Did anyone see the Ant Anstead master mechanic show last night on Quest?
Ant fell in love (why wouldnt he?) with a lagoon blue 1972 big valve +2.
He wanted to get it back on the road an sell for a profit.
Now did I imagine it or did he say the respray cost hime £1800?
If so, I want (need) to go to the same place.
Also bit surprised after hime seeing damage to the head he didnt stip down the block.
He ended up putting a non big valve in at a cost of nearly £9K. Is that how much a twin cam will set you back?
Blimey.
Hi
Yes, I watched it. What a plonker!
He lost a packet on the car and he deserved to. Why didn’t he just buy a new crank (or second hand) and rebuild the engine. I’m amazed he found a complete engine and we’re led to believe he found it in just a day!
There was no mention of rusty chassis or sill members - if it had been standing for 30 years, I would have thought this highly likely.
Why were the headlights always up - sounds like a leaky vacuum chamber to me!
Nick
PS. He put the shell in an oven - this doesn’t sound wise to me. Thoughts?
It’s the usual “made for TV” rubbish I’m afraid. Things are often done to fit in with the filming schedule rather than being done appropriately. They bought another engine because the car was entered in the auction at the NEC (?) a couple of days later so they had no time - I assume that getting it there was part of the filming contract otherwise surely you would have just pulled the entry and stripped the engine (which they should have done when they found the head damage. Any sane person would, especially with an unknown car that you are in theory “restoring”). The replacement engine was actually £10k IIRC and that’s quite reasonable complete with carbs (unless they were the ones removed frome the car) and therefore I assume (unwisely perhaps!) dyno run. As an example, an FIA twin cam from one of the proper engine builders is £17,000 plus these days. The list of obvious issues that he didn’t fix or mention is endless if you watch the program closely. The fact that the headlights clearly didn’t even get mended so that they go up and down tells you everything you need to know.
I’ve recently finished (as part of a team effort but I did most of the final assembly and a lot else besides…) a re-restoration of another Lotus he “Restored” on TV that was actually a complete shed when we started looking at it. The car ended up being stripped to a bare shell and the fun really started when we began removing bits of polystyrene that had been wedged in the rear quarters to fill some inconvenient holes. There’s no proof that he/they did that, but it wasn’t hard to find and they clearly didn’t deal with it. And that was just the beginning, but it’s a long story for another day…suffice to say my view of his claim to be a “Born Mechanic” is unprintable, a view that is shared by pretty much everyone involved in the last project and that includes a lot of folks with more knowledge and ability than mine. My advice would be that anyone thinking of buying a car “restored” or “recommissioned” by him as part of a TV program at auction would be better off keeping their hand down, or only bidding up to the value of a car that requires complete restoration again, and that’s probably why it only sold for what it did.
There’s probably a good reason that every company he sets up to ‘restore’ or build cars fails. They are all rubbish or just badly run. The Lotus Exige based thing he did under the Radford name has folded now. Failed to deliver and now has people wanting their money back. Wouldn’t trust him as far as I can throw him
I watched it too, you sort of expect that all of these things are setup for TV, but this particular programme is really lame and they do not even try to make it look convincing.
Which wouldn’t be so bad if it was entertaining or you learned something because they did something technical but it does neither of these things. I had watched half of one before and thought it not worth bothering the rest, so only watched this as it had an Elan in it.
They even made up the non car stuff, his “showdown” meeting with the Parish Council for example, who have almost non existent powers over planning and absolutely none over building control, so they are hardly likely to be able force him to remove insulation. Even when used to bodge a car!
Interesting comments guys.
What about that respray, it looked ok, but surely not properly done ay £1800???
Hi all
These type of programs are for couch potatoes. And the production team and directors don’t let any problems get in the way of completion.
Its pulp fiction.
I’ve not seen this Anstead programme but there’s another “restoration” on youtube which looks to be Quest as well. Drew Pritchard on Salvage Hunters (another “expert” who I have no idea who they are). They get a rusted out headlight bezel repaired, and the rear bumper is a repro (or has already lost the lip) 
This time the paint job comes in at £3400.
Previously discussed here:
https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=41106
But now on youtube (since a month ago).
I saw the programme ,lots of unanswered questions ,if you are going to put your car into an auction dont expect top price ,yes respray materials for £ 1800? it looked good I suspect with all the work engine etc he must have spent £ 15 to £ 20 plus the origional purchase ouch .
Peter
The Blue Plus 2 from salvage hunters is owned by Andy who is a member of this forum.
Andy bought the car off the production company. The actual receipts and prices quoted on the show are very different. The TV company openly admitted they adjusted the prices “so it makes for good telly”.
The producer also told Andy the programme is basically an excuse for Drew to go visit and show off the amazing talents of these small specialist companies which is usually a bloke in shed who has been doing it for 50 years. Hence the £400 restoration of a set of scrap light bezels.
That salvage hunters show also did an Esprit and had it painted for next to nothing.
I know its telly and entertainment of sorts, but why make out a specialist respray on a fibreglass car is so cheap?
I think we all know the true cost of keeping our cars on the road.
I am trying to find a paintshop that knows what they are doing and I dont need to win the lottery to have my car painted.
Found the repeat showing of this and recorded it. Watched it and wish I hadn’t. All these type of shows are killing the classic car world. Dealers, flippers, speculators, ‘experts’ please go away and give it back to the enthusiasts.
I thought he was better than that. I watched in disgust. You can’t beat a good enthusiast when it comes to restoration for attention to detail. I would have thought he would have been aware of the pedigree of Lotus, how fragile they are and are a different mindset than your average metal car.
They have made trained experienced mechanics cry. WIP for ever to some degree.
Is there a link to this video for those who not seen it or is it just a case of waiting for it to be repeated on quest?
Peter.
I just watched it on discovery+ streaming app.
Honestly, I don’t get it. Isn’t he supposed to be a mechanic? Sent the car off for paint without taking the body off the shell? He spent 10k for a rebuilt engine but didn’t put the Big Valve head back on. He should have pulled it from auction and done the rebuild. Much cheaper. Rev counter bouncing all over the place, vacuum system not fixed. Terrible. On the other hand, I noticed quite a few parts refurbished but not mentioned, for example the brake servo.
There’s a moral to this tale… flipping classics only works in a strong market. £14k obviously the right price. Hope the new owner got the head.
Many thanks, unfortunately I do not have access to the Discovery Channel.
Thanks
Peter
It’s not a channel. It’s a streaming app and you can register for free and watch the programme, also for free.
discoveryplus.com/gb/video/ … ur-of-love
But I suppose you shouldn’t bother. I only watched it to see what everyone else was talking about…
Many thanks, signed up and watching,
Cheers
Peter
The car was sold through Classic Car Auctions in September:-
https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/1973-lotus-elan-recc32303-3-stoneleigh-0924?cca=true
In the condition report (and presumably the catalogue):-
But in the saleroom notice (i.e. a late update):-
So the whole ‘find and fit a new engine in the 48hrs before the auction’ was, as suspected, totally fictitious… It might also explain the sale price.
I know it’s ‘only telly’ but…
Cheers