Author Topic: What does your Europa look like *today* ?  (Read 109868 times)

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Offline Lou Drozdowski

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #60 on: Wednesday,July 31, 2013, 04:43:45 PM »
Atta Boy Trevor, Hope you have a safe journey to the Glen.ld

Offline Bainford

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #61 on: Monday,August 12, 2013, 07:08:35 AM »
Thanks for all the well wishes guys. I really appreciate it.

Well, I made it to LOG 33 and back.  :pirate: Total miles travelled (round trip) is 2827.6 miles. Interstates and major highways avoided at all cost. The Europa worked like charm throughout the entire trip. Rain, rough roads, heat, traffic, all handled without complaint. Not a single issue to report, and I couldn't be more pleased with the performance and reliability of my little Lotus. It was working better on the last day than it was on the first day. I promised her a big hug when I got home.

The Event itself was a great success. Once I get my photos sorted out in a couple of days I'll start a new thread on LOG 33.
Cheers  :beerchug:
The Twin Cam plays the symphony whilst my right foot conducts the orchestra. At 3800 rpm the Mad Pipe Organ joins in.

Trevor

Offline TheKid#9

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #62 on: Monday,August 12, 2013, 12:32:44 PM »
Glad you made it back home safe Trevor!! It was a pleasure to meet you! My dad and I had a great time with you at LOG! Looking forward to see your photos you took!  :D

Pic of how mine looks now!  :trophy:

Offline Bainford

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #63 on: Monday,August 12, 2013, 01:01:35 PM »
Thanks Chris, and it was indeed a pleasure to meet and hang out with you and your Dad. I have a lot of pictures that I took at the event, many of which include your car. Once I get it all sorted out I'll send you a CD full of pics.
The Twin Cam plays the symphony whilst my right foot conducts the orchestra. At 3800 rpm the Mad Pipe Organ joins in.

Trevor

Offline EuropaTC

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #64 on: Monday,August 12, 2013, 01:57:31 PM »
Good to hear you guys had a great time at LOG33, I'm looking forward to the photos.   But hey, what's this ????

The Europa worked like charm throughout the entire trip. Rain, rough roads, heat, traffic, all handled without complaint.

and then.....

Not a single issue to report

Well, it looks like a Lotus, it's about the size of a Lotus and it sounds like a Lotus, but hey, come on man.....    Lotus and "reliable" in the same paragraph ?  :)

A 3000 mile road trip is pretty impressive for a 40yr old car, well done Trevor.  I'll look forward to the full report later on.

Brian

Offline Bainford

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #65 on: Wednesday,August 14, 2013, 06:14:29 AM »
Haha. Yeah, It felt odd as I typed the 'R' word, but she certainly deserved to be labeled as such. In fact, in the 3.5 years that I have owned the car I have piled on over 13,000 miles, and with the exception of some tuning issues in year two, there have been amazingly few problems. I am a firm believer that the more the car is driven, the fewer the problems that will be encountered.

Prior to buying the car, and in the years since, I have read countless reports online of owners or previous owners who claim that their Europa was brilliant... when it ran. Many counts of people who would never dare to drive it more than 20-25 miles from home, and only then with their AAA card in hand and the number of a friend with a truck and trailer. This was disconcerting at first, for as you know, one of my favorite activities is to 'road trip' a classic car. I was most concerned at first, but decided that there was no reason why such a simple car, properly maintained and modified where necessary, could not be made to be a reliable road machine. I certainly do stand to incur roadside problems if I continue to 'road trip' the machine, but thus far the results have been most encouraging.
The Twin Cam plays the symphony whilst my right foot conducts the orchestra. At 3800 rpm the Mad Pipe Organ joins in.

Trevor

Offline EuropaTC

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #66 on: Wednesday,August 14, 2013, 09:55:19 AM »
I've got to say Trevor, you're spot on with your attitude towards these cars.

I do play the "lots of trouble, usually serious" line I know, but it's all tongue in cheek and in truth I've always thought they're good little cars.  Yes, they break and things wear out probably quicker than on a family saloon, but I'm convinced the main cause of the unreliable image is just down to lousy quality control at Lotus in the 60s and then a lack of maintenance as the cars dropped downmarket and people ran them on a shoestring.

It was bought home to me by a bloke I worked with who raced and did his own mechanics. I was going on about something with my TC engine and he just looked and said "if that engine was in a Lotus Cortina (Ford UK 4-seater family saloon) it would do 100,000 miles, bring home shopping, do the school run, get serviced once a year and it wouldn't miss a beat". It got me thinking and it's true, the drivetrains are no different from any other car, so why should we expect them to crumble into dust ?

You carry on driving it Trevor.  And keep posting the pictures.....   

Offline Lou Drozdowski

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #67 on: Wednesday,August 14, 2013, 03:51:47 PM »
Trevor, Like any fine weapon for the road...Keep it clean & maintained and it will out last your ammo. After bush patrols, at base camp, we always did a squad weapons check upon returning... then chow and finally some sack time. {if you didn't pull perimeter security} 
 So now... go give her some fresh fluids, you can snuggle later. Semper Fi...ld   

Offline Bainford

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #68 on: Thursday,August 15, 2013, 05:35:27 AM »
Haha... cheers Lou. Semper Fi
The Twin Cam plays the symphony whilst my right foot conducts the orchestra. At 3800 rpm the Mad Pipe Organ joins in.

Trevor

Offline EuropaTC

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #69 on: Monday,August 19, 2013, 10:59:38 PM »
It's a while since I posted and as we're currently enjoying some sunshine over here in the UK, I took some photos yesterday just before heading off for our annual Ministry of Transport inspection (MoT test). Everything clean and polished, some period 70s tunes on the CD and thanks to a very understanding mechanic I know have a fresh certificate for another year's motoring.  Phew, I'm really going to have to do something about the handbrake on this thing..... :-\

Brian
« Last Edit: Monday,August 19, 2013, 11:02:29 PM by EuropaTC »

Offline Bainford

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #70 on: Tuesday,August 20, 2013, 06:19:54 AM »
Congratulations Brian. I know the UK MoT is a rigorous and thorough affair, and not the easiest to pass at the best of times. I can imagine that vintage cars of any stripe can be particularly difficult. Well done mate. I think you should treat yourself and the CEO to a weekend road trip to celebrate. ;)

Just curious Brian; what part of the UK are you living in?
The Twin Cam plays the symphony whilst my right foot conducts the orchestra. At 3800 rpm the Mad Pipe Organ joins in.

Trevor

Offline EuropaTC

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #71 on: Tuesday,August 20, 2013, 09:54:48 AM »
 :)

The CEO is going on a road trip all of her own tomorrow, on a coach with all her mates and they're off to some picturesque village with "lots of quaint and interesting little shops". I'm far better off staying here  looking after the chickens and the dog.....

Brian

ps - actually the MoT test isn't unreasonable for cars of this vintage and you wouldn't want to drive a Lotus that wasn't in good health anyway.   The problem comes when you get a testing station which is used to modern cars with modern build standards and they start to get picky about light output from headlamps, how loud the exhaust is and if it's "standard", etc. Some things you can fail on are just plain silly, but the underlying principle of the car being mechanically roadworthy is sound. Still, I'm glad it's over for another year  ;)

Offline 3929R

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #72 on: Friday,August 30, 2013, 12:38:22 PM »
I've been busy with old house work and not online here much..... But I was just glancing at the LOG photos and saw the charming retro-brown Europa.  Oh how it made me want to fish my other work and get in my car and drive somewhere.  Sounds like a fun trip!
Mark
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Offline StephenH

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #73 on: Sunday,September 01, 2013, 05:05:26 PM »
Another day at the hillclimb.
Cut over 0.5sec from previous time but also ran into some temperature issues on the way home, seems to have spat out more than a reasonable amount of water.
Sump is full of oil, bores are full of air but cooling system is down, suspect head gasket or not really bled/full in the first place at this point.


Stephen
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Offline 4380r

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Re: What does your Europa look like *today* ?
« Reply #74 on: Sunday,September 01, 2013, 07:57:11 PM »
This is what 4380r looked like earlier this weekend.