Wheeler Dealers Lotus Esprit with full intro

you hello and welcome to wheeler dealers will be clocking up the miles to find iconic classic to bring back and restore to their former glory that's right will be transforming rust buckets into jaw-dropping beauties we can turn a profit on this time we're on the trail of a sports car a bona fide e British classic we've got five thousand pounds to spend on buying one and restoring it yup we're huntingtown my favorite 80 supercar the Lotus Esprit Oh sounds like a challenge better crack on it's truly an honor to be on the hunt for this great British legend the Lotus Esprit is one of the most enduring sports car icons and preferred transport of mr. James Bond at launch in 1975 it was held as a masterpiece a car with world-class performance and handling clothed in the unforgettable wet Jake penned by Italian master drew jarrow 30 years on the Esprit is still a must-have motor now I've hit the road to buy one and time for the bad news finding an Esprit from the five grand is tough I can hardly locate a single car that's not in bits my one lead is a dealer contact offer a mere trading at free grand bay get over there before it disappears I've traveled in the rain early in the morning to come all the way to a factory estate in the middle of Devon where people are grinding metal banging away and spraying cars to meet a chap I'm City years he's called Steve and he specializes in Lotus Steve you bet they make it why you call your rims grown isn't it since a lasting here gross continues as control you guys all right you all do now we spoke on the phone yes you've got a car but you wanna trade yes obviously it's that sharp looking yellow one over there be not quite a sharp-looking sharing one here Mike you know I news is gonna say yeah okay I'll just have a good look round make sure i'm happy with me and if we can do a deal I'll come and see you are ok now in my opinion the first way to judge a car ownership is to have a good scrutinize inside and on the face of it this car is about 25 years of age and it looks like it's wearing quite well these Sun Visor flaps they're a bit parish and they'd need to be changed the steering wheels original seats original the carpets in fairly decent Nick nothing more than a good Vallot would sort the inside of this car out right keys are in the ignition what's it sound like or listen to that the sound of true Lotus engineering but and it's a big but the outside is looking rough all the panels bumpers and doors need a complete respray will be chucking money away this car will cost me three thousand pounds to buy it's going to cost me at least 2,000 pounds to repaint it and I'm going to spend at least another 1,500 pounds on other bits and pieces but although once it's done six and a half thousand pound for a car that looks sharp is not a lot of money there's no profit in it for me and Ed so as much as I'm tempted by this unfortunately if it's not right just walk away that's a real setback and deep down I'm worried I won't be able to find a car back to the drawing board my luck is changing back at base a specialist Esprit website has a new advert in my price range that's interesting 83 is free s free he said he sadly selling these s free because he has a new baby competing for attention that's perfect the car runs and drives very well Molly 75,000 miles the car has an annoyingly failed it's mot perfect for us due to both rear shocks leaking slightly it's got Ed's name written all over at this car it could be a goer the seller Richard is honest about the cars faults but he won't take a penny off 3,600 we'll see about that well I've made it and I'm already very very excited because right there is to cart my boyhood dreams you must be Richard I am I to do and this Richard is your Lotus Esprit mark free wow look at that tell us a little bit about it it's a 1983 series theory normally aspirated so it's got low turbo which none of those turbo problems early on i do that's all I problems with that um it's obvious plastic body it's galvanized chassis so there's no rush to war but never rusts I've had it for just over two years I've had a lot of fun with it added my wedding car which is bevel off did you but awful sure got a second kid on the way now and yeah so it's time to go what do you think of some roof then on this car is that original I don't think it is original I don't know to be honest I think it's an aftermarket one if I'm completely honest I've gotta say it doesn't leak a little bit one excited about getting under here there's the engine that 2.2 normally aspirated no turbo no trouble engine any charge it started up for like that and it worked all but it works quite badly doesn't it at the moment and sir it's a sore noise Eddie it's got a little hungry goodbye which is why as I said on the phone it's unfortunate fellow at MIT right failed it's mot on the exhaust and you said tell me about the suspension as well yeah the rear shocks when they put it up on the ramp and if they're not the wrist shots if I've had it right but they are originally so like this idea stormy weather we're just about to experience this is potentially a stormy motor I wouldn't say something listen at the time Pete get dry and I've look at the interior no shut that down right and of course it's raining outside but it's also raining in here let's turn this off I see the water is leaking quite badly from this sunroof and that's probably what's perished this interior because it's all looking well it's all looking a bit wrote the entire look at this yes it's emitting its Jonah size into it is showing its age it looks like a 1970s tower block doesn't it insiders it's not very good got this car better be cheap right I think I need a test drive now this is private property otherwise I will be able to legally drive via spring about an mot but here's a tip RT owner of a performance car if you can test the car's performance hahaha oh yes oh this car yepo is mega I love it it's got huge amounts of grin factor who can forget those iconic images of James Bond driving up the beach in a white version of this car into James Bond films and that is for me what makes me want to buy one of these is just classic isn't it and this one wow it's still got some steam lifting me engine haha I love it this is spending at the back though that shot that is I can feel it it's squishing all over the place this car has got an MOT Nia's price accordingly three thousand six hundred quid if i'll still let you into a little secret that's pretty cheap if this cart did eminem OT yeah probably make the final six grand be no I'm like I'm a wheeler-dealer so I'm going to try and chip in some money but if he won't give me any money off to be honest with you I'm Evan it and I'm really evident because this car is mega favourited almost almost what driving a convertible that car in the rain I've never been so wet driving to fix they come at some roof leaks terribly really badly back off it look at me smiling I'm gotta say I loved it there's something so endearing about it that makes me want to buy it but there's so many jobs that I've got to put poor red to that was running a a bit little bit cheap you advertise it for three thousand six hundred quid I did yet so um could you just give me a little bit off and i'll be on me way and up higher in the rain um I've started with that take into account knee the fatties gotten a mighty and I saw not a bit off already side I don't wanna drop it anymore you're not gonna give me a penny off of three thousand six under quid I don't want to know do you know what I love the car so much I think it's such a challenge I think you're going to be so pleased with a way this car is gonna turn up under over all right thank you very much thank you wicked time to get us free back to the workshop I've got your own trailer but private companies will transport car for upwards / quidam I'll now I've got a long drive ahead of me and I'm really excited I woke up this morning it was wet it was windy it was nasty it was one of those days we just wanted to pull the duvet over and go straight back to sleep but now I'm thinking wow I've had a cracking day out I've got brilliant deal a fantastic car as wait until our seas face he is gonna be so excited to work on this it's a proper wheeler-dealer project and a proper we medela car oh it's super oh this is fantastic this is Freya we've done it I've always wanted one so excited by this car look at it it's mint it is does it go underwater it doesn't and you don't need to make it see where they let's find a glove said it doesn't rust there's nothing to do is bring oh well yeah you could have a look inside it's lovely in here hey here we go you can see it's a little bit ripped I always want to drive one of these little thing I know you've always were gone get in oh my screen it really is really good oh I think the word I'm ever so sorry I've never to believe will help me there's no way I can drive this without the door below you're clearly not the above my dreams are shattered but this this is really nasty in here it's horrible it really is the worst I've seen it it is a pretty bad interior so what I thought we'd do is all go on the hunt for a new one bro get new interior you can buzz it in for us be easy I'll just whip this one out to life yes this is Old English engineering and we held in with rusty screws and clips that will snap off it so to me ages it's only screws and bolts the easy it so mechanically it's fine no because you're here so the exhaust has to be fixed as well sounds like a tank it does sound like a chieftain tank at the moment you'll have to do the exercise of probably that but there is a more serious mot sort of issue down the back okay so we can get back on Alec there come on ade okay right now let's watch this right see that then looks like a nice bouncy suspension that it is it's a sports car should be stiff and when I drove the car and the test drive it was really loose on the back yeah and it got me worried and I think it needs to sort it out somehow all rights pretty destructive doors tourists really around be a really easy fitting that's the least of my worries i'm really worried about their interior but also in this engine i don't aren't you're being over optimistic i think it's been loads of little surprised i had there's loads of bills and services jarek the engine to be fine but you can sort out the noise due to suspension change the interior of mornings work for you sink the electrics out we got ourselves a winner yes thanks me good luck come back after the break to see Ed lose these cool as he find her a James Bond car has a few surprises for him welcome back to wheeler dealers our mission is to buy restore and sell on classic cars and I've bought this MOT failed Lotus Esprit for only 3,600 pounds problem is it needs quite a bit of work but Ed's just the man for the job this Lotus is an iconic sports car in its day it cost as much as a house it was competing with Lamborghinis and Ferraris but look at the state of it now it's outrageous mike has promised me a replacement interior so I'm pleased to say all this lot can be ripped out the seats are bolted to the underside of the car so they need to come off first well I think what's going on now I've got four bolts when one there one there and one there actually holding the seat to the car it's kind of a silly place to put really because obviously they're in the elements all the time and they're really rusty but a bit of penetrating through it should sort that out this job doesn't need specialist tools only a standard socket set all now just snap that off which is lucky in a way because actually we're going to be throwing those seats away and putting the replacement ones and in those replacement seats will actually have bolts attached so that's about the old seats panels and door cards are pretty far gone and would be too costly for us to reupholster it might seem over-the-top to remove the entire interior but it's likely that a replacement interior won't be exactly the same color this is a unique car after all so I've got to do a shed load more hours well it's turning out to be as hard as I thought it was going to be we are getting there the trickiest part of the job is removing the instrument binnacle brain surgery is probably a lot easier well thats the last bolt holding is binnacle on so now it's loose but annoyingly there is no sort of multi-plug connecting all the wires to the dashboard to the writing room so which means I'm gonna have to disconnect all of the wires individually of every single dial and all the switches everything else just to get this binnacle off which means I then have access to the dashboard and of course to get that off I want to take the steering wheel off and also the indicator column switches this is an absolute pain in them lucky i'm so be Jews now cuz I'm taking a few wires off now I'm getting a little nervous I'm gonna start labeling things up because I don't want to have the nightmare of having to work out where everything goes afterwards we go come on Shirley think we're nearly there oh right at last nearly Shirley Shirley what else has attacked there's all kinds of rubbish attached to this car one dashboard well that was a very very long day cheers Mike I did warn like we're just popping out that interior was not gonna be an easy job it's taken me an absolute age but every cloud does have a silver lining at least now I know how the replacement interior is gonna pop in I think I've earned this Lotus Esprit often have fragile mechanicals and I need to find out if our car has any problems that Mike hasn't spotted I think it's about time that I got my hands dirty which is why I'm wearing gloves now this car sounds like a tank at the moment so obviously there's something wrong with the exhaust but actually looking at the silencers they see my carry the pipes are quite rusty but they're not fatally so right here oh there's a light of soot coming out of that flange like Joey in there so definitely the gas gets broken have to change that but I don't think it's anything that serious except as a huge crack in the cast iron manifold which is not a good thing so I'm gonna have to definitely replace that I'm not really sure quite how I get my hands in there but anyway what about that later on I'm gonna have to change that anyway the other thing we're gonna have to do we know for sure that this car hasn't had a cam got change for quite some time so I can I have to do that and the can belt is back here at the front of the engine and I can get to the pulleys and things I can actually get to the belt with my hands but really I think the chances of aligning things up accurately are probably quite slim and there is a rule of thumb with these lotuses that if you've got more than two drops of your engine you really should take the engine out which of course this stage looking at all the bits have to undo it is quite an epic challenge but the other thing I want have to do things like oil change there's an oil filter i can just depart see up there so it really is gonna be a lot easier what's this thing's on the bench so here we go before the engine comes out all the big bits need to be unbolted on the mid-engined and complicated a spree it makes sense to remove the inboard brake caliper as it's attached to the gearbox a roped in my mate Paul as four hands are better than two I'm just gonna try and wiggle it all there we go hey cool we now have the caliper off the engine I suppose you wanna go over the gearbox really the reason I've done now is because you've got this flexible pipe here which is for the brake fluid and also you got the hand brake cable here both of which are attached to the car and then of course we're going to have to remove the engine and the gearbox we have to disconnect the drive shaft as well but this makes our eyes a little bit easier because there's one less thing to disconnect next up the heavy exhaust down pipe and fat box need to come off predictably most of the screws are impossible to budge this is a very tricky nut I think normally you have some joy in just cheering it into everything else on this but I think we're gonna end up breaking knuckles I think I just cut that off with a cutting disc because you've got quite good access there and then our exhaust system to just drop out of a car I guess one that needs the VIP treatment a lick from my blowtorch expands the metal Umphrey's the tiresome nut let it cool before you touch it though now i'm not going to be i'm doing this with my fingers that's for sure okay there we go you need to make sure the engine is fully drained before you remove it and that means collecting any coolant and oil disposing of it carefully afterwards everything underneath is now freed off next we remove the engine mounts are above and then the block can be winched out we're almost there now a pretty sure we've undone everything we need to on the engine and gearbox here so now the whole thing is ready to be removed from the car so we've got the engine hoist here we put some straps around the engine as well now the technique I've been told is the best way to do this there to lift the engine out sort of like a funny angle like that and then kind of drag it away from the car so we'll see how that goes a specialist engine overhaul for this vehicle could end up costing you thousands so doing it yourself is cost-effective but you'll need to be pretty skilled and I may seem like an awful lot of effort to go to but with the engine out I can definitely get all the little bits and pieces I'm gonna have to work on so I'll have to do now pop it on the bench and get really stuck in head hey you getting on what you've got the interior well done told you to be this is so not easy thing is it's a really complex car and so when you want to take one thing out you're going to take everything else out around it and it does quite a challenge to try and get it in the right order so it's been a hard one right so they got this far and we can do take the carpets out and that's a lot it's over to you now to be honest I mean basically I've taken the entire interior out but that means I need an entire replacement interior from you so you got to get busy and make it a good one well I've had a chat with a guy called stevia reckons he's got a good interior me gonna have a look at some on the case and so if you've stopped working inside obviously you finish the engine now you would think that wouldn't you but there was a rule of thumb with these things that if you're gonna do more than two jobs on the engine you just drop it out it sits on the bench ready to go but in on ebay all time oh she's engineer and the interior help okay so the engine is on the bench I'm onto the interior and then at the end it well Ephesus really really do it's gonna be great you know what bring the money with this one it might be spent but we've still not showing out for any spares yet so there's still 14 hundred pounds available from our five grand kitty it should be enough to see how its spree in tip-top Nick if ed can stay sharp well this is free is looking very very sorry for itself but I've never lost faith in ed before and I'm not about to start doing it now now a real pressure is on me to deliver the right parts to get this baby roaring back to life join us next time to see whether this 80s supercar manages to boom or bust see it in plenty for ads still to finish on this one before Mike settled it on they've got half an hour to get that jump starting image its domain and of course this new series continues this Tuesday night

Channel: starbuckcylon

Views: 82,749

Rating: 4.5358362 out of 5

Keywords: S05E03, Lotus, Esprit

Id: ylsRXNjPkIE

Length: 22min 2sec (1322 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 30 2012