Prototype in the wind tunnel

[jbcollier]

If you know aero you're one up on me.  They alway had engine e cover ducts.  They closed off the rear panel for the TC.  Still gets hot in there.

[jbcollier]

Like I said, not aesthetically easy ;-)

[jbcollier]

Extreme engine air flow control:

[BDA]

They sure were concerned about cooling!

[SteelCityLotus]

If you know aero your one up on me.  They alway had engine e cover ducts.  They closed off the rear panel for the TC.  Still gets hot in there.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was wondering if the number-plate vent was something everyone added or if it came standard at some point. I'll be sure to look for that at the next car meet.

I'm still in resurrection mode at the moment, but small aero improvements are definitely on my list.
It will be interesting to see what is legal for the vintage racing and what rules can be interpreted...creatively.
I'll see if I can find some sort of 3D model to use in CFD to answer these questions.

[dakazman]

  Well here is what my spitball looks like . One low profile , two vented sections from side to side .
Excuse the fast draft. Also has a third brake light and Minimal sight loss.
Dakazman

[MRN I J]

These scoops work:





Aesthetically?  Not so much.  I'm thinking of running something similar but only on the driver's side (won't block rear view) and not venting into the cover but through side above the tank and ducted low to enhance through-flow.  Just thinking though, nothing mocked up.

One the Swiss S2s with the 807 crossflow motor

[jbcollier]

Not sure that an original Swiss 807 has ever been found.  It's hard to tell as so many European Europas have been converted to 807/843 engines.

[RonPNW]

I'm in the same boat as SteelCityLotus, doing body structural repair and wondering about what aero mods would be both worth it and visually pleasing.

I do not want to make any major visual changes so think that it is best to take advantage of and improve what is already happening to the car. I have relocated my air cleaner to take advantage of cool air that I have ducted from in front of the rear wheels by using a small flap / air dam in front of the rear wheels. If you look at many modern cars and do some searches you will find data showing that directing air away from the leading edge of the rear wheel reduces air drag. A vent in front of that flap could direct cool air to the engine compartment and up out of the rear bonnet vent. This is already the direction of air flow. I vaguely recall reading about a Lotus owner who did just that and reduced underwood temperatures by over 10 degrees with an associated increase in horsepower.

If anyone has access to CFD software I would be happy to try and help. Sadly I can only offer labor hours, I don't have any CFD experience.

Ron

[MRN I J]

an 807 is what the car should have been, Colin Chapman should have negociated more & harder with Renault

[jbcollier]

Renault already had contracts with the Alpine/Gordini crowd which prevented them from selling the special engines to another manufacturer.  Alpine and Gordini were NOT happy with the Lotus contract and made sure potential future access to the hemi engines was blocked, much to Chapman's disappointment.  Lotus then worked at adapting the TC which was not a particularly happy engine when federalized.  Renault gobbled up both Alpine and Gordini but it was too late by then.  Too bad as federalized hemis continued into the mid-80s.

Since the 1470 engine supplied to Lotus was so different to anything offered in a Renault vehicle, it lends credibility to the theory that they actually sold them surplus marine engines (identical pistons, etc).  The 1565 engines were all federalized engines which Lotus had to have to continue selling in the US market.

[MRN I J]

yup, know all that (not the marine engines bit) still think he should have done more, helped Alpine / Gordini with suspension projects?, the hemi is such a jewel of an engine it had to be had

[GavinT]

(not the marine engines bit)

Search for "Mercruiser 80"
This look familiar?

[dakazman]

 I love the fuel line over coil.
Dakazman

[Dilkris]

Wow!!! That's got to be the quickest way of taking a stern drive + engine assembly out of a boat - just cut out the rear transom 
I have been following this thread with some interest and whilst there are issues raised here that are beyond my grasp - is there not something to be learnt here from the installation of inboard boat engines (which I assume sit in static air) which would be applicable to the Europa ?