Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Lotusfab]

I hope there are at least two, I just need to find them! 

[eeyoreish]

Be nice to find the grilles and put some decent speakers behind them?

[Lotusfab]

Yep.

[Fridge]

17 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Incidentally I have purchased a service manual for the cockpit stereo. It has all the info need to repair and service the stereo. I also am now the proud owner of a Panasonic Carcompo system. What's that I hear you say - that was my reaction too! It's one of the only separate HI FI systems ever designed for the car. I look forward to getting it working. Here the advert from the 80s. At the time I didn't think much of this stuff, now looking back it all seems very very cool!

Pioneer and Blaupunkt both had component car audio systems in the late 1970s-80s. Possibly Trio also.

[Lotusfab]

It's quite big to fit under the dash. You would have to make it a talking point! 

[Steve V8]

5 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Wow, were they any good? Can you remember the power Output? I was hoping they may have been a factory fit on an eighties car. Depspite lots of research no luck after two years! 

I don't remember the wattage, I thought they were good at the time, but I was 17 and knew absolutely nothing.

What I will do though, the shop that I bought them from is still going, and is under the same management, I will make an enquiry on your behalf, you never know what old stock or literature may be sitting in a dusty old box at the back of a store room.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks, I they have still got some it will be amazing!

[Steve V8]

19 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

Thanks, I they have still got some it will be amazing!

More like a miracle, l need some bits and pieces from them so I'll pop in this afternoon, and let you know.

[Steve V8]

Sorry Fabian, seems like a dead end, the owner wasn't in this afternoon but the guy at the counter says they definitely don't have any old Maystar stock. He does remember having it though and said I should come back in on Monday as there may be some old literature knocking about.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks for asking, much appreciated. The search continues! There are some pieces for this  project that are very illusive.

Thin gear lever

Maystar speaker grilles

One Compomotive  wheel lip 15 x 1

I have a four inch rear lip to trade, I was keeping it as a spare but would swap it for a front lip. 

I thought I would be adding the RM610 to this list but you never know what's around the corner! If anyone can help it would be much appreciated. 

Trim

having looked at the leather on the seats and door cards I have decided it's in very poor shape and will get it all replaced. No point in building a car like this if the external appearance doesn't match all the stuff you can't see. Will post pictures when it gets done. I have been colouring Vinyl and leather for months now. I still have all the seat leather Hyde to do. All I can say is you get really good at it with practice and I have had a lot of practice! 

[Lotusfab]

Cockpit Stereo Harness

Anyone know what sort of connector this is and wherevto buy it from? I need to make a new harness.

[Lotusfab]

If you do have a cockpit stereo there's a service manual available. It's an American company that provide a copy for about £3. It's an electronic version but has all of the circuit diagrams, voltages and a component list. Everything you need to service it pretty repair. Unfortunately you don't get an Oscilloscope with it! 

I have been studying cassette mechanisms on YouTube for a month or so now. Almost all of the fixes are cleaning, new belts or springs. It's very unlikely to be an electronic problem on these old style players.

Beware though there are a lot of videos on ytube that are totally incorrect. One springs to mind that explains how to change the oil filter on an LR3. If you follow the method described there's a good chance of an oil leak and engine damage! 

[Lotusfab]

www.owner-manuals.com

[silverfrost]

Regarding the harness Fabian,  can you not just clean the contacts and  cut the harness leaving a couple of inches sticking out the connector,, solder on new wires and indiviidually heat shrink using decent thick stuff  ?  

[Lotusfab]

I need to make a second harness for another stereo. 

[Lotusfab]

It's hard to believe but this leather and vinyl is only for the door cards. There's so much work in the interior,  but looking at it you wouldn't think so! It's ready to take up to Norfolk for stitching.

That leaves me only the leather for the seats to recolour. I believe about 2 1/2 hydes is needed per interior. 

The bottom if the doors are vinyl as are the seat backs.

[Lotusfab]

Just when I thought I was getting to the end there's much more to do! Steve has trimmed all the bits except the seats. These need a lot of leather so I need another Hyde, which means a lot more recolouring and a lot more recolouring chemicals. Can't believe I'm still doing this. So far the car has consumed two full hydes. Bearing in mind some of the parts were recoloured you can see the scale of an Esprit retrim job. Still the headlining Steve Fulcher made and the other parts are superb, as good as it left the factory. He's has the original patterns and has the techniques to Ruche the material. It all looks fantastic. Can wait to see the new seats they were really past their sell by date! 

Looking forward to getting the headlining in and the cockpit stereo!

[Timjgor90]

On 21/09/2018 at 20:28, Lotusfab said:

Thanks for asking, much appreciated. The search continues! There are some pieces for this  project that are very illusive.

Thin gear lever

Maystar speaker grilles

One Compomotive  wheel lip 15 x 1

I have a four inch rear lip to trade, I was keeping it as a spare but would swap it for a front lip. 

I thought I would be adding the RM610 to this list but you never know what's around the corner! If anyone can help it would be much appreciated. 

Trim

having looked at the leather on the seats and door cards I have decided it's in very poor shape and will get it all replaced. No point in building a car like this if the external appearance doesn't match all the stuff you can't see. Will post pictures when it gets done. I have been colouring Vinyl and leather for months now. I still have all the seat leather Hyde to do. All I can say is you get really good at it with practice and I have had a lot of practice! 

Hi Fabian are these the grilles your after?

[stephenwhyte]

@Lotusfab ⬆️

[Lotusfab]

7 hours ago, Timjgor90 said:

Hi Fabian are these the grilles your after?

Wow, I can't believe these Forums. Yes they are the exact ones and look brand new! How many have you got and where on earth did you find them? I'm your man have sent you a PM.  This could be the motivation I need to finish the interior! 

[Lotusfab]

Maybe I'll put the Fulcher headlining in!

I have all the interior bits done except for the seats which need another leather Hyde. 

Bond car with RM610!

Note I have upgraded the stereo with an RM610E, I think Q would have approved.

[Lotusfab]

Steve's still working on the door cards. The bottom vinyl part has been done. They will look great! 

[Lotusfab]

You can see the elbow pad has been redone in leather with the same effect as the original.

[Lotusfab]

There Is a lot of new leather that has gone into the interior. Restoration techniques for leather can go only so far. If your on a budget, as we all are, then you have to decide how far to go. Recolouring can bring back to life some pretty horrible interiors and let's not forget Lotus used pretty good quality leather. But some cheap leather hydes would really not be an improvement. So you have to go somewhere which supplies decent Hyde which of course is expensive. Then you have to find a trimmer that has the skills to trim to the original factory standard. Without the correct trimmer you could destroy the look of the interior.

I like how these cars looked inside and don't wish to have something which looks new but not original. I have used a mix of original and new all matched using colourant. This stuff is so good you would believe the new Hyde was factory supplied in the new colour! Over months of colouring I have become skilled, but I had done spraying before. In my opinion it's pretty easy for a Novice to get excellent results with some of these systems out there and a little practice and patience. You can't rush any of these jobs if you want a good finish and don't wish to do them again!. They take how long they take. Believe me there is so much work in this interior you can't image until you have seen one put together properly. The S1 really is one consuming with the Turbo being a lot simpler.

The leather on my seats was very poor and even with recolouring it would have only looked alright, so it had to go! It's depressing how much leather was used in each seat. It extends between the seat foam all the way to the base which means it requires much more leather than you can see! The seat backs were vinyl to save costs. 

Well that's enough on recolouring which it close to chassis painting as one of the worst jobs on the resto. The actual trimming is the enjoyable bit!

[Lotusfab]

Thanks to Tim on here I have got the speaker grilles! Cheers Tim👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻Can't believe the help I have had on this project all the way from Portland and Mossier Oregon USA, Denver Colorado and Edingburgh! It's a great world really despite all the News trying to persuade us otherwise! 

Oh and of course Miami!