johnpwalsh

Hi, it seems to be an ongoing problem with all trades at the moment. I recon they are just frightened to call people these days. Some kind of phobia. I am more than willing to help out a fellow Lotus infected owner, however, I am stacked out the door at the mo with three major full restoration on the go. I do however know of another garage that have undertaken work on Esprits in the Edinburgh area. I will see if I can dig out there name for you later today. Sorry I cant help at just now. It would be unfair of me to say yes no problem and your pride and joy would still be sitting here in 6 months time. Rambo, thanks for the recommendation.

Well that's 2022 done. Door's closed at 1500 today and the final call was confirmation that I have managed to save and purchase another Excel SE which has been sleeping in a council garage since 2016, not seen it yet, but reputed to be in pretty good condition with good service history so I guess the 1st job for 2023 will be to go and collect said beast. Once checked over and running she will be a nice project for someone to complete. Original Monaco White with Red half leather interior. Not counting this latest acquisition LotusRescue have brought home 14 cars this year with 11 of them now up and running and off to new homes, 2 all the way to Australia, 1 to France, 1 to N Ireland and the balance spread all over the UK. 3 full restoration project underway at the moment. The S1 Esprit which has undergone a complete strip down to bare chassis. Blast cleaned and painted, wheels refurbed and about to start the rebuild once all the required components arrive. A 73 Elan 130+2 which has been in the same family since 74 , the current owner having been taken home from hospital as a baby. Now in the paint shop for full strip and repaint, engine out for a refresh, brakes, suspension etc all to be done. A 89 S4 Esprit with the more rare Eagle chassis, engine out for a refresh, chassis paint, suspension, brakes and wheels all to be done and an S3 Esprit NA which is being rectified after a previous dealer supposedly restored it two years ago. This came with a NEW MOT. Top ball joints were actually split, nearside rear brake calliper had no handbrake cable attached and half the electrics disconnected. Unbelievable. Again, for another year my on cars have been sadly neglected to the extent I have to farm out my S3 turbo to dry storage as no room at the inn. I have made a promise to myself that she WILL be done (or partially ) this year, or I will be too bloody old to drive her. Lastly. I want to take the opportunity to thank all those who I have called on for information and advice at various times, many projects would remain in back sheds etc if it were not for the likes of TLF and the members who are always more than willing to help. And to those who I have given advice, I hope it worked for you and I didn't make matters worse. And of course to my long suffering wife who is still under the elusion that I'm retired. Nope, wrong again huns. All the best too all for 2023. for those in poor health I hope it improves soon, for those finding life a struggle, don't be afraid to speak up, there are plenty on hear who always have time to listen. To all the other lucky bugger's, crack on, have a dram and enjoy life. See you all next year.

You should tie in with Dave Web ( if not already known) as his wife comes from Japan

Well it's coming to the end of what has been a very, very busy year for LotusRescue. Kind of lost count on the car's saved this year to be honest. Couple of Elan M100's 4 or 5 Excel's, couple of Elites, couple or 3 Eclats. Currently working on 4 big projects. No1, a friends Elan 130 which has been in the family since about 1975/76. The car is now in the paint shop for a full respray and the engine etc is sitting in the workshop waiting on a refresh. An S4 partially stripped down for what seems to be a never ending project. Started off with being asked to do a full service, then partial restoration, now a full restoration. An S3 which came in for remedial work after having been purchased from another dealer, supposedly restored. Cant rails hanging by 3 pop rivets, ball joints totally shagged, paint peeling of in several area's, exhaust sytem welded together and covered in bandages, one choke, half open, the other fully open causing major issues. And that's just for starters. Strange how some of te big boy's call back street garages cowboy's. Pot and Black kettle syndrome springs to mind. And my favourite of the year. Chap calls me up and says, I've heard you do good things with old Lotus. Obviously intrigued I listen too what the guy has too say. The conversation kind of goes. I know of an S1 Esprit in a shed in Fife, can you go have a look at it for me (this was when diesel was at its peak of £2.01 per Lt and it was a 7 hr round trip) and give your opinion. My response was, do you know the price of fuel now. AN agreement was reached as regards cost and the trip was made. Inspection was made as far as possible considering the car was jammed in a small lockup and could not be taken out. Telephone call made and description given. OK he says, can you buy it then and take it home. WHAT. It doesn't work like that. So the phone was handed over to the previous owner and they struck a deal. We then had to take said vehicle home. Car home and on the ramp for a full inspection and the new owner invited to come and have a look. Decision made for a partial restoration and plans made. Oh hum. Since then (as they do) plans have changed a wee tad. 10 days ago, the body was removed from the shell, the chassis completely stripped down and sent off for soft blast cleaning, the shell has since been stripped down and is going off to the paint shop in the next week or so, and the company who did the fantastic job on my own S3 Turbo interior is taking on the task of the interior. All that from a quick chat on the phone. In between that the engine has been stripped down and found to be completely seized with corroded liners, cylinder head ports and pistons, so another complete rebuild to be done. Budget, out the window, new owner, happy with the quick progress, Me (running between two workshops as I don't have room at the moment for all this in my own one and they are an hour apart) am knackered. Retire they said, you will have loads of spare time they said. I said it before and will say it again. THEY LIED. But am I enjoying it. Oh yes. Oh, and the Excel SE from France is still being worked on in between as the owners funds are available to cover the cost of the parts. the following destruct was carried over 3 very, very long days. Since the pics were taken the shell has also now been stripped ready for the paint shop. P.S. Don't ask about the Land Rover in the background. It's a top secret project being built buy the property owner. I can tell you it turns out 720 BHP at the flywheel and 631 at the wheels on 7,000 RPM and does 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds. Verified on a dyno just last week. It's an animal and reputed to have cost in excess of 100k+ to build so far.

Gees David. Your not half getting it just now bud. Hopefully the garage has some touchup left and can flash it over for you.

Jesus and begora. Must be doing something right, another 2 projects moving on today. Must start searching again as only a couple left. An Elite, Eclat, Excel and Esprit.

Ecstatically happy today. A 1st for LotusRescue. It's not unusual for us to find, or move on 2 car's in one day. But I think it would be extremely rare for anyone to ship off 2 cars in one day to the other side of the world and to sepparate customers. Our little Elan M100 NA was delivered by yours truly to the transport hub 1st thing this morning followed by the type 75Lotus Elite 3 hours later. Both cars now handed over and will be heading for Southampton docks with a departure date of the 18th and due in Ozz on the 6th of January. There they will be transhipped to their final destination with he Elan going to Brisbane and the Elite off to Sydney. So no we have mastered the logistics of getting it done. Anybody looking for a car from the UK to land in Ozz. :).

And things just keep moving. Over the next couple of weeks, and once shipping is sorted out we will have the following off to pastures new. Nice little Lotus Elan N/A M100 confirmed as sold and going to Brisbane, The Elite which I managed to have a new roof grafted in to get rid of a sunroof has been confirmed as sold and off to Sydney. So two making there way to the other side of the world. The White Eclat which was one of the original few produced in gel coat Orange has gone off to her new owner. A very enthusiastic 21 year old and only 10 miles from base, so I am sure we will hear plenty about her. Late Wednesday night I had a message about a very sad looking 79 Eclat had come on the market. Well as it not being more than an hour from base, I just had to didn't I. Contacted the seller and made arrangement to collect it yesterday morning. Made my way to his location and find not one, but two cars. The 2nd one being a not too bad type 75 Elite. The deal was done, the Elite loaded on the truck and taken home with the promise that the owner would deliver the Eclat today. All sorted by lunchtime and both cars home. The Elite is rather nice, although needing a bit of work which will be carried out soon. The Eclat will make a good, cheap restoration project for someone at sub 1k pricewise. Car's in the shop at the moment consists of 1 x S4, restoration project 1 x S3 N/A, restoration project 3 x Excels, restoration projects 1 x Elan 130+2, restoration project , 1 x S3 Esprit Turbo, (mine which will be worked on sometime) 1 x Elite, light remedial work, 1 x Eclat and 1 and last but not least, 1 early Esprit S1 for a full restoration. Not a bad little collection. Retire, nae chance. Even have the Mrs up the garage at the weekend to do a bit of MANual graft. She loves it. I think. And the best bit of the day. After going back and forth arguing with the DVLA about my registration number C 10TOS which I have had for a few years now. They at last agreed that it is mine and that I could put it on retention. This was done immediately before they changed their mind again. The beauty of online changes means you get confirmation emails of the transaction straight away so as soon as that was received I went and re-assigned the number to my recovery truck. So now my Mitsubishi Canter will be sporting a nice new plate. A long awaited positive result.

So sorry to hear this Pete. Get some rest and get well soon bud.

And twice on the V8.

Lets hope it all goes well.

Thanks Keith. Another bit of history to add to her file. Here she is with Noel Edmunds when he was testing a Lotus. John.

Great news David. Lets hope our police do something with the 100% evidence.

Between that and some twat pranging your Evora in the car park today, you must be about bloody going mad. Hang in there David. We are all routing for both Jennifer and yourself. Hopefully Jennifer will start to pick up again soon now she back getting her physio. John and Wendy.

Never had a basket case yet. 4 saved and returned to the road with full MOT's and in good roadworthy condition. One even looked far worse than that Red one when 1st collected. One gone to Australia, where believe me, they are strict on their imports. One to Germany, one to France and one to central London. Every owner more than happy with them. AND the price they bought them for.

Keep your head up David you are doing well and with your visits, although Jennifer's activities may be restricted, we are sure it must help.

Happy today. Oh yes. Mrs W convinced me to have a day off. So we went and took in a car show further up the North East coast of Scotland, even took her car. Great day with brilliant sunshine and met up with like minded folk we haven't since pre Covid. Obligatory steak burger, followed by ice cream and a stop off at a local hotel for dinner on the way home. Fantastic day. Must remember to do it again sometime in the next year or two.

I wish. Left home with the truck at 09.30 yesterday morning. Straight drive to just South of Wolverhampton, loaded up another car and drove back home again. 22 hrs round trip. Knackered. But happy as another Lotus elite saved.

Happy today, oh yes, ecstatic would be the word. My long awaited interior for my S3 Turbo was delivered by the trimmer in person as he wanted to apologise in person for the delays, although it was mainly due to Covid. great service and an almost 800 mile round trip for him. The finish, well all I can say is better than expected and once I have stopped staring at it, I may just take some pics and post them. Now I just need to get the other 4 or 5 projects completed and get back to working on her.

Sorry to hear of your problem Dan. I will buy her from you. Get in touch, you have my contact details.

Well its been a couple of busy months at home base, even more so with the show season back in full swing. This year to date, two of our club members (Club Lotus North East Scotland of which I am the founder) have prizes, the 1st an most prestigious went to Stephen White in his immaculate S3 Turbo Esprit. Stephen just went and one best in class for an un restored car. Now to give some idea. That was at what is probably the biggest classic car show in Scotland with over 2,000 exhibits, so that is a great accolade for the club, Stephen and the car . The 2nd was to George McKenzie for best in class at a more local event with his restored Elan 130+2. Another stunning car. Also had a nice notice via a popular Lotus page on FB from the chap who purchased the Yellow Elan M100 turbo from me a couple of months ago. Guessing you remember the one I had so much hassle with trying to get the emissions down. Well Dan continues to further improve the car and is loving it. Great to hear. That car's garage mate, the Blue Elan M100 N/A is now also sold and heading off to the other side of the world in a couple of weeks time, all the way to down under, Brisbane, Australia of all places. This will be the 2nd car we have sent down under. Must have a bit of an international flair on the go as the Ausi one just about to go, another Excel about ready to leave for Paris, ( that's the 3rd car to France) a Riviera went off to Germany and an S4 half way being ready to go back to Belfast. Current projects. S1 Esprit. S3 N/A. S4 Turbo. Eclat/Excl. Excel Celebration. Elan 130+2 from Norfolk of all places. Early Eclat which is believed to be one of only 4 in original gel coat Orange. S3 Turbo, oh and Excel Ekup which will get done at some point. Retired, what's that.

What a stunner that will be. Love the gold. I'm looking to bring the White Eclat back from its current coat of White back to original Orange as I recon there are only a couple of them left.

Still very tired and hardly any voice, as far as I understand, this is caused by the direct dose of Salbutamol through the nebulizer. No return call at 1500 as promised so I called them. What I have been told is an investigation has been instigated by senior local management and an area manager. I have requested a call back with an update no later than 1200 hrs tomorrow as I will then go legal.

Thanks Andy. Beefeater have now instigated an internal enquiry so we will see what they say. I am due a call back at 1500 hrs today. My next course of action after that call will be to a solicitor I recon. John.

Still waiting for the all clear to go back visit.