New life for 77 Esprit S1

[rajesprit]

Hi everyone, i thought about starting this story from the begining. So here it is :

 

As a big fan of the Esprit, i had been looking for a LHD S1 since 2009-10 and luckily at the end of November i contacted a person in Germany who was selling his. Finally, without being able to study it too much i simply bought it and contracted an individual transport to bring it for me to Barcelona,Spain.

 

[V8 FOU]

And.......

 

What happened next?

[rajesprit]

When i recieved the Esprit its state was , flat tyres(although new) , flat battery, peeled paintwork, rusted wheel nuts and hubs, half opened headlights, missing 1 fuel tank, dash lights and interior lights are not woking, LH door seal in poor condition, the Wolfrace wheels have a bad paintjob of gold on silver done on them,no engine cover, no engine/boot compartment mat set and poor condition of the interior trim (apart from beeing horrible red/white cheap plastic leather imitation.

I have a question, about recharging the battery in the S1, do i need to disconnect both cables from it or is it ok just disconnecting tbe black one?, thankyou

[V8 FOU]

Eeek! I hope this was real cheap!

 

You don't really need to disconnect either lead, but always disconnect the earth (-ve) first.

A very easy rule when removing or installing any battery - when removing, you are "taking away"  so -ve first then +ve.  When installing you  are "adding" thew battery, so +ve first then -ve.

Easy.

 

BTW, if you have an old fashioned battery charger, ALWAYS disconnect the battery when charging. Because older chargers can give out "spikes" that can harm alternators,ecu's etc...

[rajesprit]

So, the nexts steps where getting a new battery, getting some fuel and to inflate tyres, also to get number plates (which i am still waiting for, wont get them untill 10th January at least the provisional ones).

Ive now started the car and kept it running for 10 mins or so every 2-3 days, it takes time to get correct temperature for it to hold on idle(previous owner said something about calibrating carburettors). i have also checked the following :

 

Not original blinker stalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not the original buttons and not the original board, there are no labels, i have discovered that the 1st fom the top is Head lights and Long Lights, the 2nd on top is Emergency 4 lights, the the 1st down is light pods go down and the 2nd down doesnt do anything, the dash vent is in bad state.

 

 

 

 

 

The fan button doesnt work and below it , i dont know what it is

 

 

 

 

 

The Gear Knob looks original but that screw??? The Radio set is not original and is rubbish but it works.

 

 

 

The car looks as it is lower from the back suspension, Dampers i think must be in bad state, note the hight of the car following the line of the floor tiles! , Is that correct?

 

Im not having too much time for the moment, but it will get better for me in January so for the moment at least i have been able to clean the car in depth, first by vacuum cleaning front boot, engnie boot, and the interior (I still remember that episode of TopGear in which they analyse the interior of a second hand car!!!) so for the interior also some water and soap in a humid cotton cloth...in Depth!

windows are also transparent now and the car looks much better, you can see the before and after of the exterior here :

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/54815-new-s1-owner-from-barcelona/

 

This was how the front boot was

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2012 by rajesprit

[ramjet]

Below the fan switch, I presume, that would be the switch for the rear window demister, though it doesn't look like the switch is there anymore.

Hope you can fix up the original blinker stalk as the one in there looks terrible.

Best of luck with it all.

TonyK is a bit of an S1 buff. No doubt he'll be along some time soon.

[Paul Coleman]

You can get a new stalk from any Mini supplier such as http://www.minispares.co.uk

 

Paul.

[GavinT]

Hi,

 

Congratulations on your purchase. Nice to see another S1 receiving some TLC.

 

I always disconnect both terminals of the battery every time I park mine back in the garage.

 

Best of luck.

 

Gavin

[rajesprit]

No, the project hasnt even started, i will have more time for it in January. For the moment i have recieved the certificate of provenance from Lotus, which comfirms that the Esprit is all original, chasis, engine L15 gloss Black exterior paint etc.. Thanks for the tip Paul, i have already ordered a few spares from SJ, but i will keep that in mind. Gavin, another option woukd be to keep the battery conected to a trickle charger, or maybe both?

[rajesprit]

Some updates on this reatoration, alot has happened since i bought it in 2012.

in 2013 i basically looked for the essential parts to get the S1 running and being able to pass the ITV (Inspeccion Techinca de Vehiculos) which is the equivalent to the MOT, i spent like 6 months okly for that, i had to get special papers and go through other timespending troubles like giving it special numberplates for classic vehicles which has its advantages in the future like not having to pass MOT every year and not so high yearly taxes if not more than 5000kms driven  in a year and a few others things. So i finally had the S1 registered and in running condition by august 2013. I decided to try it out and live with it for sometime before going into a deep nuts and bolts restoration, incase i ended up not liking the car or whatever reason for me ending up selling it......

To be continued..., abit late over here

[silverfrost]

Nice esprit S1 and although in a sad state in some parts due to wear and tear, poor interior and some non spec parts, its an S1 !  you have been using it and that is great in itself.  Good for you for not selling it and a wise choice as these cars are now fetching very good money and can be considered a good investment.

Your last photo is great and shows how the suspension should sit .!  Enjoy the car and keep the updates coming.

[Tocus]

Hi Rajesprit

do you maby have more pictures or info how you did the wooden gear knob,

i must do the same too soon, and i hope you can give me some more info yours looks as new right now!

[rajesprit]

On 6 de abril de 2016 at 05:51, silverfrost said:

Nice esprit S1 and although in a sad state in some parts due to wear and tear, poor interior and some non spec parts, its an S1 !  you have been using it and that is great in itself.  Good for you for not selling it and a wise choice as these cars are now fetching very good money and can be considered a good investment.

Your last photo is great and shows how the suspension should sit .!  Enjoy the car and keep the updates coming.

Thanks, i bought it in a very sad state and managed to leave it an a "usable" state, so i could use it and decide if i wanted  to get into a very deep and long nuts and bolts restoration. I finally did so and the S1 has been in restoration since almost 2 years now, the difference is huge and its almost all to an original spec except for colour, which is now Monaco white, ideal for sunny Spain, and the interior which is now "alcantara" dark grey imitating a marcasite. I couldnt live with that cheap red slippery plastic, it was awful.

As soon as i can redo the pics above i will post a few pics of the S1 actual state. Hopefully i will have it finished before the summer.

[rajesprit]

On 8 de abril de 2016 at 20:24, Tocus said:

Hi Rajesprit

do you maby have more pictures or info how you did the wooden gear knob,

i must do the same too soon, and i hope you can give me some more info yours looks as new right now!

Im sorry, i didnt restore the gear kob myself, it was my father who did so, wood crafting is a hobby for him, he did a great job. I know he first took off the round metal badge then polished off all the old varnish, glue and imperfections , he then refilled the side hole with plaster and finally varnished the knob again.

[rajesprit]

So, here I go again. These are some pics from when I bought the S1 from Germany, which after asking Lotus England for the Certificate of Origin, I got to know that this particular Eprit S1 was first sold and registered in Switzerland. In Black with undisclosed interior, but probably beige or brown Marcasite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by rajesprit

[rajesprit]

After buying the Car I got temporary number plates (the green colour) and then I had 6 months to get the S1 properly registered and with a valid Mot equivalent. It was also important for me to spend time with the Lotus so I could decide if I would love it enough to get into a long and expensive deep restoration.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by rajesprit

[rajesprit]

Notice that British registered Lotus? it was bought for spare parts by my mechanic for another of his projects.

Then came the the time to enjoy the Lotus S1 and decide what to do? Keep it as is or go for a much better level of originality, reliability and I suppose, satisfaction?

[rajesprit]

After time, money and patience, came the final registration plates, the white ones.

The H is for Historic Vehicle in Spain.

But what is the BD??? Is that Bond?

By the way that's me, I just had to buy that shirt!

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by rajesprit

[silverfrost]

Looking well, glad to see you put most of it back to its former state,  whats with the gold/orange esprit is this a new project ?  Have you been bitten by the lotus bug also 

[rajesprit]

The orange Lotus is my mechanic's Esprit, he is really bitten by the lotus bug, but its more the modern Esprits.

And this is the current situation of my Esprit restoration:

 

 

[silverfrost]

Car looks stunning in white,much better colour than the  black paint on the S1 before, 

[rajesprit]

It was very hard for me to decide for the Monaco white.

I had to choose between originality (Black was the original colour from factory and also quite rare in LHD, I think only 9!!) or personal choice and dream Monaco white S1 esprit???? Finally it had to be the dream, white is also better suited for sun in Spain because when I was living with the car in summer it was really hot with the engine stuck to your back the sun cooking the black paint and the not UV windscreen. At least I have solved the black absorbing sun paint and the windscreen. (Old windscreen cracked while driving and the replacement has a light green tint).

[rajesprit]

For anyone who knows about S1 Esprits, I have a question.

Looking at the fourth last pic that I posted, I remember having an issue with the length of the exhaust pipes, whenever I parked in reverse I used to smoothly hit the wall with the exhaust not the back bumper because it protrudes less than the exhaust pipes. I never thought that was correct, it didn't make sense to me. I'm in the process of cutting them at least 2cm short from the bumper. Can anyone shred some light on this, thankyou in advance.

[Paul Coleman]

My S1 bumper sticks out further than the exhaust pipes.

[rajesprit]

Thankyou, all the research ive done comfirms that.