I'm Back...

[Pat H]

After selling my beloved S3 HC Turbo a couple of years ago, I had an unhappy few months with a TVR Griffith and then a lovely 18 months with a Ferrari 328.

Having sold the Ferrari, I briefly looked at aircooled 911s and Caterhams before deciding that my heart was still with Esprits.

So I went completely down market and spent £3250 on this horrible munter:







It is a 61000 mile 1985 S3 which has been standing in a garage for a couple of years.

Mechanically it is sound, but the paintwork is rough and the interior is shot. The pictures are very flattering....

I'm not quite sure why I bought it, but it will give me something to play with over the winter. Given the fairly modest values of NA S3s, it is probably not worth embarking on much of a restoration, so I will probably get it MOT'd and then sell it on.

I am on the lookout for something a bit special, so if you happen to know of a mint GT3, S4S or even an old G shape car in really exceptional condition, then I might be interested.

[ErnestM]

Pat H said:

Given the fairly modest values of NA S3s, it is probably not worth embarking on much of a restoration...

Famous last words? Looks like quite a lot of fun for the price, Pat!


ErnestM

[Kylie]

Hi Pat, nice to see you back into an Esprit again. Looks like you have a great project. Post more pics when its done

[Dodgey_Rog]

I think you'll miss the power Pat, i see your old HC is up for sale again, or at least it was.......

You clearly like White, not a Miami Vice fan are you?

[Pat H]

Dodgey_Rog said:

I think you'll miss the power Pat, i see your old HC is up for sale again, or at least it was.......

I have just turned down the opportunity to buy it back...

It has now sold for £15,000, which I reckon is a bit too much for the private purchase of a Giugiaro Esprit, even though it really is a fantastic car.

Still, it just shows that running an old Esprit need not be an expensive pastime.

I paid £14950 to Paul Matty in 2002 and sold it to Steve M for £14,800. He has just sold it for £15,000 and neither of us spent anything on the car that went much beyond routine maintenance.

As for the S3, I'm sure that you are right. 160bhp isn't nearly enough.

But I bought the car as a project and for a cheap bit of fun, so who knows what I will end up doing with it. I rather suspect that it will get sold on as soon as I trip up over a mint GT3 or S4S...

[anonymous-user]

How much power would be enough in an S3 Pat? Would it be possible to get a reasonable ammount of grunt out of a n/a 9xx series engine without resorting to turbo or supercharging, just to keep things simple in the engine bay/

[Pat H]

excel789 said:

How much power would be enough in an S3 Pat? Would it be possible to get a reasonable ammount of grunt out of a n/a 9xx series engine without resorting to turbo or supercharging, just to keep things simple in the engine bay/

Dunno.

I haven't really looked into the tuning potential of the N/A 9 series motor.

I always felt that the 215bhp HC Turbo motor was just about adequate for road use.

I expect that with a couple of hairy cams and some nice porting, the N/A motor could easily be tuned for 200bhp, though it would lose out a lot on torque.

The problem would be cost, as it would undoubtedly be cheaper to drop in a complete turbo motor and ancilliaries.

I prefer NA engines as turbo lag is a bit of a turn off....

[anonymous-user]

The reason I ask is that a friend mentioned that Mike Taylor is developing a big bore 9xx engine for his Micra rally car, 2.5 or 2.6 litre, can't remember exactly, that got me thinking about bunging one in my Excel when it's present motor eventually dies. Probably cost an arm/leg but I'm attracted to the idea of a big n/a engine, maybe fuel injected. Might sit nicely in an Esprit as well.

[Wedg1e]

61K miles? scarcely run-in then! My A plate car had a lot more than that yet when I rebuilt it at approaching 90K IIRC there was no noticeable bore wear.
The paintwork can get as rough as hell but it's GRP so what does it matter? Interiors never lasted 5 minutes on Esprits anyway so I'd say what you have is par for the course.
As long as the chassis's straight and uncorroded (the usual tube near the exhaust) and the engine pulls cleanly, it's a S3 Esprit, leave it alone!
I reckon if I was just kicking off and had to choose between the TVR wedge and the Esprit as a cheap sportscar, the Lotus would win

[Andymaserati]

Wedg1e said:

61K miles? scarcely run-in then! My A plate car had a lot more than that yet when I rebuilt it at approaching 90K IIRC there was no noticeable bore wear.
The paintwork can get as rough as hell but it's GRP so what does it matter? Interiors never lasted 5 minutes on Esprits anyway so I'd say what you have is par for the course.
As long as the chassis's straight and uncorroded (the usual tube near the exhaust) and the engine pulls cleanly, it's a S3 Esprit, leave it alone!
I reckon if I was just kicking off and had to choose between the TVR wedge and the Esprit as a cheap sportscar, the Lotus would win

And she's still going strong ian
just treat her to new brakes all round, and improved the airhose.
still not touched the body work or interior, but thats not important. The cars are made to drive, and god that thing drives well

if 160bhp ain't enough for you.... take a look on LEF at hillys car
he's dropped a 4.2 Audi V8 in

[Wedg1e]

Andymaserati said:

Wedg1e said:

61K miles? scarcely run-in then! My A plate car had a lot more than that yet when I rebuilt it at approaching 90K IIRC there was no noticeable bore wear.
The paintwork can get as rough as hell but it's GRP so what does it matter? Interiors never lasted 5 minutes on Esprits anyway so I'd say what you have is par for the course.
As long as the chassis's straight and uncorroded (the usual tube near the exhaust) and the engine pulls cleanly, it's a S3 Esprit, leave it alone!
I reckon if I was just kicking off and had to choose between the TVR wedge and the Esprit as a cheap sportscar, the Lotus would win

And she's still going strong ian
just treat her to new brakes all round, and improved the airhose.
still not touched the body work or interior, but thats not important. The cars are made to drive, and god that thing drives well

if 160bhp ain't enough for you.... take a look on LEF at hillys car
he's dropped a 4.2 Audi V8 in

New brakes? I thought I did all those?! Been giving it laaaarge young man?
There was a near-identical black S3 on Ebay at the weekend on a Y plate; the guy wanted £2850 as a start bid, I think he was having a laugh myself... by his admission it needed about as much doing as yours did when I bought it. Makes out he's some kind of restorer yet he claimed he ran the Esprit using an 'external fuel pump'... any fool knows how to unstick an SU pump or, simpler still, take the carb tops off and fill the float chambers with fuel... a grand less and I might have been interested

[Andymaserati]

Wedg1e said:

New brakes? I thought I did all those?! Been giving it laaaarge young man?

indeed.... after a particularly hard PH runout, i decided they probably needed changing.... actually having a bit of trouble with the new ones, may email you re this soon

[pomoz]

Gday Pat
Great to hear that you are back in a S3.....
Really great... missed our talks on here ,and your helpful and informative tips.
From memeory ... you preferred the clean style of the normal Gcar as opposed to the Turbo with the skirts etc

Gday Kylie .... U still around too
Bad luck about the ALL BLACKS and their welcome home
party...... tch tch

I just happened to jump on here after a VERY LONG TIME

REASON: im trying to find out what aftermarket OIL FILTER .. i can stick in my car ....
Its a bloody maze .. trying to xreference Oil filters ...
So being slack ......whats around that i can use

Yes still have the 87 S3 HC na here in OZ .....
Dont drive it as much as i would like

Pomoz

[Kylie]

Hi Pomoz
Allblacks poor buggers, they are getting soo much flack here. no doubt the Wallabies got their fair share too

Edited by Kylie on Tuesday 6th November 22:18

[pomoz]

Hi Kylies

Yes the wallabies ... did get a bit of stick ... on their return ....... thats sport
Be interesting who will be the new coaches for both teams..... NOW
On another note... what oil filters do you use?
Being on the right side of the world ...apart from K&N

There seems to be so many xreference parts thou when re-xreferencing in reverse .... they dont match up with what i started with ..
Just thought i would ask

Good to see that Pat is with us again eh ...

Pomoz 87S3 HC na

[Kylie]

For the 89 I used a Wix something or rather that I used to order through Repco here. I will find the part no and post up. All my service part refs have gone with the car now as I dont need that now. The V8 will be a whole new game and exploring new ref part numbers - oh joy!!

[autocross7]

Welcome back Pat (sounds like a TV show?)Anyway...
Yep... had the chance for a 308 not long ago. Sorry, I said, it just not an Esprit.

Car does not look toooo bad over all, but it'll be a job to put the steering wheel bacl on the proper side! (Just kidding)... Glad your back in an Esprit and good luck with any projects it created for you!

Drive roofless!
Cameron