Europa TC added to the Herd!

[Kendo]

Wilkrod, I was thinking about your hinge problem (I know, not as much fun as the injection discussion, which I’m avidly following). Two more points to consider. 1) the nuts you see only lock down the horizontal location of each hinge point: front/back, left/right. 2) Height is adjusted IIRC by adding washers under the bottom hinge point. So unless you plan to remove the doors, you are stuck with that height. Maybe the previous adjuster got that right. :/

[wilkrod]

Hi all,
Thanks for the input on the door adjustment, I was over thinking it, as usual, I get it now.
Yes the ECU is MBE, and the ITB is Luminition. I will probably scrap the whole deal, and go with Jenvey ITB, and Megasquirt ECU with wasted spark ignition.
Updates as they happen.

[TurboFource]

I have an interest in that header if you want to get rid of it when you swap it out…..

[wilkrod]

Hi all,
Sorry, but I am struggling here, seat removal, it can't be that hard!
On my Esprit, you just undo the four nuts under the car which hold the seat rails, and then just lift the seat out.
So I undid the four nuts under the Europa floor, but the seats won't budge. What am I missing?
Sorry to bother, thanks much.

[SilverBeast]

The bolts are also screwed into the metal inserts in the fibreglass. Mine doesn't have a nut underneath, just bolts screwed through the bottom rail.

Slide seat right back, undo the single bolt at the front of each rail. Slide the seat all the way forward and undo the single bolt at the back of each rail. The back ones are a bit fiddly.

[wilkrod]

Hi All,
Thanks for the info regarding the seat bolts being screwed into inserts.
Seats are frozen in the rails, I did manage to get the front two bolts of the seat to frame, if I can get the seat to move forward hopefully I can access the rear bolts.
Updates to follow.

[JR73]

Yes the ECU is MBE, and the ITB is Luminition. I will probably scrap the whole deal, and go with Jenvey ITB, and Megasquirt ECU with wasted spark ignition.

Tbh the MBE system is pretty good, used by Caterham and a fair few others. All you need is the software and you can adjust to your hearts content.
Also, the Luminition ITB’s and Jenvey ITB’s are pretty much identical other than the colour and branding.

Do you think Banks still supply that kit?

No idea what they supply currently, there’s no reason why Richard wouldn’t still supply a kit but you would be best talking to him directly. He used to do a mapped ignition version as well as the full fuel injection kit.

Banks/Richard used to supply all sorts of things.  Europa body and chassis to take parts from a donor Smart Car anyone?  Most of that is no longer available.

If you want to switch to injection, there are suppliers, no problem.  Just search for Lotus Twin Cam injection.  You can also do it from scratch yourself.  Nothing will be a straight bolt on, drive off.  There will be some fabrication and programming required.  Sticking with Webers or Dells will be a cheaper and simpler option with known base settings and only minor tweaks after that.

The Smart car Europa was one of Richards personal projects, just showcasing how versatile his chassis is to accept many different drive trains etc (I’m told that he did a fair bit with Smart cars around that time), he talked many times about building a diesel powered Europa also.

From the picture it appears to be a full fuel injection system already, the MBE is adjustable with their software (actually easy enough to swap the ecu plug to suit other brands of programmable ECU’s if you can’t get the software - have seen it done many times at relatively small expense)

[wilkrod]

Whew!
OK, seat is out,calling that a win for today, door alignment tomorrow.
Beer, and F1 race for the afternoon.
After I got the front bolts out, a slide hammer hooked to the seat frame allowed me to get the seat far enough forward to easily get the back bolts out.
Regards

[SilverBeast]

Great. One step at a time...

[dakazman]

 
 Wilkrod 
  Great to have another tc in Florida.
I went with the stainless set of hinges for the doors.  I don’t regret it one bit.
Dakazman

[wilkrod]

So I spoke with MBE regarding the ECU in the Europa, it's 987Eg, last produced in 2003, no technical support, or repair capability, no documentation, etc. So I will be replacing it with something modern. The throttle bodies are growing on me, so may keep them. On to aligning the doors.
Regards

[wilkrod]

So started looking at the transaxle it appears to be the NG5, wondering if anyone has done this conversion.
Thanks

[JR73]

So started looking at the transaxle it appears to be the NG5, wondering if anyone has done this conversion.
Thanks

There are plenty of NG converted cars out there. I have one.

Looking at your pics I would guess that a previous owner purchased a lot of parts and updates from Banks (injection system, twin link kit, Avo dampers and springs, NG kit including gear change, possibly fuel tanks, maybe even the trimmed centre console...) might be worth asking the PO to confirm or maybe try to get in touch with Richard at Banks to clarify and put your mind at rest about anything?

[wilkrod]

So decision made, out with EFI, in with a 123 distributor, and Weber 40 DCOEs.
I don't trust the plumbing/wiring, going to go for simple vs. complex the way a Europa should be.
On another note, reviewing the records I got with the car, seems PO purchased a rebuilt engine, NG5 trans, linkage, upper rear links, and a bunch of other stuff from Banks back in the day. I am hoping the NG5 linkage will still allow a stock header. Time will tell.

[BDA]

I’m not sure what I’m looking at but in case you’re not aware, most braided hose companies sell clamps that also finish the end of braided hose. For example, Earls (now owned by Holley) has the red nuts used in their regular hose ends but with hose clamps inside them. It keeps the braid from biting you and it’s an economical way to dress up your braided hose runs when more traditional hose ends aren’t practical.

Your NG5, being in the NG family, would likely allow the same linkage variations (there are a few). That being the case, I would expect most headers would work.