Europa S2 540936 in Sweden

[lahi]

Hi,
I'm just in the beginning of the restoration of my -68 Europa S2 but I would still like to have a project thread to ask stupid questions in 

I bought the S2 about 6 months ago together with a S1 (460156). I was able to test drive the S2 a few hundred meters before disassembling it so it ran. Just about. The interesting part is that last time it ran was in 1973. So it has stood still for 46 years 

I have lifted the body and stripped the frame. The frame is away to get media blasted and powder coated in satin black. The radius arms too. So I won't post pictures of that yet as I will get it back in two weeks time.

I have started with the glass bead blasting of suspension parts, brake parts and all other dirty stuff but as I have a farm with a lot of animals (and three small Children) the progress is slow.


I have a few questions that's good to know the answers to when I'm done with the blasting:

- What color were the A-arms etc originally on a -68 Europa S2 with Renault Engine?
- Color of calipers? Same car 
- Color of the other suspension parts? Rear lower links? Rear uprights? (Unpainted?)
- Color of steering arm, caliper mounting plate, vertical link/spindle?
- Color of the steel wheels? I have those as well. I also have Minilite magnesium wheels that was bought and fitted by the previous owner in 1970, but this car will have the steel wheels as it had when it left the factory.

My goal is to restore this car to a completely original state so color choice is very important  It will also have the Solex carb...

Another thing that I have been thinking about is mirrors... not there yet at all, but did they have side view mirrors or not? Or was it up to whoever built the car in Hethel to decide?

The S1 is not running at all... it has been in an accident in the early 70s so the previous owner seems to have bought a S1B rear bodywork for it in the early 70s. Hasn't been any paint on it yet  It has been in the same barn as the S2 since 1973.
There's also no electrics, windows, interior but the engine and gearbox is still there. It's fitted with a Weber carb instead of the Solex.
To be able to return the S1 to it's original state I would need to invest a LOT of money and effort as so many parts are missing, so this will instead be build as a track day car with a lot more engine and some chassis mods to take the power. But more on that later. First the restoration of the S2!

In the pics below you can see some glass bead blasted parts, both Europas and my Elise S2 too. The girl in the pic is also Elise 

[BDA]

It looks like you have a great work space for your to big projects and a very cute helper!

The suspension pieces should be the same color as the frame. You're probably right that it was satin, I only know it was black. That would include the steering rack, arms, dust plates, etc. Basically if it is steel, it was steel or iron, it was painted and if it was painted, it was the color of the frame. Aluminum and brass parts were not painted (why spend time and money painting something that won't rust?). The brake calipers were as they got them from Girling, but I can't be sure exactly what color they were. The rest I am less sure of.

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress! Good luck!

[lotusfanatic]

Hello Lars,

 

best of luck with the rebuilds (I also have a young daughter who will inevitably be 'helping' me whenever I try to work!)

Mark

[gideon]

When the staff at Lotus Cars were trying to decide on the answer to these existential questions, way back in 1966, the voice of the great philosopher, Jagger, came to them through the wireless and said "Paint it Black".

[Bainford]

Good looking projects, and a wonderful work space. Yet another long forgotten Europa to be on the road again.

[jbcollier]

a) satin black (rustoleum, krypton rust tough)
b) dull silver: seymour alumi-blast (a little bright) or seymour mro stainless steel (an amazing tough paint)
c)rear lower links: satin black, rear uprights: unpainted (seymours alumi-blast)
d) stain black, don't paint the spindle!
e) dull silver, a number of companies make a "steel wheels" paint that looks fine.

Cars came with no mirrors, one driver's mirror, or two side mirrors but with the passenger side located in such a way as to be useless.  Using mirrors with convex glass that extend out from the car helps a great deal.

S1s never had electric windows.  Either fixed one-piece, or a fixed quarter with a pop-out main.

[Nockenwelle]

You've got two lovely early Europas there, congratulations. I'd love to see some pictures of your S1. It seems to be that quite some of the early S1s have been exported to Sweden. Demand for S1s seems to have increased during the last years especially for the very early ones like your car. It might be difficult to source the missing parts but it may be worth while to bring it back to original spec.

Anyway 

[lahi]

Thanks for your replies! It's important to know these colors to get it right.

Everything that's supposed to be black will be powder coated just like the frame will be. I'll try to find the right paint for the calipers then.
Googled about the wheel paint and found that "Rust Oleum Hard Hat 2115 Aluminum" is very close to the standard color. I'll see if the powder coating guy can match that as it would be nice to have the wheels powder coated instead of spray painted.

The unpainted parts are a difficult matter for me. Uprights, gearbox and such things were unpainted from the factory. As I'm trying to make a totally original restoration I don't want to paint those things. BUT, it might be much more difficult to keep clean and therefore it will lower the quality of the car if I'm not there with the tooth brush all the time... Am I too nerdy or should I paint uprights and gearbox?  Would you consider it less original than a car with these parts unpainted?

About the mirrors then... seems like I can't really know how this specific car came originally but if I mount two mirrors nobody should say that it's not original anyway.



Work space is nice and it will be about three times bigger in the spring when I move my chicken and ducks to another building 

My little helper is quite interested in cars actually. I plan to involve her quite a bit in my projects

[lahi]

You've got two lovely early Europas there, congratulations. I'd love to see some pictures of your S1. It seems to be that quite some of the early S1s have been exported to Sweden. Demand for S1s seems to have increased during the last years especially for the very early ones like your car. It might be difficult to source the missing parts but it may be worth while to bring it back to original spec.

Anyway 

Thanks!
The condition of the S1 460156 is really really bad. The body is in a horrible state and it even got a S1B rear end which is wrong for this car. So in order to make it original I need a new rear body, rear lights, all wiring and a full interior (except one seat that I already have). Also windows all around and a LOT of work. And 1000 more of the really rare things... So I don't really consider that as a possibility.



I have a plan for the S1 wreck but I'm not sure I dare to share that idea here...  But what the hell, I'll share. Don't kill me. The plan is (much easier and cheaper than original restoration...) to make a track toy out of it.
Full cage of course, turbocharged bike engine and Miata diff and rear suspension and a Zakspeed Europa body kit.
I already have the engine from my motorcycle dragracing career (dynoed 419 whp at 30 psi but 20 psi would be enough...). I use the bikes gearbox so it's sequential and I have a quickshifter too for full throttle upshifts without clutch.
We have many milling machines at work that can mill en entire car at once so I can easily make the moulds. We also have a 3d scanner and I have a model of the Zakspeed Europa. And I'm a design engineer and have the right software. And I have worked professionally with fiberglass. So what can go wrong? 

[gideon]

The unpainted parts are a difficult matter for me. Uprights, gearbox and such things were unpainted from the factory. As I'm trying to make a totally original restoration I don't want to paint those things. BUT, it might be much more difficult to keep clean and therefore it will lower the quality of the car if I'm not there with the tooth brush all the time... Am I too nerdy or should I paint uprights and gearbox? 

Aluminium surfaces that stay cold can be protected with wax.  There are special "wheel wax" products that should do the trick.  Cold and hot aluminium surfaces can be protected by ACF-50 or similar products.  It won't look as shiny and clean as a wax finish, but should clean up easily when you want to show it off.  ACF-50 has to be reapplied annually.

http://www.acf-50.co.uk/

I have heard that 000 bronze wool is good for cleaning aluminium castings, or you can have them vapour blasted for a nice satin finish, or if you like a more highly polished appearance then take a look at this thread

http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=3311.0

[JR73]

 

That S1's body looks remarkably like an S2 from the base of the windscreen back ....! - Compare the sill area with pics of an original S1.
Any pics of the interior/floorpan/dash? - Plenty of easily identified S1 specific aspects that might help you understand exactly what you have there.

You could always clear coat the parts that were originally unpainted or paint them a colour to match their natural state if you are desperate to make it look 'original'.

Good luck with the projects and keep posting plenty of pics as you progress.

[BDA]

Don't kill me. ...to make a track toy out of it.

We all appreciate original Europas but many of us also like well modified cars and race cars too! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on both your cars!

[surfguitar58]

I have a plan for the S1 wreck but I'm not sure I dare to share that idea here...  But what the hell, I'll share. Don't kill me. The plan is (much easier and cheaper than original restoration...) to make a track toy out of it.
Full cage of course, turbocharged bike engine and Miata diff and rear suspension and a Zakspeed Europa body kit.
I already have the engine from my motorcycle dragracing career (dynoed 419 whp at 30 psi but 20 psi would be enough...). I use the bikes gearbox so it's sequential and I have a quickshifter too for full throttle upshifts without clutch.
We have many milling machines at work that can mill en entire car at once so I can easily make the moulds. We also have a 3d scanner and I have a model of the Zakspeed Europa. And I'm a design engineer and have the right software. And I have worked professionally with fiberglass. So what can go wrong? 

No judgement here, except to say that sounds like a REALLY fun project! We (the forum) would all love more details in the 419 hp bike engine and gearbox. Are you planning transverse mounting? Chain drive? Differential? I am also a design engineer, so don't spare the gory details.

Oh, and by the way...

Tom

[Chuck Nukem]

Looks like a lot of fun! What kind of machines do you have at work?

[edgefinder]

I've thought about bike motors and would use what you've got, yeah a little less pressure. From scratch the Vmax is what i'd try