I really enjoyed your video !! Great job getting the body off. I like where your project is heading. I've owned my pearl white '88 Lotus Esprit Turbo for over 25yrs now. It was my daily driver in summer when I worked in Downtown Toronto. Its still in very condition but somewhere down the road ...... something like this will be in its future. If I can find a transaxle that can handle serious torque ;) Keep up the awesome work !!!
Regards to your steering knuckle, I had to have a new rack on my S4S a while ago, lotus said while it’s off it would be better to replace the UJ’s. The steep angle the steering’s at wears them out quicker and a nightmare to get to. Good luck with this project, will be lovely when it’s done!
Firstly, you are to be congratulated on that Body/Frame separation. Still hard to understand how that frame design can handle the stresses of performance driving. Anyway, I happened to notice the car outside the garage. Is that a 70s Mercury Comet is see?
It is a 1975 Mercury Comet GT. If you are interested you can watch a video I have talking about it and why I have one. No surprise it has a connection to my youth.
Good job, it is definitely one of those experiences you don't forget. The pen writing on the top of the tunnel is the chassis number and build details. Mine says I/C R/Hand 5154 GA (intercooler, right hand drive, [4 digit number]) Guessing GA is someone's initials ? The stampings you want to find are on the very front channel section which the front body bolts fixed to - on the vertical element of this section is the stamping - mine is on the driver's side. You might have to clean it up 1st - if you look carefully there is a tiny Lotus logo there :) So cool, my dad is helping me too - we restored the chassis together. What's next ?
Great info as usual Jonathan. Next is a bunch of decisions now that I have the body off. I will be covering my thoughts in the next couple of videos and want lots of feedback from all of you out there in the approach to take on each.
Cool, now the body's off the chassis it's pretty much plain sailing - so much easier to work on. The only two areas I'd highlight simply because it can cost you money, is with the body off the weight on the rear chassis has changed a lot, if you take the rear cross member (located over the gearbox) to take the engine out you need to jack the chassis at the hoop to allow the chassis to flex enough to release the bolts as they are now under a LOT of tension (my chassis flexed 5mm across this point). The rubber engine mounts are handed as well, which is a pain because the markings are probably long gone and I accidently mixed mine up. The last bit is the cast aluminum rear hub carrier lower link stud on the rear suspension. Some helpful chap wrote an article on Lotus Esprit World.com - do read thru that, cracking a hub carrier can cost silly money nowadays.... if you can get hold of one! Its really easily done, but also totally avoidable. The springs are under a lot of pre load at full extension so need to be suitably compressed or releasing the damper can cause so much shock as to break the hub as well. Regards to the sparrows :D
Yeah tbh the Esprit isn't hard to work on and it's well built. The rear hub carrier is the only potential issue you may have from now, people break them all the time and they are getting super rare. Also if you plan to take the rear suspension / drive shaft off - you might wanna loosen the nut now if you can get to them thru the wheel centre. They can be very tight and you wont get them off once you start stripping down without putting it all back together. Ideally it should be done on the hand brake but if you get someone to sit on the wheel you can still do it.
I've seen other's remove the body of their Lotus and seen a lot of rust, dents and general damage on the chassis but yours looks in good shape. I think the ones I've seen with rust were in the U.K. where there is a lot of moisture. I think Soup Classic's Lotus has a lot of damage to be fixed. I think just a little soap and water and you're ready to put the body back on :)
Soups definitely is in bad shape. This one starting out life in California helped. It has been in some rust belts too but must have been garaged well. It has been neglected to some extent though as you will see in further videos.
Once they galvanised the chassis they are really good. Mine is 1989 (32 years old), covered 105,000 UK miles and looks good as new. It is astounding how good a condition it is in. i plan to paint mine but really, it doesn't need it.
Love to watch your restoration of the Esprit. I have dreams of it but most likely will remain a pipe dream.
You never know. I had dreams of it as well and the stars eventually aligned to find this opportunity. Thank you for watching buzzcrushtrendkill.
Super exciting to see the progress even if your twin ( or alter ego?) does not pull his weight! Great that Dad can fill for that slacker!!
It is coming along. A lot of work ahead for sure for a full restore, but slowly and surely. Yea, that other guy is a real slacker. 😁
Good video and the another dimension you was cool! 😁👍
Thank you Letsee. Happy you liked the other dimension bit. It was a lot of fun to do.
Awesome video!! It's amazing what a person can accomplish with lots of planning and patience. Nice to see you and your dad working together.
Thank you MoJo. Lots to do on it yet, but enjoying the process the whole way through.
I really enjoyed your video !! Great job getting the body off. I like where your project is heading. I've owned my pearl white '88 Lotus Esprit Turbo for over 25yrs now. It was my daily driver in summer when I worked in Downtown Toronto. Its still in very condition but somewhere down the road ...... something like this will be in its future. If I can find a transaxle that can handle serious torque ;) Keep up the awesome work !!!
Thank you viewonthelake1. I enjoyed the short story of yours as well. I will continue to share the journey as it unfolds.
Good video, enjoyed it very much. Some advice for you: don't trust that guy with the IOU. He's all kinds of shady.
Haha. I know that guy all too well. Very happy you enjoyed it. Now the real work begins!
Regards to your steering knuckle, I had to have a new rack on my S4S a while ago, lotus said while it’s off it would be better to replace the UJ’s. The steep angle the steering’s at wears them out quicker and a nightmare to get to. Good luck with this project, will be lovely when it’s done!
Thank you for the tip. I will be sure to add that to my list of things to do. I can see it as quite a struggle to replace without the body off.
Firstly, you are to be congratulated on that Body/Frame separation. Still hard to understand how that frame design can handle the stresses of performance driving. Anyway, I happened to notice the car outside the garage. Is that a 70s Mercury Comet is see?
It is a 1975 Mercury Comet GT. If you are interested you can watch a video I have talking about it and why I have one. No surprise it has a connection to my youth.
Good job, it is definitely one of those experiences you don't forget.
The pen writing on the top of the tunnel is the chassis number and build details. Mine says I/C R/Hand 5154 GA (intercooler, right hand drive, [4 digit number]) Guessing GA is someone's initials ?
The stampings you want to find are on the very front channel section which the front body bolts fixed to - on the vertical element of this section is the stamping - mine is on the driver's side. You might have to clean it up 1st - if you look carefully there is a tiny Lotus logo there :)
So cool, my dad is helping me too - we restored the chassis together.
What's next ?
Great info as usual Jonathan. Next is a bunch of decisions now that I have the body off. I will be covering my thoughts in the next couple of videos and want lots of feedback from all of you out there in the approach to take on each.
Cool, now the body's off the chassis it's pretty much plain sailing - so much easier to work on.
The only two areas I'd highlight simply because it can cost you money, is with the body off the weight on the rear chassis has changed a lot, if you take the rear cross member (located over the gearbox) to take the engine out you need to jack the chassis at the hoop to allow the chassis to flex enough to release the bolts as they are now under a LOT of tension (my chassis flexed 5mm across this point). The rubber engine mounts are handed as well, which is a pain because the markings are probably long gone and I accidently mixed mine up.
The last bit is the cast aluminum rear hub carrier lower link stud on the rear suspension. Some helpful chap wrote an article on Lotus Esprit World.com - do read thru that, cracking a hub carrier can cost silly money nowadays.... if you can get hold of one! Its really easily done, but also totally avoidable. The springs are under a lot of pre load at full extension so need to be suitably compressed or releasing the damper can cause so much shock as to break the hub as well.
Regards to the sparrows :D
@@jonhimself77 wow! Great information that helps immensely. I don’t like learning the hard and costly way. It all makes sense once known.
Yeah tbh the Esprit isn't hard to work on and it's well built. The rear hub carrier is the only potential issue you may have from now, people break them all the time and they are getting super rare. Also if you plan to take the rear suspension / drive shaft off - you might wanna loosen the nut now if you can get to them thru the wheel centre. They can be very tight and you wont get them off once you start stripping down without putting it all back together. Ideally it should be done on the hand brake but if you get someone to sit on the wheel you can still do it.
@@jonhimself77 sounds similar to other cars I worked on for the axle hub nut removal. Doesn’t an impact work? That is what used on other cars.
I've seen other's remove the body of their Lotus and seen a lot of rust, dents and general damage on the chassis but yours looks in good shape. I think the ones I've seen with rust were in the U.K. where there is a lot of moisture. I think Soup Classic's Lotus has a lot of damage to be fixed. I think just a little soap and water and you're ready to put the body back on :)
Soups definitely is in bad shape. This one starting out life in California helped. It has been in some rust belts too but must have been garaged well. It has been neglected to some extent though as you will see in further videos.
Once they galvanised the chassis they are really good. Mine is 1989 (32 years old), covered 105,000 UK miles and looks good as new. It is astounding how good a condition it is in. i plan to paint mine but really, it doesn't need it.