Esprit S2 - Restomod

[Suddabym]

I’m immensely grateful to Nick and the team at Tomorrow’s Classics for their friendship and their tireless efforts to bring the car up to my specifications over 4 years (and I have asked for some pretty left of field stuff), so this seems like the least I could do to honour that commitment by them to me.

Plus, they aren’t as in-your-face, burn-out-your-eyeballs as they look. Only the engine bay plate can be seen when the car is parked up - which is deliberate. Honestly, the interest the car gets in the Aldi car park is astonishing - seriously.

Happy to support such a friendly bunch of West Country guys who are probably amongst the most expert in G Esprits in the land.

[Bibs]

Perhaps people think it's heading for he middle aisle?

They look better in the car to be fair, not as full on as I thought they would be. 

[Suddabym]

And I have quite a chrome-y car (for an Esprit). But, all opinions are equally valid. I know that there is a school of thought that I should be taken away and re-educated. With a stick.

Wait until you see what I've replaced the VDO digital clock with (I'm holding off slightly, because even I'm fearful of the backlash.)

Could be worse though, I could've gone full Ghost in the Shell (although, I'd have needed an S3 for that).

[yeller77]

Feel free to put all your mods out there whenever you like, Sudders. To each is own and everyone takes their own journey with a Lotus. Though I don't look to duplicate them, I find all your mods to be tasteful and intriguing and, with the spectacular garage, really a cohesive package like a boxed AutoArt model. The enlarged Wolfraces also give it a Hot Wheels feel which adds to it's presence. Lotus, to me from the beginning of my interest 40 odd years ago, have always seemed like the early days of customer race cars. They were expected to be modded for the owner/driver's purpose. My original experience included hanging around Paul Rego's shop back in the day and I don't remember any Lotus that wasn't modded in some way. If it was stock, it didn't stay that way for long, usually with spectacular results. Indeed, and probably not until the current offering of dealer supported and warranted cars, I don't think I'd ever come across a Lotus that hadn't been modded for performance, style, reliability, or some other purpose. Even now, a "modern" Lotus that hasn't had its exhaust, suspension, or wheels tweaked from factory seems exceedingly rare. "Factory original" cars will always take the big money at Sotheby's but any Lotus spared of driving miles to be kept spotlessly original seems a wasted effort from the spirit of the car. There's no intent here to address any opinion or post in particular and sorry if this turned into what sounds like a rant, really more of an observation, but I've seen the mod vs original discussion to be age-old and involve boundless extremes from Jeep restorers who seek to recreate wartime production minutiae to changing the very heart of 3rd gen RX7s to LS V8s. Whatever it takes to keep the cars we love on the road, keep your Esprit journey coming.

[Barrykearley]

11 hours ago, Bibs said:

Perhaps people think it's heading for he middle aisle?

They look better in the car to be fair, not as full on as I thought they would be. 

I’ll let you know what they look like in the flesh in due course. I’m taking my best hairbrush with me and I’ll see how good they are as a mirror 🙌

5 hours ago, Suddabym said:

Wait until you see what I've replaced the VDO digital clock with (I'm holding off slightly, because even I'm fearful of the backlash.)

No backlash chap - that’s a gearbox thing that some don’t bother setting properly 😜

[Suddabym]

Eric - wise words. And very much my own philosophy. Everyone has personal taste, likes, dislikes, and some like to keep things stock. But for me, the car needs to be pop-down-the-shops-able, otherwise it’ll get used twice a year, and what’s the point in that? I’m respectful of all views, but I’m also laser-focused on what I’m seeking to achieve.

I rather suspect actually, that while most wouldn’t go my route (which works for me, keeps what I do unique) most are happy to cheer the project on. Another car saved from rotting a barn somewhere, or hidden in garage 8 months of the year, and all that.

[Suddabym]

The clock.

My old VDO didn't work and it was rubbish, and green, so... I took a non working Jaeger clock (eBay), pulled out the gubbins and replaced it with new innards and this is what it looks like (the car is gold, see).

Personally, I am almost more pleased with this than anything else I've done. Mainly, because I can see it!

😁

Genius

[RobinB5]

Mark, your reimagining of the S2 is a wonder. To blend the original aesthetics with daily driving engineering and some of the more advanced digital and ICT features that the modern world offers has been achieved with a modest balance. Maybe this is the future of classic car stewardship in the coming decades? 

[Suddabym]

Well, Robin, that is certainly my thinking. I get the stock argument, of course. But I want to use mine. I want it to look like the original (natch), but work... Not working takes a lot of the fun out of owning a 40 year old car, to my mind.

Just wait til solid state batteries come along 😊

[Suddabym]

No, actually, I'm slightly off with what I said above.

It isn't that I want it to work all the time, exactly. It's that I want to have the complete confidence that it will work when I want it to. And not obstinately, in any and all circumstances; blizzards and tsunamis and the like. But, realistically for the car, and repeatably. I want to know I'll get back from wherever I go. 

So it's actually about the confidence that reliability, common sense and a bit of mechanical sympathy buys. That's why I think Restomod is an acceptable way to enjoy classics. Plus, the 5th industrial revolution is kinda gonna force it onto people like us, unless we literally want museum pieces that we can barely use.

The problem with change is, that it keeps changing.

[Djs44]

I'm looking at a CANBUS system for the wiring to ensure reliability . Like you I want a useable car but not the drama elements that  I suspect are mainly wiring related in a car rebuilt with new parts. Not going injection thou as I want something with carbs that will occasionally foul a plug

[Fridge]

12 minutes ago, Djs44 said:

I'm looking at a CANBUS system for the wiring to ensure reliability . Like you I want a useable car but not the drama elements that  I suspect are mainly wiring related in a car rebuilt with new parts. Not going injection thou as I want something with carbs that will occasionally foul a plug

For a G-Esprit? How would a CANbus be retrofitted to a none ECU-based car? Asking for a friend...

[Djs44]

3 hours ago, Fridge said:

For a G-Esprit? How would a CANbus be retrofitted to a none ECU-based car? Asking for a friend...

It appears to be a self standing unit that is programmed via laptop . It comes with a multiplexed keypad that can be programmed to replicate the switch functions if , for example a switch  fails ... switches etc would only have small current wires back to the canbus .... 

 

Is this acceptable ????

( thought this was interesting in this resto-mod thread ) 

[Fridge]

Just now, Djs44 said:

It appears to be a self standing unit that is programmed via laptop . It comes with a multiplexed keypad that can be programmed to replicate the switch functions if , for example a switch  fails ... switches etc would only have small current wires back to the canbus .... 

 

Is this acceptable ????

Not really. How does it integrate to the Esprit's "analogue" 12V electrical signals eg. engine temperature, oil pressure, and rev counter etc? I assume we're talking about a none ECU S1-S3/Turbo Esprit, without EFI.

[Djs44]

2 minutes ago, Fridge said:

Not really. How does it integrate to the Esprit's "analogue" 12V electrical signals eg. engine temperature, oil pressure, and rev counter etc? I assume we're talking about a none ECU S1-S3/Turbo Esprit, without EFI.

Good questions . Oil pressure is fine as it is by a pipe , presumably the other feeds go from , for example, the temperature sender into the canbus which reads the current and sends a feed out to the water temp gauge  based on how you calibrate it . It looked clever . 

[Fridge]

Have you a link to the device, as I'm intrigued how a simple G car can be retrofitted with a CANbus?

[Djs44]

1 minute ago, Fridge said:

Have you a link to the device, as I'm intrigued how a simple G car can be retrofitted with a CANbus?

It's no retrofit ... i have to fit a new loom anyway so this is one option 

[Fridge]

1 minute ago, Djs44 said:

It's no retrofit ... i have to fit a new loom anyway so this is one option 

It'll be retrofit unless the car had it originally. CANbus technology was developed in 1983 and didn't appear in any car until 1991.

Have you a link, or is it top secret technology? 

[Djs44]

Just now, Fridge said:

It'll be retrofit unless the car had it originally. CANbus technology was developed in 1983 and didn't appear in any car until 1991.

Have you a link, or is it top secret technology? 

Sorry , what I mean it that you cannot retrofit it to an existing car - it needs to be fitted from scratch . 

The 1977 Autocar test I have of the S1 roadtest has the car breaking down several times due to electrical issues . No desire to replicate that .

No link - it is being developed by Lotusbits 

[Fridge]

1 minute ago, Djs44 said:

Sorry , what I mean it that you cannot retrofit it to an existing car - it needs to be fitted from scratch . 

The 1977 Autocar test I have of the S1 roadtest has the car breaking down several times due to electrical issues . No desire to replicate that .

No link - it is being developed by Lotusbits 

That's interesting. I wonder what they have planned, and what they're intending to send down it.

Considering the simplicity of the original electrics in the G Esprits, there's a significant danger in introducing an even bigger problem if the CANbus stuff fails. Particularly if it is developed and produced on a limited basis without thorough testing.
I'll have to keep a watch out for it, to see what it can do.

[Djs44]

I'll keep you posted and start another thread 

[Burg57]

Mike showed me this system the other day. Very clever, and replaces fuses and relays with a bcm and a switch board plus new harness of course, now developing it for a Lagonda!! Lots of work there! He said you were looking at this for your car Derek, certainly seems to introduce some modern electronic reliability so hope it goes well for you. Out of my budget and being a purist I will have to continue tinkering with electrical issues on my cars (part of the fun of owning classics, so they tell me!)

[Djs44]

On 13/05/2021 at 17:52, Burg57 said:

Mike showed me this system the other day. Very clever, and replaces fuses and relays with a bcm and a switch board plus new harness of course, now developing it for a Lagonda!! Lots of work there! He said you were looking at this for your car Derek, certainly seems to introduce some modern electronic reliability so hope it goes well for you. Out of my budget and being a purist I will have to continue tinkering with electrical issues on my cars (part of the fun of owning classics, so they tell me!)

He's on with an s3 first I think so hopefully will debug it then ! 

I've not committed to it as I have no cost yet and am already close to " negative equity " on the project . I really can't be bothered with electrical issues . I already have a diva that I've taken to keeping an OBD reader in the boot of ..... and a 1933 Riley I rewired in my youth with all the same coloured wires

[Fridge]

What's the rational behind retro fitting a modern loom and CANBus? Intrigued.

[Burg57]

Reliability pure and simple! Proof is in the pudding though. They have it on a rally car so that will give it a thorough test!