Lotus Europa Community

Lotus Europa Forums => Members Cars => Topic started by: nigelc on Thursday,August 18, 2016, 01:05:23 PM

Title: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Thursday,August 18, 2016, 01:05:23 PM
Thought i'd put this up there as the start point of what i think may be many months/years work  .  Just purchased a  1970 S2 that was dismantled by previous keeper at some point in the 90's ..Some interesting body mods to address , and a god awful 1980's aftermarket sunroof that needs to go .  Plan is to go with a modern stiffer ( banks most likely ) chassis , and probably an XE or Duratec powerplant ready for some club sprints and hill climbs .   The "complete car in boxes" has a significant amount of missing bits so i think the wanted forum on here will become my new best friend.

Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: BDA on Thursday,August 18, 2016, 02:38:31 PM
 :Welcome: nigelc!!

That looks like it will keep you off the streets for a while!

I have several of Richard's (Bank's) kits on my car though not his frame. He does great work and I would expect his frames to live up to his reputation. Spyder also makes a nice frame.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Runningwild on Thursday,August 18, 2016, 06:57:36 PM
Enjoy the journey !
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: EuropaTC on Thursday,August 18, 2016, 10:09:29 PM
Hi Nigel,

Yep, I think that classifies as both a "project car" and "enthusiast needed"  :)

 :Welcome:  and good to have another car on the way back to health.

Brian
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: 4129R on Thursday,August 18, 2016, 10:22:31 PM
Nothing much changes since they were manufactured. I seem to remember that if you bought the cars in kit form, you avoided paying purchase tax (VAT of old).

I friend of mine (who also lives in Essex) built his 1970 S2 from new.

Alex in Norfolk
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Bainford on Monday,August 22, 2016, 09:05:51 AM
 :Welcome: Welcome to the forum, Nigel. Good luck with your project. Your support group awaits. Cheers  :beerchug:
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Friday,August 26, 2016, 08:29:31 AM
Thanks for the welcome and the comments all.
I am bracing my bank account for the first of many hammerings and am off to the Lotus festival at Brands Hatch this weekend to pick up some parts.  Then next weekend the cutting commences.... backwards to go forwards n all that ..
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: buzzer on Tuesday,August 30, 2016, 01:28:41 AM
Welcome to the forum great to have another UK member.
In my experience of picking Europa parts up at autojumbles is woefully poor. Even at beaulieu this coming  weekend there won't be may Europa only bits, in fact none last year I could find.
Have fun and this forum is a good start on any info or help , there are some very knowledgeable guys on here.
I started off with a headache too. But looks like yours might be even more of one than mine!

Dave

PS did you find any parts this weekend?
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Tuesday,August 30, 2016, 01:50:44 AM
Hi Dave

The Brands visit was worthwhile .. made a couple of contacts , and there was one stall up there with a lot of used parts .. mainly Elan , but a few Europa bits , and sounds like they have a lot of what i may need back at there workshop.. so useful number for later in the project.   I will say though that the "Trade Village" was more of a "Trade Village hall"  literally 4 or 5 stalls , and only one of those really catering for the non elise market .. As you say .. slim auto jumble pickings for the Europa even at a lotus focused event

some good racing though
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Steve_Lindford on Tuesday,September 06, 2016, 12:14:41 PM
Brave to take on a project like that!

I managed to get a rear bumper from Beaulieu in almost perfect condition. There were a few front bumpers around too but I don't need one...

Steve
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Sunday,October 02, 2016, 01:49:40 PM
well the pile of boxes in the garage is now much smaller .. with all the real junk gone , and the "can be saved  / repaired / reused / or used as a template" parts stashed away until i get a chassis to put them back on to .. The old chassis now sits on a trolley , and the sad looking body back on that .. logic being that even though its had it , the old chassis should at least hold things in line while i repair the body .     
The god awful spoiler has been removed from the front revealing some of the original lotus yellow , and far more pleasing lines . Two of the heavily butchered fenders have been cut back out to restore to original positions , and the copious amounts of body filler used to "style" the wide arch efforts of the PO removed .

May not look like much ... but feels like progress made :-)
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: BDA on Sunday,October 02, 2016, 02:46:25 PM
Congratulations on your progress! Don't sell yourself short. That sounds like significant progress!

A fiberglass car is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it's so easy to repair. It can be a curse because it's so easy to modify and too often, those mods aren't enhancements.

Thanks for the pictures! Keep 'em coming and good luck!
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Sunday,October 09, 2016, 03:51:22 PM
another productive weekend . the bastardised arches on drivers side are now also off..several pounds of body filler / bits of tin / badly done fibreglass repairs removed .  80's sunroof removed , firewall pretty well fell out ....deconstruction is nearly complete.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: BDA on Sunday,October 09, 2016, 04:13:17 PM
Get ready to itch!  :)
Title: Progress
Post by: nigelc on Friday,May 05, 2017, 03:33:30 AM
Not put any updates on for a while but progress is being made . Body more or less back in one piece , sun roof deleted , floors strengthened , firewall half done , and most important .. roll cage built .. taking shape slowly but surely
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: BDA on Friday,May 05, 2017, 05:31:47 AM
Things are looking up! That roll cage is very nicely done!
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Bainford on Friday,May 05, 2017, 09:16:55 AM
Very impressive work. Nice job restoring the body/ eliminating the mods. Progress is looking good.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Tuesday,November 28, 2017, 08:37:07 AM
Been a while since i updated ... many many weekends of fibre glass repairs but a real milestone moment this last weekend . First coat of Primer is on , so for the first time in around 20 years its all the same colour .  Some work to flat out some runs , and a few other lumps and bumps now .. but i believe i finally see a faint light at the end of the tunnel.

Chassis is coming together separately.. and has been a case of , assemble , not be happy with it  , disassemble , improve , re-assemble .   But its looking better by the week .
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: BDA on Tuesday,November 28, 2017, 10:12:48 AM
Good work, Nigel! I'm glad things are moving along!

Don't be shy about asking for advice or suggestions and POST MORE PICTURES!  :)
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: lotusfanatic on Wednesday,November 29, 2017, 12:30:45 AM
That’s an important milestone Nigel!

(and making me feel slightly envious...)

Mark
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Certified Lotus on Wednesday,November 29, 2017, 04:00:39 AM
Impressive work being done. Looking forward to following your progress.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: buzzer on Wednesday,November 29, 2017, 05:58:49 AM
Looking good, getting there. Who did your roll cage?
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Thursday,November 30, 2017, 08:03:53 AM
Thanks for the comments all ... yes i should really be a bit more regular with the progress pics. 

The cage was based on a large kit of parts at enormous expense from Custom Cages .  Dont be fooled by the pictures they show in to thinking that their  "Europa Bolt in Cage " comes as a set of bolt together sections ...ooooo no.  It comes in about a hundred pieces of tube and various ends / plates / brackets . So you either need to be an exceptionally confident welder , or find somewhere that knows their stuff . Mine was assembled by Matt Roach Racing in Rayleigh Essex ... Really nice guys, brilliant job done of it.   In all honesty had i appreciated up front that the cage didnt come with the sections pre welded , i would probably have gone to somewhere like MRR and had them design and build one from scratch , it would have been more cost effective , and certainly faster ( custom cages took months to deliver) .   
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: dakazman on Thursday,November 30, 2017, 04:54:30 PM
Nigelc
Welcome to the forum.

 1970 s2 0453 here . What is your build number?

Keep the pictures coming !!!
Dakazman
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: buzzer on Wednesday,December 13, 2017, 05:47:47 AM
Thanks for the info on the cage. I have a safety devices bolt in approved roll bar (can't call it a cage). My plan is to get someone to make a front cage to bolt to the approved cage if possible. so this needs designing. The best cage is ..was....a Banks cage but he doesn't do them any more.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Europaforever on Thursday,January 04, 2018, 10:34:55 AM
Nice work Nigel-

I'm back into it now with a new project Europa!

Regards Mark
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Friday,January 05, 2018, 02:18:25 AM
Thats great news Mark.. what have you got ? , and how much work does it need ?
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Europaforever on Saturday,January 06, 2018, 06:18:29 AM
I bought an S2 project! So I guess I'll be needing most of those spares I sold you back ;D
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Nick74R on Sunday,January 07, 2018, 09:14:30 AM
Hi Nigel,

Great project and it's something I've done a couple of times most recently with a twincam using Banks supplied chassis. See Nick74R pics! Rollcentre is the firm whom I bought all the cage components from - an efficient and friendly firm in St. Ives Cambridgeshire, they sell all the bent bars necessary for you to build a cage to whatever stage you need - you then cut the bars and weld accordingly as each bodyshell is different. I also opted for the side bars which run down the inside of the sills and attach to the backbone chassis fore and aft.
I'm only up the road from you in Suffolk so if you want to get in touch please do.
Some pics attached...

Nick.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: skippopotamus on Tuesday,January 09, 2018, 04:34:53 PM
Nigel, I hope you don't mind if I ask Nick a question in your thread.  Apologies if you do and I'll remove it.

Nick, I'm doing some fiberglass work on my car and I am struggling with getting a contour right.  May I ask how you got the contour where the arrows are in the attached pic?

Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: Nick74R on Wednesday,January 10, 2018, 08:38:57 AM
For fear of intruding on Nigel's thread anymore, I have written the answer and published some pics in reply to Skippopotamus' question on my thread... Nick74R pics.

Nick.
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: nigelc on Thursday,April 19, 2018, 02:50:45 AM
Haven't updated this for a while .. a couple of weeks ago i managed to get some late nights in and finally have her in paint .  Cirrus White , really pleased with my first ever DIY respray .  Its finally going back together :-)
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: lotusfanatic on Thursday,April 19, 2018, 05:45:51 AM
Hi Nigel,

what a beauty!
I bet you can’t wait to assemble her now?!
my car was most probably Cirrus White originally, looks very nice!

Mark
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: BDA on Thursday,April 19, 2018, 06:29:14 AM
That looks very nice, especially for your first time! Congratulations! :beerchug:
Title: Re: The start of a long journey
Post by: coldwarvet on Friday,April 20, 2018, 09:25:10 AM
...and I thought mine was a project, well, it is still a work in progress...good going on yours!...