วีดีโอ

if you watch the old videos of factory they lower the body onto frame nose first

I think this site will be helpful for information on chassis cracks.　th-cam.com/video/D3ZxvrxuhMw/w-d-xo.html

I have been watching with great interest. My Esprit chassis had cracks in the circular and square corners of the gear shift aperture, which were spreading, reducing the rigidity of the chassis and causing a creaking noise around the sunroof. By welding the cracks and applying reinforcement plates, the rigidity was increased and the creaking noise was eliminated. Ican see cracks in your chassis too, so we recommend that you address them before they get worse.

Are selling the cluster gauges ?

Hi Rick, don´t use the red clutch cable again!! The enginebay get´s too hot so it will expand and your often not able to Get the gears in properly. Take a St/Steel braided clutch hose, L/H/D (up to 1992) in!!!! Best regards from Germany!

Not a mistake if you learn something by doing it. keep up the good work .

So what's the damage? $$$

I did not expect those sleeves to come out so easy. I have limited knowledge on sleeves on engine rebuilds so thanks for showing us. Good for you in taking it on to move forward. It is very hard these days to get commitment from outside sources to complete the work.

Parts dropped but the performance engine place who will be doing the porting is tied up till December 🙁

I replaced with iron liners.

I don't think food is part of restoration costs. It you hadn't bought it and stayed home I assume you'd still have eaten.

This looks extremely professional

Looks impressive Rick...

First don't use POR15. There are better products on the market. Second you can buy products that help repair galvanized surfaces. Your chassis looks in great shape and you should only need to spot repair.

Subscribed. I'm in the middle of frame off resto on my 74 Europa JPS

Vinegar and baking soda with distilled water, it's what I've used in the past for cleaning out old motorbike tanks. Never had an issue with it eating away at the steel, cleans it up pretty well.

Thinking it would take some work to brace the chassis for racing with a backbone rather than the perimeter frame in Corvettes. The Viper is similar. The Corvette has a problem that the occupants are sitting on composite rather than steel, though.

You removed a few pounds in mouse house on that chassis. I still haven’t found an ideal galvanized steel restorer solution to remove stains. I am going to try ice blasting.

Thanks to you both, Colubrine and MC202, bleach is off the table. Looking at alternatives….read in a few places that isopropyl alcohol would be effective.

Please avoid using bleach! Even if diluted, it's very aggressive, and spraying it - power spraying, too! - inside the boxed intricacies of a car frame is definitely going to give you pass trough rust and mechanical failure in years. The good thing, here, is that, at least, your frame has a zink finish but I would be worried of bleach corrosion in corners, nook and crannies.

Just looked this up for you but; Does bleach really affect stainless steel? Sadly, it does. Bleach is a very strong oxidizing agent. Even a small amount of bleach can oxidize steel. Steel’s major component is iron and as you should be knowing iron tends to rust. Stainless steel normally doesn’t, thanks to a few other metals that are added to the iron. Bleach is so effective when it comes to oxidation that it can even make stainless steel rust. The sodium hypochlorite in bleach reacts with carbon dioxide in the air to produce chlorine gas, a powerful oxidizer that will attack most metals, including the chromium oxide layer on the stainless steel. Once it has compromised the passive layer, the chlorine goes on to attack the metal itself

Great tutorial mate, looking forward to seeing the whole resto. Btw I live not too far from the factory in Hethel, where these were built.

I like that you seem to be doing a complete video series from start to finish. Unlike some,…ie Tavarish. He was going to restomod a Lotus TE,…then I see he is now selling it,..without doing much to it. 😡

Change the body color. Azure blue? 🎉

Bare bones now. The only way is up from here!

Looking good. I think JonHimself did a video on the chassis and talked about the cover that was added to gear stick hole to try and compensate the rigidity that’s lost by them cutting a hole in there. I think he talked about it on the FB group too, but you can glue a plate over the top to help take some strain. The cracking is common (it’s on mine too). I’ve never done powder coating, but I was looking at using an epoxy coating on mine - EM121, you can spray or brush it on. Either way enjoying the updates and good luck!

G'day awesome progress mate

Your last two videos are going to be very useful for me in the near future. Thanks for the covering the chassis disassembly.

G'day the interior looks better out of the car so it can be fixed 👍

G'day Lotus Esprit is one of the best looking cars ever made

G'day it's amazing what soap and water does

G'day from Australia just found your channel and subbed mate 👍

Using a torque wrench with your impact driver? WTF? Come on...

Sandblast cabinet is very useful. But have it in its own dedicated space as dust will go everywhere Impressed how well the galvanised chassis seems to have held up. Have you watched any of “Soup Classic Motoring” who is rebuilding an early Esprit?

I have always loved Esprits and would love to have one. What you're having to go through either means you truly love this vehicle or you are a glutton for punishment. I have big respect for your dedication.

Hi! I found your channel doing a deep dive on Lotus Esprits and watched every video in this series so far, I'm glad to see the build is still ongoing. Can't wait to see the next one!

great idea for any car owner as your wheels will never be stolen.....you know that feeling when you come back to the car aftre a night out and someone has been busy. (wow..thats some frame)

I live vicariously through your efforts here. I'd love to restore/restomod an Esprit. But being more honest with myself, I think it would be in over my head.

Just love your commitment, keep up the good work.

Any idea how much the body weighs? Also can you the seams where the factory bonded the top and bottom halves of the body?

If it’s any consolation I’m in the same boat, although I also need to source all my parts since my Esprit has next to none… enjoying the updates. Hope it continues to go well

You’re holding up pretty well, all things considered. Stay strong!

Enjoying your build!

I didn’t realize until now that they have a fiberglass tub. Oof.

I was able to do the other side in less than 10 minutes

Maybe I missed something but there is plywood in the car from the factory?

Interesting... I owned a Europa (that things' Father basically) Esprit was a much prettier body shape though. Still the same car ..except for using Opel suspension bits rather than Triumph. I had the body Off the backbone frame TWICE during my 12 years of ownership. All in attempts to preclude the constant mechanical failures. These cars feature Many serious design Effups... virtually in Every area from top to bottom. Even in the seat structures !. Clear example on Yours ... being the water hose posing as a Universal joint on the steering shaft /pinion. Appalling actually ..Seriously puting the Lie to Lotus engineering prowess. Do replace any and ALL oem Suspension bolts . One Real problem was that Bolt and rubber bung holding the rear triangular trailing arms to the chassis. They have tendancy to Fail in use ! I had one of the Europas wheels / suspension Collapse.. TWICE. Trully exciting events. Avoid that scenario at all costs. Eventually... I realised there was NO possibilty of 'fixin' this thing to a reasonable standard

Progress indeed! Thanks for posting.

Looking Tat the timeline this might turn out to be a 25 year job finished in 2050 and I hope we all will last that long to experience it!

You just came up as a recomended video and I am glad you did. subscribed and very keen to see how this car gets rebuilt. I actually live just down the road from the lotus factory and my father worked for the GT race team in the 1990s. so Lotus is a big part of my life and upbringing.