Nick Woodruff's 1985

Nick Woodruff from Manchester, England, has a 1985 Turbo Esprit in White with a Red Interior and is a

Model:	Turbo Esprit
Year:	1985
Colour:	White
Interior:	Red
Driving Style:	Careful
Miles per year:	1,000 - 2,000
Owned Since:	2006
Purchase from:	Private Sale
Serviced at:	PNM Engineering
Other Cars:	Triumph Stag, E46 M3 Convertable, Mini Cooper
Previous Lotus':	None
Why an Esprit:	Always wanting one, but never knowing enough about them, put me off until now. Having the opportunity to work at Lotus in 2006 on the new Esprit Chassis, and this site meant I could gain the knowledge and confidence to maintain such a fantastic car.
Upgrades:	I try to keep it Origional
Problems:	Lack of dry sunny days
Info:	–

   

WHY
I purchased my Esprit in September 2006, Finding the right car for me was proving very difficult, My hobbies is cars, I like nothing better than spending a day working and fixing my cars, what I do hate is having to take cars to garages to get ECU errors checked, service lights reset etc. The most advanced piece of electronic equipment I have is a multimeter and strobe light. I had previously restored a triumph stag to a concourse standard, and whilst I enjoyed every part of that restoration process, I did find welding, patching and replacing body panel’s hard laborious work, bearing all the above in mind, the only choice was and Esprit Turbo. Carburettors, fuel pumps, 12v electrics, Nuts, Bolts, Washers and of course Fibreglass body.

PROCESS
To find my Esprit went from highs to lows and back again many times, having done all the research on LEW and LEF, I was armed with so much knowledge, that I’m sure the sellers I spoke to though I must have worked for lotus and built Esprit’s. I remember going to look at my First one, and then having spent loads of time talking to the seller before hand, then looking over the car – realising I did not know where the bonnet catch was – so embarrassed !!

D day finally came, The more Esprit’s I looked at the more I WANTED one sooner rather than later. Having set my price range (which doubled by the end of the search) I took a day of work, made an appointment to see 4 Esprits on the same day. Having seen car number 2 – a fantastic red Esprit at Paul Matty sports cars – my decision was made, it seemed pointless to look any further, But car 3 was Gold – yes could I be James Bond!! I had to go see it. Disappointment compared to the red Esprit, by now I could not make it back to Matty’s to place a deposit, so onward to car number 4, a WHITE car, I was stuck for words, I bought the car even before he had taken the cover off – the gleaming white paint the silver wheels, red interior – It was the car for me.

The Esprit has never been painted or any body repair, the interior is fantastic, still soft and smelling of leather, Full history from the day it was bought to now – with 34K miles, its had a new exhaust manifold and a new head gasket. Its even got the original Goodyear wheels and tyres as new – only use these for important events.

   

PICK UP
A week later the day came, I get my hands on my Esprit, My dream car, I set off from Manchester to Bell and Colville (the car was located near to Bell and Colville) where it had been serviced, and also used for publicity days in the showroom. Mid afternoon I was there, paperwork all sorted and I was off, Slow drive round M25 to M40, Stopped off at the M6 toll services for a coffee and another look at the car – It was Stunning – great to drive ( a little hot inside as the heater seemed stuck on) but I was already making a list of jobs to be done,

FIRE FIRE
Setting off from the services and onward to the toll booth, Imagine this – window down, engine hot and ticking over nicely, clear road ahead, moneys paid , barrier lifts, F1 theme tune in my head, were off, 1st gear full boost, 2 3 4 fantastic, quick check in rear view mirror to see watts left behind – and FLAMES from the engine, 100-0 in 5.5 seconds, rear hatch opened, cover removed and number one carb on fire, no fire extinguisher – I just reacted leaned over and blew and blew and blew those flames out, I had saved the Esprit. Onward and home with the AA. It was during this journey I thought I had not followed my golden rule of checking out the car properly, I bought from the heart and not my head !!

   

REPAIRS

1. Turned out that the cause of the fire was a split diaphragm on the carb, due to lack of use on the car and me doing a F1 start the diaphragm had gone brittle, so it split and started to drip fuel onto the distributor, one of the plug leads was loose so immediately it when up in flames – how luck was I, if the plug lead was not loose then the whole car would have been soaked in fuel, then the who car would have gone up in flames at some point. £10 for a new diaphragm
2. So concerned with Fuel leaks and smells, I read a great post on LEW about the breather tubes between the two tanks, and yes mine where also perished. http://www.lotusespritworld.co.uk/EGuides/EMaintenance/FuelBreatheHose.html
3. Then off to PNM for an A service and a once over, in PNM words “ A good Car” – I was so relieved
4. Heater valve removed and re-set
5. New tail gate struts
6. New radiator – as the original had been on 25 years and was silted up
7. Original Radio
8. Repaired Original Electric aerial
9. Stainless steel fixings when ever I removed a rusty steel screw
10. Stainless steel exhaust

  

UPGRADES
Please bear in mind I am not into altering cars from original, I like and wanted an Original Esprit as left the factory, but will only alter things for safety reasons and if they are not easily noticed.

1. PNM Vented brake kit (mine was pre 85 so had solid disc’s) and going to Super car Sunday in 2007 we suddenly came to a stop on the exit from the M40 – Those V8’s in front did not allow for us behind – it was a scary moment – how the S2 behind me stopped ill never know.
2. Adjustable shocks.
3. Engine Detailing – a few parts tastefully chrome plated

  

USE
I mainly use my Esprit to attend Classic car shows, with Club lotus, It’s been a great year with many prizes for Best modern classic – Best lotus etc. I also attend LEF and LEW events, time and weather permitting – yes I intend to keep the car in Concourse condition.

UPDATE 29-10-07
Finally I got around to changing my Disc’s to the PNM pre 85 vented kit. Close inspection of the photos will reveal previous work on changing the shock absorbers to AVO adjustable. You can also make out a new radiator – 3 core V8 radiator adapted to fit, this is simply a flange that allows the cooling fan mounting to be screwed or clipped into place. I also took the opportunity to strip and grease the fan motors and fit new mounting brackets.

 

Upon inspection I noticed that there was quite a bit of play in the Trunnion on the near side, so it made sense to change them and the top ball joint at the same time, quite inexpensive to buy – I sourced them directly from my triumph supplier (spitfire/GT6)

 

Finally the brake discs and Callipers – this kit utilises your existing brake pads so no issues with sourcing replacements

  

Why – apart from the stopping; power – most useful when them V8’s decide to try an emergency stop and your right behind them (trip to Super Car Sunday 2007)

njwoodruff@gmail.com