Giugiaro Esprit S1 Full Restoration

[Fridge]

8.   Diamond White Forever

Well, Monaco White to be more precise. After trying a number of colour blends which proved to be too creamy John settled on an original ICI 2-pack mix for the paint. I have found this paint to be very hard wearing and long lasting. With another classic of mine still looking like new over 12 years later.

I got the call that the car had been painted and that it had hardened, so I arranged a date when I fit the cant rails along with their silver trim, as well as the sills so that the remaining black areas could be painted before removal of the body shell from the paint shop. So I turned up at his workshop armed with a very sharp craft knife, a steel rule and a wooden board with which to cut the foil strips that run along the roof line.

This also required fitting the rear hatch hinges before beginning. Adding ring connectors to the inside of the cabin so that the loom could be connected at a later date. The cant rails were a time consuming and exacting job, but necessary all the same.

The sills were a little easier to fit, securing in place using PU sealant and large rivets. With these items already fitted John was in a position to mask off and paint the satin black areas on the upper side.

using photos supplied by Paul Coleman @Paul Coleman since my car had been resprayed by a previous owner without much of the black areas being retained.

The underside had been roughly painted black in the past, so although I was aiming for factory finish, which leaves the underside bare, I decided that this would take too much time to sand back and wouldn’t look original by then anyway. John and I decided that spraying the underside in satin black Raptor would be the best option as it looked great and would be hard wearing. This included painting the front compartment floor, rear luggage area and cabin. Which would tidy things up, help with soundproofing the cabin and also provide a good, clean surface on which to fix the soundproofing I had planned.

With the body shell now painted I arranged for it to be trailered back to my garage for fitting to the body shell. The next phase of the restoration was about to begin.

[Fridge]

10.   The Living Daylights

I was very keen to begin the reassembly of the body shell on the chassis. I had 3 decent months left of the year, and I had to make the most of them as I would be working outdoors on the drive, since the garage was too narrow to undertake any meaningful work.

At the paint shop the trailer team arrived and we pushed the body shell onto the awaiting trailer, still sat on the dolly we’d put it on 10 months earlier.

Once home and wheeled on to the driveway I fitted the fuel tanks and closed cell foam under the centre tunnel, replacing the original foam which had been removed previously, as it would be the last time that this area would be accessible. Fixing it with high quality spray adhesive that allowed some latitude of moving before the glue set.

5 pals including long term S1 owner Paul Clapham arrived after work and we had the body shell on the chassis literally within 30 seconds.

Over the next few days I fixed adhesive backed butyl soundproofing to the cabin floor, centre console, footwells and bulkhead. This would prove to be a godsend over the next 2 years of the restoration as it made the interior easy to clean and keep tidy of the various fasteners used to complete the cabin. Otherwise dust and grit would have been harder remove over the rebuild period.

With the soundproofing fitted I then added the heater plenum under the dashboard. The plenum was bonded into place with plenty of PU sealant as I did not want to find any leaks once it was built! When set I fitted the heater box which I’d had stored in a box for 8 months.

I should have fitted the windscreen motor and spindle first which would have made that job a lot easier, but hey ho! It is accessible, but more so without the heater box in the way.

Plumbing this in to the cooling system and fitting the drain tubes to the plenum that extend below the body shell underside. The car was seriously beginning to take shape and it was a good feeling to be emptying the many boxes of reconditioned assemblies and parts and freeing up valuable storage space.

The pre-assembled pedal box was next to be fitted, leaving a bolt to allow for an earth point to be fitted during the loom installation which was next.

Raiding my boxes of stored powder coated parts I fitted the brake servo and master cylinder, together with the clutch master cylinder. Plumbing in the remaining replacement copper pipework and new rubber grommets, specially sought for their thick panel size dimensions.

With the lamp pod motors, washer bottle and bonnet stay fitted this completed the front compartment work for the time being.

I found that the cleaned up lamp pod control arms had worn rose joints, which I felt attributed to the flickering headlights I’d seen on other Esprits. I therefore decided to bite the bullet and replace them with new items.

By now the 1^st anniversary of the restoration was approaching, and I at last felt that things were beginning to take shape.

[Rolls]

Super excited for you. Very motivating to watch your progress. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[Fridge]

Thanks @Rolls glad it's keeping you at the grindstone. Exhausting isn't it?

[Fridge]

11.   The Loom Is Not Enough

Fitting the new loom was tricky, and had to be done in two halves. Positioning it along side the car so that it could be orientated, and new grommets were fitted to it as required.

It then installed with the minimum of fuss. Pushing the front and rear sections out from within the cabin, to the front and rear luggage compartments. Once in position, the bulkhead grommets were fixed in place. The new fuse boxes were installed and for the time being tie-wrapped to secure them to the dashboard bar, and the loom carefully positioned under the dashboard with new fixings and stainless steel posi-drive screws. Fitting the connection under the dashboard bar required some contortions, but other than that it was pretty straightforward.

The late S1 loom is an S1 loom with the later design used on the S2 for the front, with its twin lamp pod motors. However, the S2 loom enters the front compartment through the bulkhead and doesn’t require as much length. Ideally the manufacturer should take this into account and lengthen the front section by 6” or so, to provide a little more leeway. Since the relays and offside lamp pods and indicator wires are too short. Apart from this the new loom works well.

With the new loom fitted, things could be connected. The newly powder coated handbrake was assembled with a new grip after soaking in warm water for a while, the original having had a split. The switch had been cleaned-up and reassembled.

I’d searched online for new thick panel grommets and these were fitted to the handbrake cable guides also.

The switch was also fitted to the choke indicator, and the seat belt receptors were cleaned up and new decals fitted. These were installed and the loom connected to the driver’s side.

Three 120W electric fans were fitted to the re-cored radiator and secured to the air dam with a new grill. This was positioned to check its fit before securing in place with the obligatory stainless steel fasteners. The fans operated by individual relays.

New Lucas horns were fitted under the nose.

Which included the lamp pod motors, and mini-looms to each of the pods. Once complete, the front bumper could be fitted and the indicator and side lights connected.

Since the late S1’s fuel pump is located on the nearside of the engine compartment, in front of the rear wheel an extension wire was made to reach. The fuel pump was attached to the power coated bracket and attached to the bulkhead, together with the copper turn pipe, which I shielded in PVC tubing in case it rattled in use.

The rear of the loom was aligned with the engine bay, and connections were pretty straightforward. Requiring very little adjustment, having carefully made sure that the loom was at full stretch when placed in the car. With the loom fitted to the engine, the electronic internals of the modified distributor were connected to the coil, which was bolted in place.

Fitting the rear bumper was next on the cards, and this took some time to dry fit before finally securing in place with the rubber trim surround.

The wiring to the rear lights was carefully routed to the rear panel and threaded through the rear lamp surrounds, before connecting to the lamp units.

With the lamps and rear bumper now installed the rear number plate recess could be installed to complete the rear panel of the car. Just in time before the winter days became too cold and short to work on the car. Time over the following few months will be limited to small items and things that could be done indoors.

[Jeanvm]

That's weird, normally is the pump located on the side of the rh fuel tank on rubbers. I didn't know that that this was different on later S1 & S2.

[Fridge]

Only on earlier S1s @Jeanvm

Took some working out, as mine had been removed. Thankfully @Lotusfab was able to confirm. I then found the bolt holes.

[Fridge]

12.   Coldfingers

Over that winter many of the jobs that required less space were completed. This included fitting the fuel filler necks to the refurbished fuel tanks and body shell. New stainless steel retaining rings and screws had been obtained, and this proved to be a simple and fulfilling task.

With the fuel necks installed the rear bulkheads could be fitted to the window recesses. Boxing the fuel filler pipes in from view. These had been powder coated in satin black and were better than when new. Fitting them was a bit fiddly as the rivets had to align correctly so as not to damage the inner buttresses which had also been painted in satin black.

The lower air box which I’d refurbished that summer was also lifted into place and secured using new bobbins. The new stainless steel grill should last a long time compared to the mild steel original. I was really pleased with how this came out, as I love using as many original parts from a car as possible. I think that’s part of the fun of making something new again, as well as being more original. Original parts always fit better too.

I suppose with any full restoration things can become overwhelming at times, but with another task ticked off the list my mind was free to concentrate on other details.

Rear access to the brakes and gearbox had been left so that they could be bled and tested, but these had proven problem free and the mid-section and exhaust silencer could be test fitted, alongside the rear valance. The valance proved to be quite fiddly to get right working single handed on a cold garage floor. Making sure that the exhaust fitted together without hindering the chassis and body shell was quite a juggling act. It was tricky making sure that the tail pipes not only aligned centrally with the aperture in the new valance, but also at the correct angle.

High quality 3M high temperature tape was used to hold the heat protection matting to areas exposed to the exhaust. Namely the inner rear wheel arch, as well as to the inside of the valance itself. The battery box and handbrake cables were also covered to protect them from heat from the exhaust silencer.

With the valance marked and drilled it went back to the paint shop for finishing. It came back in pure Monaco White with satin black Raptor on the inside, to match the underside of the car. I edged it with closed cell foam, and fastened in place with new stainless steel fixings and washers to finish it off.

This virtually completed the rear of the car apart from some minor details.

Though the above photos were taken in the spring, it was beginning to look a lot like an Esprit.

With a second icey blast from The Beast from the East, the weather had certainly taken a turn for the worst, and I continued to do what my frozen fingers would allow throughout the next couple of months. With few jobs that I could do indoors, I often had to wear 2 jumpers, a jacket, and scarf under my overalls. It's cold up t'north....   

[slewthy]

It just looks amazing!! Perfect indeed. (I know you wont think its perfection - your eye will only be drawn to the imperfections you can see but trust me, to everyone else's eyes its perfect!)

Very jealous indeed. 

However, please put me out of my misery - the post you made on October 29th, you have a picture including the window frames. Why does the top frame have strange curly bits to it when it clearly cant have?? Is it an optical illusion or have I lost my mind??

Si

[Fridge]

Thanks @slewthy.

I think it's an optical illusion.

The frames are kinked where the fit inside the door, but not exactly curved as such.

[slewthy]

Ah, yes - they are also curving up towards the camera - I guess they were laid out on a slope.

Bizarre effect though!

[Fridge]

Yes, the driveway does slope. Which made things difficult pushing it out to assemble. Especially with the build wheels, which had tyres with slow punctures.

I had to put the car on proper wheels and tyres for the next stage of the restoration. Which is next ....

[Fridge]

12. Dr No Wheels

With the onset of winter and because the unheated garage was small and only provided limited access to the inside of the car, work on the Esprit reverted to those items that could be done mainly indoors.

The chassis, and now with the body shell in place, sat on the same Compomotive Pentastar alloy wheels which a previous owner had fitted. The tyres had long since seen better days, and the front tyres were threadbare and had slow punctures, that made it a slow and awkward task of pushing the car out of the garage to do any significant work. With the weight of the car gradually increasing and a lot of pushing ahead during the final phase of the restoration my next task focused on refurbishing the wheels and replacing the tyres.

The deal had been that the car was supposed to come with a full set of Wolfrace wheels at the time of purchase, but unfortunately the replacement rears were incorrect. Being specific to the Esprit S1 and therefore relatively rare I’d given the seller time to obtain a replacement pair, as they would not be required until later in the restoration. As the months passed and with no solution on the horizon I had begun making my own enquiries and research into tracking down a couple of rears. Eventually finding a set in Europe advertised in the Forums. I had contacts nearby who could collect and store them for when I next visited, or I could get them shipped. I messaged the seller of the Esprit with the news and sent him the link to the advert. However, he decided that they were too expensive, didn’t even bother to contact the seller of the wheels to try and broker a deal. He then became obnoxious and decided that he would walk away from the deal altogether. A situation I’d half anticipated, but a financial setback never less.

Almost 12 months later a full set of Wolfrace wheels turned up in New York State and after I made a swift phone call, a deposit was made and shipping arranged. They arrived the following week in good order, with no pitting and very few marks. Apart from removing the collets after liberally soaking in penetrating fluid, as they had fused to the wheels, the wheels were set aside in their shipping boxes until the time was right to begin their refurbishment, as work progressed that’s been detailed previously.

Over preceding months I had previously enquired with a number of places about diamond cutting and polishing. After careful consideration I had decided to go with polishing. Examining at Paul Clapham’s original S1, in millimetre detail, it was plain to see that the modern diamond cutting method is not in keeping with 1970’s manufacturing processes, and results in a too severe rainbow effect. I also made the decision not to have the wheels lacquered, as I’ve seen many alloy wheel require the whole process to be begun again within just a few years of regular use. Having maintained a set of chrome wire wheels on my other classic for decades, polishing alloys isn’t such a demanding chore after all, and I rather preferred the less invasive and destructive approach of polishing rather than milling.

I enquired with a number of possible places to undertake the polishing, and although not too expensive I decided that since these wheels were rare and relatively difficult to obtain, and the fact that I had time on my hands during the winter months that I’d attempt the work myself. Which also reduced the additional spend on the wheels by at least a couple of hundred pounds. The plan being if the first wheel wasn’t coming out well, then I always had the option to take it elsewhere, along with the rest. Their purchase had set me back significantly, and this sizeable saving in money, if not time, would be helpful.

I discussed media blasting with Eddie at Motorcool in Thornaby, who I’d used on all of the previous parts, and he suggested trying a fine glass media, and preferred doing one wheel at a time, because the finer the media the more intensive and slower the process. As it meant working the piece in a continuous dust cloud, with short breaks.

This piece work worked perfectly for me as it generally took me about a week to turnaround a wheel, working a few hours each day. With the first wheel cleaned up and inspected to check that the process hadn’t obliterated any of the finer details Eddie continued to prepare the remaining wheels. Deciding to use an even slightly finer media for the rest. Interestingly, the media blasted wheels had a velvet look and feel, but once the these entered the next stage, the original manufacturing marks began to reappear.

Once cleaned up it was interesting to see the manufacturing stamp on the inside of the wheel rim, which showed the date of original manufacture.

Having watched a number of US videos on You Tube showing the process of mag polishing I bought various grades of wet ‘n’ dry paper. The finest being 2000 grit. I found that the trick was to begin with a grade of grit just finer than the surface imperfections being corrected. Soaking each piece of grit paper in soapy water throughout the process.

It was a slow, iterative and dirty process which could be closely managed on areas that required more detailed attention using the various grades of grit paper. Rather than a single stage process which would treat all areas en mass to eradicate the worst imperfections.

Once the outer face of each wheel was prepared, the slots were masked and filled with foam bungs as well as masking the inner rim in preparation with spraying with a couple of coats of etch primer. Once dry this was followed by further coats of alloy grey top wheel spray paint to finish off the insides.

Overall it was a very satisfying task to see each wheel come up like new, and still retain their originality, with a protective coating on the insides for ease of maintenance.

The finest wet ‘n’ dry paper provided a good level of finish, but each of the wheels were then polished with a variety of linen mops using Mother’s mag paste, and finished with sealer. I actually found an electric drill better than the polishing mop I bought specifically for this purpose.

During this time @williamtherebel found a great polishing service in Oldham which I’d certainly consider in future for a spruce up. However, I was very pleased with the end result using elbow grease.

During this time I purchased 175 70 14 Dunlop Classic Sport tyres for the rears which had just been released, and 165 60 14 Maxxis for the fronts, these having a similar matching tread pattern which were quite traditional in design. New valves completed the purchase.

After 60 man hours I had a full set of polished Wolfrace mag wheels which were taken down to my local tyre shop who carefully fitted and balanced all of the wheels.

Once they were fitted to the car, it began to take the shape of a proper Lotus Esprit S1. It was certainly easier to push out of the garage!...

[Jeanvm]

5 hours ago, Fridge said:

purchased 175 70 14 Dunlop Classic Sport tyres for the rears which had just been released, and 165 60 14 Maxxis for the fronts

Weird dimensions of the tires that you use? Uncanny to drive.

[Fridge]

1 hour ago, Jeanvm said:

Weird dimensions of the tires that you use? Uncanny to drive.

Standard S1, unless I've written them down wrongly. It has been nearly 20 months.

Yes, sorry. I meant 205 70 14 and 205 60 14. I've covered a lot since I tackled the wheels and tyres in February-April 2018.

[Fridge]

Just had the car professionally weight balanced and 4-wheel wheel aligned.

It turned out that I had set it up well by hand using string and an old WHS Smith ruler bought when I was a youngster.

It's bang on now, and it drove home beautifully on its 120 mile round trip to York at 60-70mph without a break, and never missed a beat.

A full write up in time.

[Fridge]

For those folks wanting more details of the rear Dunlop tyres ....

 

[Jeanvm]

I use HR now and it drives very well but when I need new ones it will be VR like this, because of it.🙂

[Fridge]

@Jeanvm I still need to put these through their paces now that I've had the suspension geometry set up professionally. Write up to follow.

I'm extremely happy with the settings on paper. The car is finely balanced, particularly side-2-side. On the 120 miles I've done since would certainly suggest the tyres are doing their stuff.

[Lotusfab]

Interior pics please!

[Fridge]

5 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Interior pics please!

All in good time @Lotusfab I'm still writing up the assembly and publishing in a logical and chronological order.

Having got the car running and set up I'm now tackling the finishing aspects, so you'll have to wait a while. There's no rush.

[Fridge]

14. XXX

As the winter slowly progressed into spring my thoughts turned to doing more work on the actual car. With the aim of completing most of the exterior items by the end of the forthcoming summer. I’d bought a high quality electric aerial to match the automatic period radio/cassette unit bought back in August 2016. However, the motor unit was too large for it to be placed in the front wing. @RichardJGC  confirmed that a smaller version was available which would fit after some modification. I spilt the control circuit housing and was able to place within the door jam aperture, once the inner wing had been filed a small amount to allow the aerial to fit vertically within the space and out through the wing aperture. 

The cables were threaded through to the cabin via a grommet within a black PVC conduit and tie-wrapped to the dashboard bar to keep them tidy for later connection to the head unit.

During this time I also revisited the door bars which I’d had media blasted to their original look. These were to be left in bare aluminium apart from the hinges which had been finished in black. I had initially obtained plastic replacement bushes from SJ Sportscars. However I’d since learned that fitting brass bushes were a better solution so the bars was sent off to have bushes machined and press fitted.

As the fine weather was still sporadic, I ticked off some of the smaller jobs that would allow me to tackle the more time consuming ones once the long sunny days returned. This included tidying up the inner sill covers.

The engine cover was also completed with the same under bonnet NASI insulation as used by Porsche 928, as recommended by @Tony K Using 2 to neatly cover the underside of the engine cover. The cover being finished off with a new rubber edge seal.

Hopefully this, and the butyl sound proofing in the cabin would help insulate against engine and road noise.

Other items like the new boot pull cable and assembly were also fitted. As were new number plate lights and stainless steel screws.

The ‘L’ shaped retaining lugs securing the vertical boards covering the rear lights were also cleaned up and painted satin black. All of the boot board fixings were renewed in stainless steel.

The binnacle, steering column and switch gear plate had come out really good in their newly painted Nextel.

The dashboard and binnacle demister grills were fixed in place, as was the passenger side air vent. Being careful not to mark the new Nextel finish, which had fortunately come out in a pleasant and practical darker shade than I’d expected. As I had feared unwelcome reflections in the windscreen in strong daylight.

With the inner sills in place I fitted new seat runners to the seats and bolted them in, figuring that I had more room without the doors in place.

By now summer was fast approaching and my next tasks would involve pushing the car out onto the drive once more to provide greater access and the beginning of my final assembly stage, which would begin with fitting the doors. Something I was warned by @Final Edition that would take a long time to get right.

[drdoom]

David,

What has been your result in terms of the sound deadening efforts?

[Fridge]

@drdoom it's LOUD!

But the interior is incomplete, and due to the high prices folk charge that's not likely to change for quite a while.

[Fridge]

A bit of bonding at today's large cars and coffee meet at Wynyard Hall, Wolviston, UK.