Saturday, September 10, 2011

Paintwork is Done – Lotus Esprit S1 in Monaco White

After several months and hundreds of hours, it was a great feeling to see the car painted, clear coated, and polished. Every visible inch of the car was wet sanded and polished, leaving no orange peel and an excellent finish. The wheel wells were re-undercoated as well as the front boot area with a heavy material resistant to vibration.

My goal was to get the body in better condition than my S1 Esprit left the factory in 1977, and because I spent dozens of hours reinforcing areas that were previously prone to stress cracks and spider webbing, my hope is that it stays that way for a long time.


A pretty cool shot of the body shell and chassis. With the help of three guys
it was back onto the chassis.


The front hood required a lot of work to ensure a completely flat surface.


A finished set of S1 Lotus Esprit headlight pods.


The original rear valances were too thin and prone to being ripped apart
by the exhaust system behind it. My new rear valance was reinforced with
several layers of fiberglass to make it stronger.


Even my fuel caps needed repairs. There were hours in these alone.


A nice shot of the S1 rear hatch, which is pretty light without the glass!


One of the empty door shells. A lot of work ahead to get these back onto
the car with all the door internals.


One of the rocker panels and door trim pieces, ready to rivet back onto
the body.

5 comments:

  1. Any updates? I recently came across your blog as I find restorations interesting and love the early Esprits, it'd be a shame not to see how the car goes!

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  2. Having just purchased a completely dismantled 1981 Esprit S3 I have found your Blogg most interesting.
    Although not a novice in restoration terms I have not done a Lotus before --- any tips?
    Keep up the good work.
    David

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  3. Acra - it's a long process to put everything back together but I'll have updates soon!

    Clynos1 - Yes, take a lot of pictures and save absolutely everything you take out of the car (don't throw away old carpet, fastners, wiring) as you will find yourself referring to them when putting the car back together. Other than that, a lot of patience. Good luck!

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  4. It's glad to hear you're still working on it, that's the main thing! :)

    It looks really awesome so far, such a nice car!

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