Daewoo Esperos

[HillmanImp]

1 hour ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

Bonus LDV!

Like getting laid then finding out you caught AIDS. 

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

Here's the photo, fortunately there were no injuries.

Bonus LDV!

Got to be the LDV's fault, tho?

[hammy]

Another one ready to leave now - destined only for the metal crusher unfortunately.  A real shame as it was a tidy car prior to it's accident. 

Next step, to make my other one turn over.

 

[fatharris]

Not worth saving the side windows etc then? Is it interchangeable with the Cavalier stuff?

[neil72]

There used to be a few of these knocking around London's suburbs, here's one seen earlier this year outside an abandoned house.

[quicksilver]

59 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Not worth saving the side windows etc then? Is it interchangeable with the Cavalier stuff?

IIRC the Espero has an entirely different body that has nothing in common with the Cavalier. The Nexia was a facelifted Astra but the Espero used only the Cavalier floorpan with totally new bodywork that as noted above was a rejected Bertone design for the Xantia.

[hammy]

On 11/06/2024 at 08:44, neil72 said:

There used to be a few of these knocking around London's suburbs, here's one seen earlier this year outside an abandoned house.

R reg ones are extremely rare. 

[hammy]

On 11/06/2024 at 09:19, quicksilver said:

IIRC the Espero has an entirely different body that has nothing in common with the Cavalier. The Nexia was a facelifted Astra but the Espero used only the Cavalier floorpan with totally new bodywork that as noted above was a rejected Bertone design for the Xantia.

You are correct, the only GM parts on the body shell are the door handles which are MK3 Astra/Cavalier items. Everything else was bespoke to the Espero design, which was a Bertone design commissioned originally for Citroen.

[hammy]

I've been a bit slack on progress with the remaining Espero of late, too much on and not enough time to do it all.

Anyway, the non starting issue was traced with a bit of help to a knackered fuel pump, a new one sourced from Autodoc was fitted a couple of weeks ago and it fired into life with no issue at all and seems to be running quite happily. 

The drivers door mirror from the 1997 car turns out to be a different shape, and uses connectors instead of being wired into the mirror unit - unbelievably they seemed to change a lot of details including the mirrors and side repeaters on the last cars. 

Broken front indicator replaced and a bit of fighting with the doors means that both the passenger side doors now open and lock as they should.  

One tyre was so gammy it had to be replaced so I treated it to a new pair of Ditch-Finders™️ and fitted those this morning.  A  bucket of soapy water and a brush down followed to get off the 3.5 year coating of grime that was all over it and it was ready to go for test.

A £9.50 1hr insurance policy allowed me to drive it approximately 250 yards up the road to the MOT garage for them to test it this week.  I'm not certain it will pass without work but it's at least progress that it made it under its own power.

I love some of the original details too, supplier plates and tax disc holder. I don't have full service history but this does look every bit the 45k mileage showed on the dials. 

 

[grogee]

Ooh range-topper! I can only imagine what 1.8 litres of pure power is like. 

What did CDX get you then? My 1.5 (can't remember spec) had a lot of kit but was quite drab inside. Did any have pleather? 

[hammy]

6 minutes ago, grogee said:

Ooh range-topper! I can only imagine what 1.8 litres of pure power is like. 

What did CDX get you then? My 1.5 (can't remember spec) had a lot of kit but was quite drab inside. Did any have pleather? 

This isn't the top, CDi was the middle of trim level. The 2.0 CDXI was top - had all manner of features including a CD multichanger. 

That being said, this has power windows all round, air con, ABS and alloys as standard. Trim is velour on some very comfortable seats.  It was once 95bhp but has possibly lost of that sparkle since. 

[hammy]

So it didn't pass, but for a car that had not been used in 3 years and that had been a non runner 2 weeks ago I don't think it's too bad a list. 

Exhaust downpipe and brake drums are hard to find, but I've sourced through Autodoc and they should be done in the next couple of weeks.

[hammy]

MOT now passed, hopefully to enjoy some shows now.