Chassis, can I use a Twin Cam chassis to rebuild by S2 Renault Europa?

[Steve Carpenter]

 

Hi All, I'm a new member living on the south coast in the UK and new to Europa's ... for fun as a retirement hobby I'm slowly rebuilding a S2 Renault engined Europa from 1970, I'm keeping all the original spec, engine gearbox etc, now the question... the chassis has rusted out and I have to replace it and have available a good ready to fit early twin cam chassis with the correct gearbox cross member.

At the moment I can't put one alongside the other to make a direct comparison so what I would like to know is what the differences are, I think the shift linkage brkts  and engine mounts may need altering  which I can do easily enough (have welder etc) But are there any fundamental differences, ie wheelbase, track, body fixing points, suspension geometry etc that would make the conversion a pointless  exercise?

Your thoughts please folks 

[LotusJoe]

The short answer is yes, however, it will require some modifications for engine mounting.

[BDA]

  Healey 75!!

LotusJoe certainly knows more about the difference in the frames than I, but I thought I read somewhere that the angle of the 'Y' in the back was different. Maybe someone can check me. The front 'T' is different, but I don't know if that difference makes a difference.

Being in England, you have access to three good frame sources - Lotus, Banks, and Spyder. Without knowing the relative prices, I think I would prefer Banks or Spyder.

Good luck with your project and keep us informed of your progress!

[LotusJoe]

Healey 75!!

LotusJoe certainly knows more about the difference in the frames than I, but I thought I read somewhere that the angle of the 'Y' in the back was different. Maybe someone can check me. The front 'T' is different, but I don't know if that difference makes a difference.

Being in England, you have access to three good frame sources - Lotus, Banks, and Spyder. Without knowing the relative prices, I think I would prefer Banks or Spyder.

Good luck with your project and keep us informed of your progress!

You are correct, the angle in the TC frame is wider than an S-2. That is why you would have to make a modified motor mount to get it in there. The narrow S2 frame would not accommodate the Twin Cam Engine, that is why Lotus modified the frame for the Twin Cam. The front "T" section is also slightly different but those differences are not significant. You probably will have to MacGyver the mounting points in the front  (frame to the S2 body), but I don't see that as a big stumbling block. 

I would also agree that in the UK frame choices are much greater. But I guess it depends on the price of this used TC frame  and how much work your willing to do.. I would certainly look into the replacement frames.

[EuropaTC]

Hi there, welcome to the forum....

I suspect I'm going to be guilty of pouring cold water on the idea because as well as the angles of the Y section I suspect there may be other differences which would make me prefer to use an S2 chassis unless the final goal was to fit another engine type entirely.

If you scan through the parts books for both models you see that those radius arms and lower links have different part numbers between the S1/S2 and TC models. It sort of makes sense as the front angle of attachment will be different so I would be looking for minor differences in the suspension parts.  On the positive side, if you are replacing these components the observation is irrelevant because you'll just get the parts suitable for the TC chassis.

The TC body also sits higher at the front and I have a vague feeling that front suspension mounting points were changed between S2 & TC. I don't have a detailed chassis drawing to hand but I think I'd check out the detail dimensions of the front crossmember.  One of the reasons a lot of folks like the looks of the S2 is the lower front end and I think it would be a shame to lose that. (some of us with TC Europas spend money trying to lower the front and replicate the look    )

I'm pretty sure you can get a TC Chassis to fit inside the S2 body so if there's an overwhelming need to go that way then I'm sure you can. There will be mods to do but there are folks here with both S2 & TC models so you'll not be short of reference photos, etc.

Brian

[Steve Carpenter]

Thanks everyone for posting.

I didn't appreciate just how different the rear end was, when I started the project I had a lot of ideas about different engines so the chassis was going to get modified anyway, as I've worked on the project I decided to dare to be different and keep the car factory standard as it still has the original factory fit engine.
Since the twin cam chassis is so different back and front I'll get a new correct chassis and pass the the t/c chassis on to someone else to help with the costs.
I've had a look at the Lotus workshop manual to see if I could find chassis dims and they are shown for the S2 Renault but not the t/c. I did check the wheelbase however and my manual states 91 inches for the S2 Renault and for the t/c 92 inches... an inch longer!

So decision made, a new Renault chassis it is... thanks again all, I'll post up a few photos in a few days of the project.

Cheers from Healey 75

[4129R]

If you are interested, I have a TCS complete fibreglass back end available.

Alex in Norfolk.

[Steve Carpenter]

Kind thought Alex but the fibreglass rear end on mine is probably one of the best bits!...Cheers.