Ahoy All,
Now that the car has been restored and is back on the road it's finally time to post some pics in the 'Members' cars' section. Here's a quick resume of the work done and the history of the car:
54/0949 was originally supplied as a Canadian car in burnt sand. I have no idea of its history until I found it for sale in Germany as a project car. The original chassis had been repainted and the front end assembled. The body was in primer. Most of the bits were with the car including the original engine. It is a very early S2 and has no indicators between the headlights and also has the S1 door handles. I love the look of this version of Europa.
Work started in Oct 23 with the wiring loom. Luckily I found a Europa stash locally which I bought for very little. Amongst the good stuff was a loom for a Special which I used for my car. I had to clean it up and splice in new bits here and there but managed to make it work just fine. There was also a Special dash in burr walnut which was in excellent condition. I restored all the instruments, lights and other electrics over the winter.
Come the spring it was time to attack the body. I thought it was ok but there were a lot of small blisters under the primer which were full of water. The car had sat outside (though under cover) for a very long time half way up a mountain in Germany, worse still, they had covered the body with a tarp so basically the body was full of water so I had to sand off all the paint and I let the bare body dry all summer before epoxy priming it before the winter. I sprayed the car inside and out to keep out future moisture.
The firewall was completely rotten so I remade it. First I made a 2mm thick sheet of glass using an old window to lay the glass up on. This I bonded in to the car (with the body on the chassis to make sure it was in the right place first!) and then I bonded in some 10 mm Nomex honeycomb which I then glassed over. The end result is incredibly stiff and lighter than the original.
There were two engines with the car. The original one was all in bits and the other was a later 807 crossflow engine. I completely rebuilt the 807 using new liners and high compression pistons and a warm cam. I had to modify the head to get the pistons to fit. Massive shout out to Richard Mann whose advice was invaluable doing the engine work. It is currently on the standard twin choke carb and exhaust manifold but once the car is run-in I plan to fit a better header and the twin 40 side draught carbs that came from a Special. I fitted the engine and trans to the chassis and started adding all the bits to get it rolling.
I replaced the half shafts, bearings and all other rear hub parts, fitted new UJs in the dive shafts. rebuilt the ancient Spax shocks. Cleaned up and adjusted the steering rack, messed about with the gear change linkage to optimise it and generally did a million small jobs. Basically everything needed attention, even the things that I thought were ok! By the end of the summer the body was in epoxy primer having dealt with all cracks and crazing and the chassis was rolling with a working engine.
Over the second winter I redid the interior using a lovely Italian leather, some of which I had embossed to mimic the original pattern in the seats. I modified some inertia reel seat belts from an Opel Corsa and fitted them. Turned up a gear knob from some spalted beech. Covered the centre consul in leather and in place of the ashtray made a little cubby hole. Sewed up a new dash board top. Fitted plenty of sound proofing between the engine and cabin. The firewall is about 60mm thick overall! Fitted carpets and headlining.
And just recently I finally got around to doing the paint using Merc China Blue. Then I put the car back together, got it insured, then inspected. I have applied for French registration.
Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed all the challenges of rebuilding this unique little car although I cannot say the same about fitting the glass. My poor fingers...
After 2000 hours work I have been out enjoying driving the car and I am pleased to report that I love it! Before buying it I had never owned or even sat in any Lotus, I just knew that the time had come to have one before I get too old and fat to get in one!
I hope to meet some of you lot out there on the roads one of these days....
Cheers
Benjy 54/0949 France
