Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Nisswa Collision on Friday,November 06, 2020, 07:12:46 PM
-
My rear luggage box is missing the cushion/spacer on the left side. You know, the ones the bolts go thru. I have the right side that mounts to the heat shield and it measures 1" thick, so since the heat shield is 1/4", It should be 1 1/4" thick for the other side. The original foam is perfect but I have no idea where to get a similar material. Anybody got any suggestions? Wood would fill the gap but no cushion.
-
If you stick foam rubber all along the side to side bar that hold the shockers at the ends, that would spread the load well.
What you need is something slightly compressible and not badly affected by heat due to the silencer/muffler. Therefore expanded polystyrene foam would not be suitable.
There should be a similar foam strip along the front plenum chamber to seal the fan pressurising the cabin. This should run along the top of the fibreglass when the heater fan is mounted. This seems a suitable material.
I have not seen any spacers below the luggage box on the 7 TCs I have.
-
Has anyone got a picture of what was/should be fitted?
My Special doesn't even have the bolts (or should it be studs and nuts). Again does anyone have details for these, ie thread size and length.
Thanks,
Richard
-
I use long bolts fed up from below, and lock them in place in the threaded side to side bar with a nylock nut, adjusting the length sticking up through the luggage box to just enough for a penny washer and nylock nut.
I think they are 5/16 UNF, so a 2" bolt should be sufficient.
-
I used two stud bumpers available from Mcmaster. I cannot get to my car right now to photograph them.
The original were two bolts with penny washers and like 2" diameter by 3/4" thick foam stuck on top of the washer. The foam would crush too much and keeps requiring adjustment. The foam bumpers used to be available at the usual Lotus supplers.
-
Thanks.
-
These spacers have to be in place to support the bottom of the luggage box. Without them the bottom of the box would fall thru like happened to the side of mine where the spacer was missing. I had fiberglass work to repair my box caused by the one missing spacer.
-
Somebody asked for a photo of the original spacers. This is the one that measures 1" thick and mounts under the 1/4" thick asbestos/steel heat shield. My missing one would measure 1 1/4" thick.
-
Somebody asked for a photo of the original spacers. This is the one that measures 1" thick and mounts under the 1/4" thick asbestos/steel heat shield. My missing one would measure 1 1/4" thick.
Thanks. I don't think mine has the heat shield either....
-
Rubber? If so, pretty easy to make them up out of rubber sheet. Or, the rubber used in exhaust hangers.
-
If I could find a rubber cylinder this big, I could make it easy enough. I haven't yet.
-
You could search on Amazon or ebay for close-cell foam neoprene tube or maybe a pool noodle would work.
It might be easier to get flat pieces of close-cell foam, lay them along the entire length of the cross member and glue them to it. You might need to glue a couple of layers together to get the thickness you need.
If you haven't tried r.d. or Dave Bean, you should do that, too.
-
If I could find a rubber cylinder this big, I could make it easy enough. I haven't yet.
You might be able to make a rubber one out of Isoflex, a liquid rubber roof repair compound.
But that is a rather expensive option.
I prefer my foam rubber strip all along the cross brace which would spread the load nicely over a much bigger area. (Snap to above post)
-
I used these: https://www.mcmaster.com/9540K807/
If you search McMaster Carr for "Rubber Bumpers" there is a great variety.
t
-
Use a hacksaw to get it into a rough shape and then finish on a bench grinder.
-
Use a hacksaw to get it into a rough shape and then finish on a bench grinder.
The rotary wire brush on a bench grinder is a very good way of removing rubber carefully.
-
https://www.mcmaster.com/9540K805/
I think this what your looking for. There many sizes to choose from.
-
There is the usual range of variation over the Europa's production cycle. My S2 has no through-bolts and no rubber spacer. I've had the car from new and am prepared to say that's how it was delivered. That said, the gap between the bottom of the luggage tray and the crosspiece is about 5 mm and I can see how a spacer would be comforting. It's not necessary though.
-
OK, I haven't got them in my hands yet but the issue has been resolved. The correct name for what I was looking for is a "Rubber standoff". I saw the ones Mcmaster has and not exactly the right size, but the closest I could find, however they were stupid expensive. I'm not going to pay $45-$85 for a single rubber donut. I found many the right shape but wrong size, I couldn't find anything correct id and od taller than 1/2". I ended up having to buy 3 and expect to have to bond them together and slice one in half to get my 1 1/4" thickness. The one in the photo above is 1" tall, 2" od and 1/2" id. However it is under the heat shield and the other side won't be. By-the-way, that is indeed real asbestos under that steel plate. It's best to leave it alone. No real substitute for asbestos has ever been found. I used Rust-Mort on the steel where it had some corrosion. It doesn't do anything for the looks but does stop the rust that's there.
-
I had to custom fit rubber to mine as it didn't come with anything. I used some old 1955 chevy 265 rubber motor mounts (round, hole thru center, about 1 inch thick). I stacked two on each side to make up the distance, which it appears will vary considerably.
The heat shield is another anomaly, it is steel with asbestos. I removed mine (heavy) and simply put a replacement aluminum sheet of the same dimensions on standoffs using rivets. Several checks on heat issues revealed no appreciable heat rise in the fiberglass.
HTH
Jerry Rude
4005R
-
The bumpers I used are from Mcmaster. They cost $6.47 each. They are 2" in diamer and 3/4" thick. They have a 3/8"-16 thread to attach a bolt and locknut to.
https://www.mcmaster.com/93115K271
I attached a photo for reference.
-
Those Pfreen has used are great if you remove the bin a lot. You had to drill out the factory 1/4"-20 threads to make their bolt work so that's kinda bogus, but somebody mentioned putting foam cushion down the sides to support the box. I won't be doing that with my car but a combination of the weatherstrip and bumpers make the luggage bin a grab-n-go item. Cool if you are always fooling with the engine. You could even leave all your junk in it and pick it all out at once. I got mine done. I bonded 3 half inch thick rubber standoffs together using 3m super weatherstrip adhesive (gorrilla snot) in a big vice with steel plates to hold them square. The next morning I turned it 90 degrees in the vice and used a hack saw to saw it to my 1 1/4". I had to saw in an eighth inch and then rotate it, sawing a line all the way around prior to sawing thru. I squared it up on the bench grinder and then bonded the ugly side to the bottom of the bin with the black snot. I notice mystery holes in my bin. 2 three-eighths inch holes in a vertical pattern on the front and 2 quarter inch holes in a horizontal pattern on the right side. I suspect the latter was a small fire extinguisher but any ideas what else? Speaking of fire, I have a few air-cooled VW vehicles and have them fitted with Blazecut hoses. I think I'm going to give the Europa one too. Just have to figure out how to mount it. The shortest one they make is big enough for a Europa.
-
I find I remove the rear luggage bin a lot! Mine is secured with quick release fasteners.