Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Paul Coleman]

8 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Finished rebuilt and one door handle fixed. Frames soon!

On the S1, if you don't paint those rivets or use black ones they stand out like a sore thumb when you're sat in the car as they're all visible. Ask me how I know

[Lotusfab]

It's  all part of the charm and getting back to the raw driving experience. Lying on the floor in a piece of plastic held on by only 12 bolts and a prayer, seeing rivets everywhere and bits falling off as you go along  - never quite knowing what will break next -  all very exciting! 

[Fridge]

OK. That all makes sense. But your weather seal is in place and cut, but there's no window frame, which is counter to what you describe. Confused.

I didn't record the penny washers. Well, I grouped them, but they eventually got mixed up in the restricted restoration space at my disposal. However I didn't find window frame fitting as problematic as you fear. It's pretty straightforward. More so than I expected.

It's the final trimming of the rubber seal I fear. Finish is all in these little details.

36 minutes ago, Paul Coleman said:

On the S1, if you don't paint those rivets or use black ones they stand out like a sore thumb when you're sat in the car as they're all visible. Ask me how I know

I did wonder about that Paul.

I'll just get me paintbrush........

[Paul Coleman]

16 minutes ago, Fridge said:

I did wonder about that Paul.

I'll just get me paintbrush........

Yes, too bloody late when the glass is back in!!

[Lotusfab]

22 minutes ago, Fridge said:

OK. That all makes sense. But your weather seal is in place and cut, but there's no window frame, which is counter to what you describe. Confused.

I didn't record the penny washers. Well, I grouped them, but they eventually got mixed up in the restricted restoration space at my disposal. However I didn't find window frame fitting as problematic as you fear. It's pretty straightforward. More so than I expected.

It's the final trimming of the rubber seal I fear. Finish is all in these little details.

I did wonder about that Paul.

I'll just get me paintbrush........

I replaced the seal on the drivers prior to the resto, and cutvit with the frame in. The passenger side was the original seal. Have you teste pd the electric window yet? Frames seem easy to put in , but then the problems come when you try to use the electric window and it doesnt work. It stops short of closed The reasons for this are numerous. I spent months perfecting mine. The frame  angle causes resistance to the movement of the glass unless it's shimmed correctly! 

Simple if you marked the frame position on the beam and the washer numbers before removing!

[Fridge]

That involves electric, and there is a problem with that bit. 🤔

[eeyoreish]

On the Stevens cars the frames are aligned with 2nuts on a short threaded stud that's captive in the door beam. The tab of the frame is between the 2 nuts, thus allowing adjustments to be made infinitely with the frame in place by winding the nuts up and down the stud. Is the G car different? Could it be adapted to work in the same way to make the job easier?

I haven't delved into my doors yet...

[Andyww]

That seems better than the G-Car arrangement with shim washers. But I am not sure it could be adapted because the gap is not large enough for a nut to be in there.

Getting the washers right is tricky, a small change there makes a big change at the top of the frame. Probably using shims with slotted holes that slide in and out would make things easier.

I sometimes wonder how they did all of this in the factory, this kind of arrangement with masses of adjustments is not exactly production-friendly! As will as shimming frame to door beam, the beam is adjustable at the hinges in all 3 axes, lock is adjustable, door skin adustable onto beam in every direction, at front and rear.

The trimming of the seal usually looks like a bit of a bodge because ideally the horizontal cut should have a vertical angle so it matches up with the angle of the frame but never does. After some consideration I decided it would look better not cutout, encouraged by the other red car next to it which doesnt have it cut out and looks fine.

 

[Lotusfab]

My solution

You can't buy these anymore!

[Lotusfab]

 Well the culmination of hours of research a sample from Conelly Leather and a trip to America - Voilla, the original Lotus Gold, as used on the Bond car! Here it is without the finish coats. The picture really doesn't do it justice, it's a perfect match for the original! I'm really impressed with this recolouring technology it's a new piece of leather,  but even then it looks like it came in that colour! Lotus or the film team really got their colours spot on for this car they all blend together perfectly! 

[Lotusfab]

Final coats done. Here’s the Conelley sample on Top! Hats off to the company that matched it. Then again with a £30k machine it’s what I might expect! 

[Lotusfab]

Getting there! 

Countless hours spent and still the work continues to mount. The front is complete except I have lost the brake pipe bracket for the drivers side - bolts to the caliper and holds the brake line. I could make one but would rather buy one. Any ideas?

The front is finally finished bar the bonnet alignment, which I shall do at the end. Fiberglassing jobs starting to mount. Think I will align and get the doors back together and then start detailing the engine. I'm lucky it was already rebuilt - but only tested after the rebuild. I have all the receipts which always adds confidence. I have run it myself and driven the car about 200 ft before I took it all to pieces! 

 

. The carburettors have also been rebuilt, but have got dirty due the rebuild and sitting around. 

New leatherhide is on its way from Andrew Muirhead. It will all be used and recoloured to Bond spec. It's fun doing the trim as it makes a big difference, but the other boring jobs are all still essential. You have to treat yourself every now and then with a nice job otherwise it could get pretty grim! 

Mr Bond is coming home soon! 

[Lotusfab]

Here's the bracket that has gone walkies together with many other of the parts! 

[Fridge]

Very easy to make.

[Lotusfab]

Front end finished! Once again pictures don't do this justice!

The undersheild area looks like a piece of the Nautilus sumbmarine from 20,000 leagues under the sea. It has a bulkhead look because of all the bolts!difficult to get the effect unless you see the whole thing! Pretty awesome this Is Turbo design! 

[Lotusfab]

Door seals

I have done two of these cars now. I bought a new door seal fot the drivers side and retained the original on the passenger side. When I fitted th ends one the door would not shut correctly. It remained proud. I measured both seals to determine why. The measurements are similar. I have concluded the rubber on the new seal is thicker and more elastic. This results in great pressure when you try to shut the door. This is all taken by the latch mounting. Anyone who has worked on one of these will appreciated how the catch may slip and scrape all the paint off. The passenger with the original seal closes perfectly. End result retain the original seals at all costs. I have repaired the split in the drivers seal and have put it back in the car. I don't blame the suppliers as these are the only ones available. This lesson is true throughout the restoration. Always keep the original parts if you possibly can! 

[Lotusfab]

Quote

Door catches

do yourself a favour and put the doors on and catches before the fuel tanks and boards. I dropped a door catch shim yesterday and had to take the entire passenger fuel system to pieces. 5 hrs later it was finished! I have just done the drivers side in one hour. This time I used wire to hold the shims whilst Intookmthevbolts out. I also removed the boot board first. I use pinstrip tape to help align catch. All done onto next job. 

 

[eeyoreish]

I'm intrigued by the body joint trim. Does it have End caps (my old Excel used to) or is the trim just cut off and the end filled with adhesive? Mine are all missing so I've no idea how it should look.

[Lotusfab]

Cut off and filled with adhesive.  Mine aren’t finished yet, like everything else. Once it’s in one piece the work gets more detailed! 

It take hours and hours to reassemble these cars. I have spent about four hours so far just cleaning the windows and trying to feed the wires through the door! 

I have messed up the door alignment above as I decided I need to move the door 2 mm to the rear! 

Half a day and back to the start!

[Fridge]

I did the same, dropping a shim. Could you not retrieve it from the inspection covers in the sill underside? Took me about 5 minutes of fishing around at the bottom, front of tank.

[Lotusfab]

No it wedge behind the side brace. I put a borescope in. I couldn’t get my hand on it or dislodge it.,I had to take out the seat belt reel, boot board, crossflow pipe, filler neck, fuel,tank bolt , side brace, do the catch then put it all back together. Only took all day! 

Does anyone kno where the earth lead to,the door bolts onto, Ive forgotten? 

[eeyoreish]

6 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Cut off and filled with adhesive.  Mine aren’t finished yet, like everything else. Once it’s in one piece the work gets more detailed!

I spent it true the door strips are mounted on a bit of wood?? 

[Dan E]

@eeyoreish you not finished it yet! 

[Lotusfab]

Ok, the drivers door is correctly aligned and the frame is in. The problem is the window resistance. It always tries to pop out of the frame at the top unless the shims are perfect. This took months to achieve in my S1. I can't face it at the moment on this, so am going to bolt it all together and sort it out later. As I said I meticulously counted all the shims and drew a diagram for each door with the shim locations, then lost bit the pieces of paper! I have also lost four of the beam fixings which are the 6 mm nut plates that hold the door shell and window guide. Worryingly I can't see any on the S and J website! 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬If I hadn't lost so many parts I would be a lot further on by now! 

[Fridge]

You could use a bolt on a washer big enough to be retained by the door bar rail, or make some. They're not exactly precision items.

Lost parts must account for quite a bit of time on full restorations. I've misplaced a few things these past 22 months, even though I diligently bagged and tagged things before boxing them up to be cleaned or restored later.

Only last week losing the small bracket at the back of the window frame which came off on dismantling in October 2016. Been removed from storage recently to be immediately put in the box of old parts that have been replaced. Easily found and sorted now thankfully.