Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Lotusfab]

Havnt had a chance to try them yet. The Air gun sounds the best method. With a potential torque of over 200 ft lbs they should come out or snap off, either way job done! 

[Lotusfab]

I pick up the last of the powder coating today. Very close to,getting a rolling chassis. It should be rolling ion about seven days max? Jobs left,

remove driveshaft

rebolt lower links and radius arms.

make the heat sheild for the engine mount

refit the gearvshift and crossgate

refit one front hub.

clean the oil cooler pipes and replace as necessary, make an oil cooler heat sheild

put the BBS wheels back on

Easy, Job done!

 

 

 

 

[Lotusfab]

These were the zinc plated callipers. In order to stop them degrading I have painted over the zinc plate. Hopefully this is the best solution for calipers! Now the problem of putting them back together!

Will attempt the driveshaft again tomorrow, just waiting for an Air wrech with twin air hammers and a torque of 520 ft lb to arrive, if this doesn't shift the Allen bolts nothing will! The Calipers look real pretty, shame to put them on!

Anyone got an original picture of the oil cooler heat sheild? 

[Lotusfab]

Oil cooler Hoses

I'm planing to replace these I'm going to use Mocal hoses supplied buy Think Automotive near Heathrow. They have been very helpful in the past so will take the originals down there for copying. Biggest problem with these is getting the fittings correct.

[Andyww]

14 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

 

Anyone got an original picture of the oil cooler heat sheild? 

I am guessing thats another big difference between different cars! Is the oil cooler not up at the front?

[Lotusfab]

Hi Andy, thanks for correcting me. I'm mean the Oil cooler thermostat, which is where the pipes join in the engine bay. It's under the exhaust manifold and I believe it should have a heat sheild like the LHS engine mount? 

[Andyww]

Oh yes. There are 3 heat shield parts in that area, I cant remember exactly what they are shielding but could well be that, and other items.

[Lotusfab]

Finally got the paint sample from the 18 year old paint. It looks similar to the fuel cap in dim light but is much much lighter in sunlight due much higher metallic reflection. It looks like the A19 code with the exception there's no red tint.  A close up picture reveals more reflective metallic content than the fuel cap. For all the reasons we have been through there's no way of knowing what the original car colour was like.

I've decided to stick with the lab paint match of the fuel cap, to me it just looks of the era and like the Bond car I see in the movie and the Deezer collection. At the end of the day the colour you spray a car is a personal choice and if your happy with it that's all that matters!

 

 

[Lotusfab]

This I think is the oil cooler thermostat sheild, can any one confirm with a picture?

[Lotusfab]

tTwo hours of hammering, chiseling, wd40 and a lot of determination, even 520 ft lb didn't shift the bolts very easily. Was just about to saw it off and the bolt broke free, after I had worn the head inside! Far better to be lucky than good!

[LOTUSMAN33]

Great job Fabian, something very satisfying about beating your way to success! 

I cut my teeth as a ship mechanic splitting 20mm nuts on steam systems, could get them down to less than half a dozen hits after a few years. I had a pal who regularly split M16 nuts with a single strike, he was built like a brick sh#%house mind! ?

Do you have any to drill or have they all the ends come out now?

Dave  

[Lotusfab]

All the ends came out eventually, but the last one needed several hits with a club hammer and the impact gun. The head then started to go but with some WD 40 it came out just before I was going to saw it and drill it out! 

Ive nearly sorted the rear suspension. It will have to come apart again when I put the new hubs on and I have to do a proper blast job on the hub carriers. I put the last bushes into the Compomotive lower links. Just bolts and springs on the rear tomorrow and then the BBS wheels can be cleaned and put back on! 

Neil at Thompson Body is doing a great job on the respray, should look awesome!

Below compomotive lower link. Special Compomotive bushes on the left from S and J and an unusual rubber bush on the inner right. This bush is pushed through and so you have an equal amount protruding from each end, a press is essential!

Ps Dave I think they would have sacked me, two hours later trying to get the same nut off!

[Lotusfab]

.Neil has kindly sent some progress pics, you may remember he sprayed my S1 which one the best in class at Brands last year. It's great to see professionals at their best! 

I hate spray on the nuts in the door shut, so they have been removed! 

I travelled a 400 mile round trip to get my car to him in Plymouth, but it was worth it! 

[Lotusfab]

https://www.facebook.com/thompsonbodyrepair/

you can follow the body progress on Facebook here!

[Lotusfab]

Here's the 18 year old A19 paint test card. I brought in some friends to have a look one of them has experience with lighting for movies and the other owned a print business. Colour experts you might say. They were both of the opinion to go with the fuel cap match, which was also my gut feeling. Here's the picture so you can decide if the A19 is the Bond colour, good luck! ??????

[Andyww]

I would say the one on the right. The new paint was quite reflective I think

[silverfrost]

Fantastic update Fabian    The project is steaming ahead , glad the driveshaft bolts finally gave way,  and that the chassis is near to be a rolling one.

Paint wise,   I am also a fan of the one on the right,  the one on the left i.e Matts fuel cap, just looks like the clear has gone a little misty over the years.   The right one looks the buisness to me imo 

Another thing learnt today from looking at your pictures,  i never knew they painted the satin black under the metal trim by the quarter glass.  Always thought they just painted the body part around the window and just bolted that piece of metal on afterwards.  Lotus did a really nice finish for something that you could not see 

 

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Chaps. Here is why I have gone with the fuel cap paint. I've had it explained to me at length about filming and colour. I have seen the above  picture. Apparently all filming and pictures are illuminated. My friends father was an expert lighting man in the 70s and worked on many  famous movies. The lighting had to be provided so that on all days the colour in the film would be consistent. In the above picture, despite the snow the car was still illuminated so that different areas on the picture could be brought into focus. Note the light reflection on the rear of the car from the artificial lights. The make up of the light also changes the colour on the film. The picture of the cap and the test card  I have posted above is misleading for all the reasons we have said. The above paint on the right is highly reflective. The above picture was taken indoors with no sunlight, as soon as sunlight illuminates the A19 it looks nothing like the fuel cap or the above picture. This high reflectivity would have been a nightmare when filming. It's also much lighter than the cap and has an orange tint. I believe paint goes lighter with age not darker. The other factor is the car was resprayed maybe the colour was darkened for the movie? We will never really know but what I am pretty sure that test card colour and the A19 we have now could never have been used on the Bond car, it simply looks nothing like it in bright sunlight. The picture above would not be possible. So I am painting my car the same colour as the fuel cap which I believe is the same as the Deezer car. I will be going to the museum in the next six months and will take my colour test card with me. I'm pretty confident it will match. I've probably spent more time on this colour thing than anyone else so hopefully I've made the correct decision, let's see how it turns out and judge by the results. If it looks like the Deezer car I will be more than happy! I will post a picture when the sun comes up of the fuel cap and test card in bright sunlight and you will see why the A19 we have now could never have been used on the Bond Turbo. 

 

[silverfrost]

At the end of the day Fabian,   No matter what sample you choose it will end up looking stunning,   So either way it will end been winner winner chicken dinner all day long !  The only thing that it might affect is your OCD but hopefully you can learn to live with that lol. 

Its a fantastic project and one i enjoy reading and will continue to do so until you finish this master piece,  

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Dan! 

heres the sunlight picture. Can't see how the colour on the right can change to the one on the left even in 40 years? I believe colours go lighter with age? Anyhow soon this will all be irrelevant as the cake will be baked! 

[silverfrost]

Yes see what you mean about the colour Fabian,  the right one now looks very bright.   

[Lotusfab]

 Chassis still missing one wheel, despite my best efforts. I was scuppered by the Compomotive lower link bush. One fitted one didn't! I found out after about two hours of trying to put the pin in! I took it all to pieces and found the bush didn't fit, the centre is too small for the pin! 

[TAR]

More great progress. Well done.  

[giorgetto]

Hi Fabian,

I remember seeing FYEO as a young lad and believing the car was red in colour.  I was surprised when years later I discovered it was actually a copper/red colour.

I think you are right to go with the fuel cap paint.  Film can be very misleading regards the colour of items on screen.  The paint does look very light in the photo of Roger above.  This is no doubt a publicity shot and would have been very well lit perhaps giving a false impression of the paint.  I wrote a little bit about this previously in the below thread.  It may be if use and give you solace in your choice.  If it were me, I would choose the fuel cap colour also.

Brilliant project by the way!  Best of luck with it.

 

 

 

 

 

[giorgetto]

Not sure if I posted that link correctly.

If you scroll up once you hit the jump, there is a youtube link to a video of David Lynch explaining colour timing.