Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Classifieds Forums => eBay - Craigslist Ads - Other Listings => Topic started by: 1970EuropaGuy on Monday,April 29, 2019, 10:39:27 AM
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A very nice 1971 S2 just appeared on Bring a Trailer. I wish I needed a second Lotus.
Not affiliated with the seller, just sharing if anyone's interested.
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Too true! That is a very nice car. Also, that’s a neat use of a forward anti-roll/sway bar on the rear suspension. Any thoughts?
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I was the high bidder on the auction and will be getting the car delivered over Memorial Day by the seller. I am excited to finally be getting into a Europa as I have been looking for quite some time. I almost bought a (barely) running roller a couple years back but it made me aware that for the current busy phase in my life, I really needed a solid, well cared for car.
Any advice for maintenance "gotchas" would be welcomed.
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Give it a thorough going over, preferably by an experienced Europa mechanic. Do not assume anything.
Check all levels. Monitor the transaxle level until you get an idea if there is much leakage -- they all leak.
Oil the trunnions.
Check the front and rear suspension carefully and have a four wheel alignment. Insufficient rear toe can lead to some very scary trailing-throttle antics at the limit.
The S2 has small u-joints and they often don't last much more than 10K. Check them and replace them if there is any play. Use GKN, Hardy Spicer, or SKF joints. They last much longer, especially with regular greasing.
Check the half-shaft shimming! Do it now! If they are not shimmed correctly, the suspension loads go through the diff's spider gears. They don't last long.
Retorque the head and set the valves. If it is a high performance tune, then do this every 20K.
Check the coolant. Use aluminium friendly stuff such as used on modern BMWs and Volvos (blue).
The engines are very tough and sweet revving but they DO NOT LIKE TO BE OVERHEATED. Check all the hoses, etc and make sure the system is properly bled.
Use high ZDDP oils such as Mobil 1 V-Twin (20/50), Redline V-Twin 20/60 (not the 20/50!), etc.
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I was the high bidder on the auction and will be getting the car delivered over Memorial Day by the seller. I am excited to finally be getting into a Europa as I have been looking for quite some time. I almost bought a (barely) running roller a couple years back but it made me aware that for the current busy phase in my life, I really needed a solid, well cared for car.
Any advice for maintenance "gotchas" would be welcomed.
So you were the winner! Congratulations! You got a VERY nice S2! Follow JB's advice and you won't go wrong.
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I was the high bidder on the auction and will be getting the car delivered over Memorial Day by the seller. I am excited to finally be getting into a Europa as I have been looking for quite some time. I almost bought a (barely) running roller a couple years back but it made me aware that for the current busy phase in my life, I really needed a solid, well cared for car.
Any advice for maintenance "gotchas" would be welcomed.
Congratulations, you bought a beautiful car. Welcome to the Europa crowd.
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I was the high bidder on the auction and will be getting the car delivered over Memorial Day by the seller. I am excited to finally be getting into a Europa as I have been looking for quite some time. I almost bought a (barely) running roller a couple years back but it made me aware that for the current busy phase in my life, I really needed a solid, well cared for car.
Any advice for maintenance "gotchas" would be welcomed.
If you are ever in Dallas give me a shout. Sports car world is close by and they have lots of neat Lotus stuff!
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DamianLynch :beerchug: Welcome to the forum!
And congrats on acquiring such a fine Europa
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Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice. I had a good discussion with the owner before bidding and he did all the right mods to increase the reliability of the car IMHO. The car looks far cleaner than my Elise or Evora, which is saying something for a car of that vintage. My wife is a bit scared of the car as it is even smaller than the Elise which she drove once, for a mile, before handing me back the keys trembling. As long as she is happy to be a passenger....
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... and stay married. I'm terrified my wife will one day come to her senses...
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JB, stop being such an alarmist! A Europa is perfectly safe as long as you avoid being crushed by an 18 wheeler or Escalade or Suburban whose driver didn't see you or T-boned by just about anything! I guess there is the minor problem of not being able to see around or over most vehicles on the road, but really, other than those few caveats, there is absolutely nothing to worry about when driving a Europa!
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My wife has only been in my Europa twice. Once the second day I owned it and then again about a week ago.
I view the Lotus the way I view my lawn tractor... nobody to bother me when I drive!
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I view the Lotus the way I view my lawn tractor... nobody to bother me when I drive!
A lawn tractor is much easier to get on and off. Mine has a tow bar so I can tow my little trailer.
I had a whole stripped Europa shell on the trailer once.
The turning circle for the lawn tractor is a bit of a contrast !!!