Finally, Restoration Begins!

[giorgio67]

Hello gents,

it's a long time since I post something new here on my restoration saga...

Well, I have been very busy with a lot of work and I have nearly finished the bodywork, I think I will be ready for the paint job within a couple of months.

I will post soon some pics of the jobs done, here the list:

completely rebuilt heater matrix and all the parts of the heater system

pedal box

window motors

headlamp motors

dismantled and rebuilt all the doors internal

window frame, door beam etc...

removed paint and tons of filler on the doors-bonnet-tailgate-headlamp pod etc..

one door was cracked and I have reglassed were needed,

hinge bonnet repaired as were delaminated and cracked

all the bodywork has been sanded by HAND down to gelcoat, also the internal door section, interior bonnet and headlamp pod that has been reglassed where the bushes sits as the holes were totally wrong and cracked.

I must say that I've never seen such an awful job on the fiberglass parts of my car, no one thing has been repaired properly in the past, just tons of filler everywhere also in structural part and tons of paint over paint over paint over paint.....took 2 weeks to sand the 2 doors completely, they seems from another car now...different lines, different design. I'm now finishing some job on the tailgate and i need to fill the roof aperture on the car, plenty of glassing here.

Interior trim is at the trimmer, I've choose a full leather with some alcantara insert, (door-tunnel and bulkhead) but still not sure about the body color...very difficult choice, I'm thinking about  Bermuda Blue- Essex Blue and Orange, but this it's not a simple color to have on a S2.2, what do you think guys?

Help me on choice.

At the end, I've bought the car in the 2007...I'm reaching the 10° year  but I must say that I have had very bad times during these years as my mother and my father passed away, I've moved house and even if in the same time Matt has been able to restore 3 cars....I'm happy because I'm nearly at the end of the tunnel, perfection take time and I'm restoring this car without any compromise.

That's all friends, just some pics of the job done on the cracked door.

Giorgio

 

[giorgio67]

[Freemason]

Fantastic work! Do you have any pics and commentary on the work done on the other parts you list?

pedal box

window motors

headlamp motors

dismantled and rebuilt all the doors internal

window frame, door beam etc...

 

As for the colour, there can only be one option: ORIGINAL!

[giorgio67]

Hi Antonio, yes I have hundreds of pics, I will post soon some other comment on the jobs done. Can' t survive with my Esprit painted Gold.....

[giorgio67]

Hi Antonio, yes I have hundreds of pics, I will post soon some other comment on the jobs done. Can' t survive with my Esprit painted Gold.....

[giorgio67]

[giorgio67]

[Freemason]

Awesome work!

On the colour: if it were mine, I'd keep it original. I think bronze looks pretty cool, so 70s.

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2016 by Freemason

[Jeanvm]

Very nice work.

But for the originality his first color: bronze

[giorgio67]

New beautiful made alloy radiator cow with new Tripac fans ready to install on the new upgraded, 3 core rad. Great job!! Giorgio

[Lou R]

Hi Giorgio,

 

Your alloy fan cowl is very nice (seems much better than the original plastic).  Did you have it made up or is it available from a Lotus supplier ?

 

Thanks,

Lou R

[giorgio67]

Hi Lou,

I had it made up keeping the original plastic as a reference, I think it will survive me, all the original plastic cow I've seen are broken.

This is for the standard 2 fans rad that I've upgraded to 3 core, expensive but I can keep some original part in this way.

 

Giorgio

[giorgio67]

Uhmmm....two days of sanding down the bonnet...something like 6 coats of primer-filler and top coat and now the gel coat shows his beautiful face.. now ready for Polyester Spray Filler and primer. Can' t wait to see my car painted!   Giorgio

[Barrykearley]

You have the patience of a saint sir - it's all in the prep - and it will look superb

[giorgio67]

Not too much patience but a lot of passion...yes preparation is fundamental to get a perfect paint job. Don't like to leave all the old primers on, perfection takes time

[giorgio67]

Glass off but first sign of imminent madness....

[giorgio67]

Gents, needs some pics of the battery tray in the engine bay. Mine is missing and I don't know if I need an alloy tray fixed with rivets or if I need to laminate fiberglass. Also the top brackets, cover etc...I have not any reference to work with. Then, tailgate finished...horrible job....sealant all over the edge, two days of work and now it's ready for poly. Fingers prints gone...

[giorgio67]

Gents, needs some pics of the battery tray in the engine bay. Mine is missing and I don't know if I need an alloy tray fixed with rivets or if I need to laminate fiberglass. Also the top brackets, cover etc...I have not any reference to work with. Then, tailgate finished...horrible job....sealant all over the edge, two days of work and now it's ready for poly. Fingers prints gone... rear valance also finished. Sanded down to gel coat and laminated some fiberglass where needed. Parts to work on?   The two capping rail!!!   Can' t belive that i' m at the end of the tunnel.     

[Rolls]

Hope this helps.

 

[peteyg]

The battery tray is fibreglass.

Pete

[giorgio67]

I know now. So I need to build up one as for the original or I will use alloy tray painted black?  

Uhmmm..any pics of the tray from underside of the bay? Also need some details of the parts used to fix the battery inside.

Thanks

[Rolls]

Not the best shot.

[Freemason]

If you need more pics pm me your email address and I can send the original full size files. Pics I upload on here get reduced from 2MB to tiny little 40KB files with no detail and resolution for some reason. Not sure why it does this. 

[giorgio67]

I will. 

[Matt-watts]

Giorgio

I have a couple of late S1- S2.2 battery boxes want me to send you one as a pattern ?

Matt