Starting the Monumental Task of Re-finishing the Body

With the restoration of my Esprit about 2/3 finished (the rolling chassis now assembled with freshly rebuilt engine and gearbox, shift linkage, all suspension, brakes, drive train, wheels, tires, etc.), it was a momentous occasion to open the storage unit doors and wheel the Esprit body onto the trailer. It had been in storage for a year since I first tucked it away, so it was a good feeling to begin what I think is the last difficult stage of the restoration process.

Each body piece will be soda blasted, which will save me virtually months of work in removing the paint. From there, I’ll repair all of the stress cracks, cover the holes where the side indicators used to attach (the EURO spec S1 Esprits never had them and I think the car looks better without), clean up some of the seams, and then the car will be ready for paint. It’s a process that is likely to take a few months so I’ll try to post updates on the progress as I work through it.