Lotus Europa Community

Hmmm.  No mention of the Lancia Stratos?  Dino?  Carrera GT?  Pantera?  Muita?  R8?

" Treat Yourself To Some Affordable, Mid-Engine Fun

You can own one of these sports cars for $30K or less "

You can still call Ken Gray at DBE directly for parts, just ordered rear flex brake lines for my S2 a few weeks back at (209) 754-5802. What part of San Diego are you at?

Joji Tokumoto
Fallbrook, Ca

Joji:  Thanks.  I'll see about checking with Ken on parts.  I'm in Poway.  Perhaps we will cross paths. 

V/R

Charlie

Repairing with fiberglass won't work.  I've seen that a few times...the patch just peels off.   The console is ABS plastic, which is a PITA to repair, and requires adhesives specifically made for ABS.  There are various glues you can get at the big box hardware stores which will work...look in the plumbing supply aisle where you will find them.  You WILL have to cover the faces after you put all the pieces back together/fix cracks/etc.  but covering it after fixing is probably the best course of action (unless you come upon an unmolested/cracked example...I just gave away my last solid console a couple weeks ago from my stash.)

Thanks for this Bryan - I had just assumed it was fibreglass when the complete absence of fibres in it should have alerted me different. D'oh!  I'll look out for suitable adhesive - info very much appreciated.

Might be a tight squeeze in a Europa though !

I guess you’d a smaller monkey but you’d get two of them!

Quote from: dakazman on Friday,May 10, 2024, 02:36:50 PM

I first want to say making a mold of the console is pretty easy. I did what your suggesting with a much less complete donor.  I elimated the ashtray and added A/C vents.
    Then you mentioned ,"stripdown", ...I hope not with chemical strippers to remove paint. fingers crossed.
dakazman

Hi, thanks for the suggestion. I think that it would be easier to repair what I have than make a mold and duplicate it, particularly as I will then cover the console and my repairs with vinyl. Have you got a pic of your modified console?  If it's already on here I can search for it.

No fears of using chemicals - the stripdown referred to the removal of all parts from the shell. Then I've got to rub it down as best as I can before handing it to the bodyshop, for its return to gleaming L13.

Repairing with fiberglass won't work.  I've seen that a few times...the patch just peels off.   The console is ABS plastic, which is a PITA to repair, and requires adhesives specifically made for ABS.  There are various glues you can get at the big box hardware stores which will work...look in the plumbing supply aisle where you will find them.  You WILL have to cover the faces after you put all the pieces back together/fix cracks/etc.  but covering it after fixing is probably the best course of action (unless you come upon an unmolested/cracked example...I just gave away my last solid console a couple weeks ago from my stash.)