm also glad you and Matt were able to join in on our last two drives into Wisconsin's Coulee roads... sort of the farewell tours. We got lucky and scored some nice weather both days. I hope you enjoyed your car.
Don't go away. You don't need to own an Esprit to be interested in them... and Lotus. Not to mention that your knowledge would still be an asset here.
And you have friends here.
See you around...
Tim Engel
I'll keep reading and posting. I like this site and the people here.
On a funny note, the car simply does not want to leave my garage like it is trying to tell me something. As I was headed out to drop off the car the shifter felt a little different as I ran through the gears. I just shook it off and drove off. About a few blocks from the cross gate came off the shifter Ha-ha
. Well that meant I lost the ability to shift into 1st/2nd gear. I limped back home in 3rd/4th. After taking apart the console and confirming that the cable had come off, I made a few calls to the local club members who lives close by and as usual they happened have a set of shifter cables in stock. As usual not a tragic failure and another cheap fix, but it has added another day down time to the SE's record so now it will be 5 days off road in 4 years. Ho hum, just the normal annoyance of Lotus ownership or the car simply telling me it is not pleased to be leaving my garage.
I will keep you all posted.
Ernest and Feff, I have been a Lotus nut since the F1 glory days. I do enjoy driving the cars, in the Esprit my all time favorite is the speed and thrill of the 3rd gear turns. After talking to Tim the Diablo seems to be a big heavy car but has the looks, the HP and that wonderful 12 cyl sound. I will take a good look at the S4s/V8's. I still think the Esprit is best bang for the money.
JK1 (Jim), hope all is well in Florida and your car is doing well. Hope we get to see each other sometime again.
Calvin
On a funny note, the car simply does not want to leave my garage like it is trying to tell me something. As I was headed out to drop off the car the shifter felt a little different as I ran through the gears. I just shook it off and drove off. About a few blocks from the cross gate came off the shifter Ha-ha
. Well that meant I lost the ability to shift into 1st/2nd gear. I limped back home in 3rd/4th. After taking apart the console and confirming that the cable had come off, I made a few calls to the local club members who lives close by and as usual they happened have a set of shifter cables in stock. As usual not a tragic failure and another cheap fix, but it has added another day down time to the SE's record so now it will be 5 days off road in 4 years. Ho hum, just the normal annoyance of Lotus ownership or the car simply telling me it is not pleased to be leaving my garage. I will keep you all posted.
Ernest and Feff, I have been a Lotus nut since the F1 glory days. I do enjoy driving the cars, in the Esprit my all time favorite is the speed and thrill of the 3rd gear turns. After talking to Tim the Diablo seems to be a big heavy car but has the looks, the HP and that wonderful 12 cyl sound. I will take a good look at the S4s/V8's. I still think the Esprit is best bang for the money.
JK1 (Jim), hope all is well in Florida and your car is doing well. Hope we get to see each other sometime again.
Calvin
Calvin,
There are a lot of memories of you and Matt in your red '90SE. Driving with you and Sheila to LOG22, chasing you and Matt through the toolies in Buffalo County. The StoneAech Shows. Good memories all.
Calvin, You've been a great owner and a loyal friend. One change was inevitable, as we've discussed this for nearly a year, I hope the other never does.
Be well my friend, and no stranger either!
Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE
There are a lot of memories of you and Matt in your red '90SE. Driving with you and Sheila to LOG22, chasing you and Matt through the toolies in Buffalo County. The StoneAech Shows. Good memories all.
Calvin, You've been a great owner and a loyal friend. One change was inevitable, as we've discussed this for nearly a year, I hope the other never does.
Be well my friend, and no stranger either!
Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE
Anyone had a cross gate cable snap off?
The Esprit is back on the road. I test it for today then it is off.
The shifter box in an SE is the usual bothersome Lotus assembly. The shifter box is put in to the frame first and then a hole cut in the central tunnel and the body dropped on to it. Had to drill multiple 3/16th" holes to pass a screwdriver tip through to remove the screws, take apart the stereo pod/center console trim but very do able. To remove and replace the shifter cable took about 5 hours. Most of the time was spent removing and reinstalling the center console, stereo pod, and binicale. Not hard but just bothersome.
Forgot to mention that it is easier to access the translator if you drop the muffler from the car.
Also the 5 hrs time is assuming you have a lift (will probably take longer if you don't have one) and assistance of a couple of knowledgeable guys doing the back end while I did the shifter box (thanks guys). A shop must charge at least 700-1K for replacing the shifter cable(s). Got away with it for $150 USD. Just about all the repairs on the car has been about $100-$200 not terrible at all. So I will do a test drive and turn her over tomorrow to it's new owner.
The Esprit is back on the road. I test it for today then it is off.
The shifter box in an SE is the usual bothersome Lotus assembly. The shifter box is put in to the frame first and then a hole cut in the central tunnel and the body dropped on to it. Had to drill multiple 3/16th" holes to pass a screwdriver tip through to remove the screws, take apart the stereo pod/center console trim but very do able. To remove and replace the shifter cable took about 5 hours. Most of the time was spent removing and reinstalling the center console, stereo pod, and binicale. Not hard but just bothersome.
Forgot to mention that it is easier to access the translator if you drop the muffler from the car.
Also the 5 hrs time is assuming you have a lift (will probably take longer if you don't have one) and assistance of a couple of knowledgeable guys doing the back end while I did the shifter box (thanks guys). A shop must charge at least 700-1K for replacing the shifter cable(s). Got away with it for $150 USD. Just about all the repairs on the car has been about $100-$200 not terrible at all. So I will do a test drive and turn her over tomorrow to it's new owner.
cnh1990 said:
Also the 5 hrs time is assuming you have a lift (will probably take longer if you don't have one) and assistance of a couple of knowledgeable guys doing the back end while I did the shifter box (thanks guys)
Calvin
Your welcome, guy. ;-)
It was fun getting together to play Lotus. Some fixing is part of the Lotus experience and it's good to be able to do it with friends. The inconveniences to your schedule and wallet are unfortunate, but the evening hanging out at the Toybox was well spent.
Did it take a little effort to pry your eyelids open this morning? It was about 2:15 AM when I got home.
cnh1990 said:
A shop must charge at least 700-1K for replacing the shifter cable(s).
I wonder what the flat rate time is for that job. We know how long it took us to do it; but then, there were prolonged periods when we were probably doing more hanging out than serious productive wrenching. One of the hazzards of playing Lotus with friends verses trying to beat the flat rate on someone elses time clock. ;-)
cnh1990 said:
So I will do a test drive and turn her over tomorrow to it's new owner.
When I talked to Jay last night he sounded pretty excited. Like, "little kid" excited. I hope the hand-off goes well today. Now let's start working on getting you back behind the wheel.
Best Regards,
Tim Engel
The schedule and money was not really that bad.
After all some do get it a lot worse when one takes the car to the shop and god only knows how long it takes to get parts and what the labor rate would be. What it cost me was nothing and is part of the deal when owning an Esprit.
I had a good time fixing the car.
Not many can say I broke a shift cable and with in a day the Esprit is road worthy again.
Calvin
After all some do get it a lot worse when one takes the car to the shop and god only knows how long it takes to get parts and what the labor rate would be. What it cost me was nothing and is part of the deal when owning an Esprit.
I had a good time fixing the car.
Not many can say I broke a shift cable and with in a day the Esprit is road worthy again.
Calvin
My car is also gone, as it was delivered on Saturday. The hand off went well to the new owner. I had ordered a new rubber shift gaiter that fits under leaqther shift boot. The new owner will install that piece himself.
After spending some talking to the new owner (Jay) he appears to be handy, a DYI and a tinkering kind of person around the house. I'm sure with a bit of practice we will become very good Lotus mechanic. He has what I call a passion, every person should have this passion in life for at least one instance or pursuit.
I am confident that Jay will be a kind and thoughtful owner of the Esprit.
Today I am just plain old Calvin and can no longer use the 90 SE after my name. Sort of sad but time to move on.
Thanks to all who made this Lotus ownership a pleasant experience, especially KFM, It would not have been so easy without you and the EFF. You have my gratitude and hopefully we will get to meet sometime in the future.
Calvin
PS All the people I email on a regular basis who I have been talking to about parts for sale now is the time before I sell them others in about week.
After spending some talking to the new owner (Jay) he appears to be handy, a DYI and a tinkering kind of person around the house. I'm sure with a bit of practice we will become very good Lotus mechanic. He has what I call a passion, every person should have this passion in life for at least one instance or pursuit.
I am confident that Jay will be a kind and thoughtful owner of the Esprit.
Today I am just plain old Calvin and can no longer use the 90 SE after my name. Sort of sad but time to move on.
Thanks to all who made this Lotus ownership a pleasant experience, especially KFM, It would not have been so easy without you and the EFF. You have my gratitude and hopefully we will get to meet sometime in the future.
Calvin
PS All the people I email on a regular basis who I have been talking to about parts for sale now is the time before I sell them others in about week.
Hi Calvin, am sorry to see your SE gone, but I do hope you choose another Esprit as a replacement. You have been amazing in helping me fix my Esprit over the last couple of years and its truly much appreciated.
I hope you will still hang around here. Keep us posted what you will be buying next.
Best regards,
Kylie
I hope you will still hang around here. Keep us posted what you will be buying next.
Best regards,
Kylie
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