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Esprit S2 - Restomod


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Looks great! Love the body coloured engine cover, not so sure about the toggle switches in the reworked dash, but hey, it's yours and will look fab when it's on the road in August!

Normally Aspirated - and lovin' it!

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The toggle switches are a bit sixties and I had a wobble, but I saw it in the flesh on Friday and it’s totally awesome.  You have to keep the faith with the facia.  It’s also getting resprayed to black; I got outvoted on the gold.

6 minutes ago, plumdeplakmuis said:

very nice wheels, 

Aren’t they?  So impressed with them. And because they are a normal size, they’re covered in Conti’s.

Sudders and Dany

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So you’re the fruit loop who can’t stop himself :-). Seen your car on a few occasions, very nice and quite an undertaking, hope it lives up to expectations.

 

Trevor.

I'll get around to it at some point.

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8 hours ago, Trevsked said:

So you’re the fruit loop who can’t stop himself :-). Seen your car on a few occasions, very nice and quite an undertaking, hope it lives up to expectations.

 

Trevor.

I am!  In my defence, this was the plan (more or less) from the very beginning.  Just taken a while to realise.

Sudders and Dany

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I think, for an S2, if you're not in a 'JPS' commemorative, then Championship Champagne Gold is the only other option (for the classic look).

I prefer the simplistic elegance of the S1 Wolfrace over the S2 Speedlines, which is why I chose that style for the replicas (and, having 17" rims allows better rubber choice and is therefore safer).

Sudders and Dany

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Hi Mark,

Count me among the bearded types by dint of age, otherwise quite inclined to tinker with a car in somewhat the same fashion as yourself. Please keep us posted on how it turns out! 

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I certainly shall, Steve, thanks.

Sudders and Dany

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4 hours ago, Bibs said:

Oh wow! Let me know when you're picking it up and I'll pop along and get some pics 👍

It would be a pleasure.  Especially as you were the midwife to this epiccness in gold.

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Sudders and Dany

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  • Gold FFM

Very interesting - love the wheels, colour and interior - I prefer the round vents - the original prototype had round Italian car style air vents and I have always thought they look better than the square ones originally fitted. I think I would have gone for a more original looking dash - that is the only thing - so agree I think it will look better in black. I would have gone for larger rocker style switches or something like that - I love the retro switches / lettering on the original. although I agree they are plasticky and not the best quality! - more pics when this is finished! and intrigued on how this will go with uprated power. Mine is an S3 with HC engine, lightened flywheel and stainless system but no injection.

Only other thing I would have done is twin exit exhaust pipes as standard, with a slight slash cut (I have seen early S1s with this and I think it looks super cool). NB I have a very similar exhaust to you - it sounds great - the lotusbits one. The one thing I would change is back to twin outlets. Did you consider power steering?

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Great work - as per the others - my favourite colours but not sure on the dash and I would have kept the Speedlines - looking forward to seeing the final results!

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On 01/07/2019 at 14:31, Suddabym said:

I think, for an S2, if you're not in a 'JPS' commemorative, then Championship Champagne Gold is the only other option (for the classic look).

I prefer the simplistic elegance of the S1 Wolfrace over the S2 Speedlines, which is why I chose that style for the replicas (and, having 17" rims allows better rubber choice and is therefore safer).

The 'flying' black S2 in your collage (bottom row - 3 in) is a JPS Commemorative freshly painted awaiting decals plus other goodies.

Mine 😘

Saw you car this week looks nearly finished...what a big job. Congrats.

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57 minutes ago, Sizona said:

The 'flying' black S2 in your collage (bottom row - 3 in) is a JPS Commemorative freshly painted awaiting decals plus other goodies.

Mine 😘

Saw you car this week looks nearly finished...what a big job. Congrats.

That's totally awesome.  I like that picture because it shows the 3 S2's that Nick currently has in the shop.  Including another Gold S2 (noting, that mine is more awesome).  I've kept an eye on yours too.  Big change from when it came in, what 2 years ago?

Screenshot 2019-07-03 at 20.13.54.png

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Sudders and Dany

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Wow....love it, when I read the original post I wasn't too sure about replacing the Speedline wheels,  but seeing the photos of new wolfraces.... it works. 👍

As an owner both of a S2 and S4 Esprit, I must admit it has always crossed my mind how much nicer the S2 would be to drive (or least easier to park) if it had the power steering of the S4. Toying with the idea of fitting an electric assisted system to mine.

Would love to see it in the flesh when its finished. At one of the Essex/Herts meets.

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10 hours ago, Hornsey Boy said:

Wow....love it, when I read the original post I wasn't too sure about replacing the Speedline wheels,  but seeing the photos of new wolfraces.... it works. 👍

As an owner both of a S2 and S4 Esprit, I must admit it has always crossed my mind how much nicer the S2 would be to drive (or least easier to park) if it had the power steering of the S4. Toying with the idea of fitting an electric assisted system to mine.

Would love to see it in the flesh when its finished. At one of the Essex/Herts meets.

Thanks.  I prefer the wolfrace look for the convex / concave style that the inline brakes allow for, but that isn't so pronounced on later wheels.  I think they contribute the most to updating the look of the car.

The wheels are also wider (the idea being that more contact equals greater grip), and so I did toy with the idea of adding PAS, but decided I wanted to drive the car first, as I didn't want to potentially compromise the handling.  But you make a good point and I am conscious of turning at low speeds.

For info, these are my tyre sizes:

Screenshot 2019-07-04 at 08.31.14.png

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Sudders and Dany

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20 hours ago, nello said:

Great work - as per the others - my favourite colours but not sure on the dash and I would have kept the Speedlines - looking forward to seeing the final results!

I think your sentiments will echo many, as they are the two most visible departures from the original.  And that would have been the safer (least imaginative) option; I risk compromising the look by trying something new, but I think it's worth it to see what can work.  And what can't.  The problem I had with the dash, for example, (noting that the switches and lights were terrible, even in the '70's) is that they became really dated when everything else was being updated (Apple CarPlay for example).  It got to the point where I either went backwards (to the simple and stylish Veglia look) or tried some other way to declutter and modernise the binnacle.  When it's done, I think it'll work, but even I am having to keep the faith.

Sudders and Dany

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Not knocking anything Mark - its your car and it still looks great mate. Bigger wheels always look superb especially with a lower ride (although there can be a limit for me!) And that colour is fantastic.

There is also something so period and correct about velour interiors especially in chocolate/brown. I used to love it when they called it Tobacco - conjured up all sorts of images of wealthy magnates - suppose its not exactly PC now - keep going and best of luck with it!

Edited by nello
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"Keep the faith" .... you have a great eye for detail, some of the slammed Espirts look OK,  but are just missing something, which yours has. I cant put my finger on it. But yours just works.....If I ever win the lotto I would do something similar. 

As for the steering, the electric option may be one to think about for the future as that works only at low speed and i believe then switches off once you move off.

My car is fine at speed, yours will be even better because of the smaller steering wheel. But for me getting my S2 in and out of my tight garage is a pain, as is parking it when I am in central  London. But the S4 is a breeze in that respects.

 

 

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Yes the work on the slammed cars is amazing but the look is too far for me on those. The lower the more exotic but there is a limit

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