Restoration of 2358R

[Dilkris]

I wish my Europa was in this condition - you have done well !!!  I notice you have adjustable lower links on the rear suspension, although one of them has been used as a jacking point and is now bent..... Spend lots of time time on your rear hubs, assuming they have not been previously worked on I can guarantee they will require it; I had to helicoil all 16 fixings in the casings for the mounting of the radius arms using 3xD helicoils and thereafter had to machine and press fit steel sleeves for the 6206RSR wheel bearings as the previous had been turning in the hubs - surprise surprise the bearing spacers had to replaced as well...
I live across the pond and machining costs here are on par with private dentistry and lawyers charge out rates - I successfully managed to do all the machining on the rear hubs myself with an EMCO Unimat Lathe, (about as big as a Myford 7), having first made a boring bar.   
As fellow members will confirm, these rear hubs are critical to a successful rebuild and please - forget about loctite for holding the rear wheel bearings in place if they are loose in the hubs....                 

[Certified Lotus]

 Dilkris, You might be confusing my car with another? I don’t have adjustable lower links on the rear suspension and I definitely don’t have bent ones (these are brand new OEM links that have never been touched by a jack or jack stand). Also, my TC Europa has just gone through a 3 year restoration with every part disassembled and rebuilt. The rear hubs received new bearings And everything was assembled to spec. Trust me, the bearings are not loose in the hubs and the spacer is installed between the inner and outer bearing.

I’ve put a couple hundred miles on the car since my loose right rear wheel. The re-set of using new loctite and torquing the axle nut solved the problem. All good!

[Dilkris]

Dilkris, You might be confusing my car with another? I don’t have adjustable lower links on the rear suspension and I definitely don’t have bent ones (these are brand new OEM links that have never been touched by a jack or jack stand). Also, my TC Europa has just gone through a 3 year restoration with every part disassembled and rebuilt. The rear hubs received new bearings And everything was assembled to spec. Trust me, the bearings are not loose in the hubs and the spacer is installed between the inner and outer bearing.


This is interesting - on the 22nd Sept 2016 you posted photo's of your car pre-rebuild; referring to your photo DSC08447, (I have tried to attach this, but am unsure if I have been successful); you can clearly see an adjustable lower link to the rear suspension, (which at some time I would suggest has been used as a jacking point, and is consequently bent.).
I have thoroughly enjoyed your journey on this rebuild and moreover admire your hard work in not only photographing it all, but also writing about it. Well done and thank you.   

[Certified Lotus]

I just can’t leave well enough alone.  There was a small drip that came from both sides of the transaxle where the half shafts enter the trans.  As the transaxle had been fully rebuilt with all new bearings and seals it bothered me that there was any type of leak at all.

Speaking with a number of Europa owners the majority said they all leak and trying to eliminate the leak would be an exercise in futility. Well, that’s a challenge I would gladly accept.

One of my Europa friends (Roman) has been through this multiple times with his spectacular award winning black twin cam.  He has had his half shafts out many times to replace the O-Rings behind the spacer and in front of the bearing collar, wanting to eliminate the slow drip. Roman had a full stock of soft, medium hard and flat o-rings that have been used to see what works the best. We had a robust conversation about this and came to the conclusion that most of these Transaxles are now 40 plus years old and they are just worn to the point that the o-rings won’t completely seal the splines as the tolerances are long gone.

Never the less, I wanted to try to reseal the transaxle half shaft input area to see if it was possible to eliminate the dripping. i was also going to change the gear oil to Red Line MTL gear oil which is thinner than what I was using so I knew my drip would only get worse.

After my conversation with a Roman and a baggie filled with three types of o-rings (I must be getting old. In my youth a baggie had something else than o-rings that I couldn’t wait to get home with) I spoke with my good friend and master sports car mechanic Drew to get his opinion as Drew helped me rebuild the transaxle. His advice was to re-install the manufactures recommended size o-rings. Now usually I do what ever Drew says........but this time I deducted for wear and new thinking and decided on using the flat edged o-rings instead of the round edge o-rings.

This past weekend I brought my Europa over to Drew’s toasty warm garage (he has a wood burning stove in his garage) and we went about jacking the car up, dropping the suspension, drained the gear oil and removed the inboard half shafts from the transaxle. The o-rings installed were in excellent shape. No distortion or tears. Cleaned the entire area of gear oil, made sure the collar was nice and smooth as it rotates inside the seal and installed the new flat edged o-rings. Put sealant on the threads of the capture plate, tightened to spec, confirmed right number of shims were installed on both sides and reassembled everything. Then added 3.6 pints of gear oil as per spec.

I drove the car for about 50 miles afterwards (It was a glorious chilly fall day with blue skies and very little traffic on the back roads) and parked it in my garage.

The next morning I went out to the garage, got into the Lotus position (on my hands and knees peering under the rear of the Europa) and confirmed no drip!

Let’s see how long that lasts.....  But I have the satisfaction that the day spent replacing o-rings was not a total waste of time.

[Certified Lotus]

Dilkris, sorry about that. I didn’t realize you were referring to the picture from 3 years ago before I restored my Europa. Yes, absolutely correct. Adjustable rear links that were both bent. One side worse than the other! 

After spending three years learning everything there is to know about these sports cars that are really race cars for road use I have come to fully understand why so many are in states of dis-repair.  The Europa is really a race car. And race cars need lots of mechanical attention. If you read the service recommendations for this car you will note that the manufacturer makes recommendations of very regular checking of nuts and bolts that would typically never be looked at once you bought a car. Most people aren’t mechanically inclined nor do they want to pay a shop for preventive maintenance every thousand miles. More over, I’m confident that many garage’s that worked on other British sports cars had no idea what they were getting into when a Europa showed up for maintenance work if they weren’t a Lotus shop.   

Thanks for your complements on my work and the detailing of my restoration process. The entire journey was very satisfying......and I’m still learning despite being done with the project. 

[Rosco5000]

I have to ask, what Ferrari is that lurking in front of your Europa??  Front engine, V12, is it a Daytona?

[Certified Lotus]

I have to ask, what Ferrari is that lurking in front of your Europa??  Front engine, V12, is it a Daytona?

365 GT4

[Fotog]

Glen:  do you have a picture of the inside of the seal nut?  I understand that's where the seal and O-ring go, but despite the cross-section that Ray says shows it all, I don't really understand what it looks like.

Vince

[cwtech]

If the leak is following the splines, wouldn't a thin smear of RTV or silicone on the splines (inside the u-joint) stop the leak?

Once the half-shaft is shimmed & pinned, there should be no movement on the splines. 

[Certified Lotus]

Glen:  do you have a picture of the inside of the seal nut?  I understand that's where the seal and O-ring go, but despite the cross-section that Ray says shows it all, I don't really understand what it looks like.

Vince

Vince, I went through my 352 4 speed transaxle rebuild photos and didn't find the detail pics your looking for of the inside of bearing retaining nut (I tried to photograph each part and step but wasn't always successful).  I do have one of the retaining nuts laying on the table next to the end of transaxle housing, and a pic of it installed in the transaxle with the shims,but that is not what your looking for (I think you want to see the inside of the retaining nut).  Care must be taken when tightening this retaining nut to insure the proper amount of backlash (described in detail on supplemental workshop manual for TC on page 28 for the 352 transaxle).

The part sequence is shaft, O-ring, sleeve, shims, yoke.

Here are the photos I do have. You will note the shaft has an indent for the placement of the o-ring.  The sleeve fits against this next.  Then you installed the retaining nut and the required number of shims on each side and then install the yoke and pin.

The felt inside the retaining nut is just a dust shield. Make sure you put sealant on the threads of the retaining nut otherwise they will leak gear oil.

[Fotog]

Thanks Glen.  Apparently I misunderstood.  Probably more questions later.
-V

[jbcollier]

The tricky bit is that “sleeve/seal run” also has a groove for the o-ring.  You have to push the sleeve on so it “pops” over the o-ring.  It’s not easy to do.  It’s also easy to damage the oil-ring while pushing the sleeve in place.

[Certified Lotus]

Very important tip JB. Thanks for chiming in. What we did was confirm the o-ring was seated properly by turning the spacer around and pushing against the o-ring to make sure it was seated properly. Then pulled the spacer off and installed with the “grove” towards the o-ring. Important to lube the o-ring so it fits appropriately.

[Certified Lotus]

If the leak is following the splines, wouldn't a thin smear of RTV or silicone on the splines (inside the u-joint) stop the leak?

Once the half-shaft is shimmed & pinned, there should be no movement on the splines.

Perhaps that could be done if you have exhausted replacing o-rings and it still leaks. I doubt it will last very long as the two shafts have movement and the silicone “seal” will eventually break down. Personally, I’m not a fan of those type of fixes.

[4173R]

Glen -

Wondering if the seal still holding?

No drips?

Thanks.