Esprit S2 Restoration

[sprint123]

Hello,

here is a short report of the restoration of my October 1978 Esprit S2 #522G, which I bought in 2003. I bought the car from the first owner, it is original black with gold wheels and red leather interior. The car was very original and untouched but had lots of corrosion on all metall parts and was not running. I separetd the body from the chassis and renewed everything. at the moment the body is at the sprayer and I am completing the chassis with all components. also I am converting my esprit from RHD to LHD as I will drive mainly in germany. the car is so wide, that I decided to make this change because of safety reasons.

car when picked up...

red leather interior...

cockpit...

lift off...

522G seemes to be a showcar, all body parts were marked 'showcar' inside....here the door

corrosion on front-chassis....

rear-chassis...corrosion!

repair of cracks and spiderwebs on body...

rebuilt engine....

red leather seat, I will leave all leather items in original condition to keep the nice patina...

sandblasted and painted chassis, before converting from RHD to LHD....

front suspension parts, all sand blasted and painted, new galvanized screws, polyurethan bushings etc......

front suspension, with powdercoated springs, GAZ shocks, brembo disks and ferodo racing brakepads....

the restoration is kreeping through the years and I want to DRIVE the car, but time is the problem. still a lot to do. for the moment I am waiting for the body coming back from the sprayer. all the interior and exterior work need to be done. the next thing I will do is mounting the engine and gearbox into the chassis. Is it better mount it seperated or join engine and gearbox first (outside the chassis)? inserting both better from above or beneath? If you have special advices for this step. let me know...

I will keep you informed about the progress

Lutz.

[nic996]

Nice one Lutz,

Looks like a lot of hard work but worth it in the end. I am in the process of doing the same conversion from RHD to LHD for exactly the same reasons. I am a couple of years behind you, therefore I can't give you advice on the engine installation, although my judgement would say to install it together and from the top. I am sure someone better qualified will give you good advice. If you have any advise for me on the LHD conversion, I would be grateful. I am about to look for a shop to construct the support beam that goes under the dash. How did you convert yours?

Nic

[LOTUSMAN33]

Hi Lutz

Great work so far!

Join the engine and box then sling in from underneath, needs to go in at angle so good idea to protect the chassis with thin rubber to prevent damage. Fitted my engine a couple of weeks ago with the body off too.

I fitted with all the auxillary equipment like carbs, alternator, starter, pulleys etc off the engine.

Cheers

Dave

[sprint123]

Hi Nic,

to convert the support beam beneath the dash is more or less easy. I used the original RHD beam an cut off the four screw sockets where the instruments are mounted, and welded them in mirrored position on the left side. additional you have to make a small cut out for the steering column, also in exactly mirrored position to the left. the cutout on the right side is covered later by the dash, it is not necessary to close it. so I think it is not necessary to construct a new beam.

at the moment I am checking how to convert the wiper and the motor of the wiper. I allready found a NOS LHD wiperarm. to convert the wiper-motor seems to be more difficult, because it rotates in the wrong direction when built in reverse (showing to the left side of the car). Perhaps a motor of another car can be used, e.g. the rear wipermotor of the VW T3 Bus may possibly work. perhaps someone has a better idea...is it possible to convert the original RHD motor just by changing the wiring? does someone have a LHD motor and would change it with my RHD motor, or does something from another car fit?

the next thing is to change the pedals.it seems that brake and clutch can be used without change but the throttle pedal need some change....

.....dave thanks for the engine-box instalation advice, will try it like this.

ciao lutz.

[jonwat]

Great work Lutz, however in the picture of the front suspension the spring looks as though it's bent or broken, not quite right???

[nic996]

Hi Lutz,

Thanks for the information, I just noticed you replied in my thread from a month or so ago!! Sorry, been busy with family. The car always comes second!!

Sounds like good advice. How did you get the mounts for the steering column in the correct position for the other side? Also I have been looking at the dash, it looks like it can be cut in the two places that the glove box and holes for the pod are and then swaped over and bonded in again. Is this how you did it? I guess there will be some things different to your car. Mine is an S3 so the heater and bulkhead I think are different.

[gvy]

Very nice restoration.

The leather of those seats looks in a good condition as were mine, but it would be so nice if you recoloured them with a good leather paint. They will look as new and if you do the job thorough it will be strong.

I did mine myself and it looks fantastic.

Actually, I recoloured the whole interior.

Edited August 4, 2011 by gvy

[sprint123]

Hi Nic,

I got the right position of the mounts for the steering column just by exact measuring, everything is symetrical.

do not cut the dash in three section and bond it again. to keep the main dimension an rigitidy of the dash I closed the RHD clove box hole(on the left) with glassfiber and cut later the holes for the binnacle support and cables like they were on the right side. then I cut the large squared hole for the new glove box on the right side.

geert, I like that you kept the original material of your interior, looks very good! seems to be a lot of work and time. is the paint lasting?

ciao lutz.

[gvy]

Yes , it is.

And although ,after painting them, I realised that white leather is a very difficult colour to keep clean (even in a new car), I have found a simple solution to keep them as new.

After cleaning them with a slightly wet towel, I take a small kitchen sponge, wet it with the original white leatherpaint and wipe it in gently.

It takes about 10 minutes , but the seats are looking again as new after this treatment.

After drying for about 10 minutes, you can polish it with a soft cloth (although not required)

And rest assured, the paint is NOT coming of.

Of course, black or red recoloured seats will not need this treatment. You can simply maintain them with a good leathercream,

For example, I repainted the leather of my steering wheel black. It was in a very bad condition.

It looks perfect now . And the paint lasts

Geert

[sprint123]

Hello everybody,

here a small update of the restauration of my Esprit S2 I am working on. This summer I was able to complete the chasis, mounting the engine, gearbox and rear suspension. Some details like carbs, hoses, electrics, oil-cooler etc. need to be finished, but the chassis is rolling again. The body is still at the paintshop and waits for its original black color with gold stripes.

I have seen on several S1 and S2 restaurations that the owners added further noise insulation and vibration dampening. I would like to know which are the neccessary areas to be insulated and what is the best material. Thanks Lutz.

[Tocus]

nice nice nice!!!

 

are there some new pictures from how the car looks like today?

or the rest of the restoration? you did a great job!!

 

and everything works now with a LHD instead of a RHD car? (and the dash and everything looks as it was orginal a LHD?)

greetings from holland,

[UPAUTO]

Impressive

[Freemason]

How is this coming along? How did you find the GAZ shocks, and did you use them with OEM springs?

[sprint123]

Hello again,

 

here a short update of my last effords on my S2 retauration. After a long time the body is sprayed in its original black color. Last week I put the body back on the restored chassis, which was more easy than I expected. Now I have to do all the interior work and the trimming....as you can see the ground clearance is much to high in front. Some weight with the additional parts will be added, but I guess something is wrong with the suspension and I have to change the front springs. But I will wait for this untill the car is finished.

 

 

 

 

 

Regards

Lutz

[The Pits]

Lovely work but I hope you decide to keep it RHD. Best of luck with the restoration!

[iainskea]

Nice pics mate.

I've looked over previous pics from 2012 of the suspension but can't see why the body it's that high. Dumb question - but are you sure it is fully down on the chassis?

[Freemason]

Beautiful car, fabulous project. Please keep it RHD.

[peteyg]

The suspension needs to be set with everything fitted and weighted down as per the manual. The springs will settle as well after a few miles.

 

Looks fantastic!

 

Pete

[sprint123]

Hello,

 

with little steps the restoration goes on. I managed to install the pedal-box and the master cylinders for brake and clutch.

 

 

Now the inner steel profiles which are sandblasted and sprayed black are waiting to be mounted.

 

 

At least I have two questions:

 

1. Where is this bracket to be mounted?

 

 

2. I need to lock the otter switch in place. This picture seems to show how it was locked originally. The shown brace was missing on my car, does someone know where I can get one, or has a technical drawing to reproduce it (I have a CNC water jet cutter), or any other clever suggestion how to fasten the otterswitch in place and stil be able to place the electric connector?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Lutz

 

 

 

 

[frix]

the bracket looks like the fuel pump mounting plate, the bracket on mine is located on the body behind the passenger seat, the bolts go through the ply board. As yours is Left hand drive it might go behind the drivers seat, if you havent replaced the wood the you will probably see the bolt holes. Paul

Edited November 12, 2014 by frix

[vintaylor]

Yep Paul is correct...

 

its the fuel pump mounting bracket.. you need to bolt it in in the engine bay through 3 holes in the firewall/rear interior valance

[peteyg]

The otter switch is simply held in by wire wrapped around the pipe, no bracket involved. I'll get a picture for you later.

 

Pete

[peteyg]

Here you go...

 

 

[sprint123]

o.k. very simple, but good. thanks!

 

Lutz

[Finlandese]

Hi Lutz,

 

I´m in the middle of the RHD to LHD conversion with my S2. Did you already solve the widshield wiper engine problem?

 

-Jani