Early Esprit with Ford SHO V6 ?
Discussion
Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forum.
I noticed a similar thread on different Esprit engine swaps but I'm looking for information specifically pertaining to outfitting an Early Esprit with a Ford SHO (Yamaha) V6. Sorry for almost duplicating the topic...
I had a link to a small web page with some details but it has since gone dead and I don't think I saved the photos anywhere. I've heard of a few S1-S2 era cars with this conversion so I know its do able. It seems a number of pages refer to this particular swap, but there is surprisingly little info available. Hopefully this thread can turn into a resource for others.
I currently have a 78' Esprit S1 with a bit of a tired motor. Its been heavily modified by a previous owner (lightened flywheel, Weber Carbs, etc, etc....) and it doesn't come anywhere close to passing the mandatory emissions tests on the west coast of Canada. As a result, the car was somewhat problematic, ran very dirtly (and likely low on power) and has sat for several years. The purest in me liked the idea of getting this 907 running properly, but those days are past now. I already have the SHO motor available and hope to start pulling the 907 motor out in the spring time.
If anyone here has any info to share, or even better contact info for a 'SHOtus' owner, I'd appreciate hearing from you!
Thanks!
Kelly
I noticed a similar thread on different Esprit engine swaps but I'm looking for information specifically pertaining to outfitting an Early Esprit with a Ford SHO (Yamaha) V6. Sorry for almost duplicating the topic...
I had a link to a small web page with some details but it has since gone dead and I don't think I saved the photos anywhere. I've heard of a few S1-S2 era cars with this conversion so I know its do able. It seems a number of pages refer to this particular swap, but there is surprisingly little info available. Hopefully this thread can turn into a resource for others.
I currently have a 78' Esprit S1 with a bit of a tired motor. Its been heavily modified by a previous owner (lightened flywheel, Weber Carbs, etc, etc....) and it doesn't come anywhere close to passing the mandatory emissions tests on the west coast of Canada. As a result, the car was somewhat problematic, ran very dirtly (and likely low on power) and has sat for several years. The purest in me liked the idea of getting this 907 running properly, but those days are past now. I already have the SHO motor available and hope to start pulling the 907 motor out in the spring time.
If anyone here has any info to share, or even better contact info for a 'SHOtus' owner, I'd appreciate hearing from you!
Thanks!
Kelly
I have seen or know of at least 3 Esprit's with that particular swap. The names that comes to mind are Chris Neal, Mike Stieff from the St Louis area, Mark Hamilton from the Austin, TX area and one that was for sale in Florida years ago.
Mark Hamilton's car is listed on the Esprit fact file registry under chassis #79110239T it lists Austin, TX and there is a link to his e-mail address but it is unknown if it is up to date.
You should try the Lotus cars group on Yahoo. Bob Metz from the Colorado Lotus club should be able to get you in touch with Chris Neal. I would say a good way to get in touch with Mark Stieff would be through the St louis Lotus club or try the S1/S2/S3 list as that is where a lot of the Shotus people used to hang out.
Mark Hamilton's car is listed on the Esprit fact file registry under chassis #79110239T it lists Austin, TX and there is a link to his e-mail address but it is unknown if it is up to date.
You should try the Lotus cars group on Yahoo. Bob Metz from the Colorado Lotus club should be able to get you in touch with Chris Neal. I would say a good way to get in touch with Mark Stieff would be through the St louis Lotus club or try the S1/S2/S3 list as that is where a lot of the Shotus people used to hang out.
Edited by cnh1990 on Tuesday 8th January 14:18
Thanks Calvin, that's a great head start.
Just today I finally found an old backup archive from one of my older PCs, which had the SHO motor install photos from the dead web site I spoke of. It's enough to prove the feasibility, but leaves a lot of detail out. It was a white G-car Esprit turbo, and it looks like the motor swap also included retrofitting a Porsche transaxle, and thus also retrofitting vented disks out at the wheels. Being that my car's an S1 (with the load bearing U-joint drive shafts) that's a bit more than I had in mind... I'm hoping to hear it can be done with the stock gearbox...
I'll see if I can make contact, thanks again!
Kelly
Just today I finally found an old backup archive from one of my older PCs, which had the SHO motor install photos from the dead web site I spoke of. It's enough to prove the feasibility, but leaves a lot of detail out. It was a white G-car Esprit turbo, and it looks like the motor swap also included retrofitting a Porsche transaxle, and thus also retrofitting vented disks out at the wheels. Being that my car's an S1 (with the load bearing U-joint drive shafts) that's a bit more than I had in mind... I'm hoping to hear it can be done with the stock gearbox...
I'll see if I can make contact, thanks again!
Kelly
Edited by KellyW on Tuesday 8th January 04:39
You are welcome and good luck in your quest.
If you plan on using the Citroen box you will be asking a lot from it as it hardly keeps up with the output of the early turbo cars. The Renault box used in the 89 and later cars is a little better but not by much. I have not heard what happened to the white SHO Lotus after it was sold a few years back, I'm quite sure it would be the same one as you have pictues of. It did have the G50 Porsche box that many people have been successful in pumping large HP into. It is the same box that Ultima used in its Chevy V8 powered cars. I think Ultima currently uses a Getrag so using simple logic I suppose since that box replaced the G50 in the Ultima you can also find a way to mate the Getrag to a SHO motor. The people from the original Lotus cars and the S1/S2/S3 Yahoo site are very good and know the Esprit. There is a chance that people who actually did the conversions still check in from time to time. Out of the names in my previous post Mike Stieff is the most current one as I believe his conversion was supposed to completed sometime in late 2006 early 2007. I would say your best bet to contact Mike is the STALLS (St Louis Area Lotus Lovers).
Keep us advised on your conversion progress.
Calvin
If you plan on using the Citroen box you will be asking a lot from it as it hardly keeps up with the output of the early turbo cars. The Renault box used in the 89 and later cars is a little better but not by much. I have not heard what happened to the white SHO Lotus after it was sold a few years back, I'm quite sure it would be the same one as you have pictues of. It did have the G50 Porsche box that many people have been successful in pumping large HP into. It is the same box that Ultima used in its Chevy V8 powered cars. I think Ultima currently uses a Getrag so using simple logic I suppose since that box replaced the G50 in the Ultima you can also find a way to mate the Getrag to a SHO motor. The people from the original Lotus cars and the S1/S2/S3 Yahoo site are very good and know the Esprit. There is a chance that people who actually did the conversions still check in from time to time. Out of the names in my previous post Mike Stieff is the most current one as I believe his conversion was supposed to completed sometime in late 2006 early 2007. I would say your best bet to contact Mike is the STALLS (St Louis Area Lotus Lovers).
Keep us advised on your conversion progress.
Calvin
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