Europa S2 540936 in Sweden

[lahi]

Great work! I'm sorry to say the frame does not look original. It looks way too good! 

Thank you  Perhaps better than original and I can live with that 

[lahi]

Those rips, where the backbone meets the T, exist largely because the T isn't welded to the backbone along the bottom edge.  The simplest fix is cut the bottom plate, so you can bend a piece up to the backbone to be welded on.  Pictures of one person's version of that repair are here

https://groups.io/g/LotusEuropa/album?id=157178

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they did almost exactly that with the Twin Cam chassis.  Then, I believe they corrected another mistake, when they built the Esprit chassis, and folded those flanges on the sides of the backbone inwards rather than outwards.  And later on with the Esprit they corrected their 3rd mistake and added some triangulation between backbone and T piece at the bottom.

This is the most important pic from that album.

Thank you for the picture and info.
I did weld the rips (about 10 mm long each side) and I also welded reinforcements (steel angles) over the rips. Also made continous welds both sides where the backbone meets the T.

[lahi]

There isn’t such a “flap” on the S1 chassis.  It’s still an excellent idea to reinforce that area.  I did on mine.

Check the wheels for true and out of round before re-finishing them.

Have any vintage magnesium wheels crack tested before use.  Test them at regular intervals and after any impacts from, for example, a large pothole.  Better yet, just don’t use them!

I understand the desire to keep it original though I must confess I didn’t do so with mine.  The original carb has a weakness.  The top cover screws are not sufficient to stay tight while supporting the air cleaner.  On Renault 16s, the protruding “snout” was supported by a bracket from the valve cover.  For some reason this was not there in the Europa.  I would strongly recommend adding a discreet bracket back in.  When the top cover works loose, it wears rapidly and fuel consumption goes way up.

I will check the wheels roundness. Thanks for the advice.

No, I will not use the magnesium wheels. I will just gently blast them, coat them with some kind of silver paint or clear coat and hang them on the wall  I understand they can become quite brittle and the S2 will have the standard steel wheels anyway.

Thanks for the heads up on the carb. I have heard that it's not really good but I didn't know why.
I will add a bracket to support the air cleaner!  All input is valuable to me.

[lotusfanatic]

Those rips, where the backbone meets the T, exist largely because the T isn't welded to the backbone along the bottom edge.  The simplest fix is cut the bottom plate, so you can bend a piece up to the backbone to be welded on.  Pictures of one person's version of that repair are here

https://groups.io/g/LotusEuropa/album?id=157178

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they did almost exactly that with the Twin Cam chassis.  Then, I believe they corrected another mistake, when they built the Esprit chassis, and folded those flanges on the sides of the backbone inwards rather than outwards.  And later on with the Esprit they corrected their 3rd mistake and added some triangulation between backbone and T piece at the bottom.

This is the most important pic from that album.

Assuming I eventually get to start my S1A restoration, I will incorporate every useful modification to the chassis, while it is out, including the best methods to preserve it post-repair.
As the S1 cars need to have the chassis cut out, I don't want to see it out again for a long time! 

[lahi]

Ok, I have a desire to keep the car completely standard but I have just misbehaved...
After cleaning and cleaning and cleaning the gearbox was clean, but very dull and didn't have a completely even color. I realised that it will be impossible to keep the gearbox clean for more than 5 minutes whatever I do.
I could blast it with glass beads but it would be even more sensitive for dirt. I could put on a clear coat but with my luck that would become yellowish over the years. And the uneven color would still be visible through the clear coat.

SO, I put on a primer and aluminium engine paint from MoTip and I think it looks really great  I have used this spray on other projects and it's easy to clean, it's resistant to petrol and oil, it can handle the heat and it looks good for a long time. So I'm happy 

[surfguitar58]

Ok, I have a desire to keep the car completely standard but I have just misbehaved...
After cleaning and cleaning and cleaning the gearbox was clean, but very dull and didn't have a completely even color. I realised that it will be impossible to keep the gearbox clean for more than 5 minutes whatever I do.
I could blast it with glass beads but it would be even more sensitive for dirt. I could put on a clear coat but with my luck that would become yellowish over the years. And the uneven color would still be visible through the clear coat.

SO, I put on a primer and aluminium engine paint from MoTip and I think it looks really great  I have used this spray on other projects and it's easy to clean, it's resistant to petrol and oil, it can handle the heat and it looks good for a long time. So I'm happy 

I'm struggling with the same issue. I stripped the old paint off my trans in the fall and went at it aggressively with Scotchbrite pads and acid based aluminum wheel cleaner (smells like rotten eggs) and got the aluminum looking... meh, okay I guess. The trans has been sitting in my shed all winter waiting for a springtime installation, and now it has white dusty specs of corrosion all over it again. Originality be damned, I'm going to paint the thing with that silver stuff JB recommended (can't put my finger on the name at the moment.)
Tom

[surfguitar58]

No. No, I did not.

[surfguitar58]

This stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Seymour-16-055-Alumi-Blast-Paint/dp/B003V5BPKU

(Unrelated to gender reassignment, to the best of my knowledge.)

[BDA]

I'm certainly not the one to judge someone harshly for not being original but I can't imagine someone who might taking off points for painting your tranny to keep it nice! Lahi, your tranny looks great.

I laughed out loud at your first search results, surf!

I'm reminded of the video of the sevenupjohn's car where they painted his tranny. I believe they also sprayed a clear coat.

[jbcollier]

Looks good and is way easier to clean and touch up.

[lahi]

I'm struggling with the same issue. I stripped the old paint off my trans in the fall and went at it aggressively with Scotchbrite pads and acid based aluminum wheel cleaner (smells like rotten eggs) and got the aluminum looking... meh, okay I guess. The trans has been sitting in my shed all winter waiting for a springtime installation, and now it has white dusty specs of corrosion all over it again. Originality be damned, I'm going to paint the thing with that silver stuff JB recommended (can't put my finger on the name at the moment.)
Tom

Post pictures when you are done with the painting of the transmission With the transmision paint, not the paint suggested in your search  Not really sure what that would look like 

The white dust can be quite hard to get rid of. Once removed it will just come back unless it's rinsed and brushed throughly many times... Acid cleaners affect the aluminium and it corrodes. It's also difficult to remove everything as it sticks in the pores of the aluminium. I've learnt the hard way on things in the past.

So good decision to paint! I'm very happy with how my transmission and engine turned out, despite the "sacrifice of originality".

[lahi]

I'm certainly not the one to judge someone harshly for not being original but I can't imagine someone who might taking off points for painting your tranny to keep it nice! Lahi, your tranny looks great.

I laughed out loud at your first search results, surf!

I'm reminded of the video of the sevenupjohn's car where they painted his tranny. I believe they also sprayed a clear coat.

Good to hear BDA! That's the worst scenario  Thanks!

I was thinking of a clear coat over the aluminium colored coat but I thought that if I need to fill in scratches, discolorations or similar, it would be harder to get an even color if there's a coat above the color coat.

[lahi]

Looks good and is way easier to clean and touch up.

Thank you 

[lahi]

More has happened 

[dakazman]

 Nice progress on the suspension and the engine looks great. I know your happy feet feeling!😀
Love all your bonnets and boot shop decor.
Dakazman