Stripped and DEAD for 30 Years! Will this Lotus run?

My friend worked construction sites during the summer to buy this 1978 Lotus Esprit when he was only 20. A few years later he left it in his parents garage and never drove it again. 30 years later almost to the day I take on the challenge of putting it back together and seeing will it run.
Support my channel www.georgekare...
The Sound of Nova / @rntv4391nova

[@cillianbourke]

George, these videos make me so happy when I watch em. Keep it up hombre. Delighted to hear it start

[@antrax8394]

George thank you as always for letting us be a part of your adventure and giving us the fuzzy feeling. Big hugs from Cochabamba Bolivia.

[@kieransammon666]

🎉🎉🎉 so exciting. “That’s it you got it” should be in every episode

[@kwdriver58]

I continually find myself amused and delighted by your delivery. the progress is impressive, and I'm rooting for ya. and missing/curious about the camper status.

[@neildonaldsonlotusexcelresto]

Great progress George... That feeling when it first fires up is immense.

[@krazed0451]

The fact it ran at all on those leaky old carbs is impressive, look forward to hearing this thing sing 😁

[@EubanksDVDs]

Absolute legend of a dude! Well done on everything you've achieved this far.

[@snoopyirl]

Nice one George great to see the forward momentum looking forward to seeing it completed.

[@tpellmhall4068]

It's on it's feet and snorting! I'm sooo glad you did the research and were prepared for the fuel over distributor event.

[@paulryan522]

Great feeling, and very useful motivation!! Bravo!👏

[@AdamHougham]

When you weighed the engine I was sure you were about to start drilling holes all over the place to slim it down. I'm very pleased you didn't!

[@alanperry8676]

After he blasted those plates for the engine mounts, I was afraid he was going to start drilling.

[@LazerBrain11]

Ahhh what a joy to get home from work & see a new Soup video... Full screen thank you very much 😊

[@adogmcdizzle]

Amazing progress; I'm so here for this - from another fellow Lotus, Mini and S211 owner.

[@bruceschneider4928]

Congratulations, George!

[@Littlemosslad]

WHOOOOWHOOOOO BRUM BRUM noises! Nice one George!!

[@thmssnck]

🤩🤩🤩 New Soup episode!!!!

[@PaulSchofield-p6b]

Always good to hear an engine run to give you heart and motivation for the next phase. Given where you are with the full rebuild, stripping the engine and a re-build is a must. A new set of 2024 big end bearings compared to the ones originally installed by Chapman on a budget back in the day, will transform the oil pressure. My UK 1968 Porsche 912 right hand drive has been in storage for over 30 years. Can't wait for retirement to re-commission it, seeing what you are doing with your Lotus. Keep up the good work.

[@AlteredCarbons]

man, the more i check out the chassis and the engine/trans setup. i love it. its just so bad ass.

[@philiprowney]

G'wan, we're all up fer humpin yet leg!!!!! What an epic build!

[@stuartd9741]

Exciting stuff finally hearing that motor bark into life. Although a rebuild would be ideal. If your going to run as is George, I'd recommend the following; 1/Confirm good oil pressure. 2/Do a compression test wet and dry. 3/Remove sump and check all the big end and crank journals for wear. .. If all checks out you're good to go. I think the crank end float is due to either a really worn or missing (dropped out) crankshaft shim..

[@rntv4391NOVA]

Thanks for the mention George, Bully is delighted btw, oh and good work as usual 😎👍

[@motjuste8549]

It does my old heart good to see her on all fours, so I can imagine how it must feel for you. Then to hear her give that little grunt and a growl, "Let's go!" Well, it brought a tear to my eye.

[@StephenDaystratos]

Wow, 4 min. this is the fastest I' ve ever eaten soup.

[@brianmacadam4793]

My old GT6 motor waited 27 YEARS to restart. When it did start, it was as good as it gets. Do what you feel is right, you've earned the right !

[@j0n5chm1dt]

Great work George what a step forward!

[@appletonn1]

Loved the latest episode, combination of the hands on engine start jeopardy with the Lotus engine history insight

[@mikemccarthy7375]

Bravo! Well done. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😃

[@SteHughes90]

What a joy this series has been

[@Semi0ffGrid7]

Great result!

[@joec3626]

All the way, never give up, never give in. Fight! Fight! Fight!

[@rivenmotors7981]

Great to hear the good mojo is back, that engine sounds like it could be (relatively) healthy with some work. You've got the inertia just keep it moving! Go George! P.S. It was cool to hear my name in the shout out. It was my first donation to a worthy KZbin cause!

[@NigelMarston]

Great music as usual, George.

[@grantmckendry3323]

Great work Dode.

[@Joelcameronbrown]

Long time coming great job

[@jeffreysalzman1497]

You really have to see the wheels and engine together to appreciate how truly weird that frame is. Also appreciative of the fuel system over the ignition system information. In my youth I heard tale from my best friend of one of these cars burning to the ground in a book store parking lot. Now I know why.

[@MrMaxDelux]

Yes, yes from mallorca ❤

[@saltpeter500]

A big step forward 😎

[@AlteredCarbons]

thats a really interesting transmission setup, i love that the brakes are right on it right off the gearbox. that seems like a super cool clean look. wish more cars did it like this but i bet its a pita to change pads or bleed tho

[@maico320]

Bravo!!

[@alanperry8676]

I am glad George is encouraged by this but I have gotten to this point on a 910 (without the end float) and have it all go downhill. It turns out that wishful thinking only gets one so far. Do a leak down test and be prepared to fix where that points.

[@daviddavies3810]

Run fortest, run Forrest, it will run

[@spellacy29]

Great stuff!

[@jasonlee-os1qi]

Dry ice blast that thang!

[@kjeldlarsen912]

Thank you love it

[@DennisGarage]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="613">10:13</a> I like how you made sure to wrap the engine crane in bubble wrap so it wont get scratched but didnt do anything alike to the chassis when dropping the drivetrain in 😅

[@scottcates]

Exciting times!

[@gollumthewicked]

"Case of the K series"! LOL. I feel attacked!

[@AdmiralSenn]

Awesome!!

[@mgbrv8]

I like Dellortos much more then Webber’s they are so much more adjustable and tune able. I hope there’s some heavy portmatching, porting and polishing in store for that engine. You know porting is weight reduction too.😉

[@andynicolson1057]

Well I liked those braided sprinkler hoses! Imagine trying to start a barn find and watching it all go up in smoke, barn and all. Must have happened a few times? Be fun to recreate a 80's style public safety video for the over enthusiastic car restorer. Great work. Hope you find your interior bit.

[@crabapple1974]

Here is some armchair opinions; turning an engine that has sat for so long without looking inside the cylinders, removing sparkplugs and maybe squirting some oil in there is a bit of a bold bold move there Cotton! Even bolder to change the cambelt without locking valvegear in place and relying on the dots beeing correct is even bolder! Most would verify the position of the piston beeing at TDC before. I dont know for this engine but for lots of interference engines even one tooth wrong can mean valve piston contact.

[@davidstuart4915]

i concurr! - Oil pressure of 100psi needs addressing before running again! - Blocked oil way / filter? - Oil pressure relief valve? Should be more like 30psi at idle with thick old oil I would have thought Was a valve stuck open for all that oil to be on one of the sparkplugs?

[@alanperry8676]

I have removed and installed timing belts on 907/910 engines in the car a dozen times. I have never seen the need to lock the cams on these (and I definitely lock them on my Ducati). The cam timing marks are relative to the other cam wheel, not the head (or cam box in the case of the 907). If the dots don’t line up after turning the engine by hand, it is pretty obvious.

[@bobstacey9311]

Any barn find takes the plugs out & gives the bores some fogging oil for man (atf) before spinning the engine over

[@ActionM]

Yes!!!!!🎉🎉

[@mikwhiting938]

There you go! :D

[@vtm914]

Wow that sounds amazing! What a cool looking and sounding engine. I’m thinking this engine must have inspired the creation of the DFV? Keep pushing forward, sorry about your interior, I will keep an eye out for Esprit parts for you. Still have the RRC?

[@bartoni79]

At last!

[@TheLadeef]

new thrust bearing is all ;)

[@stezo15]

exciting!🤤

[@jdeckard1243]

It lives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@RA-uj3nm]

.......have a fire extinguisher by your side......👍👍🍺🍺

[@lennym1636]

In my next life I want to be you...hehe

[@davidstuart4915]

u might want to check out the oil pressure release valve / blocked filter...these engines dont run at 100psi!!! From memory, more like 25 at idle!

[@dominictonutti3218]

👍🏼

[@oumakavoula]

Any chance you could start recording in 4k ? Video quality is low at the moment

[@davedavey5]

Good luck, it's coming together 🍀❤️

[@threezerol944t]

@Soup Classic Motoring Planning a trip to Ireland. Can I help you work on the Lotus? I'd work 100% free. I'd come over just to help on that thing. Seriously.

[@leonidvalentinovich5215]

VAZ gauges? 🙂

[@h-j.k.8971]

Ehm, what was that name again??? Back in the eighties I had a Lotus Super Seven with one of these engines, can you emagine 200 horse in a 450Kg car with asolutely no safety systems, not even a windscreen. Well I was younger then, a lot younger...

[@CyberSQUID9000]

where's me freakin T-Shirt

[@soupclassicmotoring]

If you've a merch issue drop me an email from the about section 🙏🏻

[@bartoni79]

Can you share how exactly the interior went missing? Was it sold on or scrapped or stolen?

[@stuartd9741]

Allegedly the /a trimmer went bankrupt.

[@bartoni79]

Hmmm but if that happened why did the seats etc disappear?

[@stuartd9741]

@@bartoni79 I don't know anymore sadly. .. All I do know is George needs another interior.

[@bobfrankish8883]

@@bartoni79 Hi. I've been on the shitty end of this stick unfortunately. In my case, the guy has been technically bankrupt for ages without telling anybody or showing any real outward signs, and is a limited company, which makes all the difference. He has built up massive debts with preferential creditors being banks, Tax and VAT, all of which have very sharp teeth. The man decides it's all too much and walks away from his unit with everybody's stuff still in it. Bailiffs turn up, padlock the unit and appoint a receiver, who then auctions off all the stuff to offset the debts. When it's a long term thing, like George's interior, all this can happen without you knowing, because tossers like the one I dealt with have no paperwork to speak of where anyone would get in touch with you. I lost about £1000 of equipment.

[@bartoni79]

@@bobfrankish8883 ah… that is a real shame. Sorry to hear that. How do you know that happened to george?

[@oblioi]

:o)❤