Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Ultimaguy476 on Wednesday,June 01, 2022, 09:31:43 AM
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I thought I'd add a couple pictures of my racer, 0689R.
It isn't beautiful yet, but it will be after I reshape the front corners in the style of GT40.
Modified everything....almost.
I've had it almost 25 years and it has seen many versions of modifications, culminating in the rear a-frame conversion, which I new was inevitable because I couldn't keep any of the original rear suspension intact....just kept breaking stub axles. Problem solved.
Dry sumped Renault bored for 1796cc sleeves, last dyno'd at 161 at wheels.
Five speed NG3.
Nick
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Interesting car, Ultimaguy476! I hope you'll keep us up to date with your progress!
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Cool project! Very interesting Europa. Lots of cool stuff going on under the engine cover.
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Nice work! Do you have rear suspension pics etc?
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With the modifications done what class do you run in? What other types of cars are you competing against?
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wow...your 689R and mine (693R) were probably on the line at the same time. Sad to see it in the condition it ended up as...but, I'm pretty sure that many of those parts can be used to resurrect/recommission another car!
(693R is the one on the front page of my website below)
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That is some work of art.
Dakazman
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My car runs and drives as is. She’s a monster.
As far as class, there are a lot of non-SCCA autocross events here in the northeast and almost all have their own class system. In an SCCA event, I enter in D Mod and it is hardly competitive against dragons and the like.
But it can hold its own with a GT3 RS.
It’s getting late here in Vermont but I will try to post some suspension pics when I get home tomorrow night.
Nick
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Cool.
I've always liked the 62 type 'hip' over the rear wheel style and the front lights arrangement looks good also. There's so many body mods out there that don't do it for me, but yours seems to work.
Where are you driving the oil pump from - front pulley?
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Here are some rear suspension pics....some today, some previous.
The rear wheels are 13" x 10" with 7" backspace.
The wheel bearing is Volkswagen Golf front, as is the hub, stub axle, CV joint, and half of the axle shaft. The other half is Renault.
This whole setup was a long time in design. I let my brother drive it and he draws with CAD, and it took us a while to finalize. But the manufacture was painless and quick. After getting ridiculous prices from many local shops, I put it out to bid and got a fantastic product for 46 separate pieces for $1300, with shipping from....you guessed it....China. It was five times the price here in the US so I felt I had no choice.
The a-frame pieces were welded locally and bracing was added locally.
All three ends of each a-frame has a block that is machined to take the tubing from the two adjacent sides as well as a hole drilled for the heim adjuster. These rod ends don't need the bolt removed to adjust....just loosen the nut, turn the adjuster, and tighten the nut.
Again, I have to say, the machining of all these parts was impeccable.
I will be posting some engine bay pics. The inboard shocks can be seen there.
Enjoy the pics.
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Some pics of the engine bay.
The oil pump is run off the cam pulley bolt head. We machined and welded a 19mm hardened end on the pump shaft that matches the head of the pulley bolt. They miss each other by about 1mm. Then, a section of 19mm impact socket acts as the coupler. It is greased inside and painted orange. Works fantastic if the two are lined up well. I found out the hard way that if the alignment is too tight to allow a little free movement of the coupler, it will wear out either the bolt or the end of the shaft. In my case, after almost ten uneventful years, I was careless lining them up and it completely rounded the pump shaft end. Rod bearings toast, Rods toast, crankshaft toast. Everything else was fine. Thank goodness I had built two engines the first time, so I spent about a month doing a few small things that I was waiting for engine removal...and...back on the road. I have painted the coupler orange in hopes that the paint, which can tolerate about 200 degrees, will start to blister in the event that it starts chewing itself up again.
Behind the drivers seat near the oil sump Is the oil cooler and filter. It's in the shadows and down low so it doesn't show in the picture from the passenger side. The cooler is on the other side of the finned vents on the outside of the car behind the door.
That picture also shows the fuel injection and the airbox, which is part of the fuel tank. The air enters the airbox through the finned vents behind the door on the passenger side.
Nick
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Wow! Nice work!
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I'm almost done.
Here are a few pics of the front suspension. This was done about 15 years ago. It's showing its age but working perfectly. That said, being true to the motto (if it ain't broke, modify it!), I am planning to run inboard shocks on the front as well.....promptly in the next few years.
The brakes are John Zender's extreme front kit, or it was until the custom uprights and a-frames. But it still retains his rotor and caliper.
The wheels are 13" x 8" with 5" backspace.
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Ok, these are the last for now.
Here are a couple interior pics. Nothing really pretty, but it works.
I used to have a working stereo, but now all that remains is the receiver.
Although it is made of aluminum, the dash retains a lot of the feel of the original europa dash.
I included a picture of the door, with a Renault Fuego door latch hidden behind the cutout.
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Really interesting stuff Ultimaguy476!!
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I want to put out there that I am by no means a professional fabricator. But I am a master tinkerer, and what better canvass to start with than a previously wrecked europa?
My welding sucks due to bad eyes and a general lack of natural welding talent. So I don't weld aluminum and my steel welds are strong if not pretty.
A lot of my ideas don't work out so well, but it only acts as input for the next design. I have to say that, other than front inboard shocks, I am really almost done.....yeah, right!
I use this car for autocross and small road track track days. I instruct for a few different track day clubs here in the northeast but the lotus isn't so great for most of the tracks....too slow for the straights and too fast for the turns to have fun with all the newer Corvettes and Camaros.
I solved that problem by buying a 2013 Ultima Can Am. For the uninitiated, think Lotus Europa, 2100lbs, 650hp! Screw those Corvettes and Camaros! Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ultima+gtr+top+gear
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Very cool car. The nose reminds me of the Marcos Mantara LM600.
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About the nose....
It hasn't been finished. With the front splitter, the nose was too long and the splitter rubbed on almost everything. So I cut about five inches off the front and put it back together.
At the same time, I got rid of the light pods. In doing that, I ran into the panel that was behind the stock radiator position, so I just stopped there. Same on other side. I wasn't planning to finish the corners at that time, just needed to shorten it, so the front corners are still living in my imagination. I'm hoping for a look like the GT40 and the elise.