Esprit S1 355H -- "Brasil"

[Tony K]

So a few weeks ago, I came home with a very special and unique Esprit S1, number 77070355H. I call it special and unique for a few reasons:

1) It is a very rare color. I went out there thinking it was a Roman Bronze (rare color) car that had been repainted "not quite right", only to find out that it is one of only one or two Federal cars in a metallic brown that Lotus called "Brazil", with indeed a correct, high quality respray. It is a much more reflective brown than Roman Bronze, with an element of gold to it. I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

2) It has its original brown Marcasite velvet interior. You can still find marcasite S1s hanging around here and there in the States, but 95% of them have faded to green, the cloth has become brittle, and is full of little tears everywhere. This one's dashboard, while faded, is still brown and the fabric is supple throughout. Okay as it is, or a great candidate for being redyed. The original shag carpeting is in near-perfect condition, too, and rich in colour. Very hard to find an interior like this.

3) It has air conditioning. A minority of Esprit S1s were fitted with AC, presumably by the importer or dealer in the States. The brackets and idler pulley are all Lotus equipment as found on Esprit S2s, Turbos, etc.; the front radiator shrouds are [usually] different, having the radiator set back farther to accommodate the condenser, and four fans instead of three; controls and added vents look parts-bin/aftermarket, but are mostly consistent from car to car. AC is rare enough in S1s, and then most of the AC cars have had their equipment removed and discarded over the years; to find one with everything present is very rare. Enjoying it as I do in 454H, I can't say enough about how wonderful the comfort is of cold air blowing into a small cabin of a dark-coloured car with a huge windshield in summer!

This combination -- beautiful and rare colour, original marcasite, and air conditioning -- was just too much for me to resist, so now I have it.

But like most old Esprits, 355H is not without issues. Nothing major, but a lot of little things stemming from the two things that plague North American Esprits the most and continue to give owners unhappy experiences and perpetuate a negative reputation:

1) Being serviced by people who don't know what they are doing.

- and -

2) Neglect, lack of maintenance.

Just today I heard from Art Mason (shark sandwich here on TLF) about an Esprit S2 owner selling his car after only about a year of ownership after spending a lot of money at an ALFA specialist who admitted to not knowing what to do with one of these cars. Earlier this week I heard about another S1 owner who was taken for thousands of dollars to have his Esprit poorly serviced by a FERRARI dealer. I have yet to hear one single story of a North American Ferrari dealer either knowing how to service an Esprit or not rip off their Esprit owning customer. Two weeks ago I was told by a friend in Miami of a collector who has Ferraris and Maseratis, but also a Lotus Elite, and how much his mechanic belittles his Elite and doesn't like working on it, but "puts up with it" because the customer brings him Italian cars. Is that who you want servicing your Lotus? Why do people -- OWNERS -- do this? As in, why do they take their cars to shops that don't know how or don't want to service them?? I could go on and on with stories. Every time I hear a story about an Italian car or "specialty" car shop servicing an Esprit, the story ends in or at least involved incompetence and misery. 355H was serviced by a renowned Porsche and Ferrari specialist . . . and all I have been doing since buying it is fixing what this high-class, high-dollar shop did to it.

And what do all of these experiences do in the larger scene? Give the car a bad reputation -- it was very expensive to service and was always breaking down. Of course it was -- you took it to someone who has no experience AT ALL with these cars and used your car as a learning experience for something he didn't want to learn, while charging you an hourly rate that is nothing but a ripoff.

But I digress.

Back to 355H:

355H is not a car that is lacking in care and attention; it clearly has always been garaged or covered, the interior reflects the life of a carefully owned car, it has had no shortage of attention lavished on it mechanically or cosmetically. But here's what's wrong with it, almost all of it service-related:

When I arrived to see 355H in the flesh for the first time, I was presented with a beautiful, impeccably-clean car that barely ran. The carburetors were popping and spitting, the idle was wandering all over the place from 1800rpm to stalling. It stays cool on the highway, but overheats driving around town.

When I got it home and started to look at it more closely, I made a complete list of its issues:

- The carburetors were not balanced. Not even close. Pretty simple thing to screw up, huh?

- The mixture screws were set randomly -- one was all the way closed, and another 3.5 turns out? No way.

- The CARBURETORS WERE NOT BOLTED DOWN AT THE BOTTOM!!! The thackery washers were spinning freely between the nyloc nuts and the flange. Remember that respected Porsche-Ferrari shop mentioned above? They worked on it last . . .

- The carburetor tops and banjo fittings were loose (!) . . . Glad I bought this car, and checked it out . . .

- The Misab spacers (which I don't particularly care for) had been squashed so hard at the top that the rubber was warped (castellated) and pulling away from the metal plates.

- The timing was set at MORE THAN 33 DEGREES BTDC AT IDLE !!! Again, the previous owner spent over $7000 in less than 9 months at this highly acclaimed Porsche-Ferrari shop. No excuse.

- Same shop installed a new alternator . . . the WRONG ONE. It works, but doesn't leave room for the air box! As a side note, they had not installed it properly -- did not put the spacers and bracket in the right place -- and the belt was running at an angle. PO's friend fixed that prior to my coming to get the car.

- The FANS were NOT WORKING. The Otter switch is burned out.

- The driver's seat belt didn't retract. This was the very first thing I fixed.

- The battery is sitting loose in the boot. (Just waiting to crack the body from the inside when going around a left-hander.)

- The engine cover is carpeted. That's coming off. Might help with the heat, but either way, it's ridiculous.

- The rear suspension is a little wiggly. I suspect lower link bushes and radius arm mount bushes.

- The brakes squeal a lot. Will look into that.

- The cam covers are leaking (Porsche/Ferrari shop installed these about 9 months ago)

- It has the wrong oil filter. The Porsche specialist performed an oil change and noted that they HAD TO REMOVE THE STARTER TO CHANGE THE FILTER .. . . well, duh, the filter was the wrong one, too long. YOU'D THINK THEY WOULD PUT THE CORRECT FILTER ON? NO!! THEY WENT AND PUT ANOTHER OF THE WRONG FILTER ON THE CAR!!!!! WTF?!?!? Did some genius there not say at some point, "Hey, wait a minute, I can't belive that with any car one would have to remove the STARTER to change the oil -- could it be that maybe it's supposed to have a SHORTER FILTER? Hmm, maybe I should call a Lotus dealer or do a quick Google search for a Lotus parts supplier. Or maybe just look it up in my WorldPac online catalog -- but NO, instead, I'll just do something really stoopid and put the same oil filter back on, and not even question having to remove the STARTER to change the OIL!!!

REALLY?!?!? I mean, REALLY?!?!?!?! Are you SERIOUS?????????

Okay, back to the list, sorry for that rant . . . .

- The chokes (enrichment/starting device) are connected wrong, and won't close all the way. They used a cable stop with a 1mm allen (hex) head screw. Where can I find a 1mm allen wrench??

- The fans don't have relays yet. No one has done this simple and critical upgrade. I will do it.

- The high beams are Cibie units. I haven't yet seen relays for the headlamps; going to do this, too, before those high beams melt the stalk switch . . .

- The air cleaners -- now K&N because the air box won't fit with the new alternator -- are mounted to the carburetors with orange RTV silicone as a gasket dressing. BAD! This stuff doesn't hold up well in fuel. I've already blown bits of orange out of the jets . . .

- The Porsche/Ferrari specialist used the same Orange silicone to seal the cam boxes to the head when they did the valve job. REALLY?!?!? How much did THAT add to the clearances????? I'm going to measure the clearances and might have to redo everything. It will probably start leaking soon, anyway . . .

- There is a "catch can" installed now for the crankcase vapors. It looks like something out of the Fast and Furious. Catch can going into the rubbish can.

- They had the radiator recored. They REMOVED THE AC CONDENSER to remove the radiator. TOO BAD THE RADIATOR IS REMOVED FROM THE BACK, AND THEY ACTUALLY PULLED THE CONDENSOR AND VENTED THE AC FOR NOTHING. Now I have to buy a receiver-drier.

- Generaly speaking, the engine bay is untidy. A lot of little things are out of place or askew, a couple of hoses run in an unnatural route, etc. I will be going through all of this.

- The clutch slave cylinder was leaking.

- There is a puddle of brake fluid in the front compartment from when the PO and his friend spilled it after replacing the brake master cylinder. Good thing it's only on the black paint.

- Rear bumper foam (Federal car thing) is separating from plinth.

- Couple of chips/cracks in the front spoiler

- It has pretty aftermarket chrome mirrors THAT DON'T WORK. They won't swing out wide enough to see anything other than the car body!

- There is a hole in the floor in the front outer corner from someone putting a jack there. ARRRGH!! And it looks recent (it's not dirty). AAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!! Believe me when I tell you, I RESCUED this car.

Now scroll back up and look at the list of things wrong with this car. This is not a neglected car. This car has received oodles of attention. This is mostly a list of stupid things that should have never happened to the car. This is mostly a list of things that would not be wrong with this car if it had been serviced properly. At least it's all smaller stuff, nothing major (knock on wood)....

So, what have I done so far?

- Fixed the seatbelt

- Did a quickie rebuild on the slave cylinder just to get the car going, but may be buying another one or having it sleeved, as there is a little bit of pitting in the bore.

- Removed the Dellortos for overhaul, only to find that they are so bad that I am going to use my spare pair instead. Those should go on this weekend -- apart for rejetting, etc., right now.

- Wired the fans to run continuously for the time being until I replace the Otter switch and add relays/fuses to the fans. (I don't want to burn out another switch by pulling the current of four fans through it.) At the moment, I am focusing on just getting it running right and finding out why it is running hot around town (it has newly cored radiator, rebuilt water pump, new thermostat . . . doesn't mean any of it was done right, though!); then I will go back and permanently fix these issues.

- Got a pair of mirrors so I can see.

But don't get me wrong -- this car has a lot of fine qualities, and they are not all cosmetic (and the car is beautiful). It also rides down the road perfectly smoothly and perfectly straight. The brakes work great. There are no wheel/bearing/rotational noises. The electrical accessories all work. The top end is smooth and quiet. The car has not been mickey-moused or modified; it's very unmolested compared to most Federal S1s. It has a lot of original details that are still in fine fettle. The truth is, the big long list of problems above is all that is standing between this car and its being one of the truly top-notch examples of an Esprit S1. The rest of the car is that nice. The car has so much that is good about it, that when everything above is sorted out, it will be one of the nicest S1s out there.

So, off I go, little by little, on improving -- correcting, perhaps -- 355H. The world's [most likely] only L35 "Brazil" (metallic brown) S1 with air conditioning. This is not going to be any kind of organized "project"; just a laundry list of things to do that I will as I get the time. I hope to use this car and this thread as a series of examples of how not to do and how to do some things on an S1 in order to have a good, reliable car.

I just typed this as a thread; maybe I should turn it into a blog?

Cheers,

Tony K.

P.S. -- the Speedlines are going to go . . .

Edited June 15, 2012 by Tony K

[ramjet]

What scares me the most Tony is not one, repeat NOT ONE, of those things is something that any good mechanic should not be able to deal with. I am not a mechanic. I am a mechanical fitter, but if you don't know you research.

Things you mentioned at the top with the carbies is nothing short of incompetence. Nothing to do with not knowing Lotus cars.

Surely there is one Ferrari model that had multiple carbies?

The timing setting? Incompetence. There is NO car that runs that far advanced. I'm surprised the car ran.

This smacks of 'you've paid us once, we'll set you up so that you pay us again'. I would not be trusting them with my Italian cars either, were it me.

[Moxie]

T-Bone,

As Kev would say, that's a big fat slice of golden fried awesome!

Is this thing going to be a runner for your party?

I know it's heresy, but I love the way the Speedlines look on that particular car.

I know a guy in management at UPS if you want me to talk with him about sponsorship.

- M@

[GordonMasson]

Lovely car Tony

[nic996]

If you said to your friends your pride and joy was brown with gold wheels they would laugh their asses off surely. Then you see it and it just looks so right. I love that colour. It's pure 70's with the gold wheels.

Unbelievable the multitude of errors. Then again you can put a mechanic in any overalls. The badge doesn't give them any more sense. They only know what they are trained to do. Don't get me worng, I was a mechanic in my younger days and a few of my colleagues were very methodical and could think independantly of what they had been trained upon and did a good job. The sad truth is that the majority were think as two short planks. The old adage always stands, If you want a job done right, do it yourself.

[vintaylor]

any interior pics??

[bobfogle]

Tony K wrote:

" I hope to use this car and this thread as a series of examples of how not to do and how to do some things on an S1 in order to have a good, reliable car. "

Great idea Tony. I would guess that most (Federal) S1 owners out there have faced one or all of these challenges at some point. Your report on how to find and fix them would be very helpful.

Congratulations on the finding and purchase of a beautiful, unique S1. Another one is saved.

Long live the S1.

Bob

[Loose Cannon]

P.S. -- the Speedlines are going to go . . .

I loved this thread all the way up to here.

From New Jersey? Funny I thought this brown looked a bit nicer than "other" Roman Bronzes, never knew of a colour called Brazil

[GavinT]

+1 for keeping the Speedlines.

[cjtpb13]

I also say keep the wheels...fits the overall theme and color scheme well...

[Moxie]

We know where you live. Keep the Speedlines or we'll take one of your S1s.

[cjtpb13]

Better yet we take them all BUT one !

[GavinT]

As long as Tony doesn't have any spare S1 rear hubs he's stuck with the Speeds.

... Matt

In all seriousness, it is a very nice color scheme. Personally I wouldn't change a thing.

Tony, this isn't the car that came from Florida, that came from that guy that once lived in St Louis, that also had a yellow Elite?

[Paul Coleman]

Good find Tony! Looks like it's finally going to get some tlc

Cheers, Paul.

[Tony K]

UPDATE: "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS (THESE) PHOTO(S)?"

Here are a few photos of engine bay as I acquired it. Let's take a look . . .

In this photo we see several things askew. I call your attention first to the OIL FILTER. Look at that thing. Reference my rant in the beginning post. I couldn't make something like this up if I tried!

Next, look at the alternator. Nice alternator, but too big for the car. The air box can no longer be mounted, hence the K&N filters. . . . BUT LOOK -- Even the K&Ns don't have room with that alternator -- the filter is actually skewed by the alternator body! Oh my. . . I like Bosch, but here I'd like to see a stock Motorola, both for fit and "correctness".

The choke cable is nothing that I am thrilled about, but I understand why they did it; it's a lot of work to replace the whole thing (the part in the metal sheath is just spliced onto the original. I will, nonetheless, tidy it up a bit. The spring, on the other hand????

How about those fuel hose clamps? I don't like those. They dig into the hoses like fingernails when you tighten them. I prefer injection-style clamps, or the German "Norma" style clamps. No biggie, though.

Hey, what's that silver can strapped to the swirl pot? It's a "catch can", something that people who modify Mitsubishi Eclipses put under the hood(bonnet) of their cars. It does not belong here. Again, I understand why they did it, but the fumes from the crankcase vapors are still sweating up the engine bay with that thing. If you're going to run K&Ns, plumb the lines right into the filters, or run them discreetly down to the underside of the car, away from the brake rotors, and put a filter on the end of the hose down there. Just my preference.

Now it's really hard to tell under the camera flash, but that clutch slave cylinder is all corroded and spotty. And yes, it was leaking. (fixed now)

Take a look at the top of the AC compressor (yeauhhh, it's got AC!!!!) . . . see that black dust? Is that belt shavings? Or just grime accumulation? Probably just dust/grime, but I'll take a closer look.

Oh yeah, and there's that leaky rubber cam cover gasket peeking out . . .

Next Photo:

WHAT IS THAT ORANGE STUFF AROUND THE CAM BOXES AND THERMOSTAT?!?!?!?

Why, that's Permatex "Copper" RTV Silicone! Guaranteed to add way more thickness than a "zero clearance" sealant will to your valve job!

Now, unsightly as it is, it is good stuff to use on something like a thermostat . . . but the disappointment here is, as I found out on Sunday, they didn't use a gasket at all on the thermostat; they just gooped a whole lot of this orange ("Copper") stuff on there, a lot of which was squished well beyond the mating surface on the inside. It's a thermostat gasket; come on -- you can walk into any auto parts store and match it up (I know, I've done it in Cleveland, Toledo, and Orlando).

Although not really visible in the photo, the orange stuff was used to mount the air cleaners to the carburetor bodies . . . yes, there were bits of orange sealant everywhere including inside the carbs.

Something else I found on Sunday that is not detectable in the photographs: The #4 spark plug lead was just resting on the plug tip; the end was expanded so that it didn't snap on. I crimped it back into shape, and "click"...

Now, another word about those carburetors: These photos are really flattering of their condition. Because I will call this next section of the update:

THE WORST PAIR OF DELLORTOS, EVER!

355H is now running reasonably well. No more popping. No more sputtering. No more stalling. No more one carb shutting off. No more idle floating up to 1800 rpm. No backfires after shutting off. It was all the carburetors. I have only balanced them by eye (looking at the butterflies with the engine off) so far, and it's already starting and idling with a few squirts and no choke.

Here's a before shot:

. . . and here's an after shot:

These are actually a different pair of Dellortos; the ones that came on the car were so corroded and worn that I just used a pair I bought on eBay a few years ago. I'm sure the ones that came with the car are rebuildable, but here's how poor and neglected they were:

First, here are some of the O-rings. Yes, these were once ring-shaped:

I'm sure somewhere in these bits of cylindrical black "hard plastic", air was allowed to leak by . . .

But the real kicker was this: the "plugs" or "fillings" from the factory in the carburetor bodies. The voids that were filled at the factory after the drilling and machining of the carbs were actually worn away so much that the mounting O-rings could not form a seal!

These are the mating surfaces where the carbs squish the O-rings to mount to the intake manifold. How does a carb get like this?

Please note, also, how corroded the bodies are. The float bowls were clean, but the corrosion had crept to inside the top covers. I think they'll be fine for rebulding, but I had a much nicer pair that only needed a simple rebuild.

. . . .

Now let me take a moment to address the wheels. Yes, the Speedlines are cool. But I have cooler plans for 355H. We all know that when you do modifications to a classic car that were appropriate for it in its day, we call those "period modifications". Right. And we all also know when something is just plain "bad-ass" (random examples: Keyser Söze, Tony Montana, Bullitt Mustang). Well, then let me introduce to our collective vocabulary the colloquialism of "period badass." Because that's what these forged, 3-piece Epsilon wheels are:

I will be buying new tires for them, polishing the lips, painting the centers gold, and mounting them on 355h. So, yeah, those Speedlines are nice.

. . . .

[GavinT]

Maybe it's the angle but is the timing belt riding a bit close to the front of the sprockets?. And yes, that's definitely rubber shavings on the alternator mounting bracket.

Gav

[Tony K]

Good spot, Gavin! I'm so worried about the belt rubbing toward the block, I didn't really notice it riding forward. I know it's not off of the edge of the sprocket, but I will inspect it closely . . . maybe will need a shim on the tensioner?

By the way, I am not sure, but I think I might already have an extra set of NOS S1 rear hubs . . .

[jonwat]

Tony K said: "But the real kicker was this: the "plugs" or "fillings" from the factory in the carburetor bodies. The voids that were filled at the factory after the drilling and machining of the carbs were actually worn away so much that the mounting O-rings could not form a seal!"

I've seen this on an S3 I had which had the broken exhaust manifold replaced by taking the head off by a "sports car specialist" garage. The problem was they didn't realise the carb mounting O rings are there for vibration absorption so kept tightening the mounting nuts until the gap was completely gone & the carbs were flush with the manifold, this forced the lead sealing plugs into the drillings in the carb bodies.

Solved the problem with a skim of some high temperature filler.

[s1guy]

that car will look HOT with the gold and polished epsilons !!!!!!!,,,,and for what its worth ,,,i tried ,,really tried with that car,,some folks just don,t get it,,,,lol,,,and yr airbox will be in the mail this morning,,

Edited June 19, 2012 by s1guy

[Tony K]

AND NOW, THE BAD NEWS . . .

As I've been tinkering with this car, another issue I've been coping with is that the car was running hot (but not quite overheating) around town while running at normal operating temperature on the freeway. It has a new radiator, new water pump, and new thermostat. Perhaps it just needs to be burped?

Indeed, all it needed was to run it at an incline (rear slightly higher) with the cap off a bit, top it off, and voila, no more heating up around town . . .

. . . except it was then that I found excessive pressure in the cooling system.

Removing the cap while the engine/coolant were not really warmed up, and *pop*. Uh-oh . . .

I let it sit overnight. In the morning, opened the cap and, *pop*. Yep, uh-oh.

Pulled the thermostat out (this is how I found out there was no gasket) in case it was a stuck thermostat causing the pressure. Nope. Now, with cold engine, looking into the swirl pot, I see "tiny bubbles in my champagne". Every time I rev the engine.

Compression leak, most likely . . .

*remember, that Porsche/Ferrari specialist who does $600k cars just did the valve job and replaced two valves on this Lotus...*

Did a quick compression test:

1

2

3

4

Now looking at the service records, the *high class Porsche and Ferrari specialist* had "diagnosed" low compression in cylinder #1 and had replaced an intake and exhaust valve, one of them bent. (I'm starting to wonder if they had diagnosed anything at all and replaced anything at all, but I digress...) So I was sort of expecting to see low compression at #1, but no that looks good.

As for the lower compression on 3 -- when I had the car running, there was a small (few drops) puddle of oil around each plug (thanks, leaky rubber cam cover gaskets), and I could see little bubbles in the oil at number 3. I figured the plug was not tight enough. Went to tighten it, and it didn't turn smoothly. . . and didn't get tighter after a few tugs . . . . gulp . . . put the extension on my spark plug socket, it very obviously was pointing crooked outward from the well. Plug was cross-threaded.

The first time I screwed the compression socket in there, I actually got a lower reading than what is posted above; I had to carefully wiggle and turn it in to screw it in farther. Where I'm going with this is that I think the slightly lower compression is due at least in part to having damaged threads in the spark plug hole.

But let's go back to cylinder 1 for a moment: Compression was good, but every time I pulled the hose/plug out, the hose had a fine spray of grimy water on it. No matter how carefully I tightened it. I'm starting to wonder if there is not a crack in the head or some other kind of damage around that hole.

So it's looking like this head is going to have to come off . . .

But before I do, let me ask this question to everyone who has read so far (and I might re-post it to the technical section):

IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN BE HAVING EXCESS PRESSURE/BUBBLING IN THE COOLANT AND HAVE IT NOT BE THE HEAD OR TOP OF THE ENGINE? COULD IT BE ANYTHING ELSE, OR COULD IT BE THE BOTTOM (CYLINDER LINERS SEALING TO BLOCK)?

I don't really want to go through the hassle of pulling the head with the engine in the car and then have it be the bottom, so I'm giving it some thought before I do something. What would happen if a cylinder liner didn't have a good seal? It would result in coolant getting into the oil, would it not?

I should probably just pull the head because it's likely I will find something when I do, but I'm open to opinions here!

- Tony

[s1guy]

pull the head first,,,i have all the gaskets,,will send them asap if you need em,,,and will come help,,

[GavinT]

Tony,

I don't know if you remember but when I first got my car the locking pin for the tensioner pivot pin was missing. This allowed the pivot pin to back out causing the bearing to run off axis, forcing the belt back against the block. It was a ticking time bomb. I'm sure if I hadn't have spotted it I would have had a snapped belt. Perhaps something similar has happened to your tensioner bearing but its pushing the belt forward. Is the belt clearing the intake snubber?.

Re the wheels, I really like those Epsilons. If I could find a set I would probably consider switching out my Speeds.

[GavinT]

With Ken posting about the car, I was right about it being the one from Florida. Didn't it have webbers on it when it came from Florida?

[Jeanvm]

Hey Tony,

Get the cowboys and teaches them some lesson. I am glad that you have saved the Brasil S1. Fantastic looking car. Any inside pictures please? Never seen one here with that color.

For the EXCESS PRESSURE/BUBBLING IN THE COOLANT look at the intake manifold it could be a leak between the airflow and the cooling pipe (I am guessing)

Regards,

Jean

[Tony K]

I started typing these responses earlier on a different computer:

Buddsy -- Thanks! And I agree, nice to see one not white. Part of my compulsion to buy this car was the fear that another new owner might paint it white . . . or red, as many seem to be over here.

Michael -- I agree with you. . . . . I'm just trying to be a bit diplomatic. I don't want to open my mouth too wide and say too much, as I was not there and don't know the whole story.

Matt -- My hope was to take care of the essentials and have it on the road in a week or two. Then, as time permits, begin tending to everything else. Aside from the high pressure in the cooling system, it is completely driveable right now. But with the likelihood of my pulling the head in a few days and working on it in chunks, I don't think it will be done for the Car Party, although it will be sitting in the garage for the party. I've already driven it on the freeway, and other than a little looseness in the rear suspension, it drives great. Steering and wheels/tires are smooth, brakes are sharp, engine makes good power.

Gordon -- Thank You!

Nic -- Yep, I agree . . .

Vin -- Decent interior pics and more pics of the car in general coming soon. As to manage expectations, let me say now that whereas the marcasite and carpet are original, the seats have been redone.

Bob -- Thanks -- I'll do my best!

Gavin -- Yes, this is the car. Between the seller in FL and the buyer in NJ, something went very wrong. Either the seller was not very ethical, or the buyer was a little too impulsive. I suspect some of both, based on my knowledge of the buyer, my experience with the seller and his wife, and what I heard about him from people who enquired about the Elite. But ultimately, the seller or the seller's representative has a moral and ethical obligation to disclose serious issues to the buyer, and it doesn't look like that happened. I'd like to give the seller in FL some benefit of the doubt allowing for ignorance, but from what Ken told me about the car, the car had obvious issues when it arrived in NJ.

And then in New Jersey, well, I have yet to have one positive, equitable experience with a car that came out of New Jersey. Between the owner in NJ and the shop that serviced the car, something also went terribly wrong. I suspect it was a combination of lack of patience and funds on the owner's part and lack of skill and/or ethics on the shop's part. That's all I'll say, as I don't wish to speculate, but the fact is there is a lot wrong with this car, as well as a lot of misrepresentation, and the blame falls without question somewhere among the three parties mentioned in this paragraph and the paragraph above. This is a car with serious, obvious issues that traded hands twice without a word of disclosure from any party involved.

And you know what? That's fine. Adios, fellas*. I've got the car now, it's not going to be abused any more, it's not going to be monkeywrenched any more, and when I'm through with it, it will be a stunning, one-of-a-kind S1 Esprit with cold air that can be driven across the country without worry. I'm going to enjoy this car very much!

*:

Tony,

I don't know if you remember but when I first got my car the locking pin for the tensioner pivot pin was missing. This allowed the pivot pin to back out causing the bearing to run off axis, forcing the belt back against the block. It was a ticking time bomb. I'm sure if I hadn't have spotted it I would have had a snapped belt. Perhaps something similar has happened to your tensioner bearing but its pushing the belt forward. Is the belt clearing the intake snubber?.

Gavin -- the timing belt isn't rubbing anything, not the sides of anything, nor the snubbers. It's not riding ideally, but it deserves a close look to see it it can be improved. You bet I remember your tensioner, and the fact that had you driven it home and not trailered it, it may well have gone kaboom!

Hey Tony,

Get the cowboys and teaches them some lesson. I am glad that you have saved the Brasil S1. Fantastic looking car. Any inside pictures please? Never seen one here with that color.

For the EXCESS PRESSURE/BUBBLING IN THE COOLANT look at the intake manifold it could be a leak between the airflow and the cooling pipe (I am guessing)

Regards,

Jean

Well said, Jean! Again, to the cowboys, I say :

As for the intake manifold, good idea, I hadn't thought of that, but now that I am thinking about it, there is vacuum into the engine, no pressure from the pistons there to push air/gas into the cooling system; if there were a leak there, I think it would be coolant being drawn into the engine, poor running and a lot of steam, but not pressure being put into the cooling system. Am I not thinking of something?

Thanks again,

Tony

Edited June 19, 2012 by Tony K