Lotus Europa Bastard from Germany

[ralf]

Hello everybody,
thanks for let me join your Forum. My name is Ralf and I am from Germany (in the south, 20km east of Stutgart).
I bought my Europa 1982 when I was 19 years old.

[ralf]

The Europa was in a very bad condition. It take me about one year to make it ready to make some test rides. After this I don't work at the car for many years.
Then I bouht a Spyder chassis with rear susspention, fit a Renault 843 engine modified to Bosch K-Jetronic injection of the old Golf GTI, a aluminium rockcover I made myself and a 395 transmission. 1994 I get a registration for the car.

[ralf]

In December 1994 I made an accident. A Renault 19 hit my left front wheel when I slide with cold Yokohama A008 tires into an intersection.
I was lucky that I don't get hurt. If I would slide 1m more into the intersection the R19 would hit my door instead the front susspension.

[ralf]

2020 I started to repair my Europa.

[TurboFource]

 

[dakazman]

  Welcome Ralf,
   That was some crack to the front section to repair.  We definitely have some die hard Europa fans here that share your enthusiasm.
 Thanks for saving a part of history even with your upgrades.


 

Dakazman

[ralf]

Thanks for the welcome,
to weld the frame of my Seven I bought an old bench from CEVETTE for only €200.-. When the seven frame was finished I repaired the chassis of the Europa before I sold the bench again. With the bench you can make quiet acurate messurments on the chassis.
At the left front of the Europa chassis I needed replace some parts.

[ralf]

When the welding was finished I brought the chassis to leach (sorry for my english. I get 'leach' from the google translater I hope its right).

[TurboFource]

That was a nice setup!!

[ralf]

After leaching the chassis was powder coated in RAL 7046 which is similar, but by  far not exactly, the colour of the old Lotus chassis.
But the colour 'old battleship grey' was not available for the powder coating. To make work at the finished chassis easy I bought a cheap lifting platform for motorbikes.

[GavinT]

When the welding was finished I brought the chassis to leach (sorry for my english. I get 'leach' from the google translater I hope its right).

Maybe 'dipped' ?

Nice one - it looks like the chassis was dipped in an acid solution to remove rust and paint?

And I was Christened in Germany, but don't speak the language.
Obviously at that age, I probably wasn't speaking any language. 

[ralf]

Thanks GavinT,
yes it was dipped in a solution of hot 'lye' (again a word I googled but don't know if it is right). With acid it is hard not bring away the coating, therefor lye can not bring away rust. But the chassis did not have any rust.

[ralf]

The left front of the body was heavy damaged. So I bought a used body which the seller told me is in very good condition. But the rear was much worse than on my car.

[ralf]

So I decied to use only the front of this body.

[ralf]

At this front I removed the flashlight area.