1st Lotus! 1978 Esprit S2 - Needs work 🙂 ​

[Hornsey Boy]

On 03/02/2024 at 09:09, ChrisJ said:

And the yellow one has the black seats with the green interior as well

 @TheOrs thats my car and the interior is all original, as is the rest of the car, you can still see in places were the sunlight hasn't impacted the Marcasite. Its a lovely place to sit in  

Some really good advice here. Too many Esprits over the years have been messed around and upgraded in their time (I have been guilty of this in the past). Originality is now key, personally I would keep the interior as is and try and make good what you have rather than recolour it etc.. The biggest challenge may be the foam in the seats.

Good luck and please do post any pics of the work on your car. 

 

[Fridge]

The foam is no longer available, especially of these early seats. However eroded or collapsed foam can be inserted, and reshaped, but this would require the removal of the seat cover where the damage is. It's a tricky situation if retaining as much originality as possible. Often swapping the seats left to right helps preserve the driver's seat which has very likely got the most wear and tear.

[ChrisJ]

@Hornsey Boy I thought that it might be your car.

[TheOrs]

22 hours ago, Hornsey Boy said:

 @TheOrs thats my car and the interior is all original, as is the rest of the car, you can still see in places were the sunlight hasn't impacted the Marcasite. Its a lovely place to sit in  

Some really good advice here. Too many Esprits over the years have been messed around and upgraded in their time (I have been guilty of this in the past). Originality is now key, personally I would keep the interior as is and try and make good what you have rather than recolour it etc.. The biggest challenge may be the foam in the seats.

Good luck and please do post any pics of the work on your car. 

 

 

21 hours ago, Fridge said:

The foam is no longer available, especially of these early seats. However eroded or collapsed foam can be inserted, and reshaped, but this would require the removal of the seat cover where the damage is. It's a tricky situation if retaining as much originality as possible. Often swapping the seats left to right helps preserve the driver's seat which has very likely got the most wear and tear.

 

I'm really tending towards keeping the interior as is and just cleaning and fixing it up as best as I can.  I really like the green/black combo.  Looks like it was meant to be that way.  The only real problem with mine are the seat bolsters and the fact that a previous owner has fitted aftermarket speakers.

Edited February 5 by TheOrs

[ChrisJ]

Where have they stuck the speakers?

[Fridge]

Speak to a good trimmer, ideally one with knowledge of these interiors, and explain they need to retain the centre panels and headrests. I'm pretty sure those seats could be carefully repaired. My advice is to contact West Country Trimmers.

I'm also convinced that the new chrome trim currently available from SJ Sportscars is not quite the same profile as the original, which looks more box-like.

[Nelly]

The marcasite was long gone when I got my S2, so I would 100% keep it.

I got mine done in Alcantara, which looks nice and modern but I fear will never have the appeal of the original interior.

 

 

[TheOrs]

15 hours ago, ChrisJ said:

Where have they stuck the speakers?

They are where the original door speakers would have been.  Looking at the picture of the yellow car, above, it appears to have a series of holes in the marcasite on the upper, forward part of the door panel.  I imagine this is original.  My car has a speaker nailed on here.  The GRP inner door panel being suitably butchered in the process.  It's not the end of the world; I can just fit some nice looking speakers.

You can see the speaker, peeking out past the binnacle, in my interior pic at the beginning of this thread.

Edited February 6 by TheOrs

[ChrisJ]

Ah - the one in your photo does look a bit odd. Mine are just underneath the teddy bear cloth - no holes. Doesn't sound great.

I think the nice looking speakers is the route to go if not re-trimming.

 

[Djs44]

Nice to see a fellow ex-Dutton owner on here - I had a B-type ( first car ) and B plus . 

[TheOrs]

31 minutes ago, Djs44 said:

Nice to see a fellow ex-Dutton owner on here - I had a B-type ( first car ) and B plus . 

Cool!  If I remember correctly, the Phaeton I had was the follow on to the B-type.  They weren't exactly good cars, but they were fantastic fun.  I still have (the remains of) my Phaeton.

[Djs44]

On 08/02/2024 at 21:43, TheOrs said:

Cool!  If I remember correctly, the Phaeton I had was the follow on to the B-type.  They weren't exactly good cars, but they were fantastic fun.  I still have (the remains of) my Phaeton.

Think the Phaeton followed the B plus . My mate still has the B plus