Ian's S4s refurb

[Chillidoggy]

The last part of the interior refurb chapter was concluded yesterday with the fitting of the engine trim panels. After giving up trying to deal with comedy duo in the local car paint suppliers, I changed tack and gave them to a guy who works at a powder coating company to do. His boss who was organising it then went on a three-week holiday, and I only got them back on Friday. They've managed to spray a textured finish on them which looks not too dissimilar to the Senotex, if not as gritty. If anyone is interested, the colour is RAL 7022 Umber grey.

We then had to fit the new carpet to them, which, as usual, proved not as easy as we first thought. Having previously repaired the GRP damage to the panels, I had to ease some of the screw holes slightly with a fine, round file, but got them done OK, apart from one of the rubber Rawl nuts is not holding too well, which I'll have to sort out.

Anyway, we trundled off to the Darling Buds classic show this morning. I'm pleased to say we were relieved to receive so many compliments about the interior, that it vindicated the decision to do the job. We also had loads of people saying what a great colour it was, and to be fair, once the sun is shining on it, it makes a huge difference, the paint really looks great, then.

The show was very well attended, a good few hundred cars, and the chap in the 911 parked next to us was a great guy, very enthusiastic about all of them, thus proving not all Porsche owners are the same.

 

 

[pete]

is  that a genuine gt40

[Chillidoggy]

1 hour ago, pete said:

is  that a genuine gt40

Stop being silly.

[Chillidoggy]

I'll have a wiper motor and linkage assembly for sale soon once I've checked the motor. Anyone interested, PM me in the next week or so, otherwise it'll go on eBay when I get round to it.

[Chillidoggy]

Browsing through, just found some more piccys from the time we had the photoshoot that I should have posted earlier.

 

 

[Giniw]

Nice car!! (good to see one on the road! )

[stephenwhyte]

Wow - impressive photos!!  Definitely one of the best Esprit variants money can buy!

[pete]

looks good

[Jacques]

Auch! Just as I thought an Esprit is a very low car... Funny to see how much of a bus it looks next to a gt40 (replica?).

Anyway, nice job Ian.

[rocket63]

Very nice indeed

[Vanya]

On 8/29/2017 at 19:21, ian29gte said:

This image alone is making me give serious consideration to putting up my Turbo SE for sale.

There's an S4s in this colour combo for sale just a few hundred km away from me....

[Chillidoggy]

/\ The lengths a man is prepared to go to for a set of Futuras, eh? 

[Vanya]

58 minutes ago, ian29gte said:

/\ The lengths a man is prepared to go to for a set of Futuras, eh? 

The car in question doesn't have Futuras, which is why I haven't actually bought it yet :P. Some idiot put AWI Monoblocs on it. Hateful f*****g wheels. 

[Jacques]

?

I like the AWI Monobloc Wheels. I think they are Unique to Lotus Esprit and they have a simple and attractive design. And I like the Futura Wheels too, hence why I am refurbishing my set. But each to his own.

Ultimately, I don't think Lotus ever made an ugly Esprit Wheel.

Cheers,

Jacques.

[stephenwhyte]

Buy mine @Vanya - you knowa change of colour is the way to go as you can't buy the same colour twice 

No AWI wheels to be seen - Futuras as Lotus intended

[Steve V8]

[Vanya]

7 hours ago, stephenwhyte said:

Buy mine @Vanya - you knowa change of colour is the way to go as you can't buy the same colour twice 

No AWI wheels to be seen - Futuras as Lotus intended

Haha, need to find a good home for the Turbo SE first. But this is Ian's thread so ain't gonna derail it!

@ian29gte: got any more pics?!? Keep them coming! 

[Chillidoggy]

3 hours ago, Vanya said:

Haha, need to find a good home for the Turbo SE first. But this is Ian's thread so ain't gonna derail it!

@ian29gte: got any more pics?!? Keep them coming! 

Seeing as it's you......................

[Vanya]

OMG soooooooo cool....

[rocket63]

Yup. Agreed 

[Barrykearley]

Such a shame it's green 

[rocket63]

The natural choice for a British sports car 

[Chillidoggy]

7 hours ago, rocket63 said:

The natural choice for a British sports car 

Green is the new black.

[Chillidoggy]

Right, the winter 2017 refurb thread is now open for business.

First up, gearbox removal. Despite having taken good care, the new rear crank seal I fitted started to leak. In fact it leaked more than the old one I removed, which was particularly galling. I’ve been suspicious about CWP backlash, so as the gearbox had to be removed to get to the crank seal, I’ll have it rebuilt.

Buoyed by the indisputable fact that it only takes 2 hours to get a gearbox out (well, according to Barry, anyway), I started off full of enthusiasm, which soon started to wane when it became clear that 2 hours might have been a little optimistic, unless he did it using a telehandler, and without removing any bolts. By the time Sparky arrived, I’d done reasonable amount, so we had tea, scratched our heads, pointed at things, and put the world to rights......

[Barrykearley]

Bound to take longer getting over that silly spoiler ?

its only a few bolts - what took you so long? V8 can be done in just under an hour - 4 pot takes a bit longer due to starter and clutch Slave.

good to see it out - All looks very clean