resurection of my beloved GT3

[Gasman GT3]

As some of you may know, along with Nigeniga in his Europa S,  I was involved in a crash on the M20 back in May.  Niges Europa S was sadly destroyed, and my Esprit was damaged.  Although the damage did not seem that bad and was virtually all cosmetic, the car was writtten off.  Devastated I thought long and hard about what to do, but the car simply means too much so I decided to buy the car back and get it repaired.  The initial assessement was done by Beaconsfield Workshop, who are Lotus approved and also a Rolls Royce & Bentley approved bodyshop so its in good hands, I have seen their workmanship and it's excellent. 

So to kick things off below are some pictures of the damage after the crash.

 

[Gasman GT3]

The main damage was on the drivers side, the door is too badly damaged to repair, so I have had to source a replacement, which I got from Douglas Valley off a Sport 350.  Main concern was the damage to the front Oz Nova, but thankfully this is repairable by a specialist, again other other wheels are undamaged but scuffed so all are to be refurbished.

During the accident the sunroof was twisted and the catches broke, and the front tounges bent, so a complete set has been ordered from SJ

As virtually every panel has some damage a full strip down and respray is the only answer, so that is what is happening now.  To cut costs I am sourcing all of the parts.

[ramjet]

Hope you can get it all sorted out again.

[silverfrost]

Hope you get it all sorted out soon,   Very scary these days how easy it seems to be, to write on of the cars off from an insurance point of veiw 

[Stuart Monument]

Glad to hear she is on the mend. Your Car is striking! I

[ramjet]

I thought that the GT3 was wingless?

[cbclotus]

Hi Adrian .stunning car .good luck with the work ....Mike

[Gasman GT3]

1 hour ago, ramjet said:

I thought that the GT3 was wingless?

It is but mine has always had an S4s wing

[C8RKH]

That GT3 is a lovely looking car Adrian and I really look forward to seeing it restored back to its former glory. Good luck with the restoration.

[Chillidoggy]

41 minutes ago, ajheath said:

It is but mine has always had an S4s wing

Optional extra, perhaps?

The bloke down the road from me has a GT3 with the S4s wing, too.

[nigeninja]

if its gotta have a wing the S4S wing was by far the best wing to have IMO    

[Gasman GT3]

On 26/08/2018 at 11:13, nigeninja said:

if its gotta have a wing the S4S wing was by far the best wing to have IMO    

my thoughts exactly

 

[KAS-118]

Glad to see that you're repairing her 👍

[Gasman GT3]

Edited November 4, 2018 by ajheath

[Gasman GT3]

[Gasman GT3]

[Gasman GT3]

[Gasman GT3]

May seems a long time ago, and I have now been without my GT3 6 long months.  I thought it was time I updated on progress to date.  The damage meant the car would need a total strip down and respray, as well as repairing the fibreglass damage, and other part.  First thing on the shopping list was a drivers door as the original one was too far gone to be repaired.  After some searching I found a Sport 350 door at DVB, for £550.00 which given it had all the fittings and glass I didn't think was too bad, most of the rest of the parts, such as sunroof fittings seals, and front splitter were ordered from SJ, and took 3 months to arrive, finally I needed a new rear light, which was very kindly provided by John Deighton, a fellow Esprit enthusiast.

 

The posts above show the progress of the work to a couple of weeks ago.  The car has now been painted and I went to see her this weekend, as Beaconsfield wanted to make sure I was happy before they started the refit, and also because B25 Chrome Orange is a tricky colour, and they ended up with a heavier pearl effect than normal, which makes it look like liquid in the sunlight, and a more modern colour.  Below are photos I took yesterday, and I am super pleased with the finish and colour, the end is finally in sight.  while she it being refitted they are sending off the OZ Nova"s for repair and repainting.

 

[TAR]

That is going to look awesome in the sunlight.  

[Bibs]

Lovely, I may pop up there this week to take a look for myself :) 

[Gasman GT3]

Andy French is going to see them and the car this week too

[Bibs]

Andy & I will be there tomorrow mate, looking forward to seeing the car in the flesh. 

[Jacques]

Looks like an ace job so far. Good luck with the remaining jobs and to finally have your car back soon.

Kind regards,

Jacques

[Bibs]

Very impressed with the quality of the fibreglass repair by the chaps at Beaconsfield, it's genuinely invisible and the paintwork is stunning. Lovely guys too, I can see why you're happy Ade. Looking forward to seeing it all back together again

 

[Jacques]

It's going to look absolutely brilliant in the sun as well as in the shade   !!! Even if you cover it in one of Bibs covers (which are brilliant in themselves), it's still going to look absolutely in flying colours.

Kind regards,

Jacques