I guess this is progress.
Discussion
Well, after seven weeks on the lift, my Esprit came back to life. The work done during that time is:
New Cambelts, tensioners, intake gaskets, spark plugs, air filters, Hyper-flow stainless cats and a custom Griffin alloy radiator with a trio of Spal 11-inch fans. The new core is much thicker so I had to fabricate a new bracket (from alloy) to hold the ends of the dual AC condensors and get some foam pieces cut for sealing. I also removed the standard aluminum foil and glue on the underside of the trunk area (ugly job) and replaced it with Mexmil gold-foil film and did the same for the trunk insert as well. This new setup shaves 10 pounds off the front end (9 for the radiator and 1 pound for the Raid steering wheel) and 10 pounds off the rear (cats are 5 pounds lighter each).
I also replaced the Clutch Master/Slave cylinders, brake pads all around and cleaned out the rotors, etc. I did find that the clutch release arm was completely dry (void) of lubricant and the slave cylinder was sticky. It was a royal pain to bleed the clutch as well but finally worked and the clutch almost feels like it should now (first time ever). I've also replaced all fluids and oil filter.
Still on the list for this week is to replace a leaky axle shaft seal (left side), replace the battery with an Optima Yellowtop and if my Tubi exhaust comes in next week that would be nice. Unfortunately due to schedules and free time, yanking the gearbox and rebuilding it plus installing the Quaife ATB Diff will have to wait. Oh well, car runs amazingly well right now.
Regards, KM
2000 V8
New Cambelts, tensioners, intake gaskets, spark plugs, air filters, Hyper-flow stainless cats and a custom Griffin alloy radiator with a trio of Spal 11-inch fans. The new core is much thicker so I had to fabricate a new bracket (from alloy) to hold the ends of the dual AC condensors and get some foam pieces cut for sealing. I also removed the standard aluminum foil and glue on the underside of the trunk area (ugly job) and replaced it with Mexmil gold-foil film and did the same for the trunk insert as well. This new setup shaves 10 pounds off the front end (9 for the radiator and 1 pound for the Raid steering wheel) and 10 pounds off the rear (cats are 5 pounds lighter each).
I also replaced the Clutch Master/Slave cylinders, brake pads all around and cleaned out the rotors, etc. I did find that the clutch release arm was completely dry (void) of lubricant and the slave cylinder was sticky. It was a royal pain to bleed the clutch as well but finally worked and the clutch almost feels like it should now (first time ever). I've also replaced all fluids and oil filter.
Still on the list for this week is to replace a leaky axle shaft seal (left side), replace the battery with an Optima Yellowtop and if my Tubi exhaust comes in next week that would be nice. Unfortunately due to schedules and free time, yanking the gearbox and rebuilding it plus installing the Quaife ATB Diff will have to wait. Oh well, car runs amazingly well right now.
Regards, KM
2000 V8
country said:
wow thats alot of work.where did you get the hi flow cats from?where can i get a tubi exhaust for mu 03 esprit?i had a tubi on my 355 and loved the sound.
how did the timing belts looked ?
adam
Cats are Hyper-Flow and several places are now carry them... Ben Schwitz, JAE, Marcus at PUK and maybe others. As for the Tubi the only V8 exhaust they make is for the older twin tail-pipe layout, have not seen a replacement for the center-mounted exhaust. Timing belts were original and had 42K miles on them. Had two cambelt services done by dealer (re-tension only) and I did a 3rd at 32K miles then replaced them at 42K. The belts didn't look worn but were not as flexible as the new ones and the tensioners were ok but as they have a plastic or some composite wheel on the bearing that is most likely what would fail if not replaced.
Regards, KM
2000 V8
jk1 said:
Yee Ha, what did you do in your spare time? 
Looking forward to seeing you and the car next weekend for the Poker Run. Should be a blast.
Good luck on the axle seal, I've changed mine twice in the last month but it seems to be dry now. What a PITA!
Jim
Hi Jim, also looking forward to the Poker Run, should be fun. BTW - how long did it take you to replace the axle seal? I've not done this job yet but mine is leaking badly now... literally started on it's own during a 4-week sit in the garage while I travelled.... jealous little gal.
Regards, KM
2000 V8
KM,
About 1-2 hours if you don't have any trouble with the roll pins. Sometimes they go right in and other times I've had them jam about halfway through. Also the holes for the roll pins only line up one way so mark the drive shaft and output shaft to save yourself some grief later. If you're 180 degrees off it will look close but no joy.
You need to drain the tranny fluid as it will pour out when you remove the driveshaft.
Be sure to note how deep the seal is recessed into the housing as there is no stop or shoulder to let you know when it's fully seated, you can push it in too far or not far enough, and they don't tell you in the manual where it actually should be. If you have the Lotus seal tool it may do that for you. I don't have one for the axle seal.
Call me if I can be of any help.
Jim
About 1-2 hours if you don't have any trouble with the roll pins. Sometimes they go right in and other times I've had them jam about halfway through. Also the holes for the roll pins only line up one way so mark the drive shaft and output shaft to save yourself some grief later. If you're 180 degrees off it will look close but no joy.
You need to drain the tranny fluid as it will pour out when you remove the driveshaft.
Be sure to note how deep the seal is recessed into the housing as there is no stop or shoulder to let you know when it's fully seated, you can push it in too far or not far enough, and they don't tell you in the manual where it actually should be. If you have the Lotus seal tool it may do that for you. I don't have one for the axle seal.
Call me if I can be of any help.
Jim
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