The birth of LotusRescue

[johnpwalsh]

Looks like LotusRescue are about to be asked to assist in the sale of a rather nice Lotus Europa, circa 1971. Calypso Red. One owner from new with a factory fitted Spider chassis when the car was only 10 years old. Wishbones etc all replaced with new powder coated items a few years ago. This one is not the big valve head unit, but the smaller 1.4 Renault engine.

 

The car will be competitively priced to a fellow enthusiast. 

If there is any interest please PM and I can give further details and photographs.

[johnpwalsh]

So, the Lotus Elite has passed her MOT and done a few miles as a shake down. Still needs some work but a great rolling restoration for someone. Advisories on her MOT were slight play on n/s front wheel bearing, slight play on o/s rear wheel bearing and slight play on n/s rear wheel bearing. Not to bad for 16 years in storage. The chassis is one of the best I have seen having been blitzed in waxoil every year. One carb has a minor fuel leak. I have dismantled this twice and fitted a new kit from Eurocarb, but still not cured the leak. She is currently fitted with a set of carbs off my Excel but these will be changed back to her own carbs before she goes. Since driving her an oil leak has started on the rear crankshaft oil seal, this was not evident during her MOT. She will require 4 new tires due to the originals being perished with age. I stuck on a spare set of tires for the test but need them back on my Excel. As previously mentioned on another post, the paintwork is not the best but looks ok from a few feet away. The car is now available for sale as I have another waiting to come home and have limited time to go collect it as well as being rather short on storage space. Something to do with having 6 cars plus our daily drivers. I do have someone interested in her but just feeling the water in case it falls through. A plus point is the engine has been rebuilt and has great oil pressure and compression so wont require anything for  years to come.

Any interest feel free to PM me and I can give a full breakdown of whats been done or is required.

See short clip of her on show last week a a prestigious classic car show in Scotland.

The White marks on the bonnet is dust blown from the show site.

 

[mdw]

That red excel .  

[johnpwalsh]

1 hour ago, mdw said:

That red excel .  

That is the first Excel pickup truck. Nice project as an blank canvas for someone to complete.

 

[mdw]

Does it come with the bit to glue back on?

[johnpwalsh]

On 22/06/2018 at 09:08, silverfrost said:

Gutted to hear about the dog, Sadly the big C gets most of old dogs in the end sadly. 

 

Well it was decided to find another dog after the loss our old chum, much against my usual, we went for a pedigree from a dealer his time. Main reason being the grandson is a bit frightened of bigger dogs so we though, get a pup and he can grow with it, so a pup was found from a good breeder and no puppy farm. Pup now been home 4 weeks and dopey as any new dog can be. But the grandson loves it. Nice little Blue and Tan marled Italian Whippet to keep our other Italian Blue company.

[Barrykearley]

Got to love a lil whippet. Fab mutts them

[chipp]

@johnpwalshhttps://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1028466

This one is in Duns for a tenner. 🙂

 

chipp

[KAS-118]

15 hours ago, chipp said:

@johnpwalshhttps://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1028466

This one is in Duns for a tenner. 🙂

 

chipp

😱😭☹️

[johnpwalsh]

LotusRescue currently have a stock of 2 Elites, 2 Excels for light restoration. Any interest PM for details. All up and running.

[johnpwalsh]

So 8 months on and the imported S1 is at last finally getting there. There have been several delays caused due to having to wait on parts to be made as she has been changed to UK spec from Federal with the exception of the the steering wheel still being on the wrong side but otherwise. Bumper's, spoiler's, light's etc have all been converted. This car mechanically is now first class with everything having been done and a carbs have been changed to Delorto's. And yes, I can confirm what everyone else says about lining up those door's. They are a bloody nightmare

[williamtherebel]

Looking good!!  Mine is coming on ---- slowly! Just fitted new front shocks, engine mounts and gearbox mounts. 

[johnpwalsh]

So, couple of month's back the word goes out Lotus are going to have a party after all. So me thinks, get cracking and get the Black type 75 done, although she has been through her MOT she still needs some fettling. Trouble with that is lack of time as I am still working on the S1. So a good friend of ours informs me he has purchased a nice little M100 for his Mrs and would we take it to Hethel for the 70th as said Mrs is on night shift and wont be able to drive it. So a plan is made, he will bring his newly mechanically rebuilt Essex Blue dry sump and we will take the M100 and that will save me having a big push to get two cars ready. Now for two weeks before the party, he has been told. Get the car out for a run, give it a good shake down. It's fine he say's, just had thousands spent on it and its perfect. So Thursday night we head South for an overnight stay in Edinburgh all ready to collect said cars early next morning. Up nice and early and the Esprit needs fuel, he jumps in and100 yards later, no clutch but plenty of fluid on the road. Quick discussion. He takes the M100 and we come in the daily. So off I go and recover the Esprit from the main road and drive it back clutchless. Bag's and baggage transferred and off we head. Now everyone thinks that maybe simple. So we have rescued the Esprit and were off. Just think about it. Ticket entry only and we are in a Volvo. Problem No1. So heading South via Jedburgh and the little M100 starts to heat up. Bugger. Head off to nearby caravan park and obtain couple of litres of water with the plan to stop at first garage and have a good look. So again, of we plod on with the Volvo in lead, the M100 and another friends type 75 following up. So, temp is staying steady so decision made, head for Scott's Corner and meet up with the Leven Lotus group. Quick check and top up half Lt of water and off we go again. 3 hours further on and a frantic phone call from following type 75, help. No clutch, cant get gears. The trusty old Volvo does a smart U turn in busy traffic and heads of to find stranded car parked up on grass verge with a rather nice motorhome towing a stunning Lotus Talbot in full rally guise heading for Hethel, they had stopped to see if the could help. Yep, Lotus owners are the best. Well, said type 75 owner has a selection of tools and a small trolley jack so we get the gear out, jack it up and yours truly scrambles under the car to see if we could find the fault. Simples, clutch adjustment nut had backed off as no lock nut on the clutch cable adjuster. 5 mins and she is good to go. So LotusRescue good deed No 2 completed. Off we go again after another half Lt of water in the M100. Obviously by this time we are way behind schedule but we still catch the Leven Lotus group. Great fun, an old Volvo estate leading a convoy of most new, or nearly new Lotus of all guise down the motorway. All good things come to an end and the posh boy's cut off to visit an air museum as previously arranged. We older guy's think we should just keep going as we had a BBQ to attend in a few hours time. Now remember, during this time we also have the predicament of how Wendy and I are going to get in with said Volvo as we had already given away the spare park and ride tickets we had to other Lotus owners and we couldn't go back on our word, even though we actually still had said tickets in our possession. So while I am driving, Wendy is busy texting various friends and posting help notices on TLF which were then followed up by fellow members pleading on our behalf. Outcome being by the time we got to our hotel, we had offers of several seats in various car's which would save our day. In the end we opted for Henry in a nice S3 Na and Christopher in a rather nice Elise S1, both of whom were staying at the same hotel as us. So made the BBQ, had a bloody good feed, met loads of people and had a very late night . Saturday morning comes and said cars are ready for us at 0715. Off we set off, Wendy in Elise and me in the Esprit. Well we all know how the day went, fantastic. Return to the hotel, this time me in the Elise and Wendy in the Esprit, well you just have to don't you. The day was followed by a nice meal in which two rather funny English gentlemen joined our table for a bit of a language lesson among other things. Marc @march and Mike, hope you enjoyed it, Marc, you were correct. Roseberry Topping Hill. So after another latish night, off to bed. So Sunday morning, late breakfast, pack the bags, check the M100 for water, (now remember this little car had been stuck on the track for an hour or so with no heating issues the day before) and off we set. We get to the Sutton bridge crossing and the bridge decides it has to open. Queue of cars form and within 2 minutes the little Elan dumps her water all over the road, no overheating, no high temp, just a hose burst. So once again the LotusRescue mode is switched on and we pull over. Pop the bonnet and find a small bypass hose burst at it's connection point. Car owner only has breakdown cover on his Esprit but not the Elan. No problem,  We have Gold AA cover which we can use for any car (well I have been running a Lotus for the past 10 so know what can happen) so we call out the AA.  A van will be with you in 3 hours. Google is wonderful. 16 miles back is a B&Q store which is open, so oft I jolly well go to grab some tools and a Jubilee clip. Back I comes with said tools and the AA are just arriving. I have cut said end off hose so all the AA have to do is fit new clip, stick back on the hose, fill with water and we are good to go. We think. Said AA man does as mentioned, but only puts in about 2 Ltrs of water, doesn't bleed the system and says, head gaskets gone. I should point out at this point he has a pressure pump on the system and there is no loss in pressure on the gauge. He carries out a sniff test and says yep, heads gone you need to be recovered. Bullocks me thinks, but who am I to say. So a flat bed is ordered to collect said car and take it home. oh, it will be here in three hour's. By this time the ladies in our group want to refresh themselves. I.E, they want to P and don't wont want to go behind a bush. 3 hours, plenty time to nip along to Bennny's cafe, grab a bite to eat and get back. 40 Minutes later we are back suitably refreshed and the AA turns up to load said M100. So once again LotusRescue collects the now pissed off owners of said M100 and take them home to Edinburgh. Must just say, during our time at the roadside at least  8 other Lotus owners/drivers stopped to offer assistance. Thank guys. So off we head back to gods country, drop off weary travelers on the outskirts of Edinburgh, grab a coffee with them and off we go again. We finally arrived home at 00.30 in the morning, both tired but home. The Volvo, my workhorse done good as usual.

Would we do it all over again, of course we would it was bloody brilliant.

Christopher @kunstenaar and Henry @skiing, you are both gentleman.

To all the TLF members who all offered to get us tickets to get in. Thanks ladies and gents, much appreciated.

A special to Bibs, @Bibs well what do you say to the maestro.

Huge thanks to all who organised, spoke to us, welcomed us and made it what it was.

It was GREAT.

[Timjgor90]

A massive massive thank you to John and Wendy aka Lotusrescue, for they’re help and massive amount of patience In dealing with our breakdowns and hickups along the way to and from lotus 70th birthday celebration,👆🏻 as discribed above. 

without them we’d have been up the creek without  a paddle, 

other than these issues along the way was an amazing weekend and met some great people to. 

Thanks again 

pops and Mumma Walsh of Lotusrescue yous are the best 

[kunstenaar]

Was a great weekend and happy to help out! My ‘solo‘ weekend away didn’t feel so solo with all the fab folk in the Lotus community.

Hate to hear of all the car troubles ... but we all know what L O T U S stands for...

Had a good drive home south and for awhile in convoy on the A11 with two other green S1s... one of which being the taxi ride for Elisa Artioli  Go team green Elise!

[march]

@johnpwalsh - Thanks to you, Wendy and family for making such a memorable evening.  I am just so glad I missed out on the 'mouthwash' shots as Wendy described them (even now the thought of the taste of them makes me cringe). Glad you all got back safely.

[johnpwalsh]

Well the follow up to the run home. Car No1, the Essex Blue Esprit which had to be left behind. It turned out that the garage hadn't fitted the clutch slave cylinder correctly and the bleed nipple was loose, hence loss of fluid. This was corrected and it's now all good. Just a pity we didn't have time to fully investigate before leaving for Hethel or she would have made it. Car No2 which had to come home on transport. Seem's I was right enough in saying ferk all wrong with head gasket, just that the AA guy hand't filled or bled the thing properly, I mean, two liters of water to refill an M100 after a burst heater hose. Now done and running great with no heating issues. Tim, the owner carried out the work himself with some guidance. Well done Tim, those new spanners will be getting more work in the future.

 

[silverfrost]

Great news John ,  glad all came good in the end   

[Clive59]

Always an adventure John! Good to travel down with you, and thanks for your help as you eloquently described above. The return journey home was fun and uneventful thankfully(well, ok, I lost a bit of aluminium trim at 70mph, in the rain...I didn't return, it is on the A66 now), but I had you on speed-dial just in case.

Oh, and has anybody ever put V-power diesel in an Esprit? A friend did on the Sunday, and it makes a great smoke machine. Not enough diesel to make it stop luckily, so it got home safely.

A great weekend indeed. 

[johnpwalsh]

So the biggest project I have ever taken on is at last nearing completion after prolonged delays waiting on parts etc. The S1 import might just make it in time to be star of the show for an opening of a high class restaurant in Paris. Now the push is really on to get her completed. Just hope the last of the part's arrive in time.

Bodywork returned to almost 100% UK speck, but kept as Left Hand Drive as she going home to France. New carpets, mechanically overhauled, refreshed cooling system,  new cooling fans, new boot boards, new engine cover, electrics revised, adjustable suspension,  brakes overhauled with s/steel braided hoses, new Dellorto carbs,  new 4 branch manifold and stainless steel exhaust, all new inner and outer door handles. new door mirror., new windscreen, new windscreen trim,  new rear screen trim, new quarter light window trim, new front and rear bumper's, new rear number plate plinth to UK speck, wheel's vapor blasted and returned to original look. Vapor blast is a great system which gives as new appearance with NO blast profile left on the material.

 Body stripped, dismantled and returned to gel coat prior to full repaint in original color paint.

The list goes on and on. Just don't ask me to count the hour's that's gone into this project as I lost count a long time ago. 5 day's just to get the windows and door handles working properly and all lined up correctly. Must admit though, when you see the Viglia dash all light up and looking Green, it does look smart.

See before pics as she was collected from the importers, three months late and after pics with the stupid home made front spoilers, rear spoiler and painted wheels all returned to original.Huge difference and that's only what you see.

 

 

 

 

 

[bigfella70]

Looks stunning. Just read the thread from beginning and very impressed. The S1 will certainly look the part in Paris!

[johnpwalsh]

Cheer's Dave. Please just don't ask me to do another to this extent in a hurry. I have another waiting to be started on but it wont be to the extent of this one. Hats off to Fabian (among a few) for all that he has completed on the Bond one, and to many other's who gave me hint's, tips and advice on this one along the way. TLF, you just cant beat it. 

[williamtherebel]

Congrats John, Looks stunning. All credit to you. I agree hats off to @Lotusfab' et all'.   TLF has helped me out no end.  

[KAS-118]

Great job you've done 👍

[silverfrost]

Well done John,  Glad it went well even with the parts issues you had,  onwards and upwards for lotusrescue