S2!

[Fridge]

Yes, I'd agree with @LOTUSMAN33 (again).

It took me 9 man days to completely strip my S1 down to every component unit. Apart from doors and engine/gearbox. There were two of us. You seem to be starting from a point along the strip down route.

It's not that difficult, and I made a dolly from scratch using £15 castors for just over a £100 which was used for 10 months, whilst I worked on everything else and the body was away. I could have picked up a set of large caster wheels at an autojumble 3 years later for a fraction of the price, but hey ho!

The only thing I'd say is to cost out your expenditure and available budget carefully. Otherwise I am convinced you'll be ramping up close to £30,000 on top of your purchase price before you know it. And I got great deals on my outsourced work. Unless you don't mind blowing the market value of your car. Some stuff can be done down the line.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2020 by Fridge

[JonSE]

Thanks Dave,

One benefit is that it’s “just” the body bolts left to undo then the lift, the strip down has removed doors and all trim for example so I think my hand is forced.

The wiring as above is a major concern, I might be looking at starting again as opposed to trying to rectify what’s there. Some of the switches aren’t the originals and the loom has been adjusted. It’s been labelled in places but the notes have faded. 
 

There’s also a small sub panel with four switches which I’m hoping was for spares, but it has some original switches on it that should be on the main dash.

Does anyone have an image of the binnacle they could post where I could read the switch configuration?

Is the fuel pump relay housed above / behind the drivers head?

I’m thinking of using car builder solutions to create a new blade fuse based electrical system and somehow protect all the electrics in a box in the boot. 

The engine cooling hoses don’t follow the standard pattern, I recall a metal tube with the otter switch in for example, this is a simple rubber hose on this car. It might be a good thing that the car was done once maybe 20 years ago and lots was done to protect it, but I’d like it to be as close to the parts manual as possible.

For access, the pain of lifting the lot makes sense. I spotted crusty chassis edges at the front end under the battered lower chassis T member. But it takes me much deeper. Ah well.

Is there a recommended chassis company people use now (that could maybe clamp it during works / check for true as part of the repair / refurb process?)

Is galvanising the base chassis before paint the way to go to protect the insides?

Previous owner said the PO to him had had the body off, (and the chassis is fully painted red), but time has not been kind.

Thanks for the offer of the starter panel, I was just thinking of if it were possible to fire up the engine once done in a bare chassis, or at least the builder running it on the bench! So I will take you up in this.

Some pics as you can see I ramble.

[JonSE]

Thanks Fridge,

I’d say I’m about 6 days in on that scale then. But it’s  not been catalogued, so rebuilding it will be longer on the other side. Doors for example off on one side and all trim is off.

Also for potential budget expectations you outlined.

I’ll be in touch regards what to phase and what can be left until the car is back together again. Main focus is getting the mechanicals as good as they can be and getting mobile again without needed to strip down again along the line, as a working car will be such a lift!

Would also like to drop you a line on contractors, I’ll PM you for advice.

 More pics to add to the words, inc the  race car start button cut into the binnacle. The ignition has been removed and wired up to this.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by JonSE

[LOTUSMAN33]

Best I have at the moment, my car has A/C so slightly different.

A modern loom with blade fuses sounds sensible, your car like many has had years of people tinkering when values were low but all fixable. Well done saving the steering wheel crash pad as hard to find these days.

That sunroof has to go! 🤭

Dave  

[JonSE]

Thank you for those images!

[drdoom]

Jon,

Your car is essentially the RHD version of mine, minus A/C. Would you care to share the VIN?

[JonSE]

Hi Dr Doom,

I had a major potential fraud issue once regards a simple VIN photo on a website that I was alerted to (not Lotus I hasten to add, but a classic car clone I found out about just by chance that was going to be potentially exported with my own cars details!!!), so I no longer put that kind of detail out in the open, hope you understand.

 

[JonSE]

Does anyone have an image of a white S2 where the front valance was painted lower half black and upper part white?

There was an image kindly posted many years ago on the forum of this car but I can’t find it in the search function (maybe 2011)....

[Fridge]

Did you not see the 2 auctions for S1's recently? Both cars went for well below £40,000 and were good runners. I believe one is still for sale (silver), and in very good condition, though not standard.

[JonSE]

3 hours ago, Fridge said:

Did you not see the 2 auctions for S1's recently? Both cars went for well below £40,000 and were good runners. I believe one is still for sale (silver), and in very good condition, though not standard.

Hi Fridge,

No, didn’t see these,

Ive seen the white ones that are listed but missed on these you mention.

Cheers,

Jon.

[JonSE]

Made a bit more progress tonight...

The right hand instrument stalk is on back to front, I can feel / see the legends on the other side.

Got the sun visor support off.

Is a strip of wood screwed in the correct way to hold the visor support up?

Got a small chunk out of an otherwise perfect wheel, will keep this original but do you think this can be filled?

O/S fuel tank looks manky outside, clean inside.....

Bulkhead glass is coming out on drivers side, never seen this before, any issues or an easy refit?

The engine cooling pipe is missing against the bulkhead, I’d like to put this back in.

Someone cut an access hatch into get to the handbrake.

N/S fuel tank nearly out, just held in by the lower rail, but although I’m convinced the tanks are air dried empty, I want to jack the car up before I release the fuel line.

Both tanks I reckon I can have out for refurb this weekend, really happy if that’s the case!

Is this clear screen worth saving or a repro? It’s a little scruffy and delaminating....

Edited November 9, 2020 by JonSE

[JonSE]

Will look to change the clock out for an LED module at some point....

[JonSE]

How do I stop my replies grouping please? They limit the images I can share....

[JonSE]

Is there also a limit to the image size as I’m down to 1MB left?

Ideally I’d like to fill in the antenna aperture to clean up the flow of the body line, any issues regards doing this?

 

[JonSE]

After some great advice received on this forum and via messaging, my latest thoughts are to keep the car / front end the original S2 but I’ll still delete the ears, the sun roof and the door mirrors then paint it white.

My hope would be for it to look similar to this car without ears and mirrors.

I’ve thought about painting the front lower valance black but think this ruins the line?

I’d prefer not to paint the lower part of the car black as this emphasises the loss of the ‘shark’ like front end (in my view).

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by JonSE

[Bibs]

14 minutes ago, JonSE said:

How do I stop my replies grouping please?

Replies within 10 mins of each other are merged. 

7 minutes ago, JonSE said:

Is there also a limit to the image size as I’m down to 1MB left?

There is, image hosting for lots of people has a cost so we give our FFM's something like 50 times more space and limit free accounts.

[JonSE]

Ah apologies, 

Thanks for clarifying.

Ive just signed up.

 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Hey Jon

No issues filling the aerial hole if done properly and glassed.

Replace the screen if delaminated

Bonus if the tanks are salvageable but give them a good check on the base as they do end up with tiny holes/corrosion.

Yes wood is correct behind header rail.

The end cap pops off the stalk allowing it to spin, there’s a spring inside.

Defiantly replace the cooling pipes.

You can put leather filler on the steering wheel, it’s very effective.
Try to get an original air box if you can to reduce fire risk.

Dave   

[JonSE]

Thanks,

I’d not considered the reduced fire risk by enclosing the carbs, I’ll look for a box.

The wood just seems to be fixed with self tappers.

These protrude through the roof side trims to the out side for example, is this normal?

 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Yes all normal, not ideal and can be improved but the way lotus did it.

Dave  

[Fridge]

A long way off, but just make sure those screws holding the header rail up are filed down as they'll cause a potential stress point on the windscreen which could make it crack at some point in the future.

Definitely replace those K&N filters for an upper air box. Not sure if the S2 has a lower air box like late S1s, due to it having those "ears". You can see the lower air box in @LOTUSMAN33's chassis photos earlier. You need cool/dense air as possible going into those carb venturi, as well as them being s potential fire risk.

BTW those black engine cover clips are rare and expensive to replace. I have a roll of original Pirelli strip you can use to replace them. Photos on my restoration thread.

[drdoom]

Yes, the K&N's should be put aside for several valid reasons included points made above. I'm largely on board with you in terms of aesthetics, the wing mirrors are ungainly and the air intake ears are quite abrupt. That said, there is good cause for pursuing engine bay ventilation which is why Lotus went to the trouble in the first place, and never looked back. On the question of the valance and airdam being coloured black it does realign the visual impact by making the car look more long and slim from a side aspect whilst shifting the nose form forward of the wheelarch into something less natural somehow. I intend to paint mine in the overall colour and then see how it sits with me for a time. The very effective wrap applications popular with some these days will readily and very practically serve to revert the look if desired later. It's truly a pity that sportscar suitable electrically adjusted mirrors have yet to be made available for enthusiasts in need.

[JonSE]

Thank you Fridge,

If the clips are rare, I’d bet I’m missing them on the other side!

I did wonder about the self tappers being close to where the screen mounts! I’ll get that strip of wood back in before the screen goes back in and make sure it’s all smooth.

Is this screen rare or repro?

Ideally it will be replaced if it’s delaminating unless it can be dressed around the edges to save it with matte black. It’s clear with no sun shading etc. I’m happy to save what I can if required provided it can be made to look the part. It’s not bad but looks like the backing is a bit tired under the bond.

Thanks Dr Doom,

I think I’m with you on one solid body paint colour then I’ll look at wrapping just the lower bib in black along a line on the valance  as the above mock up.

 I might introduce a fine groove when the valance is off the car. The nose treatment on the S2 does makes it look fatter than the S1, but I’m over thinking this now and if it grates so much I’ll need to sell a kidney and just buy an S1 instead.

Thanks Lotusman,

Regards the tanks, I’ve used Northern Radiators before who blast them, wash them out, weld / solder repair then seal them.

From memory the price is knocking on the door of new tanks but the benefit is they drop right back in.

Chased huge breather pipe issues in my old SE and got covered in fuel liberating the tanks from that car, had to drop the engine, bang them around, nightmare. On the S2 they seem much more accessible but had no cause to take them out of my old car, but I’ll do both for peace of mind on this one.

I think I need to find the carb boxes.

The S2 vents N/S air crosses the boot into the induction, while the O/S vents it into the bay to keep it cool.

I’d switched these around in my old car so you could hear the induction noise / ram air better into the carbs at the detriment to cooling the bay a little. But it depended on the ears being on. I’m way off needing to decide but food for thought now if they need to stay as well to resolve the issues they were designed to address.

 

[Fridge]

That windscreen is OEM, but whether it's original is anyone's guess on a 40 year old car.

If it's delaminating, even slightly, my guess is that it's likely to continue. With the cost of replacement trim and fitting it may be wise to fit a new screen. However .... I would get it assessed first, and if OK, polished along with the rest of the glass whilst it's out. It could all come up like new. I know a good fitter, but he's not quite in your area. He had to dress up the edge of my screen to make sure that it would last.

The new screens aren't clean as they have manufacturing residue on both surfaces, and need a good washing. Ideally polishing before fitting anyway.

All new Esprit windscreens are made in China, and it's likely the original UK made Pilks/Triplex glass could be better, if like other remanufactured parts. Unfortunately the UK distributor I bought them off now only sells through LotusBits (and possibly SJ Sportscars, but it's likely that Steve has a subsidiary arrangement from LotusBits, and he doesn't like to courier glass anyway). I have a used 'Sundym' tinted screen (probably an in use replacement as the S1 glass was clear), but I doubt it's much better than the one you've removed. I reused the rear view mirror, or at least took it off for safe keeping.

Fuel tank refurbishment only cost me £100 in 2017. Though mine were in great condition. I used a place on Teesside. With a 10 day turnaround. And as you say, dropped straight back in. Unlike some alloy tanks made for the less common Esprit models. Choose wisely if going down that route. @LOTUSMAN33's comment about the bottoms being potentially porous should be needed, but a reputable refurb place will check that before proceeding.

Edited November 10, 2020 by Fridge

[JonSE]

Thank you for that!