New to me Esprit S1

[b69lotus]

Hello all

I had purchased a 1977 Lotus Esprit S1 in November. It is 108H and was in fair condition as it sat in a field and barn for the last 5 years. I am currently replacing the brown and beige interior it came with and all the required engine parts to get it running again. It has Weber DCOE 45's in place of the fedral carbs. Is it worth changing to Dellortos or just tune the Webers to suitable spec?

Has anyone used a 7" magnaflow muffler to replace the stock one?

I will add pics of the interior as it goes back in this weekend.....

Thanks

Jim

[USAndretti42]

Welcome to the forum, Jim. Hopefully someone on here will be able to answer any questions you may have as your car goes through its journey back to the road.

I would stick with the Webers for now. If you can't them working properly, then you could invest in a pair of Dell'ortos.

[77 esprit]

Jim,

Thanks for rescueing a classic. My '77 still runs on the stock intake and CD 175's as well as points. Can't help you with your specific question. However, I've owned mine since new. If you have any questions about what goes where, should you try to take it back to original, please give me a shout. Congratulations.

Lyn

[fitz]

Welcome Jim, look forward to you getting it on the road again! - plenty of picks please!

[b69lotus]

Thanks for the welcome

I have rebuilt the Webers so I hope they will be suitable. One carb had been on fire and the aux venturis had melted off. These were replaced with new ones and I put them through an ultrasound cleaning to ensure they were clean. I am going to use a Pertronix kit and coil for the ignition.

Lyn - I am going to keep it bone stock except for the interior. I have replaced the brown/ beige material with black/gray leather...Sorry, I hate brown. I have also replaced the plywood and carpet in the engine bay.

I am hoping to change the timing belt and rebuild the water pump in the next week so I can hear it run soon. I will have to repair some small areas in the gel coat as well. I look forward to sharing the adventure with others who can appreciate the S1.

Cheers

Jim

[Bibs]

[The Veg]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Moxie]

Welcome to wedgedom, brother.

[77 esprit]

Thanks for the welcome

I have rebuilt the Webers so I hope they will be suitable. One carb had been on fire and the aux venturis had melted off. These were replaced with new ones and I put them through an ultrasound cleaning to ensure they were clean. I am going to use a Pertronix kit and coil for the ignition.

Lyn - I am going to keep it bone stock except for the interior. I have replaced the brown/ beige material with black/gray leather...Sorry, I hate brown. I have also replaced the plywood and carpet in the engine bay.

I am hoping to change the timing belt and rebuild the water pump in the next week so I can hear it run soon. I will have to repair some small areas in the gel coat as well. I look forward to sharing the adventure with others who can appreciate the S1.

Cheers

Jim

Jim,

If the car is back together this Summer, please consider driving down to the Lotus Owners Gathering in Las Vegas in October. Yours will certainly be the oldest S1 there. Sure would be a great story to tell your Grand Kids! Unfortunately, I've kind of become somewhat expert on the timing belt thing . Need to do my water pump as well. Might wait till the end of the driving season though. If you do run the electronic ignition, keep a set of points, condensor and rotor in the car. You never know!

Lyn

[b69lotus]

Pics of the interior I promised....

[Rick Edwards]

wow! an amazing job. If you ever feel the need to do another interior, you are more than welcome to do mine!

[yeller77]

Awesome job on the interior, did you do it yourself or have a shop? Despite the barn-age, looks like you've got a pretty nicely intact S1. Enjoy and do keep up the pics and updates.

[The Veg]

W@W that interiour looks great! Need to get mine done too one of these days.

[GavinT]

Hello Jim,

You've done excellent work there. Looks very very nice. Please keep posting updates and pictures.

Gavin.

[b69lotus]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I had the sewing done for me and I did the rest of the work. I still have to replace the timing belt.

Lyn, I would like to ask you a couple of questions about your experience....

I am going to replace the foam bumpers with fibreglass copies of the originals.

I can't attach any more pics to this thread but I can send via PM if you want to see engine.

Jim

[Guest surferphil]

Nice work Jim, the interior looks top class!

I need to re trim my car, it should have been like the interior you have replaced.

I don't suppose you have any of the old Brown and cream fabric left do you?

Phil

[b69lotus]

Phil

Material had all broken down and faded to a green color. I think I saw a thread about the material you need and I think Tony K had a source in the US.

Jim

[lotus4s]

Wow, outstanding job on the interior. I really like the pleated look on the seats and console.

[OnAir]

Hi Jim,

Beautiful job on the restoration! Have you had it out on the road this year yet? Perhaps I'll see it at one of the "coffee & cars" some day.

-Mike

[04ESPRIT]

Jim,

Looks great so far.

I love a good 'back from the dead' story!

Congratulations and welcome.

Derik