Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: blasterdad on Thursday,December 18, 2014, 04:06:19 PM
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Mine asked Santa for a new windshield & radius arms.
A dozen or so elves to work on it would help too!
(http://i57.tinypic.com/ohiwpf.jpg)
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My Lotus only wants an engine, transmission, interior, pedal assembly, and cooling system. May take a few Christmas's to get there!
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May take a few Christmas's to get there!
Mine too. ::)
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:)
Mine's up for a new center console from Banks Engineering, one of the vinyl trimmed ones that he does to replace the ABS one which has a few cracks around the edges now. (a bit like the owner I suppose....)
Brian
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:coolpic:
New, long lasting and effective O-rings for the carb bowl plugs.
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Mine has asked for a complete set of rear wheel bearings and axel u-joints. Perhaps some axel shims will find their way into the stocking as well.
Winter hibernation is now well under way. Looking forward to spring 8)
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i got a lotus for christmas. or a lot of one, at least.
it wants attention.
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Congratulations on your new acquisition!! Good luck with your new toy. Let us know if you have any questions.
:lotus:
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40hp and a close ratio gearset :)
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A new cylinder head for Dellorto or Weber carbs. I think they are as rare as Santa's reindeer.
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A new cylinder head for Dellorto or Weber carbs. I think they are as rare as Santa's reindeer.
They both would fit nicely(carbs and a head) thru my chimney also...I will leave extra cookie's and as much milk you desire Santa. ld
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Cheap really:
http://www.davebean.com/specials4.htm#Weber
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Dave is a great guy and his TC weber head conversion (which I think is really made by http://omnitech-engineering.com/) is really great (and so is his cassette water pump also for the TC), but he hasn't updated his web site in a long time. In fact, it looks like that page is from 1999! So it might be a bit more expensive now.
On the other hand, if you want a better TC head, you won't be able to do better than these. In this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0kcA2shRk) he explains why his weber conversion is better than the original weber head because the inlet ports can be ported much more accurately.
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Mine want a pair of Aluminum gas tank (custom made here in Bangkok), throttle cable and a set of oil pressure pipe, that would do for getting her back on the road again. Hope Richard sent them already ;D
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Me to get off of my duff and begin the restoration. There is a huge sale at Harbor Freight on New Year's day and I'm going to buy the racing jack and another pair of dollies so I can stuff the Lotus in the back of the garage if I need space there to work on the MGB. I had a friend point out to me that although the Europa as is has the extra radiator to accommodate the extra heat of the Mazda rotary, there isn't a suitable way for the from the extra radiator heat to vacate the nose area. I don't like the idea of louvers... Still another reason to move forward on restoring the car to its original Renault engine... Has anyone here tried a block and tackle arrangement to pick the body up off of the frame? Got pictures of the process?
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Make sure you disconnect all the cables and pedal assembly completely.
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My Lotus wanted to be de-federalized for christmas! I ordered a set of Lucas L734 turn signals like on my s1. Lots of fiberglass patching to do!!
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Me to get off of my duff and begin the restoration. There is a huge sale at Harbor Freight on New Year's day and I'm going to buy the racing jack and another pair of dollies so I can stuff the Lotus in the back of the garage if I need space there to work on the MGB. I had a friend point out to me that although the Europa as is has the extra radiator to accommodate the extra heat of the Mazda rotary, there isn't a suitable way for the from the extra radiator heat to vacate the nose area. I don't like the idea of louvers... Still another reason to move forward on restoring the car to its original Renault engine... Has anyone here tried a block and tackle arrangement to pick the body up off of the frame? Got pictures of the process?
I've seen at least one Mazda rotary engine swap and I'm sure there are others. You could hook a radiator to exhaust under the driver's side wheel well. I've seen some put a long (or wide) radiator across the front and exhaust it out the bonnet lid. For example, 7upJohn's (the Europa done on Overhaulin) was done that way. It's not uncommon when extra cooling is required.
Using a block and tackle to pick the body off the frame sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Pulling up on the body just about anywhere opens the possibility for cracking the fiberglass - not that it's that hard to repair. I would jack the car way off the floor (higher than the height of the frame) and support it on the frame. Disconnect everything. Support the body and lower the frame. I don't remember exactly how I did it but it was something similar to that - and I did it completely myself.
Good luck! The journey of a Lotus restoration begins with a single wrench turn.
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My S1 wanted a high volume oil pump for the wedge-head engine and a home-made aluminium coolant tank! She also wanted an aluminium radiator, but santa appears to have some trouble to get it through customs...
Serge
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Very nice Serge! Did you make the header tank?
I hope Santa gets your radiator through customs soon!
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Yes, I made it myself! I bought the CNC'd filler neck off ebay and the rest are just some pieces of tubing and plate.
The first part I made in aluminium, so it wasn't plain sailing. TIG welding aluminium is a lot more demanding than welding steel, mainly because the aluminium is really sensitive to any particles. So it has to be completely clean, if not it all goes down the drain. So I always wirebrush it a couple of times and then use acetone to remove most of it. But it wasn't always enough. The beads aren't exactly stacks of dimes, but it's getting closer.
Serge
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Impressive work as usual Serge! Stack of dimes or not, VERY nice!
Santa left me a note informing me that his elves do not make Lotus parts, nor do they work on them.
But, being the great guy that he is, he left me some cash to buy some! :pirate:
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I would jack the car way off the floor (higher than the height of the frame) and support it on the frame. Disconnect everything. Support the body and lower the frame. I don't remember exactly how I did it but it was something similar to that - and I did it completely myself.
Good luck! The journey of a Lotus restoration begins with a single wrench turn.
I did my body removal the other way around. Used two floor jacks to lift the body as high as the jacks would lift, then support the body with four jack stands. I would then slide wood cribbing under the floor jacks to lift them higher and continue jacking the body until it was clear of the frame. Again support the body with jack stands and slide the frame from under the body. I have some pictures of the process here:
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/gallery/0934R/Frame_removal_002
It helps to have the interior stripped. Having the engine previously removed reduces the height that the body has to be lifted. Four people could have lifted the body at this point but I was by myself and the process worked beautifully.
Joji Tokumoto
Fallbrook, Ca
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More than one way to skin that cat!
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My S1 wanted a high volume oil pump for the wedge-head engine and a home-made aluminium coolant tank! She also wanted an aluminium radiator, but santa appears to have some trouble to get it through customs...
Serge
Love that water container. I would love one, too, but our Europa has other problems. It's getting a big body repair :(
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Love that water container. I would love on, too, but our Europa has other problems. It's getting a big body repair :(
Thanks Stefan,
I polished a small area by hand this weekend, just to check what it looks like. I will probably polish the rest if I have some spare time.
Serge
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My S1 wanted a high volume oil pump for the wedge-head engine and a home-made aluminium coolant tank! She also wanted an aluminium radiator, but santa appears to have some trouble to get it through customs...
Serge
Love that water container. I would love on, too, but our Europa has other problems. It's getting a big body repair :(
Eveything OK Mecky??
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Yes, I made it myself! I bought the CNC'd filler neck off ebay and the rest are just some pieces of tubing and plate.
The first part I made in aluminium, so it wasn't plain sailing. TIG welding aluminium is a lot more demanding than welding steel, mainly because the aluminium is really sensitive to any particles. So it has to be completely clean, if not it all goes down the drain. So I always wirebrush it a couple of times and then use acetone to remove most of it. But it wasn't always enough. The beads aren't exactly stacks of dimes, but it's getting closer.
Serge
I think it looks great! Especially for your first attempt at TIG welding aluminum!
I hope you and everybody had a great Christmas!
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My S1 wanted a high volume oil pump for the wedge-head engine and a home-made aluminium coolant tank! She also wanted an aluminium radiator, but santa appears to have some trouble to get it through customs...
Serge
Love that water container. I would love on, too, but our Europa has other problems. It's getting a big body repair :(
Eveything OK Mecky??
I'm fine, but the Europa is struggeling a bit. After the crash at the Nürburgring, three wheel-arches are now broken (one was already damaged during the previous race). We are going to do a big body repair with new paint and new bubbly arches.
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Well, Santa duly arrived and as hoped bought a trimmed centre console from Richard at Banks Engineering. After looking at it sitting in the spare bedroom since Christmas day, I finally got around to fitting it this week, and it looks great.
Whoever does Richard's trim work is first class, it's exceptionally neat and there's no way I could ever hope to reach the same standards. For anyone else curious about such things, this is a heavyweight reproduction fibreglass console which looks to have been molded from an original ABS one and has been trimmed in black vinyl (looks grey in the photo, but it's black). There are no holes drilled but there are indications on the ashtray where to drill. The cut-outs for the window switches just needed the vinyl cutting back, otherwise it's all ready to go.
It's a reassuringly tight fit and I had to cut out some of the insulation from under the carpet as this doesn't flex as easily as the originals, but hopefully it won't crack as easily as the ABS one did !
Brian
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That is B E A U T I F U L , top shelf for sure!
Nice job installing it too Brian.
I'm sure Santa is pleased as well... :beerchug: :coolpic:
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Looks great, Brian! Richard is a class act. I would trust anything from him to be first class.
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Richard is a class act.
He sure is.
This was a present from Helen and I'd told her that rather than ordering via the website, ring the guy up and talk to him instead just in case these items were made to order. So she did, chatted for ages and mentioned it was a combined Christmas/Birthday thing (my birthday is 27th) and Richard now has another fan because when she opened up the package she found these included as well....
Edit to add..... before someone jumps in and asks why he sent me a free coffee table & phone, it was the T shirt and keyring...... :)
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That time of year again...
Our Lotus would like me to have time to work on her, but sadly this is not a possibility.
She will have to settle for being kept safe & loved.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season. :)
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My Lotus is hoping I'll finally get around to doing a proper job of adjusting the doors, checking the ring & pinion, and a bunch of other stuff. Thankfully, I have the LOG in May to give me extra incentive!
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My Lotus would like to get completed by Spring 2017! (And an unlimited checking account to make it happen).