Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Lotus 47 on Wednesday,September 28, 2016, 07:54:46 PM
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Here is 7004100119Q.
It is an original Australian delivered car. It was shipped in primer and painted locally.
I bought the car in 1987. There were 3 for sale in Australia at the time, and I chose this one because it had Cosmic Wheels.
It was yellow, had been burnt orange and might have been some other colour when it was first delivered. It was fitted with a cross flow Renault 16TS engine when I bought it. R16's were assembled in Australia, so 16TS engines were easy to come by
I rebuilt the car between 1998 and 2005, adding a bored and stroked engine of almost 1800cc, plus R18 Type 395 5 -speed gearbox. I'd fitted an upper link in the early 1990's because it ate U/J's at an alarming rate and munched the LH stub axle spline.
Last night I started to prepared the car for an engine removal, and engine bay tidy up. I have a few rattles up the tunnel, and the only way to deal with those is pull the engine out. This weekend is the football Grand Final in Victoria and we get a public holiday tomorrow. Plus I've taken Monday off, so I have 4 days to do this job at my leisure.
I'll get some detailed shots my upper link and drive shaft installation. There are some already on the Lotus-Europa.com site under the above chassis number.
Cheers
Richard Mann
26/4101
460047
47-GT-3
7004100119Q (Type 54)
A110 1300VC15899
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Looking forward to reading more. I just noticed the use of the rear cross beam as a mount for the muffler, very clever idea.
What color is the S2? It looks like a subdued silver green, very attractive.
Joji Tokumoto
Fallbrook, Ca
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Except that it is mounted solid and I can't see a flex pipe.
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John,
There appears to be one where the exhaust goes over the gearbox/bellhousing area. At least, it looks like there's a flex pipe.
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I painted the car silver. I think it was a Ford or Mazda colour - Starlight Silver. It is base coat and 2 pack clear. Still looking Ok after 12 years and lots of daily driving.
The silver highlights the curvy sides of the car. These are usually look quite flat, hence the bread van name.
The first photo was taken in May 2005 just after I had the car registered again.
The second photo was taken this week next to my friends S1 Elise.
In the first photo I cleaned up the lower sill. I removed all the rivets, prized apart the joint, filled it with glue (body bog) and squished it back together. The result really improves the appearance.
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Originally that lower sill extension was painted black.
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That is a pretty, if unconventional, color for a Europa and it works very well on it!
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Yesterday the engine and box came out. Time to clean up the road grime, leaking exhaust, oil etc.
I'll get some more photos today of the upper link suspension, modified engine mounts and 5 speed installation.
Cheers
Richard
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Hi Richard,
Taking out the engine to clean road grime is a bit extreme for me ! :)
Nice car though, silver works very well. I've no plans myself to modify the rear suspension but I'm always interested in such projects so I'm looking forward to those shots. If I ever get around to changing to a more modern 5sp box then I'd most likely go twin link as well. So it's good to see what others do.
Brian
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Time for an update.
My engine and gearbox re-installation was delayed due to an imperfect flywheel.
I had modified the flywheel about 12 years ago to use a 215mm clutch instead of the original 200mm clutch. The 215mm was standard fit for a 17TS, Fuego Turbo and probably a few others. I estimated my 1800cc engine would put out 150hp, so I didn't want to end up eating clutches.
I took a new 215 clutch cover and set it in my lathe. I gave it a very light machine so the outer edge was smooth and concentric.
Next I machined a recess into the flywheel so the clutch cover was a neat fit. Added dowels and drill/tapped holes. I had the crankshaft etc. balanced with this new set-up.
I had always suffered from some clutch judder, and wasn't sure why.
When I torn down the clutch and flywheel, the witness marks told a story. The clutch friction plate had only been making contact near the centre. I put a straight edge across it, and found I had machined the flywheel with a very slight conical surface. Silly me for not checking. My lathe is old. It has a flat belt drive and driven by team of captive brown hairy nosed wombats. It really is ancient and not as accurate as I would like.
The recess I had machined also probably added to the problem, by adding more pressure to the clutch friction disc.
So off to the engine rebuilder to have the flywheel machined dead flat and remove the recess.
I need to finish off the cooling system, then I can take it for a test drive. I am fabricating a new swirl pot, which has taken me more time and beers than I expected.
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It's a shame you got caught in a goof after all that good work! I hope you get everything right this time.
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So we learn from our mistakes!
Guess what! I forgot to check the flatness after the engine man had re-machined my flywheel!
I was fizzing at the bung with excitement after I picked up the flywheel, dashed home, secured it to the crank, fitted the box and dropped the whole lot into the back of my car.
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Shouldn't be required as they use a surface grinder not a lathe.
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Not knowing much (yet) about machining, I would have thought on a lathe, the flywheel would turn, the machining bit would stay still, and any run-out or unevenness would be easily seen as the flywheel rotated on the lathe.
But, the finished product is only as good as the way the machine operator fixes the flywheel to the lathe. But once again, any run-out would be noticed straight away as the flywheel rotates.
I have no idea how a surface grinder works, or what it looks like, but once again the finished product would depend on the flywheel being perfectly flat when the machining starts.
I pick up my lathe on Friday. and then start to learn how to machine inlet manifold tubes that taper from 40mm to 32mm from the 40 DCOE Weber to the head, in the length of the manifold from carb to valve seat.
Alex in Norfolk (a machine operator with L plates).
P.S. using the milling machine has taken me about 20 hours to work out.
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Not knowing much (yet) about machining, I would have thought on a lathe, the flywheel would turn, the machining bit would stay still, and any run-out or unevenness would be easily seen as the flywheel rotated on the lathe.
Without checking for flatness, a slight convex produced on a lathe may well not be noticed as the tool only cuts to the centre . . not all the way through. Indeed, one of the features of a lathe is the ability to cut tapers, shoulders and all manner of shapes on various cylindrical pieces.
By contrast, a surface grinder works more like a mill but using an abrasive wheel and continues across the whole part.
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After much tweaking, the cooling system is back together and the car is running. It was a huge relief to drive the car and find my clutch judder had completely disappeared.
Another small job was to replace the windscreen rubber insert. It is a bright trim, but after 10+ years in the Australian sun it had turned into a nasty dull trim!
In other news I was driving to my shed the other day and what did I see on the side of the road? A Lotus Eleven! I had to stop and take photos.
As it turns out the car was an original kit that had been passed on for the last 60 years and never built. Finally it has been assembled to its original intended S1 "Club" Spec with drum brakes and live rear. It was simply gorgeous!
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Glad it all came together for you! Amazing to have found an original Eleven! Very pretty!
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Wow! An original unassembled Lotus 11 kit. What a great find that would be.
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I think that is the 11 that has gone up to do Targa High Country this weekend.
There is about 20 Lotus cars running, but this is the only 'old timer'.
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Yes it is the same car at Targa
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Amazing scenery! That Eleven looks a little out of place!