Breaking Lotus Elan M100 now too!

Due to increasing customer demand, Lotusbits are expanding their product range to include Lotus Elan M100 parts.

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A comprehensive parts list will be published on the website soon.

Lotus Esprit sunroof bag

Lotus Esprit (X180) sunroof bag, very good condition - £70

Lotus Esprit exhaust manifold

Lotus Esprit X180 / Stevens exhaust manifold - £400

Lotus Esprit Turbo exhaust manifold

Lotus Esprit Giugiaro Turbo exhaust manifold  (LC) - £400

Lotus Esprit heater control panels, brand new, remanufactured, exclusive to Lotusbits

Lotus Esprit Giugiaro and Esprit Turbo SE heater control panels. Brand new and remanufactured exclusively by Lotusbits, due to overwhelming demand. £40.00 each +V.A.T.

Backlit authentically, i.e. glows in the dark!

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Lee Holland Memorial Stages – Anglesey Circuit, 17th March 2013

Cathy had driven the Sunbeam (with Sam O’Keeffe co-driving) at 3 Sisters two weeks beforehand so we had limited time to prepare the car for the Anglesey event.

The clutch and the diff had done ten events since they were last inspected so the engine, box and diff all came out. The clutch plate nearest the flywheel was cracked but only half worn so both plates were replaced. The diff was stripped and inspected and the backlash measured – no change from last inspection so refitted as was. 

The poly-bush engine mount had melted again so we re-manufactured the engine mounts to use Excel rubber rear suspension bushes which we have an abundance of… Hopefully these will survive the heat better. Then down to Northampton Motorsport to try out a new 8 injector setup on the rolling road – this gained 7bhp but we need to modify the air filter and fit a cam sensor to make it work properly – no time before Anglesey so again no change for this rally. We also tried mapping the car on 102 RON FIA fuel and again saw no power or torque improvement so back to 97 Octane BP Super Unleaded.

After a quick spanner check the car was put on the trailer and dragged up to Anglesey bright and early as the Scrutineers had to head off early. It was a good run up the motorway apart from an accident holding us up on the M6 for an hour. 

We were expecting Scrutineering to be difficult as we had changed the induction system to a straight down set up with the air filter poking through the bonnet into a cold air scoop. Ronnie Roberts is renowned for picking up discrepancies, so we were expecting some interesting discussion. As it happened Ronnie was busy with another car so we passed with no issues other than the cover had come off the battery terminal. 

Our paperwork was in order but you never know…

This year we had an international addition to the service crew, Andreas, who has joined us from Denmark was helping Sam and Dave in the service crew for the first time. We were not sure if Sam liked being back on the spanners after co-driving for Cathy 2 weeks ago.

Unfortunately the only Hotel we could find was a Pub in the centre of Llangefni and the Welsh won the rugby so it was a noisy night….

Up bright and early to a very wet Anglesey Circuit and a brisk walk round to remind us what it looked like and we were ready for SS1. We decided to be brave and go out on X22 slicks rather than wets as there was not too much standing water. This was very entertaining with very little rear grip and resulted in 2 spins. We set a time of 6m18 which put us in 3^rd place behind the M3 and Will Owen in the Millington Mk2. We thought about going back out on the slicks as it had warmed up by the end of the stage, but then the heavens opened forcing us to very quickly change to new wets.

SS2 was much less entertaining as the wets worked from the off, but we were disappointed to find we had dropped 9 seconds on our SS1 time dropping us to 4^th o/a. What to do? Stick on wets, go back to slicks? Sam piped up with what about the worn wets – good idea – we fitted them and went back out.

The worn wets worked well for the rest of the day until the back ones were to the canvas – cheap rally on tyres!!

Howard Potter in the Red Lotusbits 1600 Sunbeam was lying 7^th overall after SS2 when he had gearbox issues on SS3 and was forced to retire.

On SS3 we overcooked the entry into a chicane and put a big dent into the driver’s door with a truck tyre.

We continued stage by stage to take time out of 3^rd overall Mathew Roberts until we moved up to 3^rd after SS6. After SS7 we only had 3 minutes in service so were a little rushed getting to the start only to find that Car 1 the M3 was not there so we re-checked our timing – all correct so went though the passage control to stage as first car on the stage. The M3 appeared behind us 3 minutes later but then got pushed back out of the control. This moved us up to 2^nd overall going into SS8 with 25 seconds safety behind us to 3^rd. 1^st overall was a minute ahead of us – so no realistic chance of catching him unless he retired. So a nice clean stage was required – and delivered, the only issue being the alternator dying on the first bend! Fortunately the battery was fully charged and lasted fine with the rad fans turned off.

Result was 2^nd overall equalling our best ever finish at Weeton last year!!

We're back to Weeton on Sunday for the Merrills Motor Services SMC Stages

Lotus Sunbeam and Talbot Sunbeam lightweight roll cage

Ultra light 45mm and 32mm T45  weld-in roll cage for Talbot and Lotus Sunbeam, developed by Lotusbits, as fitted to the successful Lotusbits Sunbeam rally car. Prospective customers are welcome to visit Lotusbits and view the fitted item in the Lotusbits Sunbeam which has completed 19 events to date.

MSA certificate, £1500 + V.A.T. (4 weeks lead time). 

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2nd Overall - Help for Heroes Weeton Stages Rally 2012

After competing at the Pendragon Stages the Previous Sunday, there was a lot of work to do on the car including removing the engine and inspecting the bottom end as the DTA X-dash was indicating erratic oil pressure. The differential also came out to inspect the mounting points. The sumpguard had taken a lot of abuse on the rough section on the Pendragon Rally and took a lot of flattening – note to self if we do the  Pendragon Stages next year, we must fit the longer springs and raise the ride height…

After previous alternator and power steering pump issues we decided to fit a smaller 3 groove pulley to the crank which was CNC machined from billet. This new pulley reduced the speed of the water pump, power steering pump and alternator by 20% to aid durability at continuous high RPM.

The front lower suspension arm was also bent and needed replacing – not a drama as it is a standard Lotus Excel item. What should have been a straightforward swap became a major panic as the new polyurethane bushes for the inner bush from SJ Sportscars only arrived on the Friday morning despite being ordered weeks ago. When we tried to assemble them, we found they did not fit! We had to rush down to FivePen Engineering to have the bushes machined to the correct size. Even more frustrating – We could not even vent our anger at Steve from SJ’s as he was on honeymoon…

Ben spent Thursday and Friday putting the car back together and by 6pm on the Friday everything was completed and the car road tested! It was nice not to have a late night, before the rally, working on the car. We even had time to load all the kit into the van on Friday. This gave us a relaxed start on Saturday to head off up the M6 to Lancashire. We arrived at the venue, just after Howard Potter in the Red Lotusbits Sunbeam, in time to leave the car in the service area overnight.

At 6am on the Sunday morning we were back at Weeton unloading the car in the dark and rain as our scrutineering time was 6-30am – we went straight through noise and scrutineering with no issues. It was time for a bacon butty and a cup of tea and think about tyre choice. We plumbed for Dunlop X22 slicks as it was wet without too much standing water. After a chat with Slick Tyres we followed their advice and went for cut X22 wets for Special Stage 1.

It was Cathy’s first time back in the co-drivers seat after having our second son Alex 10 weeks ago, so she was a little nervous (and very busy as she is still breastfeeding Alex)!

Ben could not join the crew this weekend due to family commitments, so Sams friend Tom came along with Ally and Dave, Ally on Babysitting duties and Dave to get some good photos if time permitted.

The car performed well in the treacherous wet conditions of SS1 until we went over the jump. We started getting erratic oil pressure readings as we previously had on the Pendragon Stages. We immediately slowed down and the readings normalised. Then after the next bend we had zero oil pressure indicated on the X-Dash but the oil pressure light had not even flickered on. We decided to continue on cautiously listening carefully for a change in engine note which would not take long with zero oil pressure!  We made it to the end of the stage and decided to swap the fuel pressure transducer with the oil pressure transducer as the engine sounded OK. Unfortunately we only had 11 mins in service between SS1 and SS2, so we could only check the levels and go back out as we were. On SS2 we pushed a little harder with the engine still sounding OK but we overshot through the gate at the bottom of the venue and stalled when reversing -  losing at least 10 seconds.

After  SS2 we found we were 8^th overall and Howard was in 11^th in car 14, the Red Lotusbits Sunbeam. Our Fellow Wallasey MC crew of Keith Douthwaite and Tony King were ahead of us by 4 seconds despite being seeded 15^th. On SS3 the oil pressure transducer failed completely and we started to get reported fuel pressure errors  – I guess the VDO transducers don’t like hard landings….

We started to up the pace on SS3 confident that the engine was OK, but spun over a wet slippy concrete base in front of the service area – at least it entertained the service crew! Fortunately we missed all the kerbs and barrels so there was no damage. On SS4 we started to get a loud clunk every time we went on and off the power. We assumed it was coming from the differential, so we got the car up in the air and went over the back end with a fine tooth comb but could not find the cause.

After SS4 I went over and had a chat with Keith Douthwaite who was praying for the rain due at midday. Sure enough at lunchtime his prayers were answered and the heavens opened! This was good for us as the wet tyres were starting to overheat. We were considering X22 slicks for SS5, but remained on wets. The heavy landing over the “bump” before the ramp on SS3 and SS4 had taken its toll on the sump guard, ripping off two of the mounting bolts.

On  SS5 the concrete bases of the Army Barracks were much slippier due to the rain. The tight hairpin before the merge became a mudbath with everyone cutting it.  On the first loop we spun on the concrete base entering the merge. On the Second loop we caught Car 8 the yellow Millington engined Mk2 Escort of Tom Morris and Colin Harkness. Car 8 did not see us and closed the door when we tried to pass under braking. On the next bend we were right behind him when he starting braking way before we expected and had to take evasive action to avoid hitting him. (See the video). We had to follow car 8 for the next series of bends to the back straight where we tried to go up the inside but could not match the acceleration of the Millington engined Escort on the straight, so then had to follow all the way to the split where we went left to the finish – very frustrating. It probably cost us 10 seconds. We had a quiet word in service with Car 8 who had not seen us. After this we caught car 8 several times and every time they moved out of our way immediately even to the point where it cost them time – what a gentleman!

Unfortunately for Howard in the red Lotusbits Sunbeam, he misjudged how slippery a corner was and slid backwards into a big kerb, shattering his rear wheel and breaking a rear hub carrier. As neither of us brought a spare Lotus Excel rear hub assembly with us, it was the end of his rally.

After SS6 we had moved up to 4^th overall and were taking significant time out of two of the cars in front – Car 4 the Group A Escort Cosworth of Ian Joel and Car 6 the Yellow Mk 2 of  Trevor Smith. The wet weather was working for us !! On SS7 and SS8 the rain got heavier and the standing water on the concrete  got deeper, making any change of direction rather difficult, so we had to adapt our driving style accordingly and do all of the braking and turning on the tarmac.

On SS9 the rain got heavier again making conditions worse and we had a near miss catching car 8 again on a concrete base deep in water. With our bow wave and the spray from car 8 we could not see the gate way we had to slot right through – guessing was not nice!

We were about to go out to MTC10 for SS10 when all drivers were told to report to Rally HQ to be told the remaining 3 stages were cancelled due to dangerous conditions – a wise decision considering the amount and depth of the standing water. People even struggled to exit the venue as the road was flooded.

A good push on SS9 kept us ahead of cars 4 and 6 and moved us up to 2^nd overall – our best ever result!

The conditions clearly suited the car, but I am not sure about the service crew – Sam, Dave and Tom looked like drowned rats at the end of the day.
Watch the (very wet) video here.

Lotus Esprit S1 rear silencers - stainless steel

Just in - Lotus Esprit S1 rear silencers, stainless steel £100 - be quick!

JRT Enville Stages - Anglesey - 8th July 2012

After 2 retirements, (3 Sisters with a differential failure whilst sitting 4th overall and Weeton where we bent a lower front suspension arm which we were unable to change during the allotted service time), we were determined to get a good result this weekend in the Lotusbits Sunbeam Lotus.

Willie Poole Motorsport spent several hours straightening the front of the little Sunbeam on his chassis jig after our excursion over the kerbs at Weeton and then Ben was able to replace all the bent suspension parts.

As last year the Enville Stages did not use any of the rough infield, we had Demon Tweeks make an exceptionally expensive pair of custom front springs to allow us to lower the car by 25mm. We had no idea how this would affect the cars handling, so Stage 1 would be an entertaining foray into the unknown.

On the Friday before the rally I had a panicked email from my co-driver Sam saying that most of Wales seems to be flooded and was the rally still running –  I assured her that the sheep could swim, suggested she  pack her wellies and all would be OK…

We were rather surprised to see the seeded entry list where there were 4 full blown WRC cars and a few serious Group A cars not forgetting the gaggle of very tidy Millington engined Ford Escorts. We were even more surprised to see we were seeded 22nd!  There were lots of people complaining about their poor seeding but we thought we would say nothing and see where we were after stage 1 – let our results talk rather than hot air.

It was good to see all the Wallasey Motor Club entries on the entry list – 6 out of 55!

We expected scrutineering to be a formality as we had already done 9 events in the Lotusbits Lotus Sunbeam this year with no issues, but our learned colleagues from the island managed to send us back to service to put some duck tape over the positive terminal of our dry cell battery and loosen the pull cord on the fire extinguisher so he could feel it move. Frustrating after over 2 hours in the queue getting sun and wind burnt…

Back to the hotel to meet up with Andrew and his Dad who have travelled down from North of Bradford to marshal on the rally. We had some food and beverages with Stuart and his father who were competing in the RWD Micra seeded ahead of us at car 17, followed by an early night.

In the morning we arrived early, set up the service area and contemplated tyre choice – Stuart went straight for hard X02s but we chose medium X10s for Stage 1 after walking the course.

Off the line at Stage 1 the car felt good and handled nicely round the left into the merge and stormed round the first open 180 degree right on the circuit, onto the back straight into the 4th gear right hander where I lifted off but the car kept on pulling hard – throttle stuck open! So had to take the corner rather quicker than planned. This made braking for the chicane interesting – thank goodness for the dog box so I could go down through the gears with the throttle open. We carried on round the stage with the brakes taking a hammering having to stop the car as well as fight the engine. The last two hair pins were very entertaining with the stuck throttle… It was a relief to kill the engine and the stop line and watch all the smoke escape from the brakes.

In service Ben quickly discovered a wire harness connector jammed in the throttle linkage and cable tied it out of the way. We were very surprised to find we had taken 7 seconds out of Stuart in the RWD Micra after SS1.

The X10 tyres were starting to chunk slightly on the front, so we changed to the X02 compound all round for SS2.

On SS2 we had a clean run and took 7 seconds out of our SS1 time – When some results were finally posted we found we were sitting 7th overall – not bad from a seeding of 22nd...

John Stone in the Skoda Fabia WRC had an issue on SS1 and was still behind us after SS2 despite setting the fastest time on SS2.

Keith Dowthwaite and Tony King were out in a shiny new Escort that they were starting to get to grips with after a good first stage, but they suffered with fuel issues on SS2 losing time.

By SS3 we were getting into the swing of the venue and started to take a second a stage out of the car in front of us Mark Welch in Car 12 (Escort Cosworth ), on SS3 and SS5 matching him on SS4.

On SS6 we were blocked by Car 27 for almost half a lap till we forced our way through. This cost us at least 5 seconds which dropped us back from catching Car 12. The driver of Car 27 was very apologetic when we had a chat in service – said he did not see us – we need brighter lights and a louder horn!

We had now dropped to 8th overall as John Stone had set several fastest times and moved up to the front in his World Rally Car.

We caught a truck tyre on the entry to the rough bits with the rear wheel on SS6 which flicked us up onto 2 wheels for a few moments. Ben and Sam had a good look at the rear suspension but could not find any damage in service. The front tyres were starting to go off, so we swapped the fronts to the rear for SS7 as we had nothing harder.

As we were going out to SS9 it started to rain and we were stuck on X02s, which worked OK initially as they were still warm from SS8, but soon cooled down with the rain and by the end of the stage were sliding around nicely. Towards the end of the stage the intercom became intermittent.

For SS10 we swapped to uncut supersoft X22 tyres. In service we changed the intercom headset in the driver’s helmet which initially seemed to cure the problem, but then the intercom died altogether.

The rain came on even heavier giving a thoroughly wet SS10 with no intercom, but the soft tyres really worked allowing us to easily catch car 30 within the stage and then overtake car 20 (3 series BMW), who started 30 secs in front of us!

Sam struggled without the intercom shouting several bends at a time when we were off the power and during braking when it was a little quieter and added hand signals for the splits.

We were 15 secs quicker than our SS9 time and set the fastest time on SS10 at 5 mins 30!

We were disappointed to notice when we got home that our time had been queried and we had been given another 10 seconds! This did not change our overall position but implied we were second to John Stone at 5 mins 34!

Overall we had a good day at a great venue with good organization and came away with a respectable result thanks to good all round teamwork with no major issues.

Driver:
Mike Taylor
Co-Driver:
Samantha Bartlett
Spanner Monkeys:
Ben Smith
Sam O' Keeffe
Team Lotusbits