Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Members Cars => Topic started by: matmacwac on Thursday,December 06, 2018, 11:50:18 AM
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I've been enjoying the restoration hobby for about 10 years. Over that time, the trend that has emerged is that I like British cars. It may just be a side effect of the knowledge and experience that you get from the previous project and the spare Lucas parts that accumulate. I also seem to have a bad habit of choosing to rescue cars that should likely have been left to die in peace(s). I have managed to save 6 cars at a rate of about 1 per year. 1945 Willys MB Jeep, 1974 TR6, 1962 MGA, 1958 TR3, 1960 Healey 3000, and now this beautiful little 1969 Europa S2.
The morning of December 2nd, 2017, almost a year ago, my friend Jeff called me, emailed me, and texted me all at the same time. He was very excited. He had just found an ad on the internet for a Lotus Europa that was being sold by an executor for the estate of another fallen gear head. Jeff told me that the ad was posted less than 5 minutes ago and that he was the first person to view it. I said "Great. Are you going to buy it?" He said "No! You are". So, reluctantly, I called the seller and ended up buying it sight unseen over the phone for a $1000 in London Ontario.
Wil
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Wow! What a steal of a deal on the earliest known S2 Europa. Please keep us posted on the progress
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You've worked on some interesting cars but I'll bet this Europa was/is the most interesting! She looks great! Speaking for me and the rest of us, we'd love to see more details and more pictures!
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The afternoon of December 3rd, we set off with a trailer. The Europa was about 1.5 hours away in London, Ontario. When we got there, the deceased owners friend met us to finalize the deal. The car was out back and there was a large quantity of boxes and parts inside the garage all simply marked "Lotus". A spare engine and tranny was siting in the corner. We went out back to see the little car.
My heart sank as I looked at this thing that I had agreed to buy over the phone. I had been mostly disassembled. The windshield was gone, the windows where open and the car had water on the floor. What was left of the seats and interior had been eaten by mice and smelled terrible.
Moving to the back of the car, the boot lid was sitting in place with no hinges. I lifted the lid and saw the Renault 16 for the first time. The head of the engine was askew and the cylinders had the remnants of old duct tape over some of them. Surprisingly, the engine was not completely seized as I gently moved the cam pully.
The seller told me that if I didn't want the car, there was two other people waiting and willing to pay more than the agreed $1000. I asked him if that was for the entire project. He said yes and I figured that if I get it home and find that its beyond saving, I could easily resell it for what I've paid. So we started loading it up on the trailer and gathering up the parts from the garage.
My friend Jeff started moving the spare motor which didn't look exactly like the Renault 16 that was in the car. It seemed to have the same block but a different head. The seller stopped us and said that the spare motor and tranny dont go with the sale. He told us that the car had the motor in it and that he had sold them seperately to one of the buyers on the waiting list. I reminded him that "entire project" meant everything. Car, Parts, Spares, Documentation, etc. If the owner that had passed away had a spare engine and tranny, it is because he felt he needed them.
After a few awkward moments and phone calls to the widow, I paid another $400 for the Gordini Crossflow engine with rebuilt tranny and we were on our way home in the dark.
Wil
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When we got home with the car, I started to research the Lotus. I believe it was the 6th S2 ever built. There was a few signs that it was a transition car from the previous model. First, no door handle. Just a button but with no relief in the body to put your fingers to pull open the door. When you push the button, your also pushing the door closed. It has power windows and the serial number clearly shows it as an S2.
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I'm sure that $400 was well spent!
That was a pretty humble beginning but from what we've seen so far, you've made good use of what you picked up! Please let us know more about your restoration. Was it a straight restoration or did you do some modifications or upgrades? Being an early S2, I presume that the frame was not glassed in as it was with the S1.
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I started to go through the 4 big binders that came with the project. I appears that the car once lived in Montreal and the previous owner from London bought it, owned it for a while and started to take it apart. He sold it to a friend of his and then bought it back from him a number of years later.
I searched the serial number on Google and came across a number of pictures from 1997. The car looked to be in slightly better shape than what I now have but it was clear that this car has not driven under its own power since before 1997.
Wil
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Dec 14, 2017.
I pulled the body off. Nice that it is an S2. The frame seemed to be in excellent shape dispite the number of mouse nests inside.
Things were looking up.
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Jan 2, 2018.
Happy New Year!
Disassembly starts for the few parts that where still on the car when I bought it.
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Can’t wait to see how far you have come this year!
Before anyone else says it.... that should buff right out!😂
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$400 for a Renault crossflow? Very good deal.
Be careful about turning the engine over using the cam. Cam "noses" have been known to break off. Especially do not do this with the crossflow engine as spare cams are made of unobtainium. Best to put it in gear and push the car back and forth to turn the engine. With the engine out, you can use the flywheel.
Also, if the head is loose, don't turn the engine over unless you are planning on doing a complete overhaul. The liners are "loose" and sealed at the bottom with paper gaskets. If a liner lifts while you are turning the engine over, it may tear a paper seal which will later leak. Tie down the cylinders with bots and large washers before turning the engine over.
Any other shots of the crossflow?
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jbcollier your right. I moved it very gently just to see if there was any movement. Three pistons moved and one lifted a sleeve. I knew I was going to have to rebuild the Renault 16 or use the cross flow, so I wasn't too concerned. I manually shifted the gear selector into neutral and we were able to manhandle the car from the backyard onto the trailer. We had to duct tape the boot and the bonnet and bungee the doors closed for the trip home.
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Jan 5, 2018
Frame striped cleaned and painted.
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Jan 17, 2018
I was amazed at how simple this car was. Colin Chapman sure knew how to save weight. It seemed like more of a go cart than a car.
Naively, I thought that this will be a fast and easy restoration. In that spirit I decided to try my hand at sewing. The mouse eaten seats needed a complete rebuild. The tubs were rotten and most of the foam was missing. I welded new pieces for the seats. There was enough scrap upholstery left for me to make crud templates. My stitching wasn't perfectly straight but I was pleased with my first try at it.
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Jan 23, 2018
The first big shipment has arrived from Ray at RD Enterprises. New shocks, springs, brakes, bearings and bushings.
Opening a box of new parts and rushing to the shop to see how it all is going to fit is my favorite part of a build.
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You're a lot more adventurous than I - trying upholstery sewing! I would be proud of that effort! It looks fine! Of course, the basic car is coming along.
I see the car as different from a normal car, too, and it's not just that it is mid-engined or that it's fiberglass. It's a rather unconventional car and I think that is much more obvious when you build the car than when you just see it. I'm not describing what I mean very well. There are so many things that are different from a conventional steel car than from a Europa and maybe part of it is that the Europa is so simple! Whatever it is, the finished product is a thing of beauty, a joy to drive, and a real eye catcher!
Good luck with the rest of your build! Don't be shy about asking us questions.
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Feb 1, 2018
Spent the last two weeks disassembling and rebuilding the Renault 16. It seemed like the easiest engine to start with. It was definitely easier to get parts and gaskets for it than the cross flow. It still needs a water pump, distributer, and Holly carb rebuilt or replaced.
I apologize for the messy shop. I can be a pig when I'm busy.
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Nice looking motor. I was going to say something about the mess... :)
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Thanks for the compliment BDA. As you will see, I'm dating each post as a history of what I've done over the past year. I figure if I have to write it down this way I'm less likely to forget where the time and money went and where the scars and back pain came from.
Wil
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Feb 11, 2018
The Renault 16 fitted into the chassis.
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Feb 18, 2018
The engine is complete. I bought a new Holly carb and a very expensive French distributer from Finland.
The chassis was rolled out, admired for a while, and then the time had come. The engine ran. I was thrilled. It was the first time I had tried to rebuild an engine and not ship it out. I ran it just long enough to put a timing light on it and set the idle then shut it down because there will be no coolant running through it until the body is done.
The next step will be to trial fit the body back on. It has remained on the hoist since it was lifted a month ago.
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Feb 20-22, 2018
The body has been trial fitted and the search for spider cracks has begun.
I have been on the hunt for door hardware. It is very hard to find the original push button mechanism. As I mentioned before, this is a transition car. S1 button on an S2 door attached to an S1 body with no relief for your fingers to open the door.
I decided to have some fun and just convert it to door poppers by a remote key chain and have a clean 'No Door Handle' look. Its fiberglass and easy to go back if I change my mind.
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Feb 26, 2018
The dash was shot after being left outside for 10 years with no windshield. So I figured, as long as I'm having fun, lets see if by reorganizing the instruments whether a navigation system could fit.
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March 3-13, 2018
The body has been removed once again and the paint stripping has begun. The shell will be moved to my buddy's house 5 minutes away. I will be doing the bodywork under his knowledgeable supervision. Peter has helped me with my other cars. I foolishly decided to paint the 1958 Tr3 black and Peter made me sand, prime, and sand again for 4 months. I would say "Can we paint it now Yoda" and he would just smile and say " Your not ready young one, KEEP Sanding." It was worth it. He is wise.
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March 18-20, 2018
I've tried to do some more sewing. Made some door panels and dash cover.
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April 19, 2018
It has been a month. The paint is finally off. I am sure I will be feeling itchy for the rest of my life. Oh! It seems that this little Europa was originally born Red.
Did some more sewing at home when Peter didn't let me hang out at his shop sanding. I tried upholstering the center console and hand stitching new covering onto the steering wheel.
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April 28, 2018.
The first coats of primer have been applied and the sanding will begin again. (sigh)
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May 17, 2018.
The day before my birthday, I got to bring my beautiful Lotus Yellow baby home. I was so excited and couldn't wait to drop the Lotus emblem into its home on the nose of the car.
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Great restoration and story. My complements for the level of work you do on your own. I’m very impressed. Can’t wait to read and see the continued story.
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Didn't realize this was a retrospective at first. Will still comment as if it isn't. Not much use to you but hopefully useful to others reading along.
ENGINE:
The crossflow and the wedge take virtually the same gasket set, same bearings, timing chain, oil pumps, etc. Mecaparts is a good source for those few different parts. Lots of wedge distributors out there. It's the crossflow ones that are hard to come by.
Yes, Renault engines are very simple EXCEPT for setting liner protrusion, aligning the head on assembly, and retorquing the head at the specified intervals.
Liner protrusion is an absolutely critical step to achieve a proper cylinder head gasket seal. Follow the manual carefully and invest in a good dial gauge (or the factory tool if you can find one, Peugeot have a similar tool that works as well).
Second, there is a only a single dowel on the head so that you can twist it if you have to remove the head in service. You can't lift the head as it may lift the liners and tear the paper base seals. This means you have to use a removable guide to align the head (Steve Veris can supply the tools). The head needs to be properly aligned or the distributor gears may destroy themselves.
Finally you need to retorque the cylinder head (and adjust the valves) after initial start-up and again at 1000 miles/1600 kilometres. High performance crossflows also require retorquing every 20K kilometres.
So many Europas are found headless because no one reads the manual before tearing into them. The head is ripped off for a quick gasket change and then the problems really start. Properly maintained these are very tough, long-lived and delightful-to-drive engines.
BODY:
I'm not a body chap/ette but I have found out the hard way that early Lotus fibreglass is quite different from other fibreglass vehicles and boats out there. It is poorly and thinly laid up. This means it is very prone to gel coat cracking. Unless properly repaired, these cracks will reappear, period. Miracle fillers and primers will not do the job. My body work came back absolutely, unbelievably gorgeous. I'd never seen anything like it in my thirty years of car repair and restoration. A few months in, the first cracks started to appear under the paint. Now, it is simply covered with barely visible cracking under the paint and clear-coat.
Again, this is not my area of expertise but it was of the place I hired and they got it wrong. In my opinion, the only way to stop the cracking is sand all the paint and fillers off, veil-coat the entire body and then build up from there. YMMV.
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jbcollier, your comments are excellent. If I wasn't such an obsessive compulsive, I would have written this story as the work was being done and saved myself a lot of heart ache. Your comments, if I had them then, would have prevented what happened next.
June 2018
With the new body back on the frame, I was anxious to run the Renault 16 with coolant. I installed the radiator which had been modified to except a modern electric fan, hooked up all of the hoses, double checked the clamps for tightness, and started to fill and bleed the system. I used a premix 50/50 antifreeze. I Bled the rad and the water pump and kept filling the swirl tank. There were a few gurgles and bubbles which I expect was normal. So I went in for dinner and left the cooling system to digest all the liquid that had been introduced.
Upon my return I found that the level in the swirl tank had gone down considerably. So... I topped it up. I had a few other things to do around the shop so I checked back with it in a couple of minutes and found that the level had gone down a little.
Being a bit concerned, I topped it up again and went to bed.
The next morning the level had dropped to where the swirl tank was almost empty. the level was about the same as the height of the water pump. So... there has to be a leak. I looked under the car, around the rad, the heater, and felt around the carpeting which had just begun to be installed. All dry. Any logical person knows it didn't evaporate and it had to go somewhere. There was only one other place to look.
Upon pulling the dip stick I had my answer. The worst answer. The coolant had found its way to the oil pan. I didn't know if it was the paper seal at the bottom of one of the cylinders or a head gasket leak. The previous test runs of the engine did have a minor oil leak between the head and the block which stopped with a quick re-torque. I had good compression.
So I ordered a new head gasket. While the head was off and the oil pan drained. I poured some water around the cylinder sleeves and left it over night. The next day the level hadn't changed. So I logically concluded that the head gasket was bad or installed badly. The new gasket was installed. I was very careful to meticulously clean every surface. Torqued the head, installed and set the rockers, and installed a brand new water pump just to be safe.
To shorten this story, please reread the last 3 paragraphs. Yes. Exactly the same thing happened. Water migrated directly to the pan.
The conclusion is, jbcollier is right. A proper experienced person should rebuild a motor. I am now sure that the critical cylinder sleeve height was not achieved. There has to be a sleeve that's high. It would still have compression but coolant can travel into the cam chamber and arrive in the pan.
Not a bad experience, just an educational one. it was fate. I knew now to turn my attention to the Gordini Cross Flow, wiser than I was before.
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Ouch!
Sorry for reverse jinxing you.
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Yikes!!!
I have been wrestling with buiding up my engine myself. Chevy yes, renault no.
Your making great progress and i love your story and the frame off pic9241990217526463400435s for reference to how much i can assemble .
Hope you sort it out soon for a better outcome.
It looks like we have book ends. Lol
Dakazman
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June 6, 2018
The original dash was shoot from water damage as was to be expected. I decided to take the opportunity to customize a new one to allow for the installation of a modern radio with Bluetooth, GPS, and a backup camera. This was to be the first concept version of the dash layout.
It turns out that there is not enough room for a full depth 2DIN radio. the back will hit the heater box. I went on Amazon and pickup up a very nice (and cheap) Android unit from somewhere in China that is only about 3" deep and has way more features than I need.
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Very cool! :beerchug:
I wish something like that was available when I built my car.
If it's not too late, let me remind you to finish the back and all the edges to keep moisture from migrating into the wood.
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June 6, 2018
The original dash was shoot from water damage as was to be expected. I decided to take the opportunity to customize a new one to allow for the installation of a modern radio with Bluetooth, GPS, and a backup camera. This was to be the first concept version of the dash layout.
It turns out that there is not enough room for a full depth 2DIN radio. the back will hit the heater box. I went on Amazon and pickup up a very nice (and cheap) Android unit from somewhere in China that is only about 3" deep and has way more features than I need.
Nice looking unit! Could you share specs/Mfgr/Model number?
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Would a single DIN fit?
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July 2018.
I started to inspect the Renault Gordini Crossflow engine. It turned fine but the valve cover had some damage and the valve guide seals didn't look very good.
I wasn't about to make the same mistake again. This time I'm going to get a pro to rebuild it. Ray at RD Enterprises suggested that I should talk to Michelle at Alpine America. He has a shop just East of Montreal. He is a very kind man and extremely knowledgeable. I'm embarrassed to say that as a Canadian, I should have been able to communicate with him better. My bad French and his broken English made it difficult to discuss in any detail the specific requirements of an engine overhaul. We made arrangements for me to drive my engine to see him.
My friend Jeff volunteered to come with me on the 7 hour drive to Montreal. We planned to leave at 3:30am, be there before lunch, and get back home by early evening. Jeff is a good driving buddy because he has something to say on every subject and about every sight along the way. I discovered on this trip that his stories won't repeat for at least 14 hours. LOL.
When we got to Alpine America, I was pleasantly surprised to find a well equipped and quaint little shop that looked a bit like a Carriage House situated back behind Michelle's house. There were several cars there that I didn't recognise. Renault mostly. I quickly learned that the Renault Alpine was a formidable rally car that used the crossflow engine and Michelle has been working on these for decades and for some renowned drivers.
Michelle tried to explain that he could replace the valves and guides, install new domed pistons, balance the con-rods, port and polish the head intake and exhaust and lighten the pulleys and flywheel. He tried, but I didn't understand it all. (I never learned the French word for Flywheel). Anyway, I knew my engine was in good hands. I told Michell that he had "carte blanche" to do whatever he wished to make my engine reliable and fast.
So with that, we walked back to his house, had lunch, bid him au revoir, and headed back to Ontario.
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surfguitar58, the radio is a Quidux Android CML-Play 8702. It cost me under $100. I didn't expect much from it at that price but it seams to do everything quite nicely. It even has WIFI and Netflix. I can't find it on Amazon right now. I bought it in May 2018. Here is a link from aliexpress.com.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/QUIDUX-2-din-7-car-radio-android-GPS-Navigation-Player-Bluetooth-Car-MP5-Steering-wheel-Rear/32855867838.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.7.2a3b77b50v7kGE&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_4_10065_10068_10130_10890_10547_319_10546_317_10548_10696_453_10084_454_10083_10618_10139_10307_537_536_10902_10059_10884_10887_321_322_10103,searchweb201603_61,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=ae72b82a-5c5f-4695-b39d-fb39628c6893-1&algo_pvid=ae72b82a-5c5f-4695-b39d-fb39628c6893
LotusJoe; Yes a single Din unit w/CD capabilities fits no problem.
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Continuing my Retrospective... July 2018
With my engine away at Alpine America for next few months, I worked on finishing the assembly of the trim, wiring, and interior. I left the Renault 16 motor in the car so that I could roll the car between the garage bays and hoists.
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October 2018
Its been 2 months since the Gordini went to Montreal for rebuild. I feel like I've done all I can in preparation. I had an "incident" while installing the windshield. I was spending the day in the shop and fielding phone calls using a Bluetooth headset.
Well, I was just finishing the windshield install and delicately forcing the seal to except the glass while talking to my sister on the phone. I guess the call must of been distracting becuase the glass cracked. There are somethings you shouldn't do distracted.
I ordered a new windshield from Pillkington and arranged to have it brokered through Fred at British Auto Sports. They were very helpful.
I had a Family meeting/reunion to attend in Montreal on October 6th at a beautiful hotel which happened to be just 15 minutes from Alpine America. This offered me an opportunity to visit Michelle and my Crossflow engine.
While there, I saw the completed engine with the blue valve cover which I later found out belonged to Runningwild from New York.
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I'm enjoying your reports of your restoration. I can really relate to talking with Michel. My high school French was no help at all. I decided to email him for the most part. I would write the message in English and let Google translate it and then paste that in the email. Then I would have Google translate his answer back to English. It worked fine except when I had to talk to him on the phone. It's really frustrating because you know he's trying really hard to speak intelligible English. He seems to be a very nice guy!
Sorry about your windshield. I didn't feel competent to do mine so I had a shop do it. It took me a long time to find one who would consider it and the guy they sent said he never wanted to do another one! I watched him and it didn't seem like that big a deal. :confused: If I need another one, I might go with the pieces from r.d. and use butyl strips. Hopefully, that isn't something I need to worry about for a long time.
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Your right BDA. He is a warm, wise and gentle guy. I left there feeling like I had just spent time with Yoda.
He was trying to explain to me how he balanced the connecting rods. Words didn't work, so he took me over to his bench and showed me his 40 year old balance scale. I asked him how much difference one rod could be from another and he took two stock rods from the same engine and put them on the scale and it slammed to one side and he just smiled and looked at me. He explained that overall balance wasn't enough. He also balances them top to bottom.
When the second windshield arrived, I installed it with a new set of seals from RD Enterprises. I did a much better job the second time having learned what not to do. i used the proper tool for installing the chrome wedge strip and a liberal amount of silicone spray. It's not hard after you've broken one once.
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Nov 1, 2018
Tomorrow I go to pickup my engine from Michelle at Alpine America. So I spent the afternoon pulling the Renault 16 out of the car and separating the tranny because I promised Michelle that I would bring the clutch and friction plate for him to inspect them.
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Nov 2, 2018
The plan this time is to travel alone. I'll leave at a reasonable hour, get to Alpine America on the far side of Montreal by mid afternoon, pickup the engine, and get to my son's house in Ottawa to spend the night before heading home the next morning.
When I got to Michelle's, he had my engine waiting for me, all assembled and looking fantastic. It had bright new custom machined pulleys and new belts. The water pump and distributor had been refurbished and a replacement valve cover was installed and primed. I was very excited.
Michelle greeted me with a smile and proceeded to take me on a tour of my motor. As I've mentioned, there was a slight language barrier. He likes to show more than tell anyway.
So, to my horror, he started to remove the pulleys and belts and cover and distributor while explaining how I was going to reinstall them when I got home. So much for Plug and Play. What was I going to do? He was wise Yoda, Jedi Knight of engines. There is no try only do or do not.
He explained the proper start up procedure which involved disconnecting the ignition coil and cranking the engine until there was oil pressure after filling the engine with exactly 5 litres of Valvoline VR1 20W-50. Timing is set to 10Deg BTC.
I was to be on my own for figuring out the exhaust / muffler setup. I bought an exhaust header from him that he has custom made for him. He was adamant that there needed to be a minimum of 24" of pipe after the header and before the muffler. He said that this would likely require the elimination of the trunk.
We put my spare parts in a box, my new pulleys and other stuff that he removed in another box, tossed in the header and then he got a friend of his to help me lift the engine and place it on it's side in the back of my Jeep Wrangler. I gave him a huge envelope full of cash and he bid me farwell.
It was getting dark. I had spent way too much time in Alpine Nirvana. My son was expecting me for dinner. So I shot up onto the highway to Ottawa.
As soon as I hit highway speeds I realized I had a serious problem. The Jeep wouldn't steer worth a damn. When it did, it was violent as hell. I could tell that we had put the engine behind the rear wheels and in a 2 door Jeep with a single occupant in the rain, this wasn't good.
I pulled over, and had to move everything about in the pouring rain on the side of the highway. I was cold and soaked and late.
It was fun.
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Nov 4, 2018
The engine is home safely and I was excited to marry it up with the tranny. The pulleys, belts, and distributor were installed as per Michelle's instructions. As this was being done, he phoned to let me know that I had forgotten to take the gasket for the valve cover and that he would mail it to me. I found that the supplied belt for the alternator was too short and a longer one will need to be ordered from Summit Racing.
Brand new Weber DCOE 40s were trial fitted.
The header was going to need cleaning up and customizing. Michelle had left plenty of pipe on the end to be cut at a length that suits my needs. The plan is to wrap it in heat cloth.
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Nov 8, 2018
Engine is in. :pirate:
I found that the supplied oil filter was too big to fit within the frame rails. I'll use a lower profile one and look into a remote filter setup. If anyone knows where I can find one, please let me know.
With the header in position, I found that there is almost no clearance from the cross member. I'll have to change it to allow for vibration and torque.
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Looks great! I’m excited for you :pirate:
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Nov 17, 2018.
The heat wrap and alternator belt has arrived from Summit Racing. I painted the header flange with high-temp paint and started the learning process of heat wrapping. I hung the header which allowed me to turn the pipes as I wrapped. The material is glass based so I wore gloves and a bottle of water spray. When the material is wet, it is easier to make it tight.
The second pic shows the blood stain.
If your not bleeding … your not trying.
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Oops, sorry missed your question. Standard Ford filter adapter:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Ford-Performance/397/M-6880-A50/10002/-1
(illustration only, not an endorsement of Jegs)
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That filter adapter looks great. The Ford adapter fits a Renault? Isn't there a Metric / Imperial thread problem?
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There are lots of them at Summit too: https://www.summitracing.com/search?SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=Remote%20oil%20filter
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The filter listed for the Renault engine is a 3/4" 16 thread, so there shouldn't be an issue.
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Thanks, that was a huge help. I'll get shopping.
Wil
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Nov 17, 2018.
So, with the header wrapped, I pulled and modified the cross member. I kept the new shape horizontal because I was holding out hope that the trunk could still be used even though Michelle said I would likely have to loose it. The modification resulted in about 1/2" clearance from the header.
With that done, I started to play around with several muffler configurations. The little red Cherry Bomb was worth a try but Michelle was fairly serious when he said that 24" was required before the muffler.
Anyway, I tried and Holy S#!T !! it was loud. I woke up the neighbourhood, made all the dogs bark and seriously pissed off my wife. ( It was about 2:00am)
I tried the muffler that I was using on the Renault 16. It was quieter but the pipe diameter was smaller. I worried about a bottleneck effect. This setup would allow for the trunk to be used but I better do as Michelle says and try a different layout.
My wife is the greatest. She is not a fan of the hobby but she tolerates it because it makes me happy. She suggested that I build a detached, properly equiped shop. She never complains about me buying a new project each year. I've asked her if she would like to come to club meetings and cruise nights. She smiles and softly says " please don't make me".
So, you can imagine how she felt the next night (at about 2:00am) when she woke up to find me heating the valve cover in the kitchen oven after applying crinkle paint. The house stank for two days.
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That is one seriously good looking engine. It all seems to be coming together. Excellent work thus far.
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Dec 2, 2018.
I've messed around with a couple of exhaust layouts and the one that seems to work best looks a bit like the VW system. This is how the wise Yoda had described.
Next, workout a proper hanger system and heat wrap.
A new problem is that my Tachometer has stopped working and I am getting no signal from my fuel sending unit. I fairly sure it's a grounding problem.
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Dec 21, 2018.
My Christmas present to myself has arrived. A new set of VTO rims. They arrived in time for me to get the tires off the old Panasport wheels and remounted before my corner mechanic left for holidays. They are 13 x 5.5 with 19 offset but now that I have them on the car I realize that fender clearance will be a problem.
My camber was set wrong. I also trimmed about a 1/4" off the fender lip.
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Dec 30, 2018.
I've been dreaming up some way of removing the gas tank in order to deal with the non working sending unit.
As everyone knows, the tank has to come out the bottom of the car. If you put the car on a 4 post hoist there is still no clearance to drop the tank.
The center backbone frame makes it almost impossible to use a 2 post hoist without ripping the body of the frame. Besides that, the one arm would be right where the tank needs to drop out.
I welded up a sort of sling. This would allow the car to be lifted by its wheels on a 2 post hoist and leave the space clear for the tank to drop out the bottom.
My son from Ottawa was home for the holidays. He is an Aerospace Engineer. I have some engineering background but I never finished the courses when I was young. A recession had hit us hard and I left school to go work for the family.
I asked him to come out to the shop and give me his opinion before I crawl under the car to get crushed.
He looked it over, took some measurements and checked some angles.
"Well?" I said.
"I don't know" he said.
How could he not know? He was an Engineer.
"I'm not a STRUCTURAL engineer" he said. He admitted that it was safe but he worried that if he was wrong, or if my welding was bad, he would be responsible for killing his father. I assured him that I would not linger under there any longer than I had to.
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speaking about your muffler situation, the first question I have is why the 24" length from the collector to the muffler is so important. Does anybody have any ideas?
Second, rear and mid engined cars make positioning a muffler difficult - especially when performance enhancements have been made. Loosing the trunk tray is pretty much the only option to have a reasonably quiet car.
I wrestled with the same issue. I consider my trunk tray sacrosanct. My headers are routed the same way as the TC, under the engine up on the passenger side to clear the suspension and out below the body work on the passenger side. I have an early version of Richard's twin link rear suspension which reduces the available width for a muffler mounted in similar position as stock (the only place for one if you want your trunk tray). The headers empty into a 2 1/4" exhaust pipe and there are very few options for mufflers with ports that large. I had a very compact steel muffler I got from Dave Bean that fit ok but wasn't that quiet. It was pretty loud but ok around town (conversation with a passenger is just a little difficult) but on a long trip, the noise added to the fatigue of driving an unairconditioned car that does not allow much change in seating position and requires a lot more concentration to drive than modern cars.
Because of my restrictions, it has to be at most 7 7/8" wide, less than 5" deep and 14" long is a workable length. I tried to get a stainless steel muffler to go with my exhaust system and the smallest Magnaflow ended up being too big. There was a Borla muffler that might work but its sound was described as "aggressive" and "loud." That being the case, I decided to keep the muffler I got from Dave Bean. This allowed me to keep my trunk tray.
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Thanks for your detailed solution BDA.
I would love to see some pictures of your exhaust.
The Language barrier was a factor. It seemed to be important to Michelle that there was enough time for the exhaust to cool and there was discussion of back pressure. He said that this was a tuned exhaust system and these were the requirements and it didn’t sound like it was negotiable.
Wil
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January 2019.
I've had a couple of opportunities to drive the car up and down the country road in front of my house. The Webers have been barking quite a bit and I believe they are setup right. It seems to mostly go away if the timing is advanced. I think its at or beyond 10 deg BTDC.
I'm not happy with the feel of the throttle. The cable runs up behind the dash and down into the center tunnel, emerging out the back makes several sharp bends before pulling a bell crank under the carbs.
I decided to order the fancy Sytec linkage. I rerouted the cable inside the cabin under the carpet and out the firewall hole next to the wire harness. This reduces the bends and friction.
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I cured a lot of the problems by changing the fuel pump. I went up to a 5-7 lb pump. This made a huge difference.
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Feb 4, 2019
I have bled the brakes about 8 times. I've used the standard method, suction, and reverse brake bleeding.
Every time I press the peddle, I get no pressure until 1/2 to 3/4 travel.
I know that some of the S2 Europa's had a brake servo. My car did not. Feeling that I had tried everything else, I ordered a servo system from Victoria British. I installed it in front of the driver side wheel well. ABS 1/2" pipes were used to feed vacuum from the carbs through the center tunnel. I took a while to order the correct metric fitting for the intake manifold. You would think that metric stuff would be easy to get in Canada … But No.
The system was bench bled and bled again after install. I crawled into the car to give it a try. No Change.
I have a TV in my shop that is usually tuned to some kind of car restoration show. As I stood there banging my head on the car out of frustration, I overheard someone on the TV describing the exact same problem on a VW Beetle. His theory was that the master cylinder diameter was too small and this required more peddle travel to move enough fluid.
I needed a 7/8" Master cylinder. I had an old one on the shelf from the Healey. The steering rack was dislodged and the cylinder bolted and bled. This made a huge difference. I was still going to need a new one because the MC from the Healey was on the shelf for a reason. It was pitted.
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Feb 5, 2019
The new master cylinder had a slightly different housing than the smaller one than I had before. The problem is the output line will hit the underside of the steering rack.
I was able to elongate the mounting holes slightly, enough to get about 5 deg counter clockwise rotation of the cylinder. This, and some careful pipe bending solved the problem.
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I cured a lot of the problems by changing the fuel pump. I went up to a 5-7 lb pump. This made a huge difference.
Did that solve the "barking" problem? Any other problems it solved. That goes against everything I've heard about fuel pressure for Webers. I've always heard that a low pressure (2.5 - 3.5psi) and high volume was required.
I answered your question about seeing my exhaust setup here: http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=2996.0. Unfortunately, you can't see a whole lot of it but I think you'll get the idea.
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BDA. I agree. I heard that it should be too much pressure. It did make a significant difference. The rest of the barking was cured with timing advance and carb balancing.
That is an impressive exhaust on your car. I don't have an oil cooler but I'm inspired to look for another solution to allow me to use my trunk.
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Feb 12, 2019.
My Wife and my Daughter have decided to take a trip together to Florida for Reading Week. This is awesome! I can spend 4 days in the shop.
I decided it was time to deal with the dashboard. I had made a custom one that allowed for the installation of a GPS but it was just meant to be a prototype concept. I was fairly unhappy with the finish, colour, and layout. The center console didn't fit properly under the bumper strip and the dash top was being pressed against the glass. There was a lot of tweaking required to the shape of the dash. I also wanted to move the Headlight switch down to the center console and bring the ignition switch back to the drivers side.
The 4 days was going to be the perfect time to be able to sit in the car redoing the wiring harness and cleaning up any other electrical indiscretions.
A new dash was cut, sanded, drilled, and shaped. Trial fitted. It was then cut, sanded, drilled, and shaped again and again. I wanted to retain the piece from the glove box opening in order to use it as a door.
A couple of days later it was all done and installed.
I was hungry and tired.
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What a beautiful project! Congrats! :beerchug:
Attached is another take on exhaust layout fwiw. I glasses an arch in the trunk box and mounted an aluminum heat shield with a 1 in airspace around the muffler. Still, beer is going to get pretty warm on the way home from the store.
Maybe you covered this elsewhere in the thread and I missed it, but are you using a keyless remote and solenoid to open your handleless doors?
Tom
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Nice work on the trunk tray! Put the beer in the front trunk and let that be your air conditioning! :) :beerchug:
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surfguitar58 that’s a beautiful solution to the problem. I think I will try to adapt your idea into some sort of a trunk that will still be usable. I’ve been hesitant in destroying the original trunk but it would probably be worth it.
The doors have a keyless entry only because I couldn’t find the appropriate door hardware. If you look back in the thread you will see that my car is a very early S2 that had a button with no relief in the body for your hands to pull the door open. This makes for a streamlined look on the body but there is a real hazard of stepping out of the car and closing the door with the keys in the ignition. I’ve already had to walk home to get the spare remote once.
I have placed a remote switch next to the brake lines from the servo adjacent to a hole that my finger can get into from the wheel well as a failsafe.
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BDA. I agree. I heard that it should be too much pressure. It did make a significant difference. The rest of the barking was cured with timing advance and carb balancing.
That is an impressive exhaust on your car. I don't have an oil cooler but I'm inspired to look for another solution to allow me to use my trunk.
Thanks for the kind words. If I were putting in an oil cooler today, I might consider mounting it in the front. I didn't want to do that because I didn't want to put any extra heat into the radiator, I didn't want to add a cut out for the cooler and steal air flow from the water radiator and I didn't want to have those long hose runs. If I were to do it over again, I might mount it in front of the rear wheels - sort of the same idea some have used to implement an inverse snorkel for their air intake where air from under the car is ducted to the carbs. That is if it would fit there! I'd test the air flow first, of course.
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I think that now that the engine is running better I’ll try to change the pump back to the lower pressure and see if the barking returns.
I guess that if an oil cooler was mounted low and beside the transaxle there’s always the chance that it will get hit from road debris and get damage to the fins. I thought that might be a place to get under car airflow.
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Wow, lots of posts!
5 -7 psi is high for Webers.
Fit an air box! One back-fire and you're calling your insurance agent. Fibreglass doesn't need oxygen to burn so once it starts, it is hard to put out.
Here is my exhaust system. It's quiet (seriously):
https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-2gd3p7D/A
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Big support for an Airbox! It’s an absolute must.
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PS: My exhaust clears the stock trunk.
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I think you misunderstood my idea, and then, I didn't explain it very well because I didn't check it on my car. On the TC, there is an air gap that runs from the hole in the bottom of the body work for installing the gas tank. It is open all the way up to the engine compartment. I don't know if the same situation exists on the S2 but I think there is something similar. There was a thread on using that area for a cold air intake to the carbs here: http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=2658.0. I think there is enough space for a 13 row cooler. Mounting it would be a challenge. On the TC, there are diagonal braces against the fire wall but that would only take care of mounting one side. My experience tells me that the cooler should not be held in a cantilever fashion by one side. Mounting the other side would require some creative work. It would also be in the way of coil should it need service. Exhaust from the oil cooler would end up being intake air for the carbs (certainly not ideal). I don't have my carbs in so I'm not sure even that would fit... It was just a thought about how to take advantage of the air flow in the engine compartment. I have another idea about getting air to my cooler such that it would go through it but I'm going to see if I need to worry about it first.
Here's another take on where to put an oil cooler: https://www.prevanders.net/europa/oilsystem.html I like this idea but my exhaust is in the way. It might be an option for you, though. Here is a page with his engine compartment: https://www.prevanders.net/europa/zetecengine.html.
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Matmavwac, l read your complete thread thanks to BDA reference. Your work on the engine is inspiring since I have that choice. I loved the part of waking your wife up at 2am. Great choice of wheels also. I can’t believe I didn’t read this post at all previously and usually read at least all the today items. Please keep posting!
Dakazman
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Thanks dakazman. I’ve been writing retrospectively. So I kind of slammed through 2-3 months of work in an afternoon. If I was smarter, I should have written as I went along and I could of enjoyed all of the valuable advice available here.
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Feb 27, 2019
I was a bit bored today, so I did something I’d been thinking about for a while.
I’ve owned many British cars over the decades and if there’s one truth I’ve learned is that they break down and often at night.
I decided to install some LED lights in the engine bay along the lip of the trunk lid. THe switch is a standard pin type mounted along the right side gutter.
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Cool idea! I remember being impressed that the 240Zs back in the day had a light with a wire you could use to light up anywhere on the car - eg. when changing the rear tire at night. This isn't quite that but it's a great idea! I hope you never need it but I might look into my own!
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I got a PM from Runningwild requesting photos of the engine compartment.
Here is how it looks today.
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Fantastic looking engine compartment. What comes next?
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Feb 27, 2019
I was a bit bored today, so I did something I’d been thinking about for a while.
I’ve owned many British cars over the decades and if there’s one truth I’ve learned is that they break down and often at night.
I decided to install some LED lights in the engine bay along the lip of the trunk lid. THe switch is a standard pin type mounted along the right side gutter.
What a brilliant idea, plenty of light without much current drain.
Not only for "roadside maintenance" but those look bright enough for most topside work without having to balance a work lamp in there. I've got some left over from our kitchen and I know exactly where they're going next !
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Feb 28, 2019
Today I was walking past the Europa in the shop and I got the idea that I could clean up the front trunk a bit by using some left over door trim/guard.
I didn’t like the way the hole for the fan and intake to the heater looked. It was just raw fiberglass.
I had to add a few spacers to the fan bracket so the fan blades wouldn’t hit the trim.
I think the result is a cleaner look.
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Mar 6, 2019
I took the excellent advise from 1970EuropaGuy "Kevin" and installed the same 3rd brake light that he did.
http://lotus-europa.info/installing-a-third-brake-light-on-a-lotus-europa/
He is correct that it is a very good fit and looks like it was always meant to be there.
It’s a trailer light from Princess Auto.
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Greetings fellow Ontarian. I just got my first restoration attempt car (1970 S2 Type 54). What a beauty you have made! I hope I can do half as well as you on my wheels.
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Do you have any information on your 3rd brake light?
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Jul 15, 2019
It’s been a while since I have posted to this blog.
The Europa has been a blast to drive and show.
After I carefully broke in the engine and cured a few gremlins, I decided to take it on a long drive. I was in the saddle for about an hour and a half and found it to be quite comfortable to drive when you weren’t trying to get in and out all the time.
There is no way to get in and out of this car and look cool doing it.
Anyway, I needed gas. (Petrol). I filled the tank to the brim and parked the car for the night.
Next morning I was greeted by an overwhelming smell of gas and a large puddle under the Lotus.
The original fuel tank had some corrosion behind the upper mounting tab. I realized that I had never actually filled the tank yet.
I tried to fix it with Marine JB Weld but that didn’t work.
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Bummer! I guess it's time to get an aluminum fuel tank.
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Jul 27, 2019
I have been trying to sell my Beautiful Europa. The car owes me about $26,000 for saving its life.
The leaky fuel tank was like a kick in the nads. There is no choice, I need a new one.
The good people at RD Enterprises sent me a new aluminum tank with sending unit and it installed without too much trouble.
Now I can sell the car with a clear conscience.
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Why are you selling her? She's beautiful but even so, I doubt she'll fully repay you.
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So sorry you have to let her go. I haven't gotten a chance to come down to the forest city and see her. Hope you get what you want.
All the best.
Sandy
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I don’t expect to get all my money out. North of $20Gs would be acceptable.
It’s been fun but I’ve got to make room for the next project that’s sure to come along.
:welder:
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September 12, 2019
Well my little Europa is sold. She will be missed. It’s been a fun project.
I wish it the best of luck in its travels. It’s on its way to France.
Thanks to everyone for their excellent advise.
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I'm sorry she's gone, matmacwac! I hope she's gone to a good home! Do you have new plans?