Address withheld
26 March 05
Dear Steve,
Please enjoy the inserted picture of my newly registered Lotus Esprit 79 S2. The achievement of Engineer’s Certification and Registration with a car imported from Scotland, after the last six months of work you, Gary and I have put in, is a moment to revel in.
I must thank you for your professionalism and intuition, recognising my desire to contribute to the project where I had the ability to do so. You quickly established a ‘safety top-down’ list of jobs to do and pushed as much onto ‘my list’ and the difficult or specialized jobs on ‘your list’. This not only saved me a deal of money (I am from Scotland too..), but kept me in the mechanical repair loop, right where I wanted to be.
For your reader’s benefit, I have summarised my project. The process through to registration is the same, but the reader would have to (like me) make an assessment of their own abilities.
Summary of 79 Esprit project
I had been shopping around for months for an Esprit (the car of my dreams), in Australia. The whole import thing is just too expensive, what with 25% duty added (10% GST & 15% Stamp duty) plus shipping costs ($6K). I found one in Melbourne, in a real sad state, imported from Scotland six months earlier. The owner started to restore the car, but probably gave up after seeing how much he had to do (and spend).
As an import, the car had to have an approved import certificate (done), then get an engineer’s certificate from a VASS approved engineer (Victorian rules). He certifies that the car meets the relevant Australian standards. I had to fit new seat belts and have some welding done to the chassis. $600 later I had that certificate. A list of VASS approved engineers can be obtained from the VIC Roads website.
The largest task was the roadworthy certificate. I faced some 60 line-items of repairs, of which most were roadworthy related items. At this point, I met Steve Taylor at the Elan Factory. He was recommended to me by the previous owner of the car as the best person to machine the clutch release bearing housing (and replace the thrust bearing). Steve invited me up to the Elan Factory, to have a look over the car and a couple of prospective jobs: Overhauling the brake calipers and investigation a poor starter mesh issue.
After some investigation and a thorough look over the car, Steve drew up a ‘your list’ and ‘his list’, and hurried me off with relevant parts. He undertook the following tasks:
All the brake calipers were overhauled and fitted with new stainless steel pistons plus relevant hydraulic seals.
The original brake lines were replaced by steel piping that included an external protective coating.
The original ring gear had been installed incorrectly. This was re-seated to provide the correct starter motor mesh.
The gearbox input shaft was removed and machined to affect repairs to the damaged spigot.
The worn gear shift cross-gate cable was repaired.
The distributor was removed and machined so the leaking oil seal could be replaced.
All worn suspension bushes were replaced.
All worn ball joints were replaced.
The job of replacing the original brake lines was carried out by Gary Woodward who works with Steve. Gary is nothing short of an artist when lacing the brake lines into place. The final result was a very neat job.
Gary and Steve performed an engine diagnostic test called a Leak-down test. This provided information on the wear of the engine, and where the wear was (valves, rings etc), so as to allow targeted repair if necessary. A very smart test to get done.
Steve also supplied several parts with a smart philosophy of providing quality parts that fit first time, and where possible, didn’t come out of Lotus bag (and cost). All of the parts came with full notes on fitment and adjustment when necessary:
Brake rotors,
Brake hoses,
Steering rack gaiters,
Gear shift bushes,
Dampers (shock absorbers),
Brake pads (nice EBC Green Stuff),
Clutch hose replacement kit (red hose symptom – he has a technical bulletin on this system),
Clutch thrust release bearing, and
Several bushes, seals.
And of course, tons of advice on the phone and by e-mail.
This is where Steve excels. He took on my project through to the primary goal of registration. This advice was invaluable and I am very grateful.
So this is my story to date. Next I am looking at overhauling the inlet head, as I have low compression through an inlet valve, so I will be shipping this off to Steve and Gary after I have had some fun.
In closing, I again thank you for the professional and friendly efforts you and Gary have put in. I look forward to a long and continued partnership.
Regards,
I. S.
26 March 05
Dear Steve,
Please enjoy the inserted picture of my newly registered Lotus Esprit 79 S2. The achievement of Engineer’s Certification and Registration with a car imported from Scotland, after the last six months of work you, Gary and I have put in, is a moment to revel in.
I must thank you for your professionalism and intuition, recognising my desire to contribute to the project where I had the ability to do so. You quickly established a ‘safety top-down’ list of jobs to do and pushed as much onto ‘my list’ and the difficult or specialized jobs on ‘your list’. This not only saved me a deal of money (I am from Scotland too..), but kept me in the mechanical repair loop, right where I wanted to be.
For your reader’s benefit, I have summarised my project. The process through to registration is the same, but the reader would have to (like me) make an assessment of their own abilities.
Summary of 79 Esprit project
I had been shopping around for months for an Esprit (the car of my dreams), in Australia. The whole import thing is just too expensive, what with 25% duty added (10% GST & 15% Stamp duty) plus shipping costs ($6K). I found one in Melbourne, in a real sad state, imported from Scotland six months earlier. The owner started to restore the car, but probably gave up after seeing how much he had to do (and spend).
As an import, the car had to have an approved import certificate (done), then get an engineer’s certificate from a VASS approved engineer (Victorian rules). He certifies that the car meets the relevant Australian standards. I had to fit new seat belts and have some welding done to the chassis. $600 later I had that certificate. A list of VASS approved engineers can be obtained from the VIC Roads website.
The largest task was the roadworthy certificate. I faced some 60 line-items of repairs, of which most were roadworthy related items. At this point, I met Steve Taylor at the Elan Factory. He was recommended to me by the previous owner of the car as the best person to machine the clutch release bearing housing (and replace the thrust bearing). Steve invited me up to the Elan Factory, to have a look over the car and a couple of prospective jobs: Overhauling the brake calipers and investigation a poor starter mesh issue.
After some investigation and a thorough look over the car, Steve drew up a ‘your list’ and ‘his list’, and hurried me off with relevant parts. He undertook the following tasks:
All the brake calipers were overhauled and fitted with new stainless steel pistons plus relevant hydraulic seals.
The original brake lines were replaced by steel piping that included an external protective coating.
The original ring gear had been installed incorrectly. This was re-seated to provide the correct starter motor mesh.
The gearbox input shaft was removed and machined to affect repairs to the damaged spigot.
The worn gear shift cross-gate cable was repaired.
The distributor was removed and machined so the leaking oil seal could be replaced.
All worn suspension bushes were replaced.
All worn ball joints were replaced.
The job of replacing the original brake lines was carried out by Gary Woodward who works with Steve. Gary is nothing short of an artist when lacing the brake lines into place. The final result was a very neat job.
Gary and Steve performed an engine diagnostic test called a Leak-down test. This provided information on the wear of the engine, and where the wear was (valves, rings etc), so as to allow targeted repair if necessary. A very smart test to get done.
Steve also supplied several parts with a smart philosophy of providing quality parts that fit first time, and where possible, didn’t come out of Lotus bag (and cost). All of the parts came with full notes on fitment and adjustment when necessary:
Brake rotors,
Brake hoses,
Steering rack gaiters,
Gear shift bushes,
Dampers (shock absorbers),
Brake pads (nice EBC Green Stuff),
Clutch hose replacement kit (red hose symptom – he has a technical bulletin on this system),
Clutch thrust release bearing, and
Several bushes, seals.
And of course, tons of advice on the phone and by e-mail.
This is where Steve excels. He took on my project through to the primary goal of registration. This advice was invaluable and I am very grateful.
So this is my story to date. Next I am looking at overhauling the inlet head, as I have low compression through an inlet valve, so I will be shipping this off to Steve and Gary after I have had some fun.
In closing, I again thank you for the professional and friendly efforts you and Gary have put in. I look forward to a long and continued partnership.
Regards,
I. S.