johnpwalsh

I know Gordon's car very well and he only lives about 40 minutes from me. As for Lotus Yellow, my best ever S3 N/A was Yellow with the dark Red interior and that was a stunning car.

Interesting. I know she had a repaint about 30 years ago, but there are no signs of it having been Yellow. Guess it's time to check the data plate. Thanks Paul.

Sneak preview prior to final sand down and lacquer. And a peak at the S1 in the far side as she waits her turn for a fresh splash of colour. As found after 23 years in the shed. Current owner purchased her at 1 year old. She was then parked up and replaced with an Elite in stunning Black which he still owns, but in storage. That was replaced by a 2nd Elite which I purchased from the family about 5 years ago. This led to a long friendship with many requests to help out when 1st, the brother sadly passed away, then a few years later, the mother passed away suddenly. This only left the father and the daughter who became custodian to the car's. The Black Elite is being left to the grandson and i have been requested to help get back up and running. The Elan is now under ownership of the daughter who was actually taken home form the hospital as a baby in the Elan. Unbelievably, these three cars are/were all resting in a garage only a hand full of miles from Hethel. Now all back to original colour's.

Well after an unusually long wait for prices for all the components to starting the suspension and engine rebuild on the S1, they finally came through yesterday. One expensive order placed for complete set of suspension bushes, front and rear shocks, every new nut and bolt to put it all back together. The the engine components, rings, shells, bearing's, thrust washer's, gasket set, cab rebuild set, pistons liners etc. The full works. OUCH. And just for extra punishment I also had to go and order another load of parts, this time for the Elan 130+2 which is due out of the paint shop next week. I had a preview yesterday and she is looking resplendent in her fresh Lagoon Blue with Silver metalflake roof. Wow, just wow. The S1 is next booked in for the paint treatment which will be followed by the S2 which we collected 2 weeks ago and then maybe might just get time before the end of the year for the S4. Now that would be a line up for a photograph all in new paint. S1, S2, S3 N/A, S3 Turbo and S4 all together with the Elite in Lagoon Blue, Eclat in Yellow, Eclat Excel in Jubilee red and Excel SE in Monaco White in the background. Maybe give me about 5 years to get them all done 1st though.

Excel SE in Monaco White with Red leather and Grey cloth interior. Not been run for some time but complete and ripe for restoration. Excel/Eclat in Jubilee Red Metallic. Engine removed and stripped. Gearbox gone. Interior pretty good. Would make a good donor or restoration project 2.2lt engine. Lotus Eclat rolling shell in Yellow. No engine or gearbox. Running gear complete so rolls ok. Front seats missing. Dash mostly complete. What can it be used for. Your choice. Ping me if any interest.

As original as possible with Alcantara replacing the material that's no longer available. Complete new wiring loom (if anyone knows of a GOOD supplier, ping me a link/message) and all connections to be updated to hopefully remove the common earthing issues in the future. Wheels have already been done and are looking ace.

So the task has begun. S1 striped to it's bare bones, chassis blast cleaned and two areas of corrosion found. To cure this a jig was built to keep the chassis rigid, corroded areas cut out and new metal set in place. 2 coats of zinc phosphate prier applied to all area's both inside the box and the outside then a special coating of rust preventative finish paint applied. Chassis all ready for rebuilding. All suspension and alloy components vapour blasted and primed with a preservative coating to await rebuild once all the parts are available. Inlet manifold and carbs vapour blasted in preparation for strip down and rebuild. Body shell sent off to the paint shop for complete respray in original Calypso Red. Hold up's caused by. 1/ Waiting on PNM for prices and availability. Now 5 weeks and umpteen phone call's still waiting. 2/ Waiting on cylinder head to be returned from a complete rebuild.

So tomorrow we are off to Englandshire again to rescue another old Lotus. This time we are about too pull an S2 Esprit out of it's long hibernation. That will make 1 x 1 Esprit S1, 1x 1 Esprit S2, 1x1 S3 N/A, 1x 1 S3 Turbo, 1 x 1 S4 turbo all in the workshop. Then the usual cluster of Excel SE's, Excel narrow body, Eclat's, an Elite and the Elan 130+2. Nice lineup I recon.

Ah well, you tried.

Hi George. Sent you a PM. Cheers Andy for the heads up as I have a guy looking for a car just now and this may suit him. John

Wow, that's taking a chance with no restraints on the back and the deck with a covering of snow. I hope he takes any corners nice and easy as it will slide right off. UK law now states, each corner too be secured. I always have opposite corners pulling against each other then it cant move. Normal routine. Strap it down, drive 5/6 miles, stop and retention and you always find ones has come slightly loose.

Yep, but helps the tyres slip onto the rims and seal nice and easy. Nobody noticed I posted the wrong pic of the inlet manifold and plenum.

Anyone spot the deliberate error in the pics above.

S1 wheels all done and ready for the new tyres. Local lad who started his own business couple of years ago does a cracking good job. All imperfection's either alloy welded and filled, then going through a 4 course treatment prior to powder coat and lacquer. All the cam covers, plenum etc have had the same treatment in high temp crinkle coat Red. Chassis repairs include cutting out any corrosion with the chassis set on a jig, new sections welded in the bead blast cleaned and corrosion protection coating in black. The coating applied is slightly flexible and chip resistant. Not cheap. . Engine all stripped and being rebuilt with new pistons, liners, shell's rings all oil seals and gaskets. gearbox due to get same treatment then she will be fitted with a new clutch assembly, fork and release bearing. carbs stripped and being rebuilt and alloy engine parts vapour blasted back to as new.

Couple of updates, and one that took me totally by surprise. Had an email yesterday informing me that I had been shortlisted on a list of four for the Oliver Winterbottom award. Her in doors. I.E.the boss had only gone and put a nomination in for me. Outcome, Angus Marshall was the chosen worthy winner for his services to fellow enthusiasts and and purveyor of rare and remanufactured parts. Well done Angus and well deserved. As for me, LotusRescue, I was just well chuffed to be even considered. Not too bad going for a retired grumpy old guy away up in the sticks in N. E Scotland. 2nd bit of good news is that both cars sent off to Ausi end of last November last year have landed and so far other than a missing drivers door mirror and a water leek somewhere on the Elite, they seem to have survived. No3. The little 130 Elan is finally going into colour next week after loads of prep work for paint. From as found and having languished like this for the past 22 years, she will look resplendent in her original Lagoon Blue and Silver roof once more. Once she is done the S1 is next for the paint treatment. She is all stripped naked and ready to go. As found.

You know you really hate it and don't want it taking up space. I can come and take it away out of the way tomorrow. You wont have to cry in the mornings when you get up and see it sitting there.

Andy. There will only ever be one Lotus truck, the Lotus Ekup and that's mine.

So you listened to the wise old owl lol. Only one word or maybe a few to say about you finally getting the beauty. I **** H***. but not the car. It's a cracker and has my name on it. And here's one I found earlier.

Interesting stuff, and great what you can find out. 2 years ago I found the original Earls Court Lotus 7 in an old mill up North of Inverness. I managed to track down a copy of the original Lotus advert showing the car at the show. This was also verified by the registration number and the fact it was one of the very few cars with the hole in the nose cone to allow for filling the radiator, the position of the filler cap was later relocated. Also verified by Lotus. I'm not going to go into detail hear about what happened to the car after me finding it other than to say it left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth by a so called Lotus aficionado who released the details and whereabouts of the car breaking a confidence agreement with myself and the original owner.

Hi Michael. I know you have pondered about selling the Esprit for a good few years anow, and I guess time has come for reality to take over. Lets hope your 15 years of Lotus ownership leaves you with many good memories and that the short run you had in my S3 while you were in Aviemore, touring Scotland a few years back was also a time of enjoyment. All the best to you and Liz.

Sadly, My last Elite project went off too a new home yesterday. I'm happy in the fact that she has gone to a real enthusiast. But, it would only have taken the slightest nudge for me to have kept this one. On a happy note, her new location is only a couple of miles from the McLaren facility just outside Woking. We had to drive past it and it put a huge grin on my face to see had bad the huge sign was on the outside perimeter of their side. Great big illuminated white sign that you couldn't tell what was on it. A prodigious site with a cheap crappy sign. I was soooo tempted to stop and take a pic with the Elite in front of it. Pity it was so near a roundabout. LOl

Well what's this here then. Have LotusRescue gone and invested in a new recovery truck. A tilt slide by any chance. Oh yes we have. We can take 2 cars and have 7 up inside the cab. Being a true Scotsman, save on accommodation when going South, save on kennel fee's for the dog's as they can now come with us on an overnight and your's truly get a newer motor. For god's sake, dont ask the price.

Good to hear you are fixed, there is another small independent not far from me who has Lotus experience, but again he is usually pretty busy. You can look him up. Ricky Gauld. Ricky also preps and races classic sports cars.

Have had this from a couple of dealers, think if the job is small maybe they can't be bothered. Yours sounds a bit more than a small job though. They actually prefer the small job's. Get them in, get them out and not tying up workspace. Plus small jobs create more revenue. If a ramp or a workspace is tied up waiting weeks for parts, that's a load of revenue lost. There is also another side which is often not taken into consideration. Sometimes the customer has too wait until he has the funds to complete a task, or they try and outsource part's themselves hoping to get a better price. Yep, it happens, then that car has to get pushed to the back of the que. Garage rates, electricity, staff salaries etc still have to be paid. Sad, but it happens. Bit of digging, but I found it. Car craft Scotland Ltd. Straiton. Loanhead. 01314401100