SOUP - My new series about my Series 2

[GTK]

23 hours ago, JonSE said:

Any big road trips planned once you complete the build?

There'll be a trip to the 6hr Classic at Spa, and possibly a lap of the Nurburgring, but there is a long list of people who I owe at least a spin to, not least my good pal who I bought the car from. I'll be making a b-line for him first, and he's not in Ireland.

8 hours ago, Djs44 said:

...You've a bit of catching up to do now thou . 

haha casting shade there man? I'll step up

[JonSE]

Spa classic is lovely, sun going down, lager in hand and the GT40 brakes glowing into the corners, brings back memories!

Keep up the good work and hope to see the car back together soon 👍

[Bibs]

Visit every year, great long weekend 👍

[Dan E]

including the massively well organised one this year 🤩

[GTK]

If only there was a spreadsheet, it would make everything so much easier

[GTK]

Ok I've put some speed holes in a little bit of my Esprit, do your worst

 

[drdoom]

Lovely work George, though literally feeling your pain having done much of the comparable chassis prep on my own S2. The snippets of levity editted in were therefore a palpable relief, top marks in choosing Ron Swanson, Dr. Evil, etc. The colour you've chosen for this toy will certainly bring smiles.

Ahh, to be able to travel by Esprit to the Six Hours, a fine treat we pedalled off to in hired Renault some years ago. Cherish the memories still.

Cheers

[Chillidoggy]

Another very entertaining video, George.

“Martini Green”. Presumably, such paint has to be shaken, not stirred?

[eeyoreish]

You sure it’s not mint green, the ones with the holes..? 🤔

[GTK]

@ Neil, Well Lotus called it Martini but it might have gotten brightened up a little in the mix. It was the colour of the Lotus 80 F1 car, less known because in service development wasn't enough to make it a winner.

@ Ian, I'm stealing the bejingos out of that

@ Steve, have you ever read about Nick Offerman? He's a professional boat builder and wood worker. You can def see that influence in the Ron Swanson character once you know. 

 

[drdoom]

Yes, gathered some idea of what makes Offerman tick by way of interviews seen/heard over the years.

[GTK]

Hard at work on 458G. I managed to get the gear shift assembly 75% dismantled, I stopped shy of going max effort on the centre pin lest I broke anything. Far as I can tell the forum has one pic of a disassembled unit, but no real info other than 'drift the pins out'. I'm probably just being too cautious, but anyone done it recently?

 

[JonSE]

Well done on the 100th video!

Sorry can’t help regards the gear stick, mine was quite loose and turned out to be fractured around that area so I assume they are fragile….

[GTK]

Cheers Jon, I saw your gear lever story in another thread when I was scrounging around for intel. I'd me more of a mind that yours got some sort of heavy knock in it's past so was weakened. Or are you just super strong?

[JonSE]

Ah, sadly not sure George.

Wouldn’t be beyond the realm that I might have caught it myself at some point as everything was thrown into the cabin before I collected it, but I recall playing with the change sat in the car (making the associate noises :-)) and it felt wrong from the off.
 

But the engine was JUST hanging on by a single engine mount thread (other side shot), half the body bolts were long gone, the seatbelt mounts had returned to their base elements and so on, so the stick might have just been a victim of the general malaise the car had suffered through time.

I had an S2 going back about 10 years and ran it alongside an SE for about 5 years from memory.

Lots of benefits of the later car but the S2 had the sweetest gear change on the skinny gearstick, not like a rifle bolt action but just felt lovely and fell well within my reach from the central binnacle.

I reckon if the bushing and joints can be set correctly, the shift might rival the best out there action wise.

I’m exploring if there’s any upgrades that can be made to the joints etc but I might be chasing something that can’t ever be perfect….

The sticks are rare apparently so I’m going to need to fabricate one I think….

The SE moved to Renault transaxle and I once refurbished the rose jointed manifold on that as the gear selection action started to become intermittent as the play increased through wear, but even set well, it was never a patch on the S2.
 

But it was all cable operated and while it felt OK, they lost the tactility of the SM box and a big feel of the classic experience that went with it….

Image below of my saggy you know what….

 

 

[GTK]

22 hours ago, JonSE said:

Image below of my saggy you know what….

..saggy tax disk holder! Gotcha.

I'll go check now but do you have a build thread on your car? Interested to see. 

I was only having a conversation with Pete from PNM Parts on Friday and they do a linkage upgrade kit for the S1 & S2. It's a kit of uprated bushes that are heat and oil proof and just slightly stiffer, but retain a subtleness important to prevent resonance and vibration coming back to the gear lever. The components of each bush seemingly click together too so that they're secure once in. I have ordered a kit.

I read an owner in another thread who said that his brother insisted on the rose jointed upgrade kit for his Esprit, while the posting owner rebuilt his own Esprit with standard items and found his brother's car unpleasant to drive for the harsh gear change.

EDIT - Found your build thread. Great stuff

[JonSE]

Nice one, I’ll look at that kit cheers!
 

I do recall some resonance at 4K revs on the stick in my old S2 but put it down to just another thing that needed looking at one day.

I’ve had other cars and the jury was out on eliminating 100% of all play via rose joints due to the harshness you mention, NVH issues and the fact if they then do go slightly out of true they can lose the selection.

Personal preference came into whether or not to upgrade also based on how the modification felt.

But that particular car had fantastic access, so you could change back, not sure I fancy that on a fully built esprit. Let us know how you find the mod!

My thread is currently one more of destruction than build, continuing the strip down as randomly as possible…you know what they say, any idiot can take it apart!!

If anyone else is interested it’s called “S2!” and it’s on the esprit restoration forum.

I’ve received so much guidance from here I do like to try and put back where I can if anyone else is doing their own work.

But it’s turned a corner and some of the shiny bits are once again reassembling in readiness for a big push…

I’m not like the majority of you guys though, I’m project managing a lot of the refurbishment as I’d just break the engine if I tried to do it myself…

Lovely idea to maybe get a few of these cars together once we all finish them?

Ireland might be a nice destination for that 😀

[GTK]

1 hour ago, JonSE said:

Lovely idea to maybe get a few of these cars together once we all finish them?

Funny I had the same thought when reading through your thread. I also noted I had been there before in another life as evidenced by likes I left 😂

[drdoom]

What very limited miles I've covered in Esprit notwithstanding, the gear change is recalled most favourably. P911 by comparison feel just like waving a stick around in a tub of rubber, the Stevens cars somewhere nearer the GG cars though not as good. I chose to opt for SJ's crossgate cable upgrade, confident I'll be amply pleased when that combines with all new bushes in the fore-aft linkage.

Cheers 

[GTK]

Does anyone know what this threaded hole on the gear shift is for? I haven’t found a photo anywhere online where there’s something fitted to it. I’m guessing part of production process.

[JonSE]

Sorry no, anything on the parts list below?

Didn’t get a close pic of mine when it came apart…

[GTK]

You can just make out in your pic that it's empty there too. It must have been something factory or casting related. It's irrelevant now anyway because....

... it's gone.

Will be interesting to know whether I have to build up a weld sometime in the future and redrill/tap it though lol