Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Cheguava on Monday,April 15, 2024, 01:19:05 PM
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Hi, just introducing myself as a new Europa owner, one so new the car hasn't arrived yet, so the anticipation is high, and nothing has gone wrong yet!
It's a late 1971 Twin Cam, bought to restore to its original pistachio green. The bodywork restoration is going to (famous last words) be the biggest challenge - there's no crash damage but the car was resprayed black, and there are several layers of paint in places, and my plan is to do the bodywork prep myself and get the top coats sprayed by a professional. Will be doing as much reading on this site and others as I can before wading in, apologies in advance for the stupid questions that will undoubtedly be asked.
Photos will follow when the car arrives and I can really get an idea of what I've let myself in for. I've restored a few cars, rechassised a 2cv and had a scimitar GTE 30 years ago so I have some vaguely transferable skills, but this is going to be interesting.
Just a bit about me, I'm Yorkshire based, late 50's and an incurable optimist, so I'm aiming for completion by summer 2025.
Best wishes,
Jeff
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:Welcome:
Hi Jeff, well done on your purchase….sounds very exciting. I had a couple of SE5a, don't see many around these days.
All the very best with the project
Best wishes
Andrew
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Hi Jeff and welcome aboard !
If you've owned and worked on a Scimitar GTE then a Europa is going to feel like a toy. We also had an SE5a when we lived in Outlane (sound familiar ? ;) ) and every job on that was like a workout with a sadistic gym trainer. We only had it 12 months because after replacing the exhaust system, petrol tank, back axle, springs & dampers all round I was getting fed up with the weight training. And despite replacing window & door seals I never managed to stop it leaking either so I gave up with it. A pity because when it went well it was great, very practical.
So, is the project a local (UK) car or are you importing one like a few others on here ? Pistachio is a good colour choice, very 60s/70s and having seen it before I think it suits the car.
cheers
Brian
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Welcome. I have just finished restoring a February 1972 TC, (and 6 x 1973-1974 TCSs) so I have just trodden your path.
Don't be afraid to ask anything however trivial or stupid you think by asking. We are all learning all the time, and all help each other out.
As your car is over 50 years old, lots of things will have worn out, wiring loom, everything rubber, brake pads, brake shoes, etc, etc.
Good luck,
Alex in Norfolk.
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Hello and welcome!
Funnily enough I am also awaiting the arrival of my 1st Lotus Europa project. It should be here on the 20th. I will do a hello post on the day.
Is your car the original looking Vincent Haydon car with the cosmic wheels? If so I was going to buy that myself, but at the time I could not get another Lotus past my wife. Some very clever manoeuvring and man math on my part has made the seemingly impossible possible though.
All the best
Berni
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:Welcome:
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Thanks for the kind words of welcome. Nice to know there are other former plastic pig owners on here! My SE5A was restored when I got it in the 90s, but after 2 years and 30,000 miles of heavy use it needed restoring again and I needed something with more doors.
It is the Vincent Haydon one with the Cosmics. I love the pistachio green colour with the body shape, it's a proper 70's colour, and the Cosmics are an alloy I always had a love for, and fitted them to a mini I did up as a 70's pastiche. So this was a Europa with my name on it, just have to get it and get it back how it should look (say it quickly).
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:Welcome: Jeff!!
You seem to be following my rule: do the stuff that doesn’t show and give the stuff you can see to the professional! :)
If you’ve restored almost any car, you shouldn’t have much trouble restoring a Europa because they are very simple cars.
Here are some essential websites:
http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/index.htm (searchable online manuals and lots of other information and mods)
https://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=1389.0 (list of suppliers)
Don’t worry about asking stupid questions, nobody will judge you. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here who will be happy to help any way they can.
I’m looking forward to your pictures. This forum requires that pictures not be too big. There are several ways of “resizing” pictures. Here are two:
https://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=1379.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_55eg00H-w
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I have restored a 73 Special over the last few years. I think Europa's look really good in pistachio green. I live in Nelson,not far away. If you need to take any measurements or check on parts etc just let me know. Stuart.
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:Welcome:
Jeff
Congrats on your new purchase.
Dakazman
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Just a bit about me, I'm ... an incurable optimist....
Best wishes,
Jeff
A very important trait for the aspiring Europa owner. A trait shared by many on this board, especially those of us who jump into their Europa and head off for a weekend road trip without a second thought.
Welcome to the forum, Jeff. Be sure to show us some photos of your new project when it arrives. Cheers :beerchug:
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Hi
Thats great, I also like the look of the cosmic wheels (especially on the Europa) and are really pleased that the car and you are a natural fit.
All the best
Berni
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Welcome to the forum, Jeff!
I'll also weigh-in with my tip about photo sizing. I've found that on my screen, at least, 800 pixels wide is a safe number for a photo to be viewed on the screen without panning around to see the entire image. The entire image can be seen at once, and with reasonable definition.
So, if you have Microsoft Paint, choose to open your image with Paint. Then from the Home tab, choose Resize, Pixels, then make the horizontal dimension 800 pixels. Vertical will automatically be proportionate. Choose "OK" Done! Choose to simply Save it and you'll overwrite the original photo file. Save As..., and you can preserve the original and keep a new, re-sized version.
Alternately, doing this by experimenting with percentage can be a crap-shoot, since it completely depends upon how wide the original image is in pixels.
Below I'm re-sizing your nice mini, and then showing the re-sized photo.
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Hi Jeff,
:Welcome:
I'm in Yeadon, and have had my Special since 2019. Still need to get off my backside and sort it out. Need to clear garage around it so I can check/replace clutch.....
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Thank you for the further welcome notes, and for the info and suggestions.
Apologies for posting duff sized photos - duly noted. I'm posting on a Chromebook so don't have access to Microsoft Paint afaik, but I'm sure there must be a product within the Google empire that can do a similar job - I'll get that sorted out before posting more pics. Thanks all.
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I am using an iPad and it will let me pic the size and medium seems to work well
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Car was delivered today, so took some photos and have resized them on an aged T400 so hopefully all ok for size etc. As you can see, there is much to do, pretty much everywhere. Car didn't come with keys, which whilst not urgent, is something I need to sort. Can anyone explain the fuel caps to me - is that some kind of key in the top of them or some kind of vent, meaning they should just twist off?
I'll pass the details onto the Lotus archivist, as I don't think it's on there. This is going to be a challenge!
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Hi Jeff, thanks for the photos….looks great, lots of potential
What’s your strategy? Body off?
Fuel caps,have a required key I’m not familiar with ….my s2 ones have a conventional key and are quite stiff….those two prongs that seem to be required don't feel like they will be strong enough maybe you could gently use long nose pliers to turn it if the nose was fine enough. Check first but I would imagine they are quite easy to replace. Lefty Lucy righty tightly to turn the key for my S2 and then it lifts out …so only the key turns and then lift….next time I see mine I'll photograph them
All the best
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Hi Jeff, thanks for the photos….looks great, lots of potential
What’s your strategy? Body off?
Fuel caps,have a required key I’m not familiar with ….my s2 ones have a conventional key and are quite stiff….those two prongs that seem to be required don't feel like they will be strong enough maybe you could gently use long nose pliers to turn it if the nose was fine enough. Check first but I would imagine they are quite easy to replace. Lefty Lucy righty tightly to turn the key for my S2 and then it lifts out …so only the key turns and then lift….next time I see mine I'll photograph them
All the best
Thanks - yup, going for body off restoration, which should make the mechanical side easier for me to get at. Hopefully getting keys for the doors and ignition might be ok if I can get numbers from the lock barrels.
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Thanks for the pictures! She looks like a good platform for a nice car, Cheguava! Let us know how it goes!
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Hi
Looks great, wishing you the best of luck!
Do the uk cars not have fuel caps like this?
All the best
Berni
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The Specials have the flip top, with an optional locking version, maybe the early Twin Cams had the normal twist off and these are a locking version?
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Hi
Looks great, wishing you the best of luck!
Do the uk cars not have fuel caps like this?
All the best
Berni
Hi Berni,
AFAIK that was an option on the later cars, probably because it was standard on the 2 seat Elan around then. From a Norton Commando motorcycle and also on the diesel tanks of some lorries apparently - that's Chapman and the cheap parts-bin specials again !
My TC has round filler caps with a moveable cover over the lock, similar size to the one on Jeff's car but with a normal key lock. I suspect they aren't original because they're not listed in the parts book so were probably fitted by the first owner of my car. I think the standard option was a plain, non-locking round cap on the cars but I don't recognise those two marks on Jeff's photo.
Brian
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The Specials have the flip top, with an optional locking version, maybe the early Twin Cams had the normal twist off and these are a locking version?
Agreed. My 1 TC has simple twist off cap with no lock. My 6 TCS all have the push down lock.
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Hopefully getting keys for the doors and ignition might be ok if I can get numbers from the lock barrels.
Andy Graham at Lotus Records may be able to help you with the key codes is you send him the 7109181032P VIN number.
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Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Further digging suggests that the petrol locks might be similar to those used in the 1960s/70s for digger ignition keys and also their diesel tanks. Found one for sale for a couple of quid so will have a try with that when it arrives. For the door keys, and maybe the ignition, looks like there is a UK firm that cuts them to the number, although I need to find out the key brand and type as well as number.
https://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=6023.msg65168#msg65168
So that was two steps hopefully in a forward direction. However, the post about Federal tail lights made me realise that my UK car has Federal light clusters ::) so one step back.
Off for a few days at the end of the week, and will pick up again with the car on my return.
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So that was two steps hopefully in a forward direction. However, the post about Federal tail lights made me realise that my UK car has Federal light clusters ::) so one step back.
I can vaguely remember at one point when parts supply was poor from Lotus and fading fast, the Federal light lenses were being sold as a cheaper alternative to the UK spec ones. So a previous owner may have decided to refresh the car with those. Or, just as likely, Lotus ran out of UK spec lenses and shoved in what they had on the shelf when the car was made !
Brian
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Didn't know that about US lenses being sold here - hopefully meeting up with the previous but one owner tomorrow who had the car from 1980 to 2004 he lives 5 miles down the road from me! Hopefully may shed a bit of light on some of the features.
Speaking of which, the key for the fuel tanks is either the wrong one or the lock is gummed/rusted up. Worth a go for a couple of quid. On a happier note, the demister vents which looked very unhappy due to exposure sans windscreen for years cleaned up with the help of a stripping disc and then got a few coats of wrinkle finish paint, which when baked for half an hour at 200F in the oven, gave a similar finish to those being sold now by suppliers, and hopefully look vaguely original?
Sadly my oven is just too tight to fit the cam cover, but the gas bbq should do the job when I get that far...
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Hey Some S2’s have the same cap . I agree they look much better.
Dakazman