iambadgerous 33 Report post Posted October 10, 2017 1 minute ago, skiing said: Those are lovely - there are set of those (polished) on an S2 in Japan... is that your inspiration? It can be found on this picture thread... http://www.speedhunters.com/2011/11/event_gt_gt_lotus_day_japan_2011_pt_1/ Hi Henry, Close but no cigar, the wheels on that car are Hayashi Racing wheels from Japan. Very nice, but very expensive and not available in the correct offsets so spacers would be required. They were another option I was looking at. They also have flat centres, the Campagnolos have a proper dished look on the back. Cheers Darren Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skiing 63 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 10, 2017 I think the ones are looking at would look great - look forward to seeing how it turns out... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nic996 5 Report post Posted October 12, 2017 Funny that, I was going to go down exactly the same path with those wheels from Group 4. I even photoshopped them in. It will be interesting to see how you get on. I wanted to go 8" at the front and Group 4 simply couldn't supply them for the forseeable future (at the time) despite them being advertised. The website looks good but I was put off by the communication, or rather lack of it. Perhaps he has them now but I already took a different path. As for whoever said redrilling hubs to 4 stud should be easy. It's impossible unless you don't mind one of the new holes having an overlap with the old holes and that's only at the rear. It's utterly impossible on the front dues to the design of the hub. BTW, I priced up a set of replacement hubs as they cannot simply be swapped from an older style chassis to the later one. A new set was about 1000€ when I last priced them up. Ouch. Unless you have a deep set of pockets, I think your idea to stick to 5 stud wheels is spot on. Regards the ride height, I went 10mm lower on the suspension and there are spacers between the body and the rear of the chassis. They can be removed but they must have been there for a reason. Not sure what but I guess I'll find out soon!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skiing 63 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 12, 2017 So my car is missing the spacers on the front where the body attaches to the chassis (but they are on the back) - this is probably from when it was crashed in the 80s and the front (badly) grafted on. It does make it look lower at the front but it also means I get wheel rub (standard wheels and tires) when heavily laden (two people plus luggage) and driving fast - e.g. on country roads, the tires touch the tops of the arches. This is with completely re-built suspension including bushes, shocks, springs etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iambadgerous 33 Report post Posted October 12, 2017 10 hours ago, nic996 said: Funny that, I was going to go down exactly the same path with those wheels from Group 4. I even photoshopped them in. It will be interesting to see how you get on. I wanted to go 8" at the front and Group 4 simply couldn't supply them for the forseeable future (at the time) despite them being advertised. The website looks good but I was put off by the communication, or rather lack of it. Perhaps he has them now but I already took a different path. As for whoever said redrilling hubs to 4 stud should be easy. It's impossible unless you don't mind one of the new holes having an overlap with the old holes and that's only at the rear. It's utterly impossible on the front dues to the design of the hub. BTW, I priced up a set of replacement hubs as they cannot simply be swapped from an older style chassis to the later one. A new set was about 1000€ when I last priced them up. Ouch. Unless you have a deep set of pockets, I think your idea to stick to 5 stud wheels is spot on. Regards the ride height, I went 10mm lower on the suspension and there are spacers between the body and the rear of the chassis. They can be removed but they must have been there for a reason. Not sure what but I guess I'll find out soon!! Hi Nic, I know what you mean, it took a couple of calls to get hold of him. The wheels are apparently made to order but he keeps the blanks in stock. I'm sticking with the BBS for now anyhow. Cheers Darren Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iambadgerous 33 Report post Posted October 12, 2017 Hi All, Got a few hours on the car today. I started trying to fit the rear bumper but it turns out that fitting an S2 bumper to an S3 isn't as straightforward as I'd hoped, so I gave up on that for now. Details to follow... Instead I focused on the offside. Stuck on the Esprit badge, the side stripes and the Giugiaro badge, fitted the mirror and the intake ear, and swapped the all-black door handle for a black and chrome one. I think the ears are from an S3 Turbo and may be slightly bigger than the S2 versions, not sure. I need to give the rear quarter window bezel a coat of satin black Cheers Darren Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nic996 5 Report post Posted October 13, 2017 20 hours ago, skiing said: So my car is missing the spacers on the front where the body attaches to the chassis (but they are on the back) - this is probably from when it was crashed in the 80s and the front (badly) grafted on. It does make it look lower at the front but it also means I get wheel rub (standard wheels and tires) when heavily laden (two people plus luggage) and driving fast - e.g. on country roads, the tires touch the tops of the arches. This is with completely re-built suspension including bushes, shocks, springs etc. There were no spacers on the front of the body on my car, although it was also in a front end crash at some point as well. I am not aware that there are any spacers ever fitted to the front but I'd be interested to know if anyone else can chip in? Not that they will go back in there anyway Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iambadgerous 33 Report post Posted October 15, 2017 Hi All, Managed to get some decent time on the car on Friday. The rear hatch has been fettled and now fits pretty well, latching and unlatching correctly. I decided to stick the number pate plinth on rather than bolt it on. With some help from a mate I fitted the bonnet and light pods. The bonnet still needs adjusting and the latches fitting, for some reason it is low on the nearside at the front and there doesn't seem to be any way of adjusting it. If I shim the hinge then the middle of the bonnet will be too high, surely? Any ideas? Fitted the front spoiler, probably the most straightforward job so far! Started work on fitting the front bumper, looks like it will fit fine thanks to the modifications made to the nose (see earlier in this thread). I had to cut holes for the indicator/side-light units similar to the standard S1/S2 ones. Cheers Darren 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
910Esprit 324 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 15, 2017 (edited) Starting to look good. Soon as you put some black tyres on it, it will look really good! Edited October 15, 2017 by 910Esprit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lotus-62 21 Report post Posted October 15, 2017 On 13-10-2017 at 08:42, nic996 said: There were no spacers on the front of the body on my car, although it was also in a front end crash at some point as well. I am not aware that there are any spacers ever fitted to the front but I'd be interested to know if anyone else can chip in? Not that they will go back in there anyway Hi Nic nice you'r still around. I had spacers on my 85 front, sj list them as "A082C4069F INSULATOR (between top of spring and top cap)" I replaced them with an 1mm thick teflon shim to make the front lower. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skiing 63 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 16, 2017 I mean the spacers between the chassis and body itself where the body mounts to the chassis. I have spacers on the rear (about an inch thick I think) but none on the front. The rubber spacers on the top of the suspension will also lower the car if swapped as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sprint123 0 Report post Posted October 16, 2017 Very sophisticated! The colours of your tools match with those of the car. The esprit badge beside the fuel fillers is missing the 'S2'. Very nice project. Lutz Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stephenwhyte 1,249 Report post Posted October 16, 2017 Looking great now - love the S2 look personally. A set of original S2 alloys would finish the look perfectly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nic996 5 Report post Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) On 15.10.2017 at 22:02, lotus-62 said: Hi Nic nice you'r still around. I had spacers on my 85 front, sj list them as "A082C4069F INSULATOR (between top of spring and top cap)" I replaced them with an 1mm thick teflon shim to make the front lower. HI Rick, I'm still hanging in there! The garage build is taking longer than I thought. Yes I was talking about spacers between the chassis and the body. I don't think they exist at the front. As for the spring insulator, I just got rid of them. I believe they may have been inserted for vibration damping. Its a sports car, a bit of vibration won't harm PS, loving the S2 bumpers Darren! Starting to really come together. Edited October 17, 2017 by nic996 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iambadgerous 33 Report post Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) Hi All, I got the refurbished wheels back today, anthracite centres with diamond cut rims and new Falken rubber. Before: After: Sweet! Cheers Darren Edited October 20, 2017 by iambadgerous Typo 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nic996 5 Report post Posted October 20, 2017 Transformed!! very very nice indeed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Blanchard 1,363 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 20, 2017 Superb!! The S2 Esprit is offically the best looking Esprit, so you've made the right decision. You've got the benefits of the S3 galvanised chassis and rear suspenions, but you don't have the big (ugly) federal bumpers. I do wish Lotus had kept the S1 bumpers on all Giugiaro cars, as the car looked perfect with them. And Ferrari kept the same smaller bumpers all throught the 80s on the 308GTB. The ride height on your car seems higher than the S2, I guess it was increased to meet federal fender height regulations. Can you get it lowered to the S2 height? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
march 489 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 20, 2017 Not so sure about the big grey spoiler on the back - other than that stunning. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Blanchard 1,363 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 20, 2017 That's the wheelie wing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
march 489 1 Vehicles Report post Posted October 20, 2017 don't you mean it's the 'wheelie big wing' 1 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loose Cannon 546 1 Vehicles Report post Posted January 12, 2018 Just catching up with this thread, excellent stuff. The iron cross wheels would be utter perfection but hey its your dollar. Get those black bits on, including the rear number plate surround. Colour coding, pah, thats so 30 years ago. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GTK 531 Report post Posted February 15, 2018 Nice to see someone going S2 on a later car, can't wait to see it sitting on it's new suspension! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfaff1245 0 Report post Posted January 16 How about an update on this beauty? You have exactly my idea even the color! I have some esprit stuff and want to do this, or something very similar, I just found this thread and it is like you a building my car! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iambadgerous 33 Report post Posted January 16 25 minutes ago, pfaff1245 said: How about an update on this beauty? You have exactly my idea even the color! I have some esprit stuff and want to do this, or something very similar, I just found this thread and it is like you a building my car! Hi Mark, I'm sorry to say that the car still looks pretty much exactly the same as in my last post. It's stuck behind a number of other projects, the major one being a house renovation (which the Mrs seems to think is more important) and a few bikes. I've been stockpiling parts though. I have everything to replace the fuel system; alloy tanks, new pump, new hoses and the carbs have been rebuilt. A new stainless exhaust including 4-1 collectors. And loads of other bits and pieces. I've also got my hands on the intake manifold from a later, injected car including the throttle bodies and fuel rail etc as I have a longer term plan to run injection. I'm determined to get this thing on the road this year so hopefully I'll be posting some updates soon. Cheers Darren 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 91 Report post Posted January 17 Hello Darren, That's a knockout car you're putting together, and yellow is one of my favourite colours for Esprit! Which yellow is it that you have chosen? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
