The restoration of a 1978 Lotus Esprit S2

Over the last week I began repairing some damage to the body. Thankfully being fiberglass and the fact I built boats in another life I can repair it myself. I also plan to paint the car myself. My goal is to do most of the work myself.




The car was damaged while ins storage I was told someone backed into the door causing a nasty hole.
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I removed the interior panel and laid some fiberglass matting along the interior of the door overlapping the door about 8 inches all around. Once the fiberglass was dry, I began building it up to the same thickness as the door.
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I used fiberglass filler to finish up and after many coats of primer (excuse the brown primer) and sanding I feel I finished up with a pretty good repair.

Anyone know where I can find a paint match? I was not able to locate the paint code on the car but imagine its a basic lotus color for 1978...
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Ok, the interior of the car is interesting, there are signs of rust on the inside, yet the frame is perfect. I am guessing a cracked window or the windows left down during its long storage allowed water to enter and sit within the car.

The carpet is all but rotted, very smelly and literally falls apart. The seats are shot and hard and crusty, yet the green colored "mouse hair" or whatever its called along the center console, dash and door panels is in absolutely perfect condition... Its cleans up beautiful so I plan to keep it in tact.

Today I worked on removing the seats and carpet. I couldn't find anywhere how to remove the seats, even on Lotustalk so just began digging around. It seems the bolts that hold the seat rail is removed from underneath the car. Unfortunately due to interior rust I could only remove three of the eight nuts.

So with the grinder I cut off all the remaining bolts, I plan to replace them anyway.



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My suspicion of the car sitting full of water was proven as the seat rails we rusted completely through in many places. The floor plans are in great condition its just the interior hardware that is damaged.


The seats will head off to an upholstery shop if I cant find Lotus seat covers that are original black leather. and tomorrow I plan to remove the rest of the interior and begin cleaning it out..


At this point my search continues for.

1. New starter ignition switch
2. Seat covers and carpet kit
3. Still looking for 225 60 14 tires (2) the ones I listed above sold before I contacted seller.
4. paint color code
5. a socket that is deep and thin enough to remove the plugs.




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Doh! I can't believe I let yous slip this one out from under me in my hood! Well, I guess I have too many projects going as it is.

Good luck on this one!

Paul

 

Thanks Paul!!

 

Ok,

I removed the spark plugs and tried turning the engine over... I sprayed the cylinders full of PB blaster which has worked for me in the past. Well, when cranking on the pulley with a breaker bar, I am tightening the bolt on the pulley..

Ive turned it to the point I am afraid I will break the head of the bolt, the engine turned about 1/4 turn but seems to not be moving anymore.

My question.... am I actually tightening the bolt so much it wont turn? which is in fact, defeating the purpose?

Should I try to turn the engine from somewhere else? Should I just crank the hell out of it and if it breaks who cares, as I have bigger fish to fry anyway if the engine wont turn?

When it turned a 1/4 turn I thought it was going to be fine but then stopped, I cant try backing it up because it just loosens the bolt..


...


On a side note, when I removed the spark plugs they seemed saturated with oil, which unfortunately leads me to believe that someone has tried this before and gave up so simply replaced the plugs into cylinders full of oil.... Maybe the previous owner....
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When I got my MG the engine wouldn't turn over no matter how hard we cranked on it. This was after pouring oil down the spark plug holes. In talking with the neighbor who restores tractors he told me that what they do is dump kerosene into the motor and let it sit for a day or two before trying to turn it over again. Worked in my case and obviously requires an oil change after.

 

Dan, thanks for the input, I am going to try again this evening, if no luck will try Kerosene..

If you close to Waynesburg stop by sometime..
J

 

Jason,

Looking at the photo posted above, are you trying to turn the engine by the camshaft sprocket? Don't -- the belt can tear or skip and they you have bent valves. Put the wrench directly on the crankshaft, from below. It's tight, but a normal-depth socket with no extension is all you need. It's either a 17mm or 19mm (I forget). Just turn the engine the same direction you would tighten the bolt.

- Tony

 

alot of times there is a plate or access hole in or near the bellhousing so you use a flywheel turning toolor big pry bar , filling the motor to the top with kerosine ( pickleing ) is what we do when a boat sinks + locks , let it sit a few days , pull the plugs and try to turn it over, then when free lube it up real good. good luck , i had a 85 turbo lotus , i liked it lot , it was alot of fun , shifted like butter , + handled super , they are cool cars . you know they make a kit to install a SHO motor and gearbox in that chassis .

 

Thanks Tony,

I will jack up the car and use the crankshaft. I surely dont want to damage anything more...

 

Great, thanks for the info... Last resort will be an engine swap. I had another 78 S2 I sold during hard times in 2008.. I have missed that car like no other. I am also looking around for an S3 they are super fast!

 

i really love the series 2...a pure sports car and about as pure a mid-engine wedge design as there ever was! have fun and block sand the bodywork til your finger tips go numb.

at all costs, resist using a DA as you will not be happy with the waves in the bodywork.

pcb

 

Pete,
Please expand on the body work advice. whats a DA?
thanks
Jason

 

DA = Direct Angle (sander or grinder). Because the body is fiberglass (as opposed to steel), it's too easy to sand right into the gelcoat when trying to remove paint/strip the body. Sanding into the gelcoat is the cosmetic equivalent of grinding into the metal on a steel-bodied car; now you're messing with the contours of the body. Only it's much easier to grind into than steel, and not as fun to patch/recontour.

I agree with Pete -- hand (block) sand -- best way to carefully preserve those razor-straight lines and very slight contours.

 

Gotcha!! Thanks Tony and Pete for the advice, I prefer to learn from others than make the mistake myself

 

Look at these beauties! Took a month to locate a pair...
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bump

 

I'm probably a bit late, but a few words from the UK. Those are not rivets holding the ignition lock, but security shear bolts. The bolt heads are necked so that the heads shear off once you reach a sufficient torque. I practical terms you are probably right that drilling the bolts out may be the answer, but if you can cut a notch into the steel with a cold chisel you may be able to drive the bolts around and out.

The same lock failure happened on one on my Rover SD1's, jamming the key.

The lock is standard LUCAS fair that looks very similar to that on Rover SD1's I used to own, also Austin Maxi and Austin Princess/Ambassador and very much like my current Triumph TR7v8. Given that Lotus used Austin Princess electrical switches it is not a great leap to imagine that this is also an Austin Princess ignition lock...

The electrical switch can be removed from the lock, although the switch isn't designed to be rebuilt I'm sure something could be done if you are careful. That said, it sounds like your lock is a bigger problem?


As it is a Lucas part, look beyond Lotus specialists, maybe try: http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/
They specialise in Leyland / Rover / Triumph... They are not listing anything in stock on the website, but may be able to find something to match?

Otherwise there are enthusiasts for Leyland cars (Austin, Morris, Rover, Triumph, Jaguar...), so a search for these might help.


I hope these ramblings help... Good luck.


David
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Wow, Jason, what a basket-case.

That car is lucky to have stumbled across you

Keep the updates coming, it's really interesting to watch the transformation.

 

updates?

 

Stuart,

In October I moved to Denver and had to leave my projects back in Pennsylvania sitting in my little work shop.

I recently acquired a hanger for my cars but am waiting until my job turns permanent before moving the cars out here..

So unfortunately the project is on hold for now. Will update the thread hopefully after the first of the year...

Cheers!
Jason

 

Thanks.

Best of luck on the new job.

 

Holy Moly, omg, ohhhhhhhh shiiz, I think thats the same car that my dad bought and then sold to some Junk Yard Owner in Stafford Va and then the guy took it to his house on a hill to restore. Cause when my dad bought that from the auction it had the same hole in the door, the mirror was crooked, all the tires were dry rotted and flat, the interior smelled horrible, had some receipts in the dashboard thing, and WE put oil down the spark plugs cause it wasnt cranking. WOW, and it had the F'ing washington dc plates, no rear bumper, holy #$%. Did you really pick this up in Washington or In stafford Va. Where was it parked, behind a house infront of a garage on a hill, or in a storage unit. PLEASE REPLY cause I just wanna know if this is that car cause everyday I get up and think that the car was crushed, thanks