Update 5: Car is back in my garage! Mostly good stuff, here's the details:
Work was performed nearly exactly on budget. So I was not charged for the several hours of effort trying to get the old shift cables to work for example. And there were a couple minor things that didn't show up on the labor bill (reposition my touch screen better in the dash, attempt to fix my badly broken drivers side mirror).
Engine: Engine out service, including Gates blue timing belt, tensioner, water pump, cam shaft seals, valve adjustments, new gaskets and seals everywhere. No leaks at all (very unusual for a Lotus!) Engine is noticeably smoother now, and a little nicer smooth rumble at idle too.
Transmission: New clutch, new seals, new slave cylinder, new shift cables, new bracket thing that the cables attach to (but still using the old translator parts). Again, no more leaks out of wherever things were leaking from before in the transmission. Shifting this car is very very different now, it is near effortless, just a light touch. Also, we were never able to get a replacement (and expensive) shift knob, so they were able to modify a solid aluminum ball type knob and the lift part to work well, and replaced the mechanism that goes with it (so knob, reverse lift thing, rod, and stuff the rod connects to, and the cables). Its maybe a half inch shorter now also, but generally I like it a lot. The leather boot needs to be tightened better around the rod so I don't feel so much heat blowing through there, thats all.
New radiator - I can actually see the temp gauge move down now when the fan turns on. I got to test this out repeatedly in traffic driving the car home Friday afternoon through a couple hours of stop & go traffic.
New suspension bushings and tie rod ends - wow what a difference.
Repainted rear bumper
Car was fully detailed when I came to pick it up - not part of invoice - nice touch.
I probably missed a couple smaller items, but that is essentially all of it. But a few things left to sort out, and a few observations:
On the drive home, 5th gear was intermittent, and later not at all. On my house exit, only 3rd and 4th gear remained. At which point I knew exactly why had happened, as its happened to me before. A connecting rod from the transmission cable bracket to the translator had come loose! Very loose in fact, almost lost the part, but I made quick work of this the next morning, and everything shifts correctly again. I used stainless nylon locking nuts.
May have lost a rear brake pad on the drive home. Right rear is making a bad grinding sound. outward facing pad is still there. I didn't get to pull the tire yet to even check it out. The shop replaced the pads. So something not right here. Didn't have issues on the test drive, but at some point on the 2.5hr drive home something went wrong. But I still can stop fine.
I have a bluetooth audio adapter installed in the car, which drives an amp & speakers (so my phone, or the tablet can connect to it for example). But during the re-install of everything, the power cable was left behind the touch screen. So I need to hunt down this wire again. I started looking for it this weekend but got side tracked with finding another broken wire, and some suspect heating/air duct work. Not sure if this was always like this or not, who knows, but I thought it was working a few months back. Maybe someone's foot got up in there or something? Anyway, fixed.
Clutch - clutch is new like I said. The engagement is much smoother now, there is generally more ability to modulate things, whereas the old clutch was very much almost all or nothing. Tricky to deal with. However, the peddle is nearly to the floor now to totally disengage the clutch. Not sure if this is normal. I'd rather have it somewhere in the middle. Maybe there is an adjustment? Also, being a new clutch, I can feel a small vibration when I engage very slowly with low engine RPM. Not noticeable with higher RPM and/or faster engagement time. And also I hear a small noise when clutch full dis-engaged (peddle to the floor), almost like its rattling around a bit. I was actually told by Intermecanica that I would hear this and that things would quiet down after a few hundred miles of use. So for now, since all else seems good, we shall see on that one.
Other - Found a couple loose screws around the console area. Minor yes, but reporting what I find. Probably would not have noticed had it not been for the missing bluetooth power cable.
The shop was very open about all the work, not great on initiating status updates, but fast to respond to my email requests for status. I get the general sense they are expert at removing engines and doing engine and transmission work. And are experts at the newer Lotus Elise and Evora cars and track prep work on those. They did also have an Esprit V8 with engine out while I was picking up my car. My sense is that they are not perfect at the smaller stuff, like buttoning up the dash console things, ensuring the translator rod was tight (here I suspect they did several adjustments to get things perfect and then forgot to tighten it all up). And the brake pad issue.
I already gave my (somewhat less detailed) summary to the shop this morning. They are very eager to assist any way they can to make sure things are perfect, or to send me new parts (like the brake pad) if I want to put it back myself. Given I'm a few hrs away this makes sense for me vs transport back and forth. They also requested I give them a couple status updates. So overall a good experience, but not 100% perfect!
Nice to have the car back. Took kids and wife out for rides Sunday (one at a time of course!)