Rescuing a Lotus Esprit JPS from Infamy, a Relic of the Rudi Klein Junkyard

[@deangiacopassi1951]

If it isn't too cold, a pressure washing would be good. It is a good thing that you couldn't turn over the engine, without the cam belts installed and the engine timed the pistons could have crashed the valves. Hose everything down with penetrating oil, fog the inside of the engine. Scalers are for heavy rust, not surface rust, think heavy equipment left out near the sea. Clean and cover the yellow esprit before creating more shop dirt. Get a media blaster, bench grinder with a wire wheel and a tumbler for for nuts and bolts... I suggest pulling the engine and transmission then removing and cleaning up the suspension components. Once the frame is out of the way you will have much more work room. Cleaning up the suspension components takes time and is cheap. They can be stored without deteriorating once painted. Good luck, keep the videos coming.

[@BeeWildered]

Great advice, thank you! You've helped me add more items to my check list.

[@HereToHelp9134]

Nice to see you are going to restore her, Is a chap in Ireland restoring the same car, Soup classic motoring. Could give you some help and ideals, Good luck will keep watching.

[@kennethsiskin9958]

I wouldn't try getting a full rotation with cam belts being off. If she does break loose, you will smack pistons into valves. Cut that belt and the belt for the AC pump. Look up Evan Rust.

[@BeeWildered]

@@kennethsiskin9958 good point! It's an Interference engine, now I'm glad it didn't move! Yikes

[@jonathangehman4005]

That's what I came here to say...

[@helenfinchsewwrite]

Hello enjoyed watching the videos,was amazed how much all those cars made from the rudi collection. I spent about ten years working with fibreglass cars when I left school in the early eighties you won’t regret buying the lotus just think about all those spare parts you now have ,in ten years time when you need a new bit and it’s sitting on your shelf already. Best wishes from England regard Roy

[@BeeWildered]

Thank you 🙏

[@frankhoward7645]

While the chassis may be salvageable, by the time you cut out all the rusted-through pieces and weld in new ones, you'll realize that a replacement chassis from Lotus or Spyder may be your best bet. Good luck!

[@BeeWildered]

You may have a point. For me many times, it's all about if I had fun doing it.

[@stephenharfield781]

Greetings from the UK, you’re a brave man! Looking forward to see you making progress.

[@BeeWildered]

Hey, thanks!

[@ayedee6681]

That lotus chassis is a work of art and worth saving. Hope you find a JPS body for it. Get a person who does portable sand blasting to come on over and have it done on site.

[@gGabrielleRuiz]

Top video

[@BeeWildered]

Thank you! 👍

[@scott1814]

Keep it coming……Bravo!!

[@BeeWildered]

@@scott1814 thank you!

[@Coal-Scuttle]

Acetone & transmission fluid to loosen the pistons in the bore

[@colinbagshaw1796]

You can’t turn the engine over with the cam belt missing, you’ll bend a valve😮

[@Matnrach2-mf9qr]

Same old adage, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

[@BeeWildered]

I wasn't thinking and forgot about the 907 being an interference motor, so thankfully it didn't turn 😅

[@Matnrach2-mf9qr]

@@BeeWildered I forgive you. You won't do that again!

[@pbysome]

Interference motor? Any engine withe the valvetrain disconnected will foul the valves and head, you don't know much do you.

[@Matnrach2-mf9qr]

@@pbysome an engine with inclined valves such as a pent roof 4 valve or hemi , yes but of course you can get a non interference engine. Probably not any new passenger car engines now though but plenty of old engines yes.

[@chuckr2100]

17:35 shows a huge rust hole. That type of damage leads me to believe there is likely other internal damage to the frame. To do it properly, strip the power train and suspension from the frame and cut out ANYTHING compromised reweld as necessary and apply corrosion protection. Good luck

[@BeeWildered]

Eventually, that will be the plan.

[@pete0007]

Dry ice blasting would get all the goo off.

[@Mercmad]

I was looking at the top arms on the front suspension, thinking that they were 1960-70's Vauxhall victor FB but apparently they are Opel Ascona, another GM product. The rear Coil spring set ups look a lot like Hillman imp. The 907 engine is actually a Vauxhall victor engine with a lotus head.. I worked on a lot of the Vauxhalls years ago and one thing i heard was that the reason the bottom ends never gave trouble was because GM Vauxhall were actually designing a V8 and the crank journals,for a four cyl. Are huge. As the V8 idea was scrapped and a four cylinder using the same architecture being developed instead. Much like the Pontiac tempest.

[@EVguru]

No, it's not a Vauxhall engine. The Vauxhall slant four Iron block shared the same bore spacing as the proposed Lotus engine, so Lotus did use Vauxhall provided bottom ends to progress the cylinder head development, whilst they worked on their own block design. Other than basic dimensions, the Vauxhall Iron block bares little resemblance to the all alloy, wet liner, Lotus block with its 'girdle plate' and stressed sump setup. The stock Vauxhall ends were not up to the increased output and had to be considerably strengthened when Vauxhall built their own 16 valve heads for the 'Droop Snoot' Firenza and Chevette HSR.

[@rallymodeller]

Needle scalers are more for cast objects like brake calipers or engine blocks, and they're really meant to chip off paint and/or scaly rust, not surface rust. What you need is a flap disc or coarse Scotchbrite wheel in a grinder for the large areas, and a barrel flap wheel in a die grinder for small areas. The flap disc/wheel makes startlingly small work of surface rust.

[@BeeWildered]

@@rallymodeller nice, I knew someone would know more about the needle scaler, thanks! The local store I went to was out of ScotchBrite wheels, so I took what they had, a lot more cleaning will need to be done for sure.

[@rallymodeller]

@@BeeWildered I do suggest a flap disc, though. Finding those was a game changer for me in terms of rust and paint removal.

[@Coal-Scuttle]

Not necessarily. Boroscope to see the condition of the cylinder walls & tops of the piston.

[@EVguru]

You may already have bent valves. Even just cutting the belt with the cams in the wrong position can do it.

[@BeeWildered]

@EVguru I've thought of that and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they're okay. The timing belt seems to have burned from the fire but was it running at the time? Maybe 🤔

[@drew699]

Did you see that Espirit body that was v recently sold by a US auction at £1000?? Great vid again. Will be watching your progress.

[@BeeWildered]

I saw that, unfortunately it was the Stevens design.

[@EVguru]

That rust in the main backbone section is going to be a tricky repair. I put an entire replacement rear section on my Excel chassis, but I was able to pick it apart at the rear diaphragm and all the new welds were in the original locations (think I did a video). You'll need to take a bunch of measurements or even better build a jig before you cut any rust out, let alone start welding.

[@BeeWildered]

Thanks for the heads up, I'm going to check out your channel! The part that is kind of a mystery is the section where I think the seat belt mounts. That seems to be where most of the damage is.

[@scottishcontentcreators]

The chassis looks borderline salvageable? Try Evaporust, non toxic water based rust killer that works. My advice would be to soak the engine bores and put it to one side while you figure out if the chassis is straight and substantial enough to actually build a car around.

[@matthewweinle8639]

If possible consider trying laser rust removal for components.

[@techweenie4712]

3 words: Dry Ice Blasting

[@BeeWildered]

I'm considering that.

[@ericsevern]

I see cam pullies with no belt. Is this a non-interference engine? Have you checked?

[@BeeWildered]

I originally thought all 907s were interference motors but now I'm totally sure. I need to do some more research apparently.

[@ericsevern]

@@BeeWildered I just surfed. It IS an interference engine, so DON'T try to turn the crank shaft without a belt.

[@MrWkala]

I would not SANDblast the frame, but mediablast instead. Preferably with glass beads. Sand as organic material always carries moisture hence causing flash rust. Glass obviously does not contain moisture

[@EVguru]

Don't sandblast anything unless you want Silicosis. Use Aluminium Oxide, Iron slag, Garnet, or crushed glass. Glass beads would be like trying to tickle it.

[@BeeWildered]

Thanks, that's good to know!

[@glennturnbull8568]

That chassis looks beyond saving to me, but good luck.

[@BeeWildered]

@@glennturnbull8568 thanks I'll need it.

[@ProjectRescues]

Try acetone and auto transmission fluid in the cylinders, I've had good luck with that before. Marvel Mystery Oil is hit and miss at times.

[@BeeWildered]

Oh interesting, okay thanks!

[@Framo60]

This is what Jennings Motor sports (www.youtube.com/@jenningsmotorsports7554) uses throughout to free up very old truck engines that have been sitting for decades (and some of them do look a lot worse than this Lotus engine here when he starts working on them).

[@voltron88888]

This right here! Acetone and transmission fluid can unfreeze almost any engine. Fill up the cylinders to the top of each bore.

[@paulmanta]

I would have cleaned the worsts of the burnt stuff by hand and then rolled the whole lot outside and power washed any dusty horrible stuff off, then dried it out in the garage again then had a go at rust cleaning with a mix of the needle gun, the flap wheel and good old sand blasting, I use a pot type blaster I bought from ebay, filled with crushed glass. I have done a lot of restorations now so know my way around the methods to get where its clean.

[@BeeWildered]

Interesting, I'll have to look into crushed glass.

[@paulmanta]

@@BeeWildered Its way better than sand, i find its gentle and leaves a nice finish that is ready to take primer, not too rough but a good "key". fine grit glass, dried obviously. I buy it by the ton !

[@garethjones2171]

a mild shot blast may be

[@johngibson3837]

Whole car needs striping first then have the chassis dipped, that's the starting point for your project good luck

[@BeeWildered]

Thanks!

[@iansmeath8674]

This was my dream car for most of my life, I am now 70 and the dream has faded...sigh. My though is, if you do get a running chassis completed, would you be able to find a body? I guess if you can find one with a rotted out chassis then yeah!

[@BeeWildered]

That's possibly the plan, I also have some other crazy ideas.

[@iansmeath8674]

@@BeeWildered Crazy ideas eh! You and I are probably cut fro the same cloth. I have had many over the years very few went to plan. What ever rout you take, I wish you luck!

[@BobBeem]

Small tip, you really need to cover the yellow car when grinding etc.

[@BeeWildered]

I know, I thought about that too but after the fact 😅

[@patverum9051]

Turn the crankshaft and bend some valves?

[@BeeWildered]

I know, that was a close one, thankfully no valves were harmed during the making of this video 😅

[@flyboyx8288]

spray some oil down the cylinders?

[@pbysome]

So why would you think this was a sidevalves?

[@Bristolcentaurus]

it would be better if it were dipped, repaired and then galvanised sand blasting wont get inside the tube sections to remove all the burnt acidic residue from the fire

[@BeeWildered]

Getting inside the chassis is definitely a challenge. A good soaking may be the only way to go.

[@tgraylight]

Hit it with generously with WD40 and let it soak. Pressure wash. Then Hit it with WD40 again and take it apart bit by bit. That would be my approach.

[@marcos3ltrv6]

I'm sitting here cringing, if you had rotated the crank without the timming belt in place you would have bent some odf the valves, ask me how I know😵‍💫

[@BeeWildered]

Oh, I'm sure there's a story there. Funny thing is, I knew better but when I turn on the cameras sometimes I turn into a goof and do silly things. I lucked out this time ... maybe. Valves might have already been damaged when the belt snapped many years ago. Can't wait to find out.

[@marcos3ltrv6]

@@BeeWildered My 2.2 Elite snapped its timing belt on start up and managed to bend 3 valves even though it didnt actually start😵‍💫