Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Members Cars => Topic started by: Sofa King on Tuesday,November 06, 2018, 05:24:53 PM
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I was hoping to introduce this car at LOG 38, but unfortunately I made it but the car didn’t! Now that it is almost done I thought it was time to post some photos.
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:Welcome: , Sofa!
Glad you made it to the LOG but it's too bad you couldn't bring the car!
Just a hint: "some pictures" means more than one! We love pictures and stories!
Don't be a stranger!
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I’m having a little bit of trouble posting. New to the site, so “some” picks turned into one! Hopefully this time I did better!
Thanks!
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Wow! Very nice! Tell us about it. What motor and tranny did you use? Give us all the gory details!
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:Welcome: Cool car. Nice pics. What engine and transaxle do you have in there? What mods did you make to the chassis?
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The engine is an LS6, mated to a Porsche Boxster 6 speed transaxle. I built a custom chassis using Miata front and rear suspensions and brakes. It uses a remote electric water pump, mounted in the front by the radiator. I’m using a drive by wire system from a Chevy truck to eliminate the long throttle cable.
I had to move the rear wheel wells backwards 3” to center them up on the longer engine and transaxle, and I had to move the fronts forward 9.5” to fit the Miata subframe and me! All four fenders are flared about 3”, the front chin is lowered 2” giving it a more aggressive “mouth”, and the rear facia is lowered 5” to cover the back of the transaxle.
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Where have you been? We would have loved to heard a blow-by-blow of your build!
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I pretty much kept my head down and plugged away. A couple of the local Lotus guys knew about it, but I kept pretty quiet about it. I didn’t want to talk too much about what I was doing, and then find out that I didn’t have the skill or persistence to get it done. I also wasn’t sure if the Lotus community would find it cool, or blasphemy. I assume it will be a little of both, but I can assure you that no restoreable cars were hurt during this build! :D
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I do have a build thread on the Grassroots Motorsports Forum, but I have a ton of photos that I can post here:
Here are a couple of chassis shots:
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That is one beast! In a small package!
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Wow! Very well done!!! To echo BDA - beast.
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I bet this Europa would run circles around the GKN Lotus Europa V8 (GKN47D)! I lean towards being a purrest, but your Europa is WAY COOL!
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That is a lot of work. How many years did it take? You probably have another 100 ft lbs torque than me and mine is murderous. I can't imaging yours when you hit it. Any videos of you doing silly things in it?
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Sofa King, :Welcome:
Very interesting build, I will have to visit your build thread so I can read about the details.
I’m also glad you kept your head down and completed your vision. I can only count a handful of V8 installations yours looks great! I’d also love to hear the baby fire up.
Don’t be a stranger and once again, Welcome .
Dakazman
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:Welcome: That’s an impressive build! Wow! What got you thinking about doing it Sofa King?
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Thanks for all the compliments!
So far I am just shy of 3 years on the build, but I bought the first shell in 2012. I bought a second car for some of the parts that I was missing and a 99 Miata that was stripped except for the suspension and steering column. It took me until 2015 for my parts stash to reach critical mass so that I could get going.
My interest in the Europa started back when I was in high school. My best friend had one of the first 240Zs to come into the US and while everyone else was cruising around in muscle cars we were rocking the Z! One afternoon we came up behind the first Europa that I had ever seen. Black with fender flares and wide tires. We chased him down the Main Street of our town well above the speed limit, suddenly he took almost a 90 degree left turn, we could only wave at him, there was no way the Z was making it! I’ve wanted a Europa since that moment!!
Because of the Grassroots Magazine Challenge, I got into putting big motors in little cars. I’ve done an RX7 with a Chevy 350, a 5.0 Miata, an LT1 Porsche 944, 2 - LS1 Miatas and a LS1 Spitfire. The Europa seemed like a natural progression! I also liked the fact that while you can find hundreds of V8 Miatas, there are only a handful of V8 Europas and very little information can be found on those! I also like that the GKN car used the Rover V8, which was an aluminum GM designed engine, so technically the LS engines share som DNA with that one! (May be a stretch but go with me ! :P)
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:Welcome: Sofa King!
Very impressive build, congrats! Hope to see it in person at LOG 39. I echo the call for more build details! Will you be racing this beast? I'd love to see a video of this car being put through its paces at a track. What did it end up weighing?
Tom (aka Surfguitar58)
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I’m still doing some sorting. The oil pressure is lower than I want, but it might just be the gauge, and I need to get it dyno tuned to get the fuel tables where they need to be before I drive it in anger. I definitely plan to track it when it is ready. Although, even with the changes I made, getting me and a helmet inside will be a challenge!
As to weight, I haven’t had it on a scale yet, but my estimate is between 1700 and 1800 lbs.
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:Welcome:
Welcome Mr Sofa King. That is a very impressive project you've put together. Cheers :beerchug:
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Started fabricating the side skirts today. My goal is to lower the body visually and give it a more current look, but keep some of the original belly look.
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Great looking Europa!
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Working on the side skirts got me thinking about fiberglassing again, so I thought I would post some of the photos from the body mods part of the build.
The wheel arches were cut out and moved forward 9.5 inches:
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The hole was filled with a chunk taken from the opposite side of the second car from right in front of the wheel. It has almost exactly the right shape, since the lower portion of the body is almost symmetrical from front to back.
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Then just glassed it in. If you look closely at the front of the wheel lip, you can see that it drops in relation to the original chin. That prompted me to cut off the chin and lower it approximately 2”.
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The backs were easier .... kind of. I cut out a section of the red body leaving an extra 3” of fiberglass in front of the wheel opening. Then I layed it on top of the yellow fender so that the wheel opening was moved back 3”. Then I traced the outline of the red piece onto the body and cut out the original wheel arch. The red piece fit right in and moved the opening back the 3” that I needed to accommodate the longer engine and trans axle.
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Interesting details of some of your body work. Clever stuff! Thanks!
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I wanted / needed to flare the fenders, but I wanted to keep the original quirkyness of the squared wheel openings. So I cut off the stock lips and held them 3” away from the body with metal strips and self tapping screws. Then used poster board to template the flares.
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Transferred the template to scraps of leftover fiberglass, and tech screwed them in place.
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Then glassed them in and final shaping with short strand filler and bondo.
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More great pictures, Sofa! Thanks for filling us in!
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Great to see the various steps you went through to build your car. Keep the photos coming!
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Careful what you ask for! :)
With lowering the nose and moving the rear wheels backwards, I thought that the rear facia was too high, so I lowered it about 5”. I cut the bottom off the stock facia and narrowed it a couple of inches so that it matches the taper of the body. Then I used sections of a storage tub that I cut up and screwed them to the inside of the body and piece that I had cut off. Then I layed fiberglass over the plastic on the outside, building it back up to the level of the body. The plastic could then be popped off the inside and I added several layers to the inside for strength.
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The back portion of the fender flairs were radiused to meet the new facia panel.
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I found these inexpensive LED tail lights and thought that they looked like the ones in the current cars, so I modified the tail light buckets to French them in.
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Sofa, you sure are handy with fiberglass! Nice, creative work! :beerchug:
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Thanks! This was the first time I’d ever messed with the stuff! I experimented and learned on the fly. Of course I’m only showing what worked!!
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Ha! I was wondering about all your trials & tribulations along the way. Major undertaking for sure, but I for one am super impressed!
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The process really wasn’t too bad. Moving the wheel wells went pretty much as planned. Probably went better than I expected. Realizing that the opposite side quarter panel was the right shape for the filler piece that I needed was a huge bonus!
I ended up doing the front flares twice, because I misjudged what I needed to cover my wheels. The redoing of the fronts caused me to change the front half of the rear flares, but that turned out to be a bonus because I liked the change better than the first look.
I was pretty lucky, most of the challenges that I didn’t see coming, led to solutions that ended up better than my original plan!
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While I’m at it... here is a photo of the engine and transmission. The aluminum adapter plate, turned out to be the most expensive part of the entire build. It cost more than either car, the engine or the transmission!
The headers were a great find, and one of the best deals of the build. They are designed to mount twin turbos in front of an LS engine, but I turned them around. They really simplified my exhaust system... and I think they look pretty cool! $150 on eBay!
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The transaxle is from a 2004 Boxster S. Chosen because of the available adapter, and my ability to use the stock Porsche shifter and linkage. I was also able to use the stock clutch slave. Nice when you don’t have to reinvent anything.
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I can imagine the adapter plate was expensive!
Fiberglass is nice to work with. I didn't try anything as ambitious as you but I did a few things. I'm glad it turned out so well! If you have more, I hope you'll post more pictures and tell us more stories!
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What makes the adapter plate so expensive?
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Well, part of the problem is that I got great deals on both cars and the engine! :P
Also in all fairness, the adapter included both the plate that you can see and a pretty specialized flywheel that has the GM starter gears and then sets back into the Porsche bell housing to allow the Boxster clutch to be used. It’s a very nice system, made by Kennedy Engineering primarily for guys building Lamborghini or GT 40 replicas. It’s about $1900 not including the clutch!
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Really enjoying the photos of the modifications. Please keep them coming.
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Will do!
I like your Cobra trailer! I have a spare Europa front end and rear panel, was thinking about doing the same! I have zero trunk space left. If I want to bring a toothbrush, the passenger has to hold it!
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All of the mods that I did on the body, didn’t happen in a vacuum. The body and chassis had to be built simultaneously. Rough measurements Of the body were taken and I had an extra engine that I used for mock-up purposes. I started with the mock-up engine on a storage stand and dropped the stock body over it to see how things looked. I shoved it forward until it touched the firewall and of course sat in the car and made engine noises!!
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Know what you mean about the toothbrush. However once i built the trailer i then filled it with other stuff so still no room for a toothbrush.
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Very nice! Is the Cobra boat still under construction? 😂
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Once I finished making engine noises, I could determine how much room I needed for the engine and transaxle, and where the axles needed to be. That’s what determined that I needed to move the rear wheel wells 3” backwards now I had to build a frame to hold the engine and rear suspension.
I have been playing with Miatas for over 15 years, so I stuck with what I know. The thing that makes Miatas useful for something like this is that the front subframe is held in with 8 bolts and the rear is held by 6. Disconnect the additional 8 bolts that hold the tops of the shocks and springs and the entire body comes off, leaving the roller skate, which includes the entire suspension, engine transmission and rear end. The trans is connected to the rear by a power plant frame, so in theory you can just reconnect the two subframes and you have a rolling chassis. I decided to use the front and rear subframes and suspension components, so that I didn’t have to learn how to build them from scratch.
Starting with the rear, the subframe wasn’t tall enough to clear the Porsche transaxle. I knew that going in, but I misjudged by how much. I built a “trellis” on top of the stock subframe, then cut out the original cross bars, and boxed everything back in:
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Very interesting! I guess you had to connect the front and rear sub frames together. I'm interested in how you do that.
Thanks for blow by blow. It's very interesting!
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Yep, on to connecting the sunframes! I set up the rear subframe so that it could bolt in like stock. The front was a little more challenging. I wanted to push the wheels far enough forward to eliminate the inner fender’s intrusion into the foot well, but I didn’t want to have to lengthen the whole shell. As a compromise I cut as much off of the back of each leg of the subframe as possible. That meant that it had to be welded in rather than bolting. I think that worked out for the best, because it made for a more solid structure.
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The rear subframe is removable, so that it can come out the bottom with the engine and trans axle as one piece.
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This photo shows the upper perch for the rear coil overs.
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This is the completed frame after paint. You can see the center tunnel is made from 1x1 tube to add some strength and both the front and rear bulkheads are made from 1x1 and sheet steel. The tunnel is offset 2” to the right to allow the brake booster to be mounted inside the front frame rail. Also gives me more space.
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Here is a photo of the front section almost completed. The Miata springs mount above the upper a-arms. In order to fit under the Europa fenders I needed to make them more like the Europa a-arms. So I enlarged the opening so that the spring could pass through it, and then boxed it back in for strength.
Also visible in the photo (but not obvious) is the remote mounted electric water pump, and the battery.
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Not much triangulation in there.
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Which part do you mean?
The motor mounts and transaxle mounts tie the upper frame rails together, then there is a subframe brace that mounts under the rear section to tie together the two sides of the rear subframe and ties it to the bottom of the rear bulkhead. Also additional bracing was added to the tunnel after this photo was taken. It’s pretty stout!
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I did something similar using mr2 hubs and making a new rear frame and suspension. I love seeing your pics. I can appreciate how much time you have in it just planning everything.
I'm not a Miata guy but I spent many hours on Miataturbo.net reading about light, wide 15" wheels and sticky tires.
For what it's worth. Once I got the frame done and engine in and with it on stands, I jacked one corner and measured with a dial indicator how much torsional flex/twist I had. I checked a bunch of spots and I ended up using another 8' of 1"x1" tubing to tighten it up. I'm not an engineer or frame builder so I can't add anything to what you did though. But I like it.
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This build features a well triangulated frame:
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=497.0
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Gotcha! I have seen similar frames, and considered using similar bracing in the tunnel area. My perimeter framing is 2”x3” .120 wall tubing. Most of my strength is coming from there, especially torsionally. My primary concern was vertical flexing. I have already added 2 uprights in the middle of the long tubes. The good news is that area of the frame is very accessable, so that structure would be an easy add. Thanks.
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Thanks Clifton. I’m not an engineer either, so i tried to over build it when ever possible. Great idea with the dial indicator. I’ve never tried to measure the deflection on mine, but lift any corner and it’s rock solid even fully loaded.
You are right about time spent planning! I must have built this a thousand times in my head before I started. It would drive my buddy that was helping me nuts, because everything was in my head and almost nothing on paper. It was very satisfying that every step I took worked pretty much as planned, and when it didn’t the solution turned out better than the original thought.
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My vision for the interior was “nice racecar”. Which is another way of saying “I don’t feel like paying someone to do it better than I can do!”
So I started by attempting to build the dash. Like most things on the car, it was first built from cardboard.
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Then built again from 1/4” birch plywood.
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Then built again from 1/4” Cherry plywood and coated with automotive clear.
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The dash ad was covers with 2 layers of 1/4” dense foam and covered in vinyl. And the gauges were installed. I also printed a Lotus logo and put it in the horn button of the cheap aftermarket steering wheel that came with my parts Miata.
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The radio is a marine unit that takes very little space and mounts like a gauge.
It’s blue tooth compatible and water proof.
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Very nicely done!
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You have a lot of talent sofa king!
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Great job. What did you use on the bottom of the dash?
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I picked up some 3/4x3/4 aluminum angle from Home Depot, shaped it on my Shrinker/stretcher and wrapped it in the same vinyl as the dash pad.
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Not shown in thes photos, is a small section of an additional panel that sits above the tunnel and below the dash and contains the switches for the heater, lights, fans and cigarette lighter. I’ll post a pic of that soon.
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Impressive work and an interesting build. :trophy:
What is the brand of the marine radio?
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It’s from Planet Audio. I was trying to find white with a chrome bezel to match my gauges, but silver was as close as I could find. Black with chrome was more common.
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I have been driving the car without door cards or windows, so today started the process of getting the doors back together. The only set that came with either donor, was in decent shape, but had over spray from two previous paint jobs, and were otherwise just a little dingy. Today I sprayed them with vinyl dye. They will never be concours, but they turned out pretty well! Time will tell how well the new finish holds up!
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One of the little details, that make the drivetrain work, is a pair of adapters that a friend made for me. The Boxster axle mounting flanges are 1” narrower than the stock Miata rear end, so 2 half inch thick spacers make the axles the perfect length, and allow me to bolt the 4 bolt Miata axles to the 6 bolt Porsche flange.
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Nice part!
I was reviewing this thread and I don't think you've given a final accounting for how the car runs. So how does she run? Do you still have teething issues? I don't want to interrupt your development story, so you may want to finish your development posts before you get into how it drives.
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It runs and drives pretty well! But it definitely is still “teething”! Unfortunately the weather here in Ohio didn’t cooperate this fall and didn’t give me enough decent weather to get it dialed in. I hope to have it sorted and will definitely post performance info when I can. For now it shifts very well and stops great. It pulls like a freight train in every gear. My biggest issue is that it doesn’t like to start once it warms up. Pretty sure it’s a fuel table issue that should be fixed with a good tune.
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That computer stuff is WAY beyond me - but then a lot is way beyond me. It sounds like that shouldn't be too big a deal. I guess one of those dyno places should be able to set you up and provide some interesting dyno charts to post!
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I had to have the computer flashed to remove the anti theft system and some other things that I didn’t need. I will have the same guy do the dyno tuning. I will definitely post the results! (Unless it’s embarasing, then I’ll just lie!😂) Stock it should have made 405 hp, so hopefully it will be slightly better than that. It has a slightly hotter cam.
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~400+ HP in a Europa. Mind boggling. Thank you for documenting your build. It is very impressive!
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Thanks!
Having 400hp doesn’t mean I’ll be able to use 400hp, but it should be fun trying! And it makes a great noise in the process!
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Seats were another issue for me. As I mentioned earlier, my head hits the roof if I sit on the floor, so space is a premium. I had planned to use the cover from my Kirkey aluminum race seat and just make it look like there was a seat there. It looked ok, but gave me no lateral support. I had an old pair of Miata seats laying around (Big surprise! 😂) that I used as a starting point. I removed the covers from the seat cushions and the backs and then shaved off the top layers of foam. I tried to make them as thin as possible while leaving as much of the support bolsters as possible. Then I traced the outlines of the seats and the backs onto 1/4” plywood, cut them out, and used the plywood as my base. I stapled the foam pieces to the plywood, then wrapped them with the original seat covers and stapled the covers to the back of the plywood pieces. Seat cushions and back cushions are held in place with Velcro.
They look like stock Miata seats, and give me about 90% of the comfort of the full seat. Much better than I expected! They are a little faded, so I will dye them darker. Here is what they look like now:
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Pretty cleaver and industrious! I chickened out and put a bubble in my roof.
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I seriously considered a Gurney Bubble, but mine goes down instead. I call it the Sofa King Butt bubble!
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Please keep the details coming you have made a lovely looking car. Did you get any further with fabricating your side skirts that you teased us with earlier?
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Progress with the side skirts has been slow but steady. I had an issue with the fiberglass resin that I have been using eating the pink foam. That wasn’t unexpected, but complicated things a bit. I ended up covering the foam with masking tape to protect it at least until the resin cured. That worked pretty well. It gave me enough of a base to use short strand fiberglass filler to refine the shape, and then regular bondo to fit them tight to the body. I still need to finish the surface for paint, but this is what they look like today:
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Next time, steal some plastic wrap for your wife’s kitchen supply and lay it over the foam - the resin and fiberglass mix won’t stick to the plastic- I used this method when I made some fiberglass inner fender panels to replace the original warped panels. I laid the fiberglass over some .020” aluminum I bent into the shape and size of the fender panels.
Tom
74 TCS - 4605 R
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Wait - not plastic wrap - use wax paper - also stolen from you wife’s supply.
Tom
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Thanks for the wax paper tip! I was wondering if I was missing something that might work. I had thought about things that I could use as a form or buck to build over and then remove, but didn’t have anything that I thought would let go of the fiberglass. I’m sure I’ll need that little tidbit at some point!
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I used vapour barrier plastic sheeting. Works like a charm.
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Or use epoxy resin if you want to bond to the foam. It doesn't eat polystyrene like styrene does. Surfboards are often made from a polystyrene foam core with an epoxy and glass skin.
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The epoxy resin probably would have made this project much easier. I’m still learning the tricks of working with fiberglass, so every idea gets filed away for future use. One of my build philosophies has been “if you copy from one person, it’s plagerism, if you copy from everyone, it’s research!” I’ve done a lot of research!😂
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Brown parcel tape also works well especially when given a coat of wax polish.
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The Lotus fiberglass is made with polyester resin, so I have always stayed with polyester for repairs. I don’t remember what the compatibilities are between polyester and expoxy resins are - maybe some else can chime in here.
Tom
TCS - 4605R
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All of the fiberglass work that I did on my car was done with polyester resin. The first primer layer was epoxy, then I used a polyester high build primer, before sealer and then paint. There were no reactions between the epoxy and polyester layers.
The foam that I used on the side skirts, is polystyrene, which does get eaten by the polyester resin, I believe due to the solvents in both being the same. You can use pvc foam or polyurethane foams with polyester resins.
From what I have read surfboards are made with both polyurethane and polystyrene, but the latter is covered with epoxy first. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
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I prefer epoxy resin for fiberglass repairs. It has better mechanical properties and it shrinks less when it cures. The most important thing is that it sticks better. It bonds to old polyester resin fiberglass better than polyester resin does, and it holds onto the the glass fibers better too. So you get stronger repairs. The downsides are: i) price; ii) it's not original; iii) it degrades with exposure to UV light (not a problem if painted); and iv) polyester resin may not bond well to epoxy - though it can be done if you know what you're doing.
I reckon the advantages of epoxy outweigh the negatives, but I know that not everyone who restores old fiberglass cars agrees.
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For what it's worth on epoxy. I filled a lot of spider cracks with it. Looked great but when it gets hot in the sun, you can see them all. It expands at a different rate than polyester.
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Clifton - what brand epoxy did you use?
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I started with US Composites with their slow hardener. After I found it to be too soft when hot I called, they said the slow is only good to 160 f. Then I bought Adtech 820 with medium. I think there's is good to 180 f.. Still no good. In Phoenix, a white car will get 160 easily in the sun. I checked with an infrared thermometer. When it get's brought back into the garage and cools down, they all go away. At least the car is white.
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Clifton, thank you for letting us know about the star cracks. I hadn't heard about that problem before.
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I found a table of coefficients of linear thermal expansion online
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html
The relevant lines from this table are
Epoxy, cast resins & compounds, unfilled 45 - 65
Epoxy - glass fiber reinforced 36
Polyester 124
Polyester - glass fiber-reinforced 25
(units are 10^-6/K)
So the addition of glass fibers makes a huge difference to the thermal expansion for polyester and a smaller, but significant difference for epoxy. I'm thinking that for filling (relatively) deep cracks the addition of some glass fibers to the mix would reduce thermal expansion differences, which might make the whole visible-spider-crack-in-hot-sun thing less visible. This is the kind of fiber additive I was thinking of
https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=97692
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So the addition of glass fibers makes a huge difference to the thermal expansion for polyester and a smaller, but significant difference for epoxy. I'm thinking that for filling (relatively) deep cracks the addition of some glass fibers to the mix would reduce thermal expansion differences, which might make the whole visible-spider-crack-in-hot-sun thing less visible. This is the kind of fiber additive I was thinking of
https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=97692
I used milled fiber with some cabosil for thickener. I used it on the doors repairs too but with polyester resin and they are perfect.
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I’m not familiar with Cabosil, but I have used Duraglas and angel hair or cat hair with good success.
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I just saw a post from Lotus Joe that reminded me of the first thing that I ever “cut” on my V8 Europa project. Right after I bought the first donor car, a friend of mine gave me an article that he had cut out of a Car and Driver from 1972. It included the attached drawing! I made several photocopies of that drawing, and physically cut and taped the wheel openings back on using the background grid for scale, so that I could see how the car might look if I made the changes that I was envisioning. I liked what I saw, so down the rabbit hole I went!
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The photo on top is closest to how the car was actually built.
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I apologize for the disorganized way I’ve been telling my build story, but the drawings took me back to the very beginning, so I thought I would show you what I started with. I bought the yellow car first. It was just a shell on a frame. No interior or hardware.
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The red car came second. It was cut into several pieces, I have no idea why! And yes... it was in the previous owner’s living room! It had been there for almost 20 years!
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Well, that is a pretty strange beginning to your story! It's sure been a "long strange trip" hasn't it?
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It has been, but I’ve enjoyed the whole journey!
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Still working on the interior. I found some rubber diamond plate style mats, that will protect the floors, and hopefulllyadd a little insulation. They also keep to the “nice race car” look. I may still go to carpet at some point, but I like the look for now.
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Still working on the side skirts. Both sides are fitted to the contour of the body and in primer. Will paint soon, but I have another project in the way. Attached are two photos, one without the skirt and one with it in primer. I plan on painting them body color because I think it will make it look lower.
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Sofaking, the europa in the living room, what a great way for me to put more cars in a garage. LOL
dakazman
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I thought it was a brilliant idea! ....my wife on the other hand ....didn’t! I asked the previous owner if he was married, he said that he was, but the Lotus in the living room happened befor he met the wife! 😃
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I thought it was a brilliant idea! ....my wife on the other hand ....didn’t! I asked the previous owner if he was married, he said that he was, but the Lotus in the living room happened befor he met the wife! 😃
I had a hard enough time parking my Europa in the garage. My wife believes her old smelly Subaru should have the honour!
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A couple more details sorted. I fabricated covers for the engine vents from the same material that I used in the rear panel. The photo also shows the mini LeMans style gas cap that I found.
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Sofaking,
The gas cap looks like an OEM item 👍👍. The grills/vents look very professional.
I have one question about this entire area and worry about it becoming the bathtub it is so deemed. I have not had my car outside in the rain to actually see the accumulation it could possibly hold, and it really comes down in buckets here in Florida. Adding a few dozen leaves with the wind blowing adds even more blockage and 4” of water on the rear window. Am I being too paranoid?
Dakazman
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My car is currently leading a very sheltered life, and I’m also pretty new to the Europa world, but I think that you are probably right to be concerned. On the other hand it’s fiberglass, so better in the wet than steel.
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Don’t worry if Lotus can’t keep water out, you’d hardly expect them to keep water in! It flows off the edge of the rear cover, along the edge of the compartment and out large drain holes in the back. If the drain holes plug then it just flows into the compartment along the edges, no big deal. Best not to have an open foam air filter element under the vent holes though.
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A couple more details sorted. I fabricated covers for the engine vents from the same material that I used in the rear panel. The photo also shows the mini LeMans style gas cap that I found.
The vents look fabulous. My I ask where you sourced the material?
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I ordered it from McNichols Co. , they were great to work with. Great service even though I’m sure an order this small was a pain in the neck for them. Freight was a little expensive because they had to ship the sheet flat. But they had exactly what I wanted. They have a great selection of other hole sizes and patterns. I used aluminum.
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Finally got my other project out of the way, and actually made some” Lotus progress” today! Not much, but still felt great. Painted these... now if I can just remember where they go! :)
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Whatever they are, they look great! :)
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Aluminium window frames, apparently painted.
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Ahhh! I see it now! I saw that corner on the second picture but it looked like it might have been repurposed.
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Yeah, sorry about the crappy photo composition! They were still wet when I took the shot, and that was the only place that I could hang them. I obviously remember where they go, but I am a little concerned about getting all the pieces and steps in the correct place and in the right order!
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I’m making progress, but nothing photo worthy. Today I did get my “hidden” door popper buttons mounted. ( don’t tell anyone where they are.... it will be our secret!)
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Nice gas filler cover!
Two questions:
1. What is the second picture of? I don't want to miss what you're doing!
2. Where is the hidden door popper?
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Both photos show the popper buttons (momentary switches) On the driver’s side the button is right above the filler cap, the passengers side is in roughly the same spot, you can see it if you zoom in. The doors open by pushing either button.
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Ahhh!! :headbanger:
I won't tell a soul!
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Here is a detail that I forgot to mention. When I found the headers that came up and back, I was concerned that they might get too close to the coils if I mounted them in the stock location. It was also going to be a little difficult to route the plug wires. I decided to mount the coils underneath! It gets them away from the heat from the headers and cleans up the look of the engine. In the photo, it may look like the engine isn’t complete, but it is in fact running.
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Working on finishing details. Finally getting around to the center console. Today I got all 3 panels covered in vinyl and the shift and brake lever boots mounted and the power window switches mounted.
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Your console looks very well done! Are you doing anything interesting with your seats (or did I miss it since I can't easily go back and see one my iPad)?
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Nice Sofa King. Gotta love the details!
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I built the seats by taking a pair of old Miata seats that I had laying around, and cutting the top layer of foam off of them. I traced the silhouette of the seats onto 1/4” plywood and stapled the foam and the fabric to the plywood. I believe that I posted pics earlier, but I have them out of the car and have redied the fabric, so I’ll take a detail photo and post it tomorrow.
I just Velcro them to the floor and rear bulkhead. They provide me with lateral support and about 90% of the comfort of the full Miata seat, and maximize my headroom.
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Sofa , really nice ,lotus progress. Perfect location for the you know whats.
Dakazman
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Here are the seat photos I promised.
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I figured you had mentioned your seats before so I finally looked back earlier in the thread and found a picture with the seats in your car (but they don't appear to be in position). That's a pretty cleaver way of providing a good seat and more head room. I hope it provides enough support.
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Surprisingly they do have good support. I left all of the foam in the bolsters intact. Only the foam in the center area was shaved for my head room. They are much more supportive and comfortable than I was prepared to live with. My original plan was to just use the cover for my aluminum racing seat and pretend to have a seat. When I did that, it looked like there was a seat in place, but it was the comfort and support equivalent of a park bench!
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Finally got the driver’s side windows in. Much bigger PITA than I expected! The snug fit is causing the window to bind, so I have to sort that before I connect the window motor. (Any suggestions would be appreciated! I still have the other side to do!) Even though it fought me, I’m happy with the result.
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I like the blacked out windows. Thinking of doing that myself as mine are pretty scratched.
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Thanks! I had thought about blacking them out, but I was undecided until I saw a car on this forum with them in black. (Sorry I don’t remember who gets that credit.) I think that it makes it look clean, and both the front and rear glass are already black.
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What supplier did you use for the rubber around the quarter windows?
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RD Enterprises
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RD Enterprises
What was your procedure on fitting the rubber around your quarter glass.
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After 2 calls to RDE to figure out how the molding worked, ( I didn’t remember how it came apart and I was expecting something more like a “U” channel.) I fit the molding on the glass and mitered the corners. Then slid the assembled unit into the quarter window frame. I mounted the main window frame, then put the front of the quarter window frame in place, slid the “H” channel between the quarter glass and the rear frame, and pushed and pried until it popped into place. On hind site it might have been easier to leave the rear frame unriveted until the last step, but it might not have helped given that I was working by myself.
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Passenger side windows are in! Much easier than the driver’s side. Leaving the main window frame loose while putting in the quarter window made a huge difference. Thanks for the info in the Garage on window installation.
I’m still concerned that the windows are too tight for the motors to move them, but I’ll keep working on them.
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Power window motors, door cards and speakers are in!!
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Sofa, great job! Any luck getting the driver window to slide easier? Once you get your Yellow screamer on the road can you treat us to a video. Cant wait to hear it.
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I’ve been giving the window frames a liberal dose of silicone lubricant and they are sliding better. The motors are still a little slow, but that could be that the battery isn’t fully charged, and I haven’t tried them with the car running.
I will definitely post a video of it running as soon as I can!
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I used talcum powder to "lubricate" my windows. Maybe I could have used something better but I didn't want to use something liquid. My windows move pretty slowly. I generally try to remember to roll them up or down when the engine is running and I goose it a little to get more voltage when I do.
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I’m hoping that the engine running helps mine. They moved reasonably easily by hand before I connected the motors, so I’m optimistic. I’ll do my best to help the motors by hand until they prove reliable.
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Hi Sofa, Have you been following the switch relay in the "glass help" thread? Sounds like a great idea.
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Thanks for the heads up Sandyman! I hadn’t seen the relay conversation. I put in my two cents over there! My driver window is moving slowly but improving as the trim moldings seat and wear a bit. The passenger side is still a problem, but I think will eventually catch up.
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Finally painted the side skirts! Can’t wait to get them mounted,
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Mr. King did you make molds for the side skirts? They look like they would add to my cars bling.
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No molds. I roughed them out of a sheet of foam and coverd them in fiberglass and bondo. I can talk you through the process if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Also my wheel base is a foot longer than yours.... so even if I had a mold it wouldn’t work! 8)
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Thanks anyway. Enough rabbits already!
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Looking forward to the photos of them fitted. I would think they will make a real difference to the side profile of the car.
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Nice job sofa ! They should finish off the side view perfectly. :beerchug:
Dakazman
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I’m going to give it one more day for the paint to harden and then install them. I hope they look as good as I picture in my head. The bottom of my car Is a little rough with the curve of the fiberglass body fighting the straight line of my frame. Hopefully these will tie it together and make it looked finished.
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I agree with you Sofa some side angle pictures look as if the Europas are sagging in the middle.
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I agree. The “belly” is a design feature of the Europa that I don’t love, but it adds to the quirkyness of the car. I’m hoping that the side skirts straighten out the bottom line, but keeps the belly. I considered painting them a contrasting color, but decided that painting them yellow would lower the look of the car even more.
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After pulling out the rusted chrome windshield molding, my windshield was hanging by a thread!
Finally got a guy to attempt the job! After signing my life away, promising that he wasn’t responsible if it broke, he got it out without a hitch! Just a little delamination about the size of a dime, that is covered by the new molding. Probably not Pebble Beach quality... but I’m really happy with the results! Now all of my windows are trimmed in black.
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I plan on cleaning up the corners once all the adhesives have dried, but the photos make them look worse than they do in person.
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It took most of the winter but the side skirts are done!!!
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Nicely done!
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Nice! You do good work.
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Thanks! I’m happy with the results so far. Anything that doesn’t turn out ... I’ll just blur the focus! :)
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I think the right side turned out better than the left! If you look closely you can see that the hinge rod hole on the right is covered while the left hole is visible! That isn’t due to my fabrication or design... the holes were drilled 3/4” off at the factory. Unfortunately I didn’t notice until I was to far in to fix it!
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All the people who are lying on the ground and looking up at your doors will be aghast that you missed such an important detail - or they will realize that Lotus QC sometimes left something to be desired - or there won't be any (or few) who will notice. Since it's your car and you did the work, it will bother you but most probably won't even notice. Don't beat yourself up over it.
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Warning: Anyone caught lying under my car will be flogged! Whew! Now I feel better! ;)
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Looks great sofa. It looks like the skirt on my vette.👍👍
Dakazman
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Great Work! They really do "tie things together". Impressive work and car!!
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Thanks guys!
Dak, C3?
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Finally got the dash put back in, the tunnel covered in vinyl and the shift lever an parking brake boots mounted! It’s starting to look like a finished car inside. A little clean up and the seats back in, and it’s good to go!
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The interior is really coming together! It should look nice when you're done. I like the antique white faced gauges.
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Thanks! The white gauges were on sale and cheaper than the black ones! Luckily I like them better now too!
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It’s finally back on the ground and ready to roll! Now I just need some good weather!
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Hope your good weather comes soon! She looks great!
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:beerchug:
Sofa , very clean lines. How about a picture from the side at ground level...or as close as you can get.
I just think it would be a great angle.
Dakazman
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I’ll see what I can do! The only low shots I have now just show the sideskirts and not the entire car.
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Come on good weather! I stand (sit) in awe of the of the beautiful job you have done. Just love picture #3.
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Looks great! The side skirts make a big difference.
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Come on good weather! I stand (sit) in awe of the of the beautiful job you have done. Just love picture #3.
Thanks Sandyman! I’m glad that you like the look from the back! I has hoping the back would look good so that my friends with Mustangs can enjoy it! Doh! :FUNNY:
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:beerchug:
Sofa , very clean lines. How about a picture from the side at ground level...or as close as you can get.
I just think it would be a great angle.
Dakazman
Is this what you were looking for? It’s the best “worm view” I can do until I get it outside.
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Great pictures, Sofa! How did you get your car on the ceiling? :FUNNY:
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I don’t know how I did that... and I don’t know how to fix it! So let’s just call it artsy!
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Thanks to a post on lotusEuropa.com ( sorry I don’t know who to credit) I built the brackets for the engine cover lift supports. I read somewhere that if you copy from one person it’s plagerism, if you copy from everyone it’s research. I’m calling this one research, but my sources were limited. I made several small changes so I don’t feel too guilty. :) here are a couple of photos:
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It’s all about the details Sofa and you have many! Nice work!
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I read somewhere that if you copy from one person it’s plagerism, if you copy from everyone it’s research. I’m calling this one research, but my sources were limited. I made several small changes so I don’t feel too guilty. :) here are a couple of photos:
[/quote]
LOL 😂 , It looks like a definite 10% rule change there. Good work! It’s a mod that is on my list also. probably from the same sources . I agree, It’s hard to to nail down who to give credit to but my hat is tipped.
The question is, What is next? You got me hooked.
Dakazman
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That's an amazing build! Will it be at LOG39 or better LOG40?
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My list of things to do is getting shorter. Not much left except to fine tune things that need improvement. The windows don’t move as well as I want them to move, I’m still having an oil pressure issue, and I still need to cut and buff the paint.
I hope to post some video of the car running and moving.
I most likely won’t be able to make LOG 39, where is LOG 40?
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Considering what you've built, your short list really is short.
I look forward to videos!
LOG40 will be announced at LOG39 in August. (I'm hoping to be at LOG40. )
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Well, my short list just got longer! After exploring all my options, my low oil pressure issue is going to force me to pull the engine. Not what I wanted to be doing as the weather moves towards driving season, but it comes out relatively easily. Or at least I think it will, I haven’t done it with the body mounted to the frame.
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Bummer! I suspect it's going to be more involved than you think when you get into it - at least that's what happens to me. Then you have to fix the problem!
Good luck and keep us posted!
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Best case scenario is that the new oil pump I used was defective. If that isn’t it, I don’t have a clue what is causing the issue.
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You might look at your bearings while you have it out.
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I have to decide how far to dig into the engine. All of the rod and main bearings were replaced and the clearances checked when I put the engine together. The only ones I didn’t do were the cam bearings. Probably should have, but they didn’t show any wear. This was a used block that I bought for cheap! Previous owner said that it had spun a bearing but it hadn’t! Now I’m wondering what other damage could have made him think that was the problem.
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Bummer! But best to repair now before you torpedo the engine due to lack of oil.
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I absolutely agree! My concern is that finding the problem will probably exceed my abilities or experience. My “LS Engines for Dummies” book probably won’t provide the solution!
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I wouldn't expect cam bearings to be the problem (although, I used to help a guy with his Ford 351 Cleveland race motor and the cam bearings were first in oil circuit and had to be restricted so the main and rod bearings would have enough so maybe it be an issue). After bearings, I guess you're pretty much left with the pump.
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I have a friend that owns a shop and knows these engines pretty well. With out knowing much more than I’ve shared here, he also thinks it’s the pump. He didn’t think the cam bearings would be likely to cause the problem.
Because of how close I had to mount the engine to the firewall, I can’t change the pump without pulling the engine and transaxle. I really don’t want to put the engine back in with a new pump and still have the issue. But I think I just need to bite the bullet.
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What is the oil pressure issue? Low all the time? Low just when it's hot? Low as in the light is on? Or, low pressure gauge reading? If it is a low pressure reading, have you checked it against a known good gauge?
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To follow up on what John says, is this a mechanical or electrical pressure gauge ? If electrical it might be worth checking the sender voltages or if possible swapping it out with a spare sender that you're certain is matched to the gauge. I appreciate they don't often go wrong but I have had temperature senders give crazy readings before.
The other faint hope is the gauge itself as John mentioned. Without going back through all of the thread, have you previously had correct pressure readings on this gauge ? If it's an unknown then before moving the engine I'd be tempted to make a temporary lash up with another gauge.
If all else fails then it might well be spanner time......
Brian
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Sofa, fingers crossed it's the sending unit.
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The problem is that, cold it has slightly low pressure, but acceptable. 25 psi on my electric gauge, about 35 on a mechanical gauge. I’m running both temporarily to see how accurate the dash gauge is.
When it gets up to operating temperature the mechanical gauge drops to 11-12psi at idle. This is with 20w50 to try to push up pressure. With 10w30 it was 7 psi and 0 on the electric!! The common diagnosis on an LS engine would be the pickup tube o-ring. I have had 3 different ones in, with the same results. I think another new pump is in my future! I’m just trying to decide if I want to give this short block another try, or replace it.
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The oil pressure does increase with rpms, about 10 psi per thousand. This would probably be ok on a traditional small block Chevy but not great on mine.
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I am coming in very late and this may and already have been stated as I didn't read through everything, but how about the oil pressure relief valve? I rebuilt a Sunbeam alpine engine and it had nearly no oil pressure turned out the oil pressure relief valve was stuck. Once the valve was freed up the pressure was what it was supposed to be.
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I'm not familiar with the LS engines but once saw a 454 in a new truck run on 5 psi at idle. The dealer said it was fine, and, well, it was fine. Still running last time I saw it.
+1 on the relief valve being stuck, especially on a recently overhauled engine.
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I'm not an LS guy either but 10 psi per 1000 rpm is good. Do LS engines need a lot of pressure? Too bad if you have to pull it and go through it.
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It could very well be the relief valve. Unfortunately I need to pull the motor to get to that also.
From what I have been told, 10psi at idle is low for an LS. It could survive indefinitely, but I’m worried that it is symptomatic of impending doom. My Miata and my Corvette both have the exact same engine and I have two trucks with the 5.3 liter version and all idle at 35 to 40 psi hot.
I really want to believe that it’s ok as is but “experts” that I trust are telling me that I have a problem.
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This is a long shot, but maybe worth checking before pulling the engine; I had a Ford V-8 that broke a rocker arm nut, dislodging the rocker arm and allowing the cam to spit the lifter out of its bore, resulting in nearly 0 psi oil pressure. Might be worth checking if the valve train is still intact. Unlikely, but just a thought.
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I can definitely check the rockers before I pull the engine. Didn’t it make a good amount of top end noise?
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I can definitely check the rockers before I pull the engine. Didn’t it make a good amount of top end noise?
It happened during a start-up. I noted no oil pressure and shut it off. However, during the diagnostic process I did start it a couple of times and it made no undue noise. Once the rocker arm nut stripped (a new Competition Cams piece) and the rocker arm became separated from the push rod, there was really nothing to make any noise, just an intake valve that wasn't opening. There was a pretty lumpy cam in that engine, so unless on the road and under load it could have well gone undetected.
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I had a valve spring break on a 350 Chevy. It would alternate between jamming against itself and working and overlapping itself and not working. Really gave me an odd combination of running good then bad, but with a lumpy cam is sounded extra nasty on 7 cylinders.
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Made it to a local car show. ( proof that it can move under its own power.) Last show before the engine comes out!
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I'll bet your car got a lot of attention! :trophy:
Now the real work continues...
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Looks great SofaKing! You will be happy to pull the engine so you can rectify any problems for driving later on.
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The women thought it was cute, the guys thought I was insane, everyone asked how I can get in it! I enjoyed myself thoroughly!
I hope that the problem becomes apparent when I get the engine out. It should come out easily, but the engine was in the chassis when I mounted the body, so I’ve never put it in or removed it with the body on. I designed it to come out the bottom. Hope I didn’t overlook anything that might get in the way.
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I realize I have a somewhat more conventional Europa but I find the guys are pretty interested. In general, the girls are much less so. That suits Mrs. BDA just fine! :)
Good luck on pulling your engine and fixing your oil pressure situation!
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I also have an LS1 powered Miata. Most guys immediately recognize that it is not an ordinary Miata and stop to talk. The Europa attracts attention, but many guys don’t realize how “wrong” mine is. The plus side is that the Lotus usually attracts interest from a more knowledgeable crowd.
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Looks good at the car show.
Europa's certainly attract attention. At the car shows here I find I tend to get very Lotus educated folks asking technical questions. Also lots more interest than the swarm of 911's that drop by. At the grocery store and mall I get women wanting to go for a ride or at least sit in the car. Why didn't I buy this when I was 25?
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Engine is ready to come back out!
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All the way out!
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That was fast (or it seemed so from my chair)! Good luck on finding and fixing the oil pressure problems. Hopefully you find actually evidence rather than be reduced to replacing something because there's nothing else to do (I didn't say that well, but I think you know what I mean).+
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It took a very easy 7 hours. Took my time and worked carefully. It should actually take less time to put it back in.
I couldn’t agree more with hoping I find something obviously wrong! I don’t want to throw new parts on just to replace good parts and find out I still have the problem! I wish that I had the ability to run the engine out of the car. I could probably rig a stand to hold it, but I don’t have a spare wiring harness to run it.
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You can spin up an engine with just the starter, plugs out, to check oil issues. I have done it lots of times.
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Great! I was wondering about that! That will show if my initial oil pressure is better. My biggest problem / frustration is that it looses pressure as the engine gets warm.
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I think you should find the oil pressure by spinning in on the starter before you change anything to use as a comparison.
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Is it using the original GM/Chev sensor for oil pressure? My 6.2L is doing the same thing in my Escalade. Pretty sure it is a sensor though they are known to leak and cause issues.
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BDA- Good idea.
Rosco- I’ve used both an electric gauge and a mechanical gauge, same result.
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i have experienced this, in the past, as a faulty pressure relief valve.
not lotus, but …….
is there one in the oil pump? piston may be stuck in the "cold oil/high pressure" position.
mabe
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Yes there is a pressure relief valve in the pump, and there is a good chance that is the problem. Unfortunately, the engine had to come out to get to the valve spring. No matter what my problem turns out to be, I am going to swap to a better quality, high pressure pump.
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The engine will go back in tomorrow! I’m pretty sure that I found the problem. The cam retainer has an o-ring built into it. Not realizing that it seals the main oil passages, I reused the old one. There was no seal left when I took it off the block. There was obviously oil leaking past the seal. Everything else looked good. I added a high pressure pump just to be safe. I’ll see if I can read the oil pressure spinning it with the starter, and start putting it back in the car.
The Hit Rod Magazine “Power Tour” ends about 45 minutes from me this Friday, and I shooting to have it done for that show.
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It sounds like you found the culprit and the high pressure pump should ensure the problem is resolved! I'm glad to hear that and I'm crossing my fingers that you make the "Power Tour!" :beerchug:
Don't forget to give us a full report!
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Engine went back in easier than it came out! Spent about 3.5 hours on it today. All that is left for tomorrow is bleeding the clutch, connecting and burping the coolant lines, and installing the exhaust. (The clutch bleeder is under the exhaust.)
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Boy, that was quick!!! :BEER3:
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Progress was a little slower today. The radiator hoses that connect to the front of the engine are a major pain! The engine is very close to the rear firewall at that point and the fittings and hoses have to be attached in a specific order and orientation. But I did manage to get them back in place. Here is a close up of the connected hoses.
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It’s alive! (Again) I still need to “burp” the coolant and put the seats back in, but I ran out of steam for today!
Oil pressure looks great, but I still haven’t gotten it up to temperature.
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Great news! :beerchug:
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Glad to hear it all worked out. We were all rooting for you Sofa King!
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Good news! I made a local car show.....
Bad news.... my oil pressure isn’t better! Engine has to come out again.
3 Lotuses (Loti?) at the show!
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Can you drop the pan? If so, use an oil cooler adapter plate to pressurize the oil system and see where the problem is.
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:headbanger: Did you compare the oil pressure from spinning the starter before the fix and after? Did it show higher pressure after the fix? If so, it seems that it should follow that your running oil pressure would be at least better than before the fix.
At least it doesn't take long to pull the motor.
Good luck!
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My oil pressure cold went from 20psi to 35psi. On my electric gauge. The 20 was with 20w50 and the 35 is with 5w30, so it’s definitely better. But when warmed up I’m showing 0 at idle and barely any at 2000 rpm when warm. (Engine water temp only gets to about 175!) the mechanical gauge read about 10 psi higher than the electric. I didn’t have the mechanical on it tonight. But I’m guessing that 20 psi is the cushion that got me home!
JBC: Interesting idea! I’m not sure I can do it though, the oil filter on the LS motors attaches to the oil pan, so if I drop the pan I loose that attachment point and I’d have a big leak if I pressurized it from somewhere else. Any ideas on how to do that?
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Hi SK. Sorry to hear about your problems but depending on the shape of your sump (no big wings) there may be a way into the oil system to check pressure or pressurise the system without major disassembly. On LS engines, just behind the filter, there is an internal passage to connect the main oil gallery to the top of the motor. You can see external evidence of this oilway in a rounded shape up the side of the block. The bottom of this oilway is closed by a threaded plug with a recessed hex shape in its face. Just take out this plug and you’re in. Unfortunately, only good for initial diagnostics. Sounds like the fix will still need engine out.
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Hmm, that's not good news. I can see the pressure has increased but that might be due to the higher pressure pump and not entirely down to the seal you found ?
I know nothing about the engine series you've got there so I'm struggling with ideas because you seem to have nailed a lot of possibilities.
You've got 2 gauges, electric & mechanical, so my first thoughts are "where are the sensor and mech. feed taken from", are they directly after the pump or part way around the circulation path ? The only idea I have is to look at the engine for what's between the new (and assumed perfect) pump and the take off points for the gauges.
One weird idea that came was if there's a problem in the pickup/feed to the pump. It works ok with thick oil but once hot it no longer seals properly and you're trying to circulate a mixture of oil & air or a reduced oil flow.
It's a tough one. I've got to admit that after cross checking the gauge with a known good one and replacing the pump/relief valve (as you've done) then I'm afraid I'd just give up and tear the engine down to check bearings/seals and even mike up the crank in the faint hope that I'd got a reground crank with the wrong shells in ! A lot of work but at least it's going to work out in the end.
Brian
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Thanks guys! The problem has to be the cam bearings. It’s the only thing that I haven’t replaced or verified. I was a little lazy last week when I had the engine out! I was convinced that the cam cover was the problem, and I was putting pressure on myself to make the Power Tour.(which I wimped out on anyway!) I’ll pull it again and dig deeper, but it probably won’t be for a week or two, I need to get away from it for a bit.
Brian: your idea of a leak on the pick up is actually a pretty common problem with these engines. Unfortunately, I’ve “been there...done that”! :)
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Brian: your idea of a leak on the pick up is actually a pretty common problem with these engines. Unfortunately, I’ve “been there...done that”! :)
I'm amazed, I thought it was such a daft idea that I hesitated in posting. What's the history on the engine, did you buy it as fully overhauled with new bearings/etc, rebuild it yourself or was it bought as a "running engine" with little history ?
But whatever the outcome this is an odd one, I hope you're going to post up the culprit after all this head scratching !
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This is definitely a “Franken-engine”! I bought the short block for $200, because I needed 1 piston for another project. Later, I bought a complete set of pistons from a guy in an Autozone parking lot for $80. Then I bought a complete LS6 engine for $500, that had a “slight” bottom end noise. That noise turned out to be two broken connecting rods and a piston jammed at a 45degree angle in the bore. But it did provide a good set of heads. I had the heads redone, the crank and connecting rods just needed fresh bearings, assembled everything and it sounded great. Unfortunately I never ran it long enough to detect the oil issue until I put the body on the chassis, and could drive it around.
Now that I’m trying to do the detective work to see where my mass of junk parts went wrong, I vaguely remember the guy that I bought the block from telling me that it had a spun bearing! I took that to mean crank bearing, but when I took the crank to have it redone my machinist assured me that it was fine. The previous owner must have meant cam bearing, but i never made that connection and on visual inspection they looked good.
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A spun cam bearing! I've never heard of that which doesn't mean much. I have heard of scraping a cam bearing while installing the cam on a V8. That might be something to check.
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I agree, I’ve never heard of a “spun” cam bearing , which is why it didn’t occur to me at the time. I think “walking” might be more appropriate, but I told that bad cam bearings can create a problem like mine, and other than a crack in the block, there isn’t much left that it could be. If I’m not completely certain that I have the problem fixed, this motor won’t go back in!
The frustrating part, is that if I ignore the gauge, it drives great!
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I have. Wish I hadn't. Have seen spun main bearings too. Not pretty either.
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Ignored it to get home... don’t plan on continuing thepractice! I have also spun a main bearing and bought another LS with one and replaced it. Neither engine had low oil pressure before or after.
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It all depends which bearing spins as one usually controls the oil feed up to the top end as well.
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Unfortunately, this isn’t a repost! The engine is out ....again!
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Bummer! Oil pressure still too low?
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Yep! Found a shop that can do a pressure test on it. Hopefully they can see what is causing the problem. I don’t trust my eyes / judgement to do it myself at this point. I got it out in about a third of the time it took last time, but it’s not something that I want to keep getting better at.
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I thought you had it licked last time! Hopefully this guy can find the problem.
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I thought I had it fixed, but I was mistaken! I think that the only thing left that it could be, is cam bearings. The engine builder said that cam bearings almost never go bad, and he doubts that is the problem. I just hope the problem turns out to be obvious when he opens it up!
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And we do this for fun. :headbanger:
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Exactly my thought!!!!
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That's too bad. I can only imagine your frustration. I hope it's nothing too serious and you get it going soon.
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Ugh that is too bad! My LS woe's have been bad. My wife's Escalade had a roller lifter fail and come apart wearing out the cam and lifter all while sending metal through the oil pump and bearings! I am not happy but ever trying to make Lemonade out of Lemons my it should be good for 500 hp when its all done. ;D I hope you find the source of your problem.
Ross
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My LS experiences overall have been great. This one giving me problems has been the exception. Sorry to hear that yours failed so catastrophically! At least you can sooth your pain with bonus horsepower! The truck engines are a little easier to come by than the aluminum block versions. I have a spare 6.0 waiting for the right project to turn up. I just don’t want to put the iron version in a car as small as the Europa.
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Just a quick update on my engine progress. The damage was pretty bad. Somehow debris got into the engine, possibly from sitting in my shop for a few years before the build, but there is substantial damage to the crank, cam, and cylinder walls. I am looking into my options, but it comes down to a full rebuild or a new engine.
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Man! You must feel like Sisyphus! Good luck with your next move, Sofa!
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Yeah, and it feels like the rock rolled over me on its last trip down!
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Sorry to hear Sofa King. Very disappointing after all that work. I don’t know much about your engine, but sometimes it’s just cheaper to buy a new short block (if available) then a full rebuild. I found that out from my Lotus Exige S. Toyota OEM short blocks were $2800. The Yamaha head was a whole different story.....
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Just a quick update on my engine progress. The damage was pretty bad. Somehow debris got into the engine, possibly from sitting in my shop for a few years before the build, but there is substantial damage to the crank, cam, and cylinder walls. I am looking into my options, but it comes down to a full rebuild or a new engine.
Heck, that's not what anyone wants to find, there's no doubt you've had a run of bad luck there. If there is a plus side, at least you have the reason and it's not something that anyone would point to before the event. We'd all rebuild or re-use if within spec just as you've done, so the only consolation (?) is that it's the sort of thing that could happen to anyone.
I guess it comes down to economics, whether it's cheaper to go replace or rebuild. From what you've achieved so far, I've every confidence you'll bounce back and be posting photos of the car with a sparkly (and oil-pressurized) engine very soon !
Brian
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Thanks for the words of encouragement! I am leaning towards the complete rebuild. I’m tired of putting the engine in and taking it out, so I would rather not take the risk on another used engine if the rebuild is cost effective. I’ll know what I’m in for by Monday. I’m also tired of looking at my car up on jack stands with an empty engine compartment!
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Sorry to hear it was this bad. I'm looking forward to hearing how it runs when you get it going again.
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Sofa , I know your pain , sorry about your engine.
Bad machine shop work seems to be going around.
Dakazman
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Ah man another LS down that sucks. I have the all aluminum 6.2L in the Cadi not a steel truck LS. It is getting close. The rebuild was quite rewarding and there are lots of good cams out there. A rebuild could be a lot of fun. Good luck and I hope it doesn't keep you sidelined too long.
Ross
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I did go the complete rebuild route. I am having it done professionally, and they have had it for about a week. Hopefully it will be done by the end of the month. It’s the first time in 4 years that I am not in control of the project and I’m anxious to get back on track!
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Engine is finally back from the builders! It was ready on the exact day promised! (Still felt like forever!) I touched up the paint today, will start installing it tomorrow.
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Good luck, Sofa! I hope this one will be right!
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If you have an oil cooler, remote filter and/or lines, make sure you thoroughly flush them. Oil thermostats are particularly hard to clean out — please don’t ask me how I know :-(
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Sorry to dredge up bad memories! I won’t ask! But I am making sure that everything is as clean as possible!
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Good Luck Sofa King! We are rooting for you (and your engine).
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fingers crossed.
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Harmonic balancer, flywheel, and transaxle reinstalled. Ready to go back in tomorrow.
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Good luck sofa!
That’s a beast!
Dakazman
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It’s back in!!! Still need to hook everything back up, but the engine and trans are back on their mounts!
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You work pretty fast, Sofa! Fingers crossed for this motor!
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Looks good! Take your time and think through everything. I know your excited to get her running, but make sure your doing everything you need to before starting up.
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Thanks. It may look like I’m moving quickly, but be assured that I am taking my time! I’m retired, so I am able to work on this project when ever I want. I also have 2 friends that share the garage space with me and we help each other with our projects, so there are extra hands available most of the time.
Also when I designed the motor and transmission mounts I planned for it to easily come in and out the bottom. I just didn’t expect to do it this many times!! I have a punch list set up so that I can keep track of all my steps and the order that they need to happen. Last time it took me about 4 hours to complete from the point where I am now.
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Ready to make some noise! Still need to add the fluids and bleed the clutch, but all the hard parts are back in.
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Wahoo! We want a video of it running!
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Great! Congratulations! I want to see a video too!
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Can I upload a video here, or do I need to put it somewhere else and post a link?
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Post on YouTube and then post the link here.
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Gotcha! That’s what I thought.
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Hey Sofa great work man! Looks awesome. I too would love a video. I have my wife’s Escalade all done and broken in. The LS motor is a thing of beauty in my books. They made that bottom end bullet proof and kept the heads and top end simple. Makes for a stout and small HP machine. I forget which LS you have? Is it a 6.0 or a 5.3? Or something completely different?
Ross
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Thanks! Mine is an LS6, which is the 405hp version of the all aluminum 5.7. It’s now bored 10 thousandths over, and has a slightly hotter cam.
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I guess 400hp isn't enough!
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Well... while I was in there....
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Did a little poking around and found some interesting things about that engine. The pistons are Hypereutectic Cast Aluminum Alloy (which from what I've been able to find out are strong enough (not as strong as forged) and the thermal expansion coefficient lower allowing tighter clearances. Another bonus is that less machining would be required for cast pistons. The heat treatment was not discussed on the site I saw but other sites suggest it is important so they likely are heat treated.
Also, the rods are made of "Powdered Metal." This really surprised me, but then I recently lost a Mercedes because the balance shaft sprocket was sintered steel and not properly heat treated so while I know it can work when properly heat treated, I also understand that AMG uses steel instead of sintered parts. I had never heard of using sintered steel for connecting rods but I learn something new everyday!
So I learned all that but didn't find out what I was really curious about - is the block skirted below the centerline of the crank? And how much does an LS6 engine weigh?
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Not sure about the skirting below the crank, but it has 6 bolt main caps. Also interesting is that the connecting rods are broken instead of machined, so they are all a perfect fit and all unique.
I had the option of going with forged pistons, but since I don’t feel the need to ever boost it, I couldn’t justify the expense.
The engine weighs between 400 and 450 lbs. I have been estimating that my engine / transaxle combination weighs about 650.
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From my recent LS6 exploration, I learned that sintered steel doesn't machine well because of the "granular" nature but I'm not sure what you mean by "broken?"
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At the seam where the rod surrounds the crank bearings, instead of being cut, they are fractured, so that the mating surfaces are irregular and fit back together like puzzle pieces.
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Very interesting! I've never heard of anything like that!
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Hey BDA the fractured rod is supposed to be stronger under high loads, not only does it only fit one rod to one cap the idea is that the rod cap cannot shift at all and always maintains a round bearing. Old style rods can have microscopic shifting between the rod and cap face under load causing failure under high loads is my understanding. Also like Sofa said the 6 bolt mains are strong, 4 bolt standard and then 2 cross bolts that make the main caps and bottom of the block form a rigid cradle like structure. Such a great motor. If you are interested I can post some of my Escalade pictures in the off topic section.
Ross
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I finally found a picture of a fractured rod and a description of how it is accomplished. The sintered steel (I assume it's steel but it seems to be generally called just "powdered metal".) must be very brittle, or notch sensitive (don't ask me to tell you the difference. I just remember the term "notch sensitive" from engineering classes) to make it work. The advantages of the cap not moving relative to the rest of the rod are pretty obvious. I think the primary advantages versus a forged steel rod seem to be economic and the fracturing is certainly less expensive (and includes benefits you mentioned) than a machining process. The molds for a sintered piece may also be accurate enough to reduce some machining steps. One site I found compared "wrought forged" to "powder forged" and wrought forged was a little stronger and harder but the difference wasn't very significant. Then I saw a post from someone claiming to be a PhD student in "aser processing of materials" who suggested that sintered steel strength could approach cast steel strength. Of course, all that is interesting but doesn't really get to the heart of the LS6 rods since we don't know how they were made and what alloys were used. The thing we do know is they work!
I would appreciate any pictures or text you want to send me. I'm sure there is A LOT more to the story than the quick searches I made can tell. Manufacturing processes have advanced SO far since I was an engineer (a previous life) that it shouldn't surprise me that processes and materials are different than I would expect. Remember, pistons used to be cast iron!
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You both have surpassed my knowledge of the LS engines. I was done after the few sentences that I’ve shared. I’ll just sit back and learn as you explore the world of LS!
One other tidbit that I do know, is that the aluminum and iron blocks both use the same molds. Since the blocks are designed to be strong enough when cast in aluminum, they are even stronger in iron. The iron truck engines are not only stronger, they are much cheaper. The only penalty is about a 75 pound increase in weight. Not desirable in a Europa, but not bad in a traditional muscle car.
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No doubt using the same molds is an economic decision. Production machinery is largely designed for economic considerations, but the as the technology advances, new and "strange" methods and materials become economically feasible.
Not being up to speed on current technologies, it was strange to me that they didn't do things that would have made sense to me when I was a young engineer - i.e. forged aluminum pistons, forged steel rods, etc. But technology marches on as well as requirements and voila! Everything is different!
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It’s alive! (Again)
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Excellent! :beerchug:
How's the oil pressure? Do you have a video?
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Wa Hu ! :trophy: :trophy: :trophy:
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Oil pressure looks good, but I didn’t have time to run it long enough to warm up. It always had oil pressure when cold. But it sounded great. I’ll get video tomorrow.
I did have a little trouble getting it to run! It would crank but not start. Sprayed it with starting fluid and it ran. Obviously not getting fuel. Pump was running, had fuel pressure at the rail. Pulled the number 1 injector plug and connected a “noid” light. Not firing the injector. Went back under the car to see if I had missed a ground. Everything looked good. Did some more head scratching and went back up top. After a few minutes the problem became pretty obvious! Did you know that you have to plug in ALL of the injectors? Who knew??!! I had forgotten to plug in the passenger side injectors! Oops! Ran perfectly after that. On the plus side, I did prove that LS motors are not idiot proof!
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I prove that I make worse mistakes everyday on this forum! I'm glad you found it quickly. I'm looking forward to the video!
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I have posted the engine start up video on YouTube. I haven’t figured out how to link it here yet, but it’s titled “LS6 Lotus Europa Start up”.
Does your Europa sound like this?
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I found the line (I think): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcHcfFsdmN8
Congratulations on getting your baby humming! Now you can enjoy the cooling weather (or at least soon to be cooling).
My Europa does not sound at all like that! I'll post a video of it so you can tell.
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Thanks for posting the link! I have to spend some time learning how to navigate and use YouTube.
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:beerchug:
Got my thumbs up 👍👍. Also a put a huge smile on my face 😃
Dakazman
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:beerchug: Man that is awesome. That has got to be one heck of a beast on the road. Nicely done.
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Does your Europa sound like this?
I thought it might be fun to hear what our Europas sound like so I started the topic, "What does your Europa sound like today: http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=3279.0
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That sounds mean and wicked. Congrats on getting her running again!
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Sofa, congratulations. A long time and a lot of challenges. Well worth the patient work you put into her. Now the new challenge will be keeping the blue and red flashing lights out of your rear view mirror.
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What’s behind me is losing! :FUNNY:
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I'm working on repairing some spider web cracks. I'm going to use polyester, because in 1970 epoxy didn't exist, so I'm pretty sure the car was originally polyester, and I figure the compatibility will be better. However based on the above thermal expansion data, I found a source of glass micro beads I'll mix in. Not exactly the same as glass fibers, but ought to be close.
I started by marking cracks with a sharpie, so I could still see them through the dust, and got a Dremel with a router collar and a 3/32 ball nose mill that I adjusted to stick out maybe 0.020 or 0.030, and traced over the cracks to create arc shaped valleys.
I'll update on how it goes.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/81bsst6ymy7zgms/2019-09-08%2015.11.50.jpg?dl=0)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cmfs877apdaudkn/2019-09-08%2015.16.32.jpg?dl=0)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/i6zyr1oi142e3nu/2019-09-08%2015.29.40.jpg?dl=0)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/r5jnxzoyxgbgj9z/2019-09-08%2015.29.50.jpg?dl=0)
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I'm working on repairing some spider web cracks.
[...]
I'll update on how it goes.
G'day, shootingsight,
It's probably best to start a new thread for your fibreglass repairs instead of tacking a post on to this thread.
Perhaps ask our gracious host, LotusJoe to move it?
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I'd agree with GavinT, rather than add to this thread you'll probably get more response with a dedicated topic, but in case it doesn't happen, here's my 2c worth.... :)
Now this is going to sound very critical but honestly, it's meant in a positive way with good intentions.
If you grind out an area of cracks by chasing them individually then in my experience they will return 6 months or less after you've put the paint on. If this is your first venture into repairing crazing then it's natural to do it as you have done (I did exactly the same thing many years ago) because it feels as if you're minimising the damage/repair area.
The snag is that although it looks easier in fact it's harder. The general advice is to grind the cracks away with a "blend in" area, so for example you might grind a single crack giving 1/2" to 1" either side with a gentle bevel from the root of the crack to the surface. For an area such as you have there I would just grind the whole lot out (I use an angle grinder with sanding disc) and leave at least 1" of blending/bevel area around the edges. I'd also remove paint for another couple of inches outside of the repair area. It will look awful and you'll be thinking "what have I done ?" but that's just how it works.
I also use polyester resin. I know some folks swear by epoxy but personally I don't see the point on body panels such as this.
Glass beads will act very much like body filler in that it'll have less strength than plain resin and surface tissue (sometimes called surface veil) or glass matting. Beads and suchlike work well if you're making an internal corner radius or using it to fill very small pinholes in the final repair, but mostly I use plain resin with surface tissue. I'll use surface tissue to bring back up to 1/16" of repair, any more than that and I tend to use a light matting for the first layers.
Brian
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First drive today with new engine!!
Ran great! Excellent oil pressure, sounded very healthy!
Only issue is with the brakes dragging! Need to sort that before I do any extended trips, but it can’t be anything major!
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Excellent news, sofa! :beerchug:
After you get your brake-dragging issue resolved you'll be hell o wheels!
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I think that I have my brake problem figured out. Should be an easy fix, but it will be a couple of days before our weather clears and I can test my repair.
I’ll post my results.
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Weather cleared and I was able to go on an extended test drive! Brakes were perfect, oil pressure was great, life is good!
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Woohoo!! :beerchug:
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I was able to put about 90 miles on it over the weekend! Hit a car show Sunday to show her off!
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Very cool! I'll bet you got a lot of attention at the show! :beerchug:
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Glad to see you got her on the road. Now it time to enjoy the drives while you still do all the little things to complete the Europa. (You know those never end....) :beerchug:
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It got quite a bit of attention. It was mostly a “muscle car” crowd, so there were a lot of “nice Lotus” but they never got to the back of the car to see that it was a Lotus of a different color. Others saw the engine and didn’t know that it didn’t belong. Anyone with any knowledge of the Europa or that recognized the LS6 was blown away.
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Another milestone... it’s first highway excursion. Actually did better than I expected! Very stable, and the RPMs were lower than I expected.
Biggest issue is heat in the cabin. I have some spots that I’m sure need additional insulation. The heat is mostly coming from the front. The engine doesn’t seem too bad. Even with the widows down, there isn’t much air movement in the cabin.
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I wonder if the vents above the rear window are blocked. I also wonder if hot air from your radiator is making its way to the backbone. Did you change anything related to cabin ventilation in the front?
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That’s odd. I have really great airflow in my car, even with the windows up. I don’t remember if you modified the front end for radiator, etc. And as BDA asked, have you blocked the interior vents along the rear window?
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Sofa, by the looks of the custom chassis that you built the rad is between the front wheels. Have you made enough ventilation for the hot air leaving the rad?
Sandyman
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Thanks guys! That answers the major point of my question. My chassis isn’t close to stock, and I’m pretty sure that is where my heat is coming from, but I was wondering if heat in the cabin was normal. The body seems so aerodynamic that I get very little wind buffeting.
I do have the vent above the rear window open, but I also left the tunnel completely open. My thought process was to let air pass down the tunnel and through the engine bay. I insulated the tunnel itself, but not any part of the front bulkhead. I meantioned earlier that there are a couple of things that I wanted to try, and blocking off the flow of air through the tunnel and insulating the bulkhead were on the top of the list. If that doesn’t help, I’ll try it without the hood. I have a spare hood that I could experiment with venting if I decide that is the best course of action.
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Yeah, I think you're going to have to address the exhaust from the radiator. I've seen where some exhaust the hot air through the bonnet which would take it over the roof and away from you.
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Another thought would be to put vents on the top of the front fenders like Leftangle has done on his type 66. I think they look very slick.
Sandy
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I’m in agreement with BDA. You need to vent the radiator hot air from the front. I’m wondering if you could install a separate puller fan inside the front area to exhaust the heat load to the front tire areas ( as per the original design). That whole frontal area acts as a plenum. In the stock car it works extremely well (as long as the radiator pusher fan is on) to provide fresh air to the interior.
I have pulled my interior arm rest off while driving with the engine up to temp. A lot of heat comes from this area too. Once I finalized all my work I will be adding some self adhesive insulation here.
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Thanks, those are all good ideas! I have quite a bit of open area into the wheel wells. My plan is to first block off the opening into the tunnel, and add insulation to the front bulkhead. Next I would try to divert the flow of air through the radiator into the wheel well openings with aluminum sheets. If none of that works, I’ll add vent holes to my spare hood (bonnet). I’m sure some or all of those will solve (or improve) my problem.
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The Chip Foose bonnet may also solve your dilemma.
Dakazman
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The “Foose” bonnet is about what i have in mind. But I’m up for other options if I can find something with more “Lotus” character. But I don’t know what that might be.
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Some look at the front hoods of the Europa type 62. Something like that might work.
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I might suggest that if your getting a lot of heat load, insulating the area is not a solution. You need to be looking at removing or at a minimum reducing the heat load. The only way to do that is to vent the area more efficiently.
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Sandyman, I think I could make the type 62 hood work. I like that it has Lotus DNA.
Certified, you are probably right. I will probably need a combination of both.
Since I have a spare hood, I can experiment with vents without disturbing my already painted hood.
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Picture this bonnet inset. Keeping body lines too.
Dakazman
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Banks list a ducted bonnet in their online catalogue at 271.40 gbp. I think it is probably what Nick74R used for his build. There's a good pic of the bonnet in this post
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=2365.msg24476#msg24476
The other advantage of this arrangement, aside from increased airflow over the radiator and cooler brakes, is that it provides some downforce at the front with little drag penalty.
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I like the look of the Banks hood. I think that I can duplicate the look using my spare. I would be hesitant to buy the Banks hood due to the structure of my frame.
I have also looked at the Elise and Evora vents. Both might work!
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You need to remember that racing aero dynamics are much different from street aero dynamics. In racing your always moving at a rate of speed that creates pressure and air flow. Street driving not so much. Be careful on designing ducting systems that don’t do anything unless your at speed. Electric fans are important solutions for a street car.
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The engine runs very cool, so the problem is just getting rid of the heat generated by the radiator. I think that the Banks style vent would take advantage of the fan that I already have. I plan to run it without the hood for a drive on a warm day, to make sure that opening up the hood solves my problem. Then I’ll worry about building a vent that duplicates any success that removing the hood generates.
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Finally had a chance to put the car on a scale. It weighed in at 2075 lbs. it’s about 200 more than what I estimated / hoped.
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That's still A LOT lighter than any current car!
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Front to rear ratio?
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I just put it on a scale at a local mulch and stone place. I probably could have weighed just the front or back wheels, but I didn’t have any to wear out my welcome.
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I’ve seen estimates that GKN 47D weighed in at about 2000 lbs, so I didn’t do too bad.
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Was the weight with you in it? How much fuel do you figure you had on board? Most weights that are posted are dry weights I believe.
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That is definitely with fluids. Probably about 5 or 6 gallons of gas. I don’t believe that it included me, but I was wondering the same thing after the fact. I pulled onto the scale and then got out to look at the readout. I assume that it was showing the weight as it sat and not the weight as I pulled on.
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Made it to Cars and Coffee this morning at Corsa Performance. Great people great cars! I had a blast.
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I'll bet you turned quite a few heads - straddling between the sports car and hot rod worlds! :beerchug:
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Any luck ducting the rad?
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I have put som insulation on the front bulkhead, and it did improve the heat entering the cabin. I need to insulate some additional areas, but I think I’m on the right track. (Fall weather doesn’t hurt either!)
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BDA: it was a younger crowd than most shows in the area, so I think it helped it’s popularity. I also had a great conversation with one of the engineers from Corsa who was a huge (and knowledgeable) Europa fan. I think that he will be a big help on several things I plan to try with my exhaust.
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Gotta love all the attention. Congratulations!
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It’s been a while since I have worked on the car, but made some progress today. I need to wire relays into the power window circuits, but, thinking about how to do that cleanly, pointed out how unorganized the wiring under the bonnet was becoming. So I picked up a 10 circuit fuse block to clean It up. Figured out how to mount it and made the bracket today.
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I mentioned, quite a while ago, that it is throttle by wire. I didn’t want to rely on a cable run out the front, through the tunnel, and over the engine. So I used the drive by wire system from a Chevy truck. The truck gas pedal is mounted upside down in front of the front bulkhead. It is connected to a Miata gas pedal, so that when you push the Miata pedal, it pulls the Chevy pedal arm. Then the Chevy pedal and most of the arm were removed. Here is a photo of the remaining controller.
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Pretty clever, Sofa! The big fuse block is a good idea. The standard wiring could have used more fuses and I expect you have added a bunch more. I considered a big fuse block for my cay but in the end only added two five-fuse blocks. I wish I had taken the time to "deconstruct" the original circuits around the original fuses to separate them into more fused circuits.
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Thanks! The wiring harness that I used has a pretty complete fuse box, that I mounted inside and it fuses most of my circuits. I’m using the one that I showed in the front to fuse the higher amp items like the fans, waterpump, heater, door poppers and windows. These are running off of relays that I have added and we’re running inline fuses. It was getting to be a rats nest, and would have been difficult to follow if any of those circuits blew a fuse. Hopefully this block will work and look better!
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Finally got around to running the power windows through relays. I finally have working windows!! Well... almost. Passenger side works great, but drivers goes up but not down. I’m sure it’s just a bad connection from the switch. I just didn’t feel like crawling back under the dash today!😀
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Well, you're almost there! That's a good mod to save your window switches.
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Windows are working great now! One of the new relays was bad!
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Getting ready for the spring/summer driving season!
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I live in Cleveland, Ohio... Spring / Summer is my favorite week of the year!!!
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I just noticed that I am getting some chipping on the front edge of my doors from them opening too far. I didn’t notice anything in the jamb area that would limit their movement. Should there be something in there to act as a stop?
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There is a stop of sorts - there is an aluminum tube that carries the wires from the window motor to the inside of the car. IIRC, that tube is mounted on the car and I think it runs in a slot in the door but maybe it's just a big hole. Anyway, that tube acts as a stop.
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That’s what I thought. I have that tube, but still seem to be opening a little too far. Is it adjustable?
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Not that I remember. I think there is only a hole that meets up with the tube. I don't have the tube because I have a bundle of wires in spiral wrap that does the same job. I'm considering adding remote key-less entry but that will make my bundle bigger than the hole I have. That's why I don't think it's adjustable. If it's popped in, you might move it or possibly bend it. The parts manual doesn't seem to list the tube but it does show the slot in the door.
I think you'll have to improvise, Sofa.
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Thanks! I’ll definitely try to improvise something. I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t overlooking something simple before I tried to reinvent the wheel!
BTW, I’m using door poppers also, so my tubes are very full! The poppers came with remote capability, but I just hid buttons under the rear window ledge.
Thanks again for the help!
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I have electric mirrors and IIRC, those wires and the window lift wires wouldn't fit. Electric locks would increase the bundle by at least 50%. Then I would want to take that opportunity to consolidate and clean up the wiring behind the dash, and a way to disconnect the wiring from the door to allow taking the door off to be easier... and pretty soon a big job becomes a huge project! :headbanger:
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I feel your pain! The same thing happened to me when I put in the window relays. That led to putting a new fuse block in the front. 4 simple relays took me a week!
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Finally finished wet sanding and buffing the paint! First time to see it in the sun!
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She looks really nice, Sofa! Very nice! :beerchug:
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Love those big bazooka exhaust pipes coming out of the back! How about a video clip of the sound? (Paint looks great too).
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JcHcfFsdmN8
Here is a link to a clip of it running.
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That wasn't nearly as loud as I thought it would be. Those two big mufflers do a great job! She sounds great!
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Want to hear it on the road under power !
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I bet that thing takes off like an ICBM
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I will post video of it in motion when I can get someone to record me.
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Sofa, how did you solve the heat dissipation problem?
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No problem anymore! It’s called winter in Ohio! 😂 Kidding aside, I have removed the heater and replaced it with an inline duct fan, to pull cool air from in front of the radiator and blow it into the cabin. So far it seems to work well, but the only drives have been in 60 degree temperatures. It’s a little noisy, but at $25 it seems to be worth the noise. We will see how well it does when it gets warmer. Also, I think that part of my problem was the greenhouse effect of how much closer to you the windshield is compared to most cars. I believe that sun heat is a big part of what I was feeling. I may try a Window film with UV protection. Preferably one that isn’t too dark.
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Sorry it’s been a while since I updated my project! I just added a vent to my hood to try to help keep some of the radiator heat out of the cabin. I won’t be able to test it until the weather warms!
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Nice touch Sofa. It should vent the hot air well.
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Updating my progress on getting the cabin to be cooler: I have added a light window tint, additional insulation in the tunnel and the hood vent and radiator ducting. We have had a couple of 70+ degree days and the heat inside the cabin has decreased dramatically! The hood and ducking seem to have made the biggest difference. We will see what happens when temps hit the 80s, but it has to be better than it was.
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I'm getting ready to do a hood vent too. I also have a front mount radiator. More efficient but oh, the cabin heat. As the speeds went up, so did the warm draft inside even though I sealed everything possible. I drove with no hood and the coolant temp didn't budge and the a/c was a lot cooler. It was 86 out side. Did you shroud everything to the duct? Did you shroud everything to the duct? I'm curious on how yours helps.
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I did shroud the radiator to the hood vent. I will post a photo this evening.
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Here is the shot of the duct that I built.
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Good job. Gives me some ideas. What did you use to form it for the fiberglass? I was thinking .030 or .060" ABS sheet, unless there is something better.
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I carefully measured where and how big the hood scoop needed to be, then cut the two sides and the front. I used a flapper disc to carefully thin out the fiberglass on the flap that was cut. Once it was thin enough to bend to the desired shape, I used a couple of pieces of 2x4 to hold it in place. The sides are flat pieces of fiberglass that were left over from the original floor. I cut them to the required shape and held them in place using metal clips and self tapping screws. With everything in place I coverd all of the joints in fiberglas cloth and resin. The kick up on the leading edge was shaped using short strand fiberglas bondo. The duct work is aluminum.