drdoom 152 Report post Posted September 22 Having cleared up the latest home reno program successfully by late May I have since put my head down and given great effort at moving forward the restoration of my S2. I feel it will be helpful to present here what evidence of the work I have, not only in the spirit of community but also to help me gauge the rate of progress. I can say this campaign demands rather more than most would anticipate as, though Lotus designed a truly lovely car in the Esprit, they could not have built it to endure such neglect as mine has seen without consequences. As I may have noted earlier the previous owner lived the life of Riley, freely trundling back and forth through the salted slush to enjoy his days on our nearby destination ski resorts and while that may left him in a fine state it was not so great for the Lotus. That he had dank storage in which to garage the car did nothing but add to the grief which would develop and I must admit my own storage after acquiring it left much to be desired as well. In summation it has been my experience that practically every fitting was in need of refinishing, if not replacement, and a piss-poor repair of the driver's doorshell was revealed when that was stripped. Blah, blah, blah - the years roll by and I can report now of the state of things moving along into the closing months of the year. Chassis: This wasn't altogether great, with surface rust in need of cleaning and re-coating and troubling elongation of the body-chassis attachment holes ( the 4 along the backbone ) that I put down to neglect of tightening the fasteners plus the salty exposure/dank storage. That said, having seen some of the ghastly corrosion evident underneath a number of Esprit whose photos have been shared in various threads on TLF I'm pleased to say mine was far from the worst case. As to the brackets I have just cut, replaced and re-drilled those to resolve the matter with some permanence. On another of several fronts in action I have been logging long hours in preparing for interior re-trim, carefully scraping parts clean of fabric ( taken intact in case useful as patterns ), foam and adhesive. The door speaker holes have all been closed and filled, new vent locations formed in the dash outboard near doors just under the chrome trim, the console-dash bridging piece for vents/stereo reinforced behind with aluminum for support during re-trim, and just today I refinished the pod gauge/switch panels. The panels were in need, with a touch of rust evident here and there so after beadblast, sanding, cleaning and meticulous masking of the letters/symbols I sprayed with a wrinkle black finish. Will leave it at that for now, must trot off to watch Netflix with the missus. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverfrost 1,382 Report post Posted September 22 Great project you have going Steve, look forward to the updates on your resto thread, I found the trimming of one of my Esprits to actually be enjoyable which i was not expecting and wish i had done it myself many years before ! Good luck, can you get away without re painting the bodyshell or is this going to be a full restoration on your S2 ? Quote A Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 152 Report post Posted September 22 Thanks, Dan, your views are always appreciated. I do hope to hire out the work at re-trimming the lot, likely in full leather, due to value of materials, the necessity of a fine outcome, and expediting the program via outside help ( for a change!! ). As to the bodyshell I've committed to full refinishing there as well. The Roman Bronze did not appear too bad from a distance though the usual stress crack patterns were displayed upon closer viewing. Esprit look fab in just about any sort of finish, including RBM, but respray affords me the luxury of selecting what I would best enjoy while presenting this car in top form for all to appreciate. These things were always rare but are by now almost non-existent due to collision write-off, fires, or abominable chop-job re-imagining efforts. So, yes, full restoration if not outright re-manufacture. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisJ 1,068 2 Vehicles Report post Posted September 22 Steve - I still think that the full cloth interior in an S2 is the best of the G cars - mine included. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 152 Report post Posted September 23 Chris, I agree that the S2 interior is brilliant, for the most part, and stands as one of Giugiaro's most memorable achievements. I'd be happy to consider the re-do in cloth if something truly comparable to Marcasite was available in black or charcoal. I gathered in samples of a fabric called "Krypton" from an American supplier on advice of a forum member and found it quite unsuitable. The grey piece was too light with a disagreeable tint and the black was without surface character whatsoever - just sheer black like a cheap magician's cape in velvet. Anything you might suggest as alternative? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisJ 1,068 2 Vehicles Report post Posted September 23 I have no alternatives in mind, but there must be something out there. Maybe Alcantara? I know that when I get round to redoing my Excel I'm going for 1/2 leather with Alcantara in a similar colour scheme for an updated take on it. I'm fortunate in that if I ever have to do my Esprit interior, I just need to shoot a few teddy bears. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 152 Report post Posted September 24 On the matter of painting, when the time arrives, I'm looking at an OEM metallic finish from a contemporary car but thinking it might be improved if the metallic sheen could be enhanced. Can anyone advise whether this could be achieved either by application method or paint mix, for example? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fridge 249 Report post Posted September 26 I too wasn't happy with Kypton Suede, though it is a decent enough material otherwise. Have you looked at synthetic velvet? From looking at about 18 carefully selected black/gunmetal/anthracite samples I found nothing in the UK that had the same fine pile as Marcasite. Alcantara, if carefully selected for similar properties ie thickness and flexibility may be the most up to date and quality you can expect. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 152 Report post Posted October 3 Carrying on over the past week I've finally got the chassis finish coated in an agreeable colour of 1K acrylic lacquer, that over 3 coats of 2K marine epoxy primer done promptly after the blast cleaning. On the interior front I have now refurbished switch panels as shown in prior posting plus have now remade the instrument panel, guided somewhat by older postings found here in TLF. Attached picture of the pod shows several items of note including panels/gauges loosely assembled and offered up and my rework of the outboard dash vents. Cheers 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peteyg 245 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 7 Without wishing to be too pedantic, your dials are the wrong way round... Originally, Fuel was top right, Temp bottom right, Volts top left, Oil bottom left. Pete Quote Pete '79 S2 LEW Miss September 2009 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GTK 587 Report post Posted October 7 On 03/10/2019 at 03:46, drdoom said: SNAP! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 152 Report post Posted October 7 7 hours ago, peteyg said: Without wishing to be too pedantic, your dials are the wrong way round... Originally, Fuel was top right, Temp bottom right, Volts top left, Oil bottom left. Pete Thanks for that Pete, with great appreciation for all insights offered TLF members are forgiven all pedantry at least until the damned thing is on the road! I routinely review the photos you posted of your interior while working on deciding how mine is to be done. Thought I'd consider setting the fuel gauge upper left so that passenger might have something to worry about, other than the rate at which i'll be taking corners. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 152 Report post Posted October 11 Brief word today. Like Fabian, Jani, Giorgio and others who have persevered through the endless work of deep restoration I feel the fabric of my sanity is stretched a bit thin from time to time. Simply refusing to be beaten I find it serves nicely just to get quietly back on task, whatever the chore. Press on regardless, not long before something puts a new smile on my face. Current tedium revolves around completion of interior trim preps in anticipation of jobbing the lot out. Happily I have made contact with a highly reputable local trimmer who has done several (!) Esprit and is interested in my project. Bearing down hard on this interior work has also brought clarity to my decision on what materials the S2 will be finished in, leather for the seats, armrest, gearchange puff and door inserts, Alcantara for the remainder. In other words, in the fashion of its original build. Getting pretty crafty with my techniques for repair of the bloody moulded plastic bits, by the way. On tap at the moment is dealing with fractures in that vast trim panel for the firewall. Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
