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Freek Muurling's 1990

ClubEsprit

Freek Muurling from Vlissingen (Flushing), Netherlands owns a 1990 Esprit SE in Vulcan Grey Metallic, with a unknown Leather interior.

Model:

SE
Year:
1990
Colour:
Vulcan Grey Metallic
Interior:
A good question, it looks like some kind of liver colour but the right name of it I don’t know. So if anybody can help me out please let me know
Driving Style:
Normal / Fast but not to far from the speedlimits as I like to keep the car
Miles per year: 5,000 km
Owned Since:
October 2004
Purchase from:
Private / Car Dealer
Serviced at:
Myself
Other Cars:
Volkswagen Passat 1.8 / Honda VFR 800i ABS.
Previous Lotus':
Nil, not even a model.
Why an Esprit:
After deciding not to build a Cobra Replica we (my wife and I) were looking for something else. After considering various other cars (one of which being a DeLorean) we went for the Esprit. I always liked the car very much after seeing James Bond a long time ago but thought I never could own / afford a car like that. Driving and maintaining the car is great fun. Lots of people turn their heads around when we take the car out and one time a man riding a bicycle almost collided into a light pole when he was turning his head in order to look at the car as long as possible.
Upgrades: 1. SS Clutch Hose.
2. SS brake lines.
3. EBC Greenstuff brake pads front and rear.
4. Turbo groove rear brake discs.
5. Replacing various rusty nuts and bolts for SS items as well as replacing various rawl nuts.
6. ALDL interface in combination with a PCMCIA Com-port card and Freescan.
7. Accumate 612 in order to avoid a dead battery. The accumate 612 is suitable for larger batteries as opposed to the Optimate (which I use for my motorcycle). When connected I just leave the boot open with a rolled up carblanket between the boot and the rear.
8. Tailor made cover when the grey devil is parked in the garage.
Problems:
1. Play in steering rack, I didn’t like to rebuild the old one so ordered a new one including a lower U/J at SJSportscars.
2. Speedometer needle was jumping around, after removal it was repaired by a specialized firm, who reattached a magnet on the inside.
3. Radio was not working so replaced the existing Alpine (which was beyond repair) one by a new Alpine.
4. When fitting a new radio I found the wiring behind the dash and mid console in a great mess so it took me two days to sort it out and redoing it.
5. Surgical tube syndrome. Replaced all detoriated hoses and some more by new tubing resulting in getting rid of the fuel smell.
6. Clutch Master Cylinder was leaking resulting in a non operating clutch when I left my garage and wanted to shift from reverse into first gear. After pushing the car back into the garage (how embarrassing) ordered a new master- and slavecylinder (which was overhauled previously but on the verge of failing again). Fitting the items is no great deal but bleeding the system is a real pain in the ………!
7. Stuck handbrake cable(s). When removing the old cables I found out that someone previously fitted one wrong cable (there are two types namely a Clevis type and a Hook and Eye type) so after some @#$%^ I needed some more parts in order to fit the right (Clevis) cables. I also made a new grommet plate out of SS.
8. Vibrating rear view mirror. Problem was solved very easily by fitting a small transparent selfadhesive rubber cushion.
9. New mirror glasses as the old ones were becoming lose of their mounting brackets.
10. Horns. They made a sound like a very sick cow, however the horns were ok (they just needed new paint) but the compressor was crulpit. So I fitted a new compressor and repainted the horns.
Info: With the help of all the service manuals and the info found on LEW maintenance / problem solving is not a real big problem but the car being a midengined Lotus makes it harder to reach a lot of places were you need to working, it just takes time (and sometimes some help of my son who can reach into places which are out of reach for me) in order to do things right. If you work on your lotus just take your time in order to do things right otherwise you end up doing the same thing twice. A lot of parts I order at Lotus Import van der Kooi in the Netherlands who provide a great service and are always willing to answer a question I have.
Upcoming winterperiod I will be replacing my cambelt, other drive belts, renew engine- and gearbox oil, check / adjust valve clearances, fit an EBPV spacer as well as an Oil thermostat.

   

  

   

fjmuurling@zeelandnet.nl

 
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