Lotus Europa Forums > Members Cars
New S1B owner
jbcollier:
As per your other post, try Kelvedon for the one piece windows. Failing that, they are not hard to make up using lexan from a hardware store.
The engines are fairly tough except for:
- piston rings breaking due to the high revs they are subjected to.
- minor coolant leaks leading to a blown head gasket
- the head being removed incorrectly -- doesn't anyone read the manual? -- and the liner base seals getting torn.
Your headless state is the most common way to find an abandoned, Renault-powered, Europa. It starts with a coolant leak. That leads to overheating and a blown head gasket/warped head. They then pull the head without reading the manual and tear the cylinder liner bottom seals. It immediately overheats again. Head off and parked. This probably a good thing as they also didn't have the head alignment tool and the distributor drive gear would have lunched itself in short order. All comes from "handy" people who don't read manuals.
All the S1s were LHD. A few 47s (S1 based) were RHD. Wiper position is correct. The single wiper actually works very well for the driver, not so great for the passenger. "Reversed" column switches, again normal. Unfortunately, the gawd-awful, hacked-up, hole for the column is not. The only thing I can think of is that a real ham-fisted person tried to remove the steering rack/column and chiselled the chassis out for more clearance. You can remove the rack and repair that.
I would go over the chassis one more time with cameras and ice picks to be sure. Then get a computer alignment to be doubly sure the chassis is straight. All good? Pump the chassis full of semi-fluid, rust inhibitor.
Hmm, sound deadening. The S1s, unlike the other Europas, have two reverse-fugle-horn chambers one either side of the passenger compartment. This makes things loud, very loud. I used sound-deadening (the good stuff) on either side of the firewall (three layers on the engine side, one inside) and, frankly, all to virtually no effect. You could fill these chambers with expanding foam (careful or you will split the body in two) but do you want to make it even MORE flammable? I don't think so.
It is what it is. Can't stand it? Get an S2. I do lots of long trips in my S1. I use aviation, noise-cancelling, headsets (with an intercom system when there's a passenger.
dakazman:
:Welcome:
314159td
Glad you found your way here!
Dakazman
314159td:
Thanks for the welcome everyone, I have some new things to research now.
Head was removed as the "interim" owner I bought it from (had it for ~1 year) noticed a slight head gasket failure during his initial starting attempts, it ultimately needed to be skimmed ~0.004" to clean that up. Haven't done the math for how much that will raise CR yet, and we can only get 91AKI or $10/gal 100 race gas here.
Intuition and some light googling indicates that layering butyl mats might not be too beneficial, as those are to stop panels from vibrating, not truly "absorbing" the sound. Definitely some diminishing returns there. I'll probably go down the rabbit hole of researching decoupling foam and mass loaded vinyl...and heat shielding...inside the engine bay.
I don't mind fairly loud cars, but I have a good opportunity right now with things removed to try and do the best job I can should that opinion change.
dakazman:
You may also check into buying piston liner gaskets and an alignment tool for putting the head back on.
Complete gasket set also since you’ll be pulling the oil pan to remove pistons.
Maybe a set of hold down clamps for when you reassemble.
Probably easier to remove engine and gearbox.
Dakazman
S2Zetec54:
:Welcome: and the very best of luck with your rebuild
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