Banjo bolts?

[adrianrp]

Hello all. Just bought myself an S2 as a project and I'm told "the bolt to the fuel pump needs replacing and caused a fuel leak"

Now, not having had an esprit before, but having done a cursory amount of research, I'm guessing this is a banjo bolt? Anyone know the part number I'm going to need and where I can get such an item? Will a local lotus dealer have them in stock? Could I send the wife over to Hethel to pick the bits up?

Cheers

Oh, and expect a million and one posts from me, on the lines of "how do I...?", "what's a..." and "WTF have I done?"

[Esprit2]

adrianrp said:

Snip... I'm told "the bolt to the fuel pump needs replacing and caused a fuel leak" (Snip)... I'm guessing this is a banjo bolt? Anyone know the part number I'm going to need and where I can get such an item? Will a local lotus dealer have them in stock? Could I send the wife over to Hethel to pick the bits up?

Adrian,

It's good that someone gave you a heads-up that something needs to be fixed. But take a look for yourself so you know exactly what needs to be fixed before you start ordering parts.

The "banjo bolt" itself rarely causes a problem. The assembly consists of a banjo fitting, a banjo bolt that passes through it, and a soft aluminum crush-washer on either side of the fitting. More often than not, it's the crush washers that require replacement. Sometimes (rarely) the fitting will crack and require replacement. Very rarely is the banjo bolt the failure point.

The SU fuel pump used in Lotus' cars of that vintage were used on lots of British cars and are common as dirt. You shouldn't have much difficulty finding replacement parts at a motor factors near you.

Or contact one of the Lotus specialists listed below. They should know exactly what you need. Just describe the part you're after... a part number isn't usually required. But have your cars VIN number and engine number handy whenever you call for parts. Some parts changed through the years and they will need to know when your car was built in order to provide the correct parts.

Also note that there are also banjo fittings at each Dellorto carb. Keep them well maintained and leak free since the distributor and starter are directly below them. Spars and dripping gasoline do not mix well.


Many dealers don't look after the older cars. You may have better luck looking to independent specialists for the parts and service your S2 may require. Companies like:

SJ Sportscars
Stephen Roberts and Jayne Thirkill
www.sjsportscars.co.uk/home.asp

Paul Matty Sportscars
www.paulmattysportscars.co.uk/

Christopher Neil Ltd
www.christopherneil.co.uk/

Lotus Performance
Les Twigg
Intro: www.cars.u-net.com/lotus/lotus.htm
Directory: www.cars.u-net.com/lotus/
Esprit: www.cars.u-net.com/lotus/esprit.htm

Kelvedon Lotus
www.racecar.co.uk/kelvedonlotus/contents.html

Burton Power... great catalog
https://www.burtonpower.com/default.aspx

Lotusbits
www.lotuseliteparts.bravepages.com/

Good luck,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
Minnesota, USA

[adrianrp]

Thanks Tim for the detailed info - I can see I'll be pestering you for years to come

The car will be delivered on Wednesday so I'll hold off until then before buying anything.

Also, I'm quite keen to have the engine recieve a full service and maybe even being rebuilt (it's been standing for a while). Now, 4 strokes are a little too exotic and complicated for me to even consider removing the head, so I guess I'll be contacting of the guys you listed (Kelvedon are probably my closest). My local Lotus dealer is Stratton Motor Company. Their sales team are very friendly but I have to say I wasn't impressed with their service levels when I had an elise.