S300 No. 25 Restoration resumed

[dodge1979]

Round and round she goes...where she drops...oh no wait..it doesnt! A fantastic result there with some laborious balancing work, but the devil is in the detail!. No good for making mr bonds shaken not stirred martini though....

[CHANGES]

Oh and one for those who prefer the popping and banging, without any engine rock...

wired and fired 017.MPG

[DanR]

Beautiful, just beautiful.

[jonwat]

Now that's impressive

[red vtec]

Fantastic work Dave.

[ramjet]

Great looking work.

[MrDangerUS]

Fantastic professional engineering!

I love your "dancing washer' video, totally awesome!

[CHANGES]

Update,

The last two weeks have been taken up with the completion of various sections. The braking system was completed with the help of Darren (dodge1979).... I was so impressed by his thread on these braking systems and what he had done i invited him to come over and show me first hand how he did it. Three hours later whole system spot on, Thanks Darren.

very informative.

After a lot of tidying up i managed to get #25 down to Northampton Motorspot for corner weighing and geometry set up. After that was all completed we ran up on the dyno to allow the ECU to settle in through various speeds and loads. when happy with that we did a few power runs to confirm build spec and performance..

Unfortunately my camera has let me down and i have no pic's. someone else took some so i will try to get copies and post later. I do however have the data downloaded ...

[CHANGES]

I received some pics from Northampton Motorsport, sorry none on the dyno.

[dodge1979]

Excellent figures there, as close to the factory spec without it having rolled out of Hethel for a.second time! Smooth power curves there too with no peaks or troughs, a sure sign of a smooth setup and delivery...its a shame the camera has gone a bollock...another video would have gone down well! Grand work there.

[Bibs]

Spot on, nicely done Dave

[Vulcan Grey]

Looks great Dave! Love that blue color and clean chassis!

[CHANGES]

Just over six months ago I undertook the task of restoring # 25 sport 300 Esprit. After discussions with the customer it was decided to keep this particular Esprit original as possible. This was due to its history and the fact that it was unique amongst S300 with its slightly modified factory specification.

I was asked if it was possible to complete the project by May 2012, I said i would do my best and actually finished yesterday the 31st at 8 pm. If you have followed this thread you will have seen most of what has been done,

I now give you the finished.....

[Vulcan Grey]

Great work Dave! And on time! Wonder what the budget was? Hopefully measured in smiles/miles rather than £££

[sailorbob]

Very, very impressed with the attention to detail and skill It would be great to see the car 'in the flesh'.

[dodge1979]

Wonderfull to see her done on time Dave, and the pics are grand..although in they dont do the quality of work justice...to see is to truely appreciate! A very well deserved congratulations is in order..

[ramjet]

[mayevora]

Dave. Probably the finest Esprit I have ever had the privilege to see. Thanks for this thread and just......WOW!!!

Congrats on the finish.

[mike_sekinger]

Excellent work Dave. Perfect in every way.

[MrDangerUS]

Stunning! It is better now than when it left the factory.

[cjtpb13]

Dave,

Curious to know...did you keep track of the man hours of work ?

The end product is absolutely a brilliant piece of work. I hope you hold a lot of pride in your craftmanship and workmanship. I know I have a lot of respect for your work. Look towards more from you.

Warm regards,

Christopher

[lotus4s]

Ditto to all the above, awesome job!

[Bibs]

Curious to know...did you keep track of the man hours

I'm sure they'll be a bill involved with this so every hour will be tracked. Not sure I'd want to know how much it's for though!!

[arbell9]

Great piece of work. Big thumbs up.

[CHANGES]

Thank you for all your great comments,

Although the project is finished there was one last thing to do, .... professionally... A photo shoot...

As my photo skills are very limited to close build shots with a small camera, the finished item needed

photographing properly... My attempts i posted last week i feel did not come out well...

Enter Chris (red v-tec) and his brother Edd who do this as a day job... They are going to compile professionally, a complete build book of the whole project start to finish. They will use edited digital photos from my collection, some text and the final finished shots done by themselves.. When complete this will be presented to Francesco, ( The owner ) as a record of the work that took place in the restoration of #25...

It had been difficult to get a day when everyone was available and the weather suitable but yesterday was perfect... if not a little to sunny at times...

Chris and his brother very kindly travelled all the way from Essex to me in Wolverhampton to do the shoot.. we revisited Patshull park for some shots by the lake and my sisters country house which they though was also suitable... On the way back circa 8 miles Chris was a passenger and i was able to demonstrate a few of the qualities of an S300, I am sure he will post his verdict.

I must say I was very impressed the way they went about their work and all the equipment they used.

I hope Chris will post a few shots on this thread so you can all see the results ..

I am really looking forward to the finished book , i think it will put a great seal on the project.

For now here is one of mine with the men at work..