NigelM

Very sorry to hear about your loss @Kimbers. It's never easy. I've been through it a number of times now and it doesn't get any easier, but I have got my head around it it my own way. When you take a dog into your family you do so knowing it's got a limited life expectancy, normally 8 to 15 years. For that time it's your job to give that dog the love, affection and best quality of life you are able to. It's a privilege to have them in your life and should be treated that way. They will reward you with that same unconditional love in return. When they depart you can give another lucky dog the same love, affection and quality of life as you gave the first. You are not replacing them, just finding another friend to spend time with. It does nothing to diminish your memories, just creates new ones with a different friend.

I fitted Gaz height and rebound adjustable dampers along with 180 Lb / 328mm springs from CoilSprings in Sheffield at the rear and am very happy with the results.

Thank you Dave and Megan, thank you Chris. Great to see everyone and look at some wonderful cars. Fantastic location and the drive there and back was fabulous - much better than the M25 was last time!

Seats and centre consul finished. Dash is going to be a winter job. Process was easier than I thought it would be and pretty easy to get a good finish. The dye has soaked into the leather so it doesn't look or feel like it's painted on. I'm very happy with the result so far.

Great offer, thank you, count me in.

Very good @Bazza 907

I kept coating the leather with Rejuvinator Oil every day for about 7 days. When none of the leather was taking up any more oil I cleaned it all off with their Pristine Clean. I think 250ml will just about do my half leather interior, but it will be a bot tight. You're going to need at least 500ml. I have sent them a cutting of my leather to match. It should arrive end next week and I hope to start the recolour over the bank holiday weekend. Will post pictures when it's done.

I've been looking at the Esprit for a few years now and the one point that kept nagging at me was the way the rear wheels are inset so far into the wheel arch. My car runs about a degree and a half of negative camber (the way I like it) which exaggerates the issue. I have resisted spacers until now, but a few weeks ago the itch just had to be scratched. You don't seem to be able to get spacers to fit the Esprit from any of the usual suspects, but I found a company called SuperForma in Devon who offered custom spacers at a very reasonable price. I wanted hub centric bolt through spacers and they recommended a max of 22mm. I wanted about an inch anyway so that sounded fine. I gave them my PCD and hub dimensions and they delivered me a set of custom spacers 2 weeks later for about £60. Their communications were excellent and the finished product looks to be of great quality. What's more they fitted first time. I went for a good blast today and have no wheel wobble. It handles as it did before - I might suggest that rear end grip is further improved as I didn't get quite as sideways as I usually do on my favourite roundabout - but that is definitely unproven. What's more they have filled the arches up nicely now and my OCD issue has been resolved. I know spacers are not everyones cup of tea and it's not original, but I like them.

It's a bit difficult to photograph the change in feel Stephen. As soon as I have done the recolour and installed I will get some before and after pics up.

So I met @Hornsey Boy at the Essendon breakfast a couple of weeks ago and he persuaded me that I just needed to give the leather a damned good clean and get some oils back into it again. After a bit of research I settled on Leatherique as the company who really sold themselves on the refurbishment of old leather rather than colouring it. The reports from those who use it are very good, so worth a go. I started with the centre arm rest and have moved on to the drivers seat. On each item I have rubbed in the oil every day for 7 days until it wouldn't take any more and then cleaned with their cleaner. The results have been amazing. Gone from hard and brittle to soft and supple. Really pleased with the results. I do need to add some colour so have sent Leatherique a cutting from under the seat. I want to stick with one system rather than go to Gliptone for the colour. Will post some pictures when the recolouring is done. The other job I did was clean the carpets with Chemical Guys Fabric Clean which had also got some good write ups. Diluted 8:1, sprayed it on and scrubbed it with a brush. Then used SWMBO's carpet cleaner set to rinse to flush out all the dirt. Couldn't believe how black the water was. Carpets have come up a treat, but I bet if I repeated the process I would still get a lot more dirt out. Process only part complete, but it's looking positive so far.

Great morning thank you @ChrisJ. Good to meet a few members and look at some of the cars we see in the threads. Learnt a few things, thank you @top-plumber and @Hornsey Boy. And thanks to @neilread for confirming that I am throwing flames out the back when I put my foot down

Thanks again Fabian. I have spoken with Andy Graham at the archive and he has confirmed that my build spec was Calypso Red with Lotus Gold interior. Unusual I know, but that's from the horses mouth and looks right against the less faded areas.

Fabian, thank you for that. Can you please send me that colour code from Furniture clinic. What "chemicals" did you use to remove the finish? I was under the impression that there was no finish applied to the leathers until 1993, but having done the job you should know. I can't see a "finish remover" on FC or Gliptone websites. Would be great to get a Big Ears to Noddy guide from you on exactly what you used and how you did it as yours looks great. Thanks, Nigel

Been doing some more hunting. Found a photo of a restored car with Lotus Gold interior: If I can get close to that I will be very happy. Gliptone will not try to match to the photo, they want a colour swatch to match and suggested I went to a DIY store and picked something from something like a Dulux card. Dulux don't have anything close enough but Farrow and Ball do, Sudbury Yellow: https://www.farrow-ball.com/paint-colours/sudbury-yellow Has anyone out there got a Lotus Gold interior in good condition and can they confirm that I'm in the right ball park in terms of colour/shade?

Thanks guys. Now talking to Gliptone. The next challenge is colour. Mine is badly faded and I want to get back to somewhere close to the original Lotus Gold. There appears to be nowhere that remains close to original, not even under the seats. Gliptone don't have a reference for it and Connolly are happy to sell me 5 hides for £2k but can't sent me a cutting to colour match. I have this photo which I found of a Gold interior on a red car. I think I might end up going to a DIY store and getting a Dulux colour that's close to the photo for Gliptone to match. Anyone got a better idea?