Hello

[Cheguava]

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

[S2Zetec54]

 

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

[EuropaTC]

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

[4129R]

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.

[berni29]

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

[TurboFource]

 

[Cheguava]

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).

[BDA]

  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

[Triton]

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.

[dakazman]

 

     Jeff

   Congrats on your new purchase.
 Dakazman

[Bainford]

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 

[berni29]

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

[Fotog]

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.

[SilverBeast]

Hi Jeff,

 

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.....

[Cheguava]

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.