1981 Dry Sump Full Restoration

[PaulM]

Hey Guys,

Just an update on Dodgy Dave’s dry sump as I know a lot of you know the car.

The car had not had much done to it for the last few years, so it’s condition had dropped off. The fuel hoses were cracking, the turbo was on its way out, the carbs out of balance, crud in the fuel tanks, most hoses perished, most pipes corroded, the front suspension had virtually collapsed, the rear dampers were shot, the brake hoses were leaking on the rear, rear discs were warped, front pads were dead, clutch slave was gone, paintwork was really bad with micro blisters allover, windscreen was leaking, interior was very tired, one front light pod didn’t work, handbrake didn’t work, exhaust blowing and other bits I can’t remember...... needless to say, she needed some love!

so currently:

- Car is fully stripped of glass, trim and as many panels as possible and getting taken back to gelcoat for a full respray in factory correct silver.

- Engine is out and getting fully rebuilt

- All intake will be back in crackle black

- Turbo is being rebuilt and manifold and wastegate likewise

- Carbs are being fully rebuilt

- Full set of fuel and water hoses and aluminium pipes ready

- New aluminium fuel tanks

- New discs and pads all round

- New exhaust

- New Gaz coilovers rear and Gaz shocks and springs for front (custom springs for dry sump ride height)

- New bushes throughout

- Interior being fully reupholstered

- New body trim and seals all round

- New clutch and flywheel skimmed

- 3pc Compomotive wheels getting rebuilt
 

....I think that’s it?! Needless to say I’ve thrown the kitchen sink at her to get her back to her former glory. It’s my second Esprit and the idea is this ones the keeper!

I’ll try and get photos but here’s a few pre going for paint with some roller wheels on the rear.

Hope everyone is doing well. This forum was a god send on my last restoration!

[LOTUSMAN33]

Paul

Looks like you are doing a good job and really pleased another dry sump will be gracing our roads in the future looking factory fresh, silver suits the turbo well and not many about in that colour.

Look forward to updates of the restoration as you move forward.

Dave  

[Lex Templar]

Great stuff indeed, where mine is at except the body is off and the interior is out but not being upholstered. So about even 😂

will be superb

[PaulM]

Bit of an update (and some advice please)...

Car is stripped and all removed panels are back to gel coat ready for primer. Body is still to be prepped.

Engine is getting fully rebuilt with a few internal upgrades including lighter Carrillo pistons and rods. Turbo has been fully rebuilt.

 

Questions that I can’t see info for in the forums:

- On the dry sump compomotive wheels, are the faces of the black centres, diamond cut or polished back?

- For the bumpers, mirrors and louvres, what is the sheen percentage level of the satin black used?

- Has anyone got the Alunox manifold and wastegate system? How is it holding up, how many miles have you done etc?

Thanks guys!

 

 

[Barrykearley]

Go alunox - it’s expensive - but one of the best upgrades bang for buck you can do.

[910Esprit]

3 hours ago, PaulM said:

- Has anyone got the Alunox manifold and wastegate system? How is it holding up, how many miles have you done etc?

I've got one on my G Turbo with the external wastegate.   Its the full system including backbox. (pretty much as shown in that photo) I had a few fitment issues, irritating, but nothing that was too problematic.  I could also originally feel more NVH (maybe it was resonance?), although that has reduced over time.  Once sorted its a great piece of kit and definitely an upgrade.  I'm not aware of any that have failed in service, even on the higher performance models.   It also has the advantage that it can be removed/refitted with the engine in the car and the V band clamps make removing/refitting the silencer a 5 minute job. 

[PaulM]

That’s great to hear. I’ve contacted them to get a cost/timescale and I can keep the original manifold and waste-gate etc for future originality etc.

Thanks so much for the info, it’s exactly what I was looking for.

[Lex Templar]

Here are some freshly painted dry sump black bits - organised by SJ.

[PaulM]

1 hour ago, Lex Templar said:

Here are some freshly painted dry sump black bits - organised by SJ.

They look incredible, almost matt. Thanks for these, I’ll send them to the painters to steer them in the right direction! Cheers

[Lex Templar]

Remember the black areas around the windows too once the capping rails are back on. 
 

massive job to get side skirts off - apparently. I was told the cars were painted from the factory with them bonded on already.

Does your rear louvre have a single support? Will you keep the green carpet as from factory?

cheers

Lex

 

[Bazza 907]

My black bits have slightly more of a sheen than Lex's which as you say look almost matt. They do look very good but I would go with a slightly more satin look.

[PaulM]

7 hours ago, Lex Templar said:

Remember the black areas around the windows too once the capping rails are back on. 
 

massive job to get side skirts off - apparently. I was told the cars were painted from the factory with them bonded on already.

Does your rear louvre have a single support? Will you keep the green carpet as from factory?

cheers

Lex

 

Yeah they said the sideskirts were tough! Thanks for that additional pic, anything like that will help them get it right back to stock.

Yes rear louvres has the single support post.

Yes keeping the green carpet from factory, tempted to change it to matching beige/sand but decided to keep it all original.

 

[Lex Templar]

17 minutes ago, Bazza 907 said:

My black bits have slightly more of a sheen than Lex's which as you say look almost matt. They do look very good but I would go with a slightly more satin look.

It’s hard to say how they were from the factory - this is how Steve says they should be. I imagine added years may make it shinier. 

[PaulM]

16 minutes ago, Bazza 907 said:

My black bits have slightly more of a sheen than Lex's which as you say look almost matt. They do look very good but I would go with a slightly more satin look.

Ah that’s good to know. More sheen will pretty much mean more durable too, near matt will be tough to keep uniform over a few years, especially across a large flat area like the bumpers etc.

 

 

Just now, Lex Templar said:

It’s hard to say how they were from the factory - this is how Steve says they should be. I imagine added years may make it shinier. 

Yeah I think this will be it - keeping them that matt will be tough - but they do look incredible.

[Lex Templar]

1 minute ago, PaulM said:

Ah that’s good to know. More sheen will pretty much mean more durable too, near matt will be tough to keep uniform over a few years, especially across a large flat area like the bumpers etc.

 

 

Yeah I think this will be it - keeping them that matt will be tough - but they do look incredible.

These aren’t matt perhaps it’s the photo but you can see in the light at the top of the louvres it is satin

[PaulM]

3 minutes ago, Lex Templar said:

These aren’t matt perhaps it’s the photo but you can see in the light at the top of the louvres it is satin

Yeah sorry I just mean they’re much closer to a Matt than a gloss. Technically Matt is 0-10% sheen and gloss is 70-100%... so ‘satin’ can cover a huge range from near Matt to slightly dull gloss.

I’d be interested to know what % sheen Steve is using. It does look so so good! I’d guess it’s about 10-15% (egg-shell sort of sheen)

Edited November 29, 2020 by PaulM

[Bazza 907]

To br fair mine have been polished.

[Lex Templar]

21 hours ago, Bazza 907 said:

To br fair mine have been polished.

What a sight. Such a dream for so many of us.

[Bazza 907]

Thanks Lex, yours will be equally fantastic when it's finished.

[Lex Templar]

@PaulMlooking forward to seeing more pics.

I was tempted to add upgrades but it's going to be all factory standard.

That exhaust looks fantastic though.

[PaulM]

Wheels are done... took three months in total! Thanks to this forum I managed to get the black hat washers too!

Not cheap but a great result!

These were done by Voodoo wheels - great guys and experts in 3pc wheels. They genuinely moved mountains to figure out the best way to redo the wheels including finding a new supplier to properly machine (not diamond cut) the face of the centres, like originals are.

 Cost was around £1000 - not bad at all considering the work involved.

[canamfan]

Those wheels are gorgeous 😍

[Lex Templar]

These look great @PaulM what is the difference between machining and diamond cut? Both obviously involve taking material off the surface on a lathe.

Any pics of the fronts?

Lex.

[stephenwhyte]

Spectacular!!!😎👏👏

[RichardJGC]

At last....a company that knows what they are doing with CX500’s. I knew if I held out long enough the right people would appear. Wheels look stunning!