If you will not be doing your own work, obviously you'll need to find somebody you can trust. I think that is why it is common to find Europas with 30,000 miles on them that have sat up for 30 years. If you can't find someone who knows about Europas, an honest MG, Triumph, Jaguar or similar shop that is willing to read the manual should be able to help you. These are very simple cars. I've been through nearly every nut and bolt of mine (including my first tranny rebuild recently) and if I can make it run, it definitely does not require any special skill.
Unfortunately, the guy who rebuilt your tranny apparently didn't read the manual and had no understanding of how transmissions (at least) go together. There's no telling and it's not worth finding out what else he doesn't understand.
I'd advise you to join a club. Lotus Ltd. is the national Lotus club and you should be able to join here (
https://lotusltd.com/). There is a local "chapter" in Pittsburgh (contact Russel Musta lotusinpittsburgh at comcast dot net) and it's likely someone in that chapter will be able to help you find a shop or maybe even teach you some things you can do on your own if you're motivated. If there is a local MG, Triumph, or Jaguar club, you might consider joining them too. Usually they only care that you have a British car. They may not even care if you actually have one! They might also be a source of assistance finding a shop or helping you learn. Of course, we're here to help you too.
Good luck!
