Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[silverfrost]

The chap who worked at  Jag is probably right in what he says, most things cast in mass production will normally go onto a dye grinder and on to the cnc for further work these days,  so back in the day i could well believe that they had folks using a mini grinder getting rid of the excess flash and burrs on the wheel centres,  Also probably less time to clean and rework the moulds in those days as they used to be a pretty busy company in that era 

Some of the amazing things they can do now, you just have to look at some of  the shows that produce the custom billet car and bike wheels with the water jet cutters, its fantasic, 

[Sweatow]

Prestige wheel centre in Birmingham did a fab job on mine, took a couple of attempts but they got there in the end

[Andyww]

Those look great! The purists might say that they were not originally polished but no complaints there!

Yes the centres are pretty roughly made. When I was measuring the dimensions of the pattern I had a problem with constantly getting different measurements which didnt match up. It varied a lot from one segment to the next. The back of the wheel is especially uneven.

No reply on the CNCing yet, apart from saying they could not read the STL file and wanted STEP which I have sent.

[RichardJGC]

17 minutes ago, Sweatow said:

Prestige wheel centre in Birmingham did a fab job on mine, took a couple of attempts but they got there in the end

They look stunning! 

[silverfrost]

Same as above,  they look fantastic, a bugger to keep clean but fantastic none the less 

[Sweatow]

That's why I have you Dan to come around every weekend and polish them up

[silverfrost]

Haha , not a chance,  Ask Fabian as he will take pictures and measurents of them while cleaning them 

[Sweatow]

Ha Ha brilliant comment

[Lotusfab]

Awesome picture! Yep no worries will add them on the list after the S1 polish, fiberglassing and Turbo rebuild - might be waiting a while!?????

Fingers crossed Andy! 

[Lotusfab]

Awesome picture! Yep no worries will add them on the list after the S1 polish, fiberglassing and Turbo rebuild - might be waiting a while!?????

Fingers crossed Andy! 

Have ordered all the parts seals, washers, grommets and stainless bolts etc to put the engine back together, so just need to get alll the main bits refurbed. The lads at PNM have kindly sorted all of them for me. I have all the crossflow bits and a new crossflow stainless pipe Pete at PNM made for me. Found a suitable black fiberglass epoxy paint for the engine bay, which is brush on and used in the boat industry. I also have other heat resistant epoxy for the engine surround. Extensive fiberglass repairs are needed and a lot more rivnuts! ☹️☹️☹️☹️. 

I have sourced the original RAL colour for the ski bindings using a company in deepest Essex that specialise in colour matching. Funny enough it was a standard colour, so have all the paint, just have to get around to spraying them. Think I will be disappearing deep into my garage for a few months! 

[Lotusfab]

Oh nearly forgot, to save anyone out there also,doing this a lot of time and hassle the RAL colour for the bond ski bindings is RAL3026. 

It's a base coat from the Essex company and they will post it to you. It might save you some embarrassment they seem to look at me like I had just arrived from Mars when I walked in and put a ski binding on the desk. I don't think they had seen a ski binding before. I didn't tell them it was for a pair of James Bond Skis that might have tipped them over the edge and could of found myself being ejected!

http://www.carcolourservices.co.uk/

RAL3026

[Lotusfab]

Need to run all the other parts over to the powder coaters. They're great lads in Ashvale, but it's always a worry bits will go missing. Last time I had a scare when my window frame for the S1 had gone walkies. Fortunately they found it! 

[Lotusfab]

Thinks these have had it! Chisel worked very well nipped off the ends of the rivets from the inside as the tanks are out. Then used a dremel with a small drill bit to remove the heads. Pretty easy job. All them bits have arrived so time to put this mother back together!

The vent pipe system is also shot, but I have a lot of experience putting that in so happy days!

[silverfrost]

You need to leave the vent pipe system alone Fabian , an esprit without the classic smell of petrol fumes is not a real Esprit 

[Lotusfab]

There were plenty of fumes as the vent pipes were in about 50 pieces, a pipe is a bit of an exaggeration in this case!

[Lotusfab]

New grommets for the fuel crossover from the lads at PNM engineeringwith stainless ring ready to go on!

[Sweatow]

Agree with Dan there, got to have petrol fumes, if not try dipping your air freshener in petrol that works for me, and for that more authentic look disconnect one of your headlamp motors so only one light stays up, that way you know your driving a proper Esprit, adjusting the mixture on the carbs so it runs like crap also helps, gives the nice backfiring splutter affect, hope this helps   

[Andyww]

On 16/03/2017 at 06:49, Lotusfab said:

Need to run all the other parts over to the powder coaters. They're great lads in Ashvale, but it's always a worry bits will go missing. Last time I had a scare when my window frame for the S1 had gone walkies. Fortunately they found it! 

Mitcham Powder Coaters lost my Ferrari header tank. Until they remembered they had farmed out the job to someone as their compressor was overheating on that day. Are you going to Newlands Corner? My seats are still out the Esprit so will have to go in the F.

[Lotusfab]

When is it?

[Lotusfab]

Been busy today. Discovered my wipers work after an electrical short, but there not much of a wiper left! Have been stripping and cleaning the body ready for an epoxy coat. All the other parts are nearly off ready for powder coat. If they lost my header I would be a little upset, lucky they found it! I must now have about thirty parts to take over to Ash Vale. I've got the car out of the garage as I can't get to anything. It's now in the garden and work has speeded up. The paint is shot but it will do for a year. The handbrake mount is definitely toast. Have cleaned all the rear loom. Someone has messed with the electrics to put a lumenition in. Will have to consult the wiring diagram and see what they have taken out. I wish people who havnt go a clue wouldn't wreck all the bits! The doors are also shot. Mountings are off and bushes probably had it. There's a lot of work mounting up and I havnt even had time to do anything in the skis! This is going to be a long project!

[Andyww]

2 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

When is it?

Newlands Corner is this Sunday AM

[silverfrost]

What are you doing with the epoxy Fabian, the black engine bay parts, firewall etc ?  Door wise better to do them now anyway before paint. I would presume you had to do the on your S1 so you will be well skilled in that area   I pulled the whole loom out of the project car ages ago, need to look at mine but thought it would be easier to do out the car, however seeing it wrapped up in a cardboard box a while ago looking like a box of angry snakes, i may of been wrong and should of left it in situ maybe    

I hopefully planned to pin it all down on a large wood sheet and clean , repair , retape etc !

[Lotusfab]

Hi Andy will pm you. I'm going over the bodyshell black areas. I found the original company that made the paint when I was painting he S1. They would not sell in small quantities. Essentially it's expoxy based. So I have sourced a suitable paint that's used in boats. I have a lot of practice on the doors. My S1 windows work perfectly, only after months and months of effort and trying everything. The doors should be easy enough, but expensive for the bits. After all my effort on the S1 windows the drivers electric window was slow. I tried everything and had rebuilt the motor. I decided it must be the magnets that had demagnetised reducing torque. I bought a Delco motor from the USA. Put it in and the window worked perfectly. Only took about 6 months to solve. The other side the four wheel plate had to be rebuilt with new wheels! The looms easy and cheap in comparison. Theres a lot of suppliers and info on the S1 blog.

[silverfrost]

The epoxy paint sounds intresting, yes all the brass bushes are not cheap, then again not many bits on these car are for that matter sadly, everything always  seems to add up to three figures parts wise when required  !

[Lotusfab]

Was considering Measuring and getting bushes from simply bearings?

Havnt taken it apart yet, is this the bush the same as the S1. If so a bronze bush replacement may be a good idea.