Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Members Cars => Topic started by: Jas on Wednesday,July 04, 2012, 04:19:48 AM
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I guess that it is time for me to share with you what a friend and I have just picked up from England.
This is a S2 first registered May 1970. It has been SORN since 1989 and has apparently spent the biggest part of the last 23 years in somebodies back yard.
The chassis looks pretty rotten and the rear suspension is partly broken or missing.
The body has some accident damage with a poor attempt to repair in the front, and most of the paint is of.
We do not plan to get the car back to original specification, instead our plan/dream is to turn it into a Modsport racer or Special Saloon Car as it is called here. So basically we intend to use the body with some modifications and then make or source the rest. Let's see how it goes, at least it will keep us busy for a long while ;D
In the meantime the neighbor's kids seem to enjoy it.
The Europa will be sharing the garage with my Elan, so it will have some company during the long winter months.
Pictures:
1) The lucky owners, I'm the short one.
2) On the way home with the Euro Tunnel.
3) The neighbor's came by to help kick the tires.
4) He likes it, it's better than his dad's 911 ;)
5) The dream :)
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Hi there,
Well, that'll keep you busy this weekend ! There's certainly a lot of work to do, and as you say returning it to a standard car with so many parts missing would take a very long time. Far better to create something that looks like a Europa but without following the original spec to the letter.
Don't forget to keep us posted on progress, restoration threads are always interesting regardless of whether you plan on doing one or not.
Brian
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Jannik,
The upside to having a big neighbor is when you need to lift the entire car................... :trophy:
Brian is spot on.........keep us in the loop. It looks like a fun project. I'm sure your wallet is going to get a workout.
Mike
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Year we know that it is quite a mouth full, but at least it will keep us off the streets :)
I have had good use of the strong neighbor before when the Elan almost went into the pit in the garage :-[
I will keep you posted, but it will take some time before an update, I have promised the lowing Wife to work a bit on the house first... we will see ;D
Went to Swedish Sportscar Meet last weekend, they have some pretty cool Europa Modsport cars there. They will be difficult to beat.
I'm thinking of a 2.3 liter Duratec engine mated to a Hewland transaxle, so if anybody has a Hewland box laying around please let me know ;)
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Jannik,
thanks for the pictures. Those are some mean looking Europa's.
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all I can say is "WOW".
For some reason I really like the engineering that goes into racing cars, even though I shall never own one and it's often totally impractical for road use, but when you see something neatly welded, rose jointed and "engineered" together, well it just looks good to me and makes me smile.
The suspension on the middle photo is, to me at least, quite a novelty. I can see how the basics work but I'm puzzled with the rose jointed arrangement directly above the battery. For the life of me I can't work out what that's supposed to do, but I did say I'm not a racer.
If you build something like that, well, good on you. No doubt some will say it's no longer a Europa, and I suppose that's quite true but if it keeps the Europa shape on the tracks and in public view then that's all to the good.
Brian
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Yep they are quite something to live up to.
The arrangement above the battery in the middle photo is an adjustable roll bar (sway bar).
You turn the "blades" which makes them stiffer or softer.
The rear suspension and 2.0 WAG engine looks pretty purposeful also.
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Very cool car!!
:coolpic:
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Hi Jas,
Thanks for the explanation, I could see it was something to do with the front suspension but I wouldn't have figured it out on my own. So now I know what an adjustable roll bar looks like, and now you've explained it I can appreciate how it might work as well. I've got to give credit to folks who build things like that, just looking around the car there are so many "home built" sections that you just know the builders are true engineers.
The rear suspension looks similar to something I've seen before although not on a Europa, but at the moment I can't think where. (it's age y'know, it'll come back at some point !)
Brian
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Hi Jas,
this is a great aim! When you finished this car, you will have a great time :trophy:
But I would be frightened for that reason: It seems that you don't even need an Europa as base for your race car, because nothing on the car can be kept and used on it. The suspensions, the brakes, the interior, the whole front boot, the frame and even the body are useless for this kind of racing, aren't they? I think it will be a completely new and modern constructed car.
Can you at least use the the body and prepare it? Or will you use a new Carbon-Body?
How much time do you plan for this project?
Stefan
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Hi Stefan/all
Yes you are right, we won't be using very much of the original car.
That is why we went for the cheapest basket case that we could find.
That way I don't feel so guilty in not putting it back on the road either, as that would never have been falsifiable with this car.
We plan on using the body with some modifications, we would like to have flip front and rear section.
The chassis can be used for measurements and layout of welding fixture.
We thought of just baying a body from Banks, but it would be twice as expensive, and we would still have to modify it.
Besides it is also fun to have the original win plate in the car and to know that it was once a road car, although not a very big part of it ;D
I think that it could be built in two years, if we used all our spare time to do it.
But realistically we hope to be able to do it in four years.
So watch this space, but not too often ;D
/Jannik
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Looking forward to watching this project come together. Good luck
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Jas,
start taking pictures I'm bored..........I'm bored.
Mike
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Hey hey ... I told you to be patient >:D
Here are a few pictures from the garage.
Work hasn't started yet, but as they say, a good plan is half the work ...
Jannik
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Hi Jas,
did you already know about that car: http://www.rx8forum.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=6245 (http://www.rx8forum.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=6245)
Is it similar to the modification, which you have in mind for your car?
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No I haven't seen it before, looks really good, but too much weight to too little power!!! :deadhorse: >:D
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What engine are you going to use?
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We are going to use a Ford Duratec either 2.0 or 2.3 liters, preferably 2.3 liter if we can get one for a reasonable price.
You should be able to get 270 HP out of the 2.0 and 300 HP out of the 2.3 liter, depending on how deep your pockets are ::).
We will start out with only a slightly modified engine to begin with (cams, throttle bodies and exhaust), and then build from there when the car works and we can drive it.
The biggest issue is witch gearbox to fit, at the moment we are looking at a Porsche G50 turned up side down, mostly because we can't afford a proper race gearbox like a Hewland or Elite.
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Do you already know, on which competition you want to take part?
How are the regulations about modifying the cars? In which class do you plan do drive? Up to which displacement?
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We are planning to build a silhouette racer or Special Saloon Car (Denmark) or Mudsport car (Sweden).
The rules for both classes are very similar and fairly loose, the mounting of the battery is the most detailed in the rules. the rest of the car you came make up as you wish ;D.
For the top class you can basically build you own car, as long as the engine is in the same part of the car and the silhouette of the car is recognisable, wings and spoilers are allowed.
Both classes use a weight to power ratio to make the competition equal.
For Modsport (S) the ratio is 2.5 kg/HP witch means that a 2.0 Duratec engined car with a calculated HP rating of 220 HP must weigh 550 kg incl. driver! That is light! (Duratec 2.3 liter => 633 kg)
For a Special Saloon Car (DK) the calculated power is a little different and the car with the same engine would end up with a min. weight of 650 kg incl. driver. (Duratec 2.3 liter => 700 kg)
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I like those numbers! :beerchug:
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Hi Jas,
how is it going? Can you report about progress? I would like to read the news about your project.
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Hi
Well there isn't much to report I'm afraid.
I have changed job and now have a lot more to see to, so the project has been put in the bask ground.
But we still give it a lot of thought, mainly on which engine and gearbox to use.
Engine choice was almost decided on a Duratec, but now the Honda f20c also looks interesting.
Gearbox choice is also difficult, a real racing gearbox like a Hewland FT200 would be nice, but is also expensive, so we have been considering a Porsche Boxter / Auid A4 box, but they don't shift as quick and will also raise the hole engine assembly.
No work has been done on the chassis side, except for disassembly.
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Hi Jas,
how are you getting on with the Europa?
I did not have the time to visit the workshop on the weekend, so I can't give you the suspension information, yet.
I found this magnificant looking Europa race car. I have never seen such a great looking Europa prototype
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76971113@N02/8002582141 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76971113@N02/8002582141)
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Hi Mecky
Well progress is slow, but we have got our self a gearbox and decided on an engine.
We found a slightly used Elite TX250 gearbox which is out of an Aquilia racecar, so it is a proper 6 speed sequential racing gearbox.
The gearbox cost more than the car, but hopefully it is better shape ;D
We have decided on a Duratec 2.0 liter engine, and have sourced one from a junk yard to use as a mock-up for now.
The next items we need to get is a set of wheels, so that we can design the suspension and steering geometry using the right offset, ET and flange dimensions.
I'm looking for some used Formula 3 wheels, as it is fairly easy to get reasonably good used tires in that size, and I think that they will suit the size of the car well.
I have started a little with some sketches of how the axles could be designed, please don't look too closely at my "Hand-CAD" ;)
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Hi Mecky
I have seen the car you have linked to, it is from the Swedish ModSport series, it runs a 3.5liter V6 engine from Nissan and some quite big wheels.
It is red and silver I my pictures.
edit: here is a link to his profile on Modsport.se:
http://www.modsport.se/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=29&cntnt01origid=62&cntnt01detailtemplate=Nyhetsvisning&cntnt01returnid=67
and visit to his garage:
http://www.modsport.se/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=92&cntnt01origid=56&cntnt01detailtemplate=Nyhetsvisning&cntnt01returnid=67
There are about 4-5 different Europas driving in that series, here are some pictures of some of them.