The Frame

Replacing engines in an Esprit is not terribly difficult to do, as long as there aren't any differences between what you are taking out and what you are putting in. When you make changes from carburetors to fuel injection, or non-chargecooled to chargecooled, the problem gets a lot more complex, as there are significant differences in plumbing, fuel delivery, and electronics. Fuel tanks are different, tubing in the center backbone is different, wiring harnesses and relay compartments change, and you need to find a place for the engine control unit.

After doing some research into the various systems, it became clear that if I wanted to minimize the amount of time the Esprit was down while making the conversion, I would need to sort out the differences outside the car. The easiest way to do this seemed to be to build up a completely separate undercarriage that could be swapped for the original frame and running gear. I doule work out all of the bugs in a lot more open environment and still drive the Esprit while I was doing it. This also opened up the schedule, since I wouldn't need to cram everything into a sinle winter. This path had the additional feature of allowing me to upgrade suspensions without having to mess with cutting and welding the original frame, which means I would have a much wider variety of wheels, tires and brakes to choose from. And the fact that Keen Young just happened to have a spare frame cluttering up his shop made the decision a heckuva lot easier.

This particular frame started out life as right-hand drive. This means that the mounts for the pedal box are on the right side of the front crossmember. A previous owner installed the frame in a left-hand drive Esprit racer. A second set of pedal box mounts was welded to the left side of the front crossmember, and some welds were made to the central box section to anchor a rollcage. Other than a little warping from the heat of the welds, the frame is in very good condition. The plan as of now is to grind off the remainder of the rollcage mounts, clean up the welds for the added pedal box mounts, and have the frame coated. I'm not sure what to use at this point, but there is plenty of time to sort that out. First, I need to add the suspension, plumbing, shift mechanism and other various bits and pieces to get the drive train tested out. That will take some time (and money!). Then I will disassemble everything, refinish what needs it, and then put it all back together again.