Escape's Workshop: cars & friends

[Escape]

As many of you already know, I have a secondary job running Escape's Workshop:

A garage catering for anything old and/or special. Born out of my love for cars and the realisation that if I was gonna spend so much time working on cars, both my own and others’, I might as well do it officially. Now things are changing and I want to share, mainly to have an excuse to post pictures and chat about cars.

A brief history, for completeness: I started in 2008, with a couple of very good friends by my side. Even if it's theoretically a one-man venture, I certainly couldn't have done it on my own! And it wouldn't have been fun either.

This is how it looked in 2012, when I had just bought my Esprit and had a first drive in the snow. Notice the Range Rovers in the background, at first business was mainly Land and Range Rovers, which is what I drove at the time. When I got into Lotus, the clientele changed as well. 🙂file:///C:/Users/VANVRA~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png 

In 2015 disaster struck and a fire took out the Workshop, taking my Esprit, Stag and a couple of Range Rovers with it. 😞file:///C:/Users/VANVRA~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png https://forums.thelotusforums.com/topic/73101-game-over/ goes into details, and most importantly, shows the path to the happy ending when the Workshop was finally rebuilt in 2018. MKII become home to not just another Esprit, but an Excel and Elan +2 as well. We get knocked down, but we get up again! 🙂

Fast forward 6 more years, with a lot of special cars (in the broadest sense!) passing through the gates. 

Having 5 Esprits nose to nose was definitely one of the many highlights. Don’t mind if I post that photo again:

There were ups & downs of course, sometimes having to go there to pick up the wrenches was becoming a chore. But if I stayed away for more than a couple of days I was sure to get grumpy.

This past year I have become more and more fed up with my day job (a boring office job in the public sector), not in the least because last year I was denied a promotion I was initially promised. And work in the Workshop was ever increasing, meaning ever later evenings to get things done in a reasonable amount of time. So I decided to take a different direction: in 2025 I’ll only work half time, with the intention to be able to do more in the Workshop, and also in a more structured way, hopefully resulting in easier planning and less stress. And maybe even a bit more time to spend with my better halve and her four legged mut. The paperwork was suspiciously easy, I only filed it this week and already got my schedule for January! So nothing stopping me, and just that knowledge seems to give me a new dose of energy. I can’t wait to really get stuck in.

Of course I couldn’t actually wait ‘till 2025 and went ahead and already bought the next project. Because I don’t have enough projects already, with the running-but-far-from-finished Range Rover and especially my Esprit that urgently needs a huge dose of TLC.

I even went to the dark side, and bought a French barnfind! Unfortunately, the bodywork is not all plastic as I thought. What’s worse, large parts of it can no longer be called steel either, more like ferrous oxides…

We did get the engine running the first day, so it’s not all bad. The starter needed a slight rebuild to replace some burned out contacts (pretty sure whoever pulled it out of the barn was responsible through trying too long without verifying the wiring), I gave all of the ignition components a good clean and fitted a coil and new plugs. A couple of squirts of fresh petrol directly into the intake and the first signs of life appeared. I just love it when a plan comes together and a car can be brought back from the edge, especially if it’s done old skool like drop feeding fuel!
Third attempt, with some fuel added to the inline filter as well, she fired and kept running without hesitation.

Really looking forward to a testdrive in the industrial estate. The brakes are free, but not doing much, so I’ll need to rebuild the master. Same for the clutch.
Once running, we can start thinking about the bodywork. First job will be stripping the interior and taking off the front wings, just to see how bad things are. Once driving she should already give us a reasonable profit, if it’s worth it we’ll weld* everything up and then take her to MOT before putting her up for sale. They seem to be very rare, especially in good condition, so we have high hopes. But not in it for the money, just for the fun of it, having something to work on (yes I know, other existing projects) and especially working together towards a clear goal. That’s what I find so appealing in flippin’ bangers: you start with a wreck, have some fun working on it and get some return to put towards the next one.

To be continued!

Filip 

* I say ‘we’, but I wont be doing any welding, just providing beers and at the most cutting some steel plate to shape.

 

[Gjk]

Congratulations Filip, You can’t beat doing a day to day job that is more of a hobby!

Don't leave Emma dormant for to long though…….

[Chillidoggy]

I wish you all the best, I’m sure it will be a success!

[eeyoreish]

Wishing you the very best of luck with it all! Can't beat making a living doing something you enjoy, even if it doesn't pay as well as a 9-5.

The Matra Rancho is a rare/cool find. Well ahead of it's time in terms of the concept as an SUV if not, perhaps, in its technology and underpinnings as an old Simca... 

[C8RKH]

Absolutely brilliant Filip. Very best for the future.

[cor]

Wow Fillip just wow changed a lot since my last visit.......

[MPx]

What better way to lead your life - assess what gives joy and what doesn't and maximise the first while minimising the second.  Good to hear it being done for real.

[Escape]

Thanks for the compliments and encouragements everyone!

2 hours ago, cor said:

Wow Fillip just wow changed a lot since my last visit.......

Give a shout if you're in the neighbourhood, happy to give you a tour and a coffee (or something stronger).

That's an open invite to any TLF members BTW, always welcome at Exotics International. 😉 

[Escape]

I really should have asked to start working part time from November 1st instead of January 1st... We went on a 'little' roadtrip to Münich this weekend, about 1500km total, and brought back this rare TR8:

It's a preproduction model from 77, originally sold in the US to a German ex-pat and brought back to Europe when he returned. Completely rustfree but not driven in about 25 years. The engine supposedly ran fairly recently and does look to be in good shape. We got a lot of spares with it, new parts as well as original ones, like the manifold and carburetor that was swapped for a Weber at some point. I'll definitely be putting the original back. The only downside, it's an automatic. We have most of the parts to convert to manual, but given the rarity of the fixed head coupe, we'll keep her as close to original as possible. Probably not a keeper, though I'm sure it will be a fun drive.

I've now also started the search for a second building to store cars, preferably big enough so I can rent out part of it to cover the costs. Just as I'm doing with the main building: you can just see the second gate on the right of the picture leading to the hall at the back, that part is rented out along with most of the offices at the front and providing a nice monthly bonus.

[Chillidoggy]

Nice one, Filip.
 

I think @CHANGESis your man for all things TR.

[eeyoreish]

Always wanted a TR7 when I had a Spitfire back in the late 80s. Just seemed a bit more 'grown up', and wedgy of course.

My brother's neighbour has built a couple of rally spec TR8s in recent years, replicas of the Tony Pond era cars. I understand they're quite a handful on the loose stuff being such a short wheelbase. He's currently building a Rover SD1 rally car which ought to be a bit more manageable and even rarer on the classic rally circuit. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Back in the 80s, there used to be Club rallying on a former airfield near us. It was made up of a motley selection of random cars: Mark 1 & 2 Escorts, Hillman Imps, Minis, a 6R4 (always won) and a pair of TR7 V8 rally cars. One of them looked really odd because they had fixed Opel Manta headlights over the closed pop ups. Weird! Even then it seemed dangerous sport to watch. There was no crowd control and most people viewed from the outside of the fastest corners. Until a driver lost control, then they would suddenly scarper.

[Escape]

@eeyoreish I certainly wouldn't mind seeing some pictures of those rally spec TR8s! Or of the SD1, which is an even better looking car imho.

The fact the TR8s and especially the coupes were popular for rally etc is one of the reasons so few are still around. As I said, I'm not in it for the money, but this one should give us a good return as well as good fun fixing and driving it. 😎 
Maybe we'll try firing her up on Thursday, watch this space!

[eeyoreish]

Love to but I don’t seem to be able to post photos here any more ☹️

[Gjk]

I still hanker after a TR 6. If I got rid of my esprit and couldn’t get hold of a mint M100 S2 in Norfolk mustard yellow, I would be after a red TR 6 😎

[ChrisJ]

I see that it has Esprit door handles.

[MPx]

24 minutes ago, eeyoreish said:

Love to but I don’t seem to be able to post photos here any more ☹️

I just put my pics up on Postimage.org (other free picture hosting sits are available) and put the link on here....

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

1 hour ago, Gjk said:

I still hanker after a TR 6. If I got rid of my esprit and couldn’t get hold of a mint M100 S2 in Norfolk mustard yellow, I would be after a red TR 6 😎

My family owned a restored red CP (150bhp) TR6, reg. GHL130L in the early 1990s. It had been restored and apart from slightly wider original design steel wheels and lower profile tyres, it was entirely original. Sounded gorgeous and went really well on the proper Lucas petrol injection system. Don’t believe all the doom mongers who have carburettors on their cars. I thoroughly enjoyed driving it and would certainly recommend one in similar spec. We also had TR7s, including a late convertible, but the TR6 was the more enjoyable car to drive.