1997 Esprit V8 rebuild - remortgage needed

[tomcattom]

I love the workmanship on those Axminster tanks. A set of them are on the list for mine at some stage, currently got one tank blanked off at present

 

[Chillidoggy]

It's an absolute crime to hide them away! Beautiful workmanship.

They weren't cheap, but they were the best I'd seen. I did have to wait a while for them, but it was worth it.

[Mightymetro]

4 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

They are nice them tanks. How’s the engine rebuild going - we need pics of that 👍

Your guess is as good as mine 🙈

[Mightymetro]

More bits arriving.  New clutch from GTO and gearbox gaskets 

[Mightymetro]

She’s back.  Not complete but back 😍.  Engine going to Mike S this week and I’m hoping to do some work on the car itself before taking it over to Germany for the engine fitting.  Can’t believe it’s been over a year since I’ve driven the old girl .  Hopefully more updates coming 👍🏻

[mike_sekinger]

It really is a stunning colour !

Looking forward to getting started.

 

[tomcattom]

How did the clear lens conversion go in the end? Did you manage to complete them?

[Mightymetro]

Got the clear lenses finished and waiting to go on with new clear side repeaters and front indicators 👍🏻

[Mightymetro]

It’s amazing how much room a stripped V8 engine takes up!!!!!!.  The two black boxes have the block on one and the heads in another.  The gearbox isn’t even in these pictures !

 

thats the huge garage I have to work on the car 🙈

[Mightymetro]

Radiator and oil coolers out.  Now to renew the oil lines, new water hoses and then make a start stripping the suspension for powder coating.  Angle grinder at the ready 

 

[Mightymetro]

NSF Suspension removed.  I’m going to do one corner at a time as I don’t have room to do everything all at once and it will keep me more organised.  Am going to get them blasted and then get the bushes out and check for cracks etc.  Then powder coat and new bushes.

just need to decide what colour to have the powder coating.  Maybe silver or black

 

all the bolts came out relatively easy.  The bottom arm to chassis bolt was the trickiest as it was tight in and also 2 of the strut top bolts snapped.

 

 

[Barrykearley]

Powder coating is a pain in the ass with the bushes. I would never do that again. It also causes issue with shimming and reassembly. Acid etch prime, paint would be my preferred method although it’s not as long lasting. The other choice you have is acid dip and replating 

[Mightymetro]

Cheers Barry, I’ve now read a few threads on different owners clubs about powder coating so am looking into re plating.

 

does anyone know the pros and cons of the different ones?  I think there is zinc, hot galv, cold Galv etc and also a rough cost for each corner ?

[Rolls]

Try por15. I’m convinced it’s equally as good as plating for large parts as it’s not sacrificial. It’s cheaper. Looks good. And is easy to apply.

[jonwat]

Bilt Hamber wins loads of awards & is suposed to be as good as powder coating. 😀

epoxy mastic is an ultra-durable, high solids, heavy duty protective coating for steel and alloys

 

[Mightymetro]

Suspension removed and in a crusty state.  There isn’t actually much left on the car.  I’m hoping over the next few weeks to have everything cleaned, zinc Nickel coated and new bushes and refitted.  I’ve just had the oil coolers tested and refurbished and brand new front to back and across oil,cooler hoses.  
 

it’s real tricky with the lack of room as once I have them off the car I have to put the, in the house for storage.  Have used all my brownie points up the last few weeks.  

Have also taken delivery of 3 x spal fans.  Just waiting for the support rings and radiator supports to come back from coating and I can then build the radiator pack up and refit the oil and rad.

[jonwat]

15 hours ago, Mightymetro said:

I’m hoping over the next few weeks to have everything cleaned, zinc Nickel coated and new bushes and refitted.  

Those lower wishbones are galvanised, don't be tempted to have them shot blasted (been there, done that, got the T shirt)  

[cweeden]

At the risk of looking stupid, why not and what is the best way to clean these up before re-finishing? 

[jonwat]

When I had mine done (1982 S3) I just handed them over to the shot blaster & when returned was told "there's still a few patches of zinc on them" which obviously wasn't ideal.

There may be gentler forms of shot blasting that will remove the dirt while leaving the zinc, you'll have to ask around.

Otherwise I'd use various sized wire brushes in an electric drill then finish them with something tough like this. 

[Mightymetro]

Suspension parts back from the platers.  I was told that it wouldn’t be a good finish like just Zinc and they might not be to everyone’s taste but I just told them I wanted them as corrosion resistant as possible so these are zinc nickel with passivate.  New Lotac bushes fitted (I got a local motorsports company to remove and fit them and they turned up some sleeves to help fit to avoid damage).  
 

picking up the rear upper and lower links today as they had to make a tapered sleeve to get the Lotac bushes in and ran out of time yesterday
 

new SKF wheel bearings all round

every Nut, bolt and washer is new and new split bushes for the rear aluminium uprights.  Just on with cleaning them and the radius arms and then hopefully start assembly this week

 

[Mightymetro]

Also, I haven’t been able to start working on my Spal fan upgrade as the support rings for the abs frame where awaiting plating too.

 

dont think it will be a really hard job to do, 👍🏻
 

looks like the plugs are different though but I’ll have to wait until I’m back under the car to check and sort wiring 

[tomcattom]

The plugs are different, having just removed the remains of the fans from mine. The standard fans have a round body two pin connector where the Spal fans have two conventional 6.3mm spades at 90 degrees to each other.

[Mightymetro]

Are you going to change the plugs on the Spal or the car ? 

[tomcattom]

I'm changing the plugs on the car but that's mainly because I'm replacing a chunk of the fan wiring loom because it's been badly butchered by a previous owner.

The plugs on the Spal are a lot more common and easy to get than those on the OE fans too, which was another reason to swap them on the car.

[Mightymetro]

Thanks, I’ll get some ordered