Lotus Europa Resto/Project Under Way

Lotus Europa Resto/Project Under Way

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Tubes63

Original Poster:

130 posts

129 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Thought I would start a thread to document progress on a little project I've just started, hopefully will motivate me to maintain momentum!

From what I can gather the history of the vehicle is thus:

The car was built as a kit in a shed by a man known as "Squeaky" who lived next to my grandmother in Kent. I believe it was completed in the eighties at some point and has apparently clocked up some 60k miles, mostly with Squeaky himself at the helm I can only assume. The car was taken off the road and put, I believe, on a SpyderCars Europa Chassis; again, the work was being carried out in Squeaky's shed.

Unfortunately Squeaky was never able to complete his project, and he passed away probably 12 or 13 years ago now, leaving the car in bits. By chance, my father, on a rare visit to his poor mother's house, caught a glimpse of the inside of Squeaky's shed as it was being cleared out, and, being the lunatic that he is, decided to purchase the unfinished, unpainted, non-running Lotus kit kar, and had it delivered to his go-to mechanic and good friend, Richard.

Richard completed the build from his long-running restoration business; I was only young so I cannot remember exactly how long it took, but let's just say it was completed roughly within the expected time frame.

As was tradition, on completion of the build my father took his newly road-worthy Europa on the annual Le Mans pilgrimage, where, doing what Lotuses do, she broke down on a dusty back-road in the middle of nowhere - I believe the issue being that one of the half-shaft/drive-shafts had broken in two. Richard, being one of the annual Le Mans crew, was there to assist, but getting a spare Lotus Europa half-shaft to this obscure corner of the World proved impossible - I believe at that moment Richard could only source one or two spare parts and they were located several countries away (bearing in mind this was still the earlyish days of mobile internet and buying online) - and they began to arrange what would of course be painfully boring and expensive transportation back to the UK. However, much to everyone's surprise, a local French-type who happened to be passing pulled up along-side the bereft group of travelers and happily announced "ah, very nice, I used to have a Europa! And do you know what, I think I still have one of those", pointing to the offending part, "in my garage at home!" A deal was done and the car made it back to the UK without incident.

Without incident, except that when my father was pulling into the pub outside Richard's workshop for a celebratory drink, his enthusiasm at the thought of quenching what must have been an almighty thirst led him to approach the banked driveway at an excessive speed and angle, sending the front-right wheel into the wheel arch and causing visible, but not serious, damage to the fiberglass body.

So the car was left with Richard to be fixed. As my father moved overseas and commissioned Richard to fix and maintain a raft of other unreliable classics, she stood for what must be the best part of a decade without so much as turning a wheel, much of the time left completely uncovered, and often covered in parts from other cars.

Sadly, Richard passed away not long ago; he was a very good friend of my father's and a character who featured in many vivid childhood memories of mine (including when his old Range Rover caught fire towing my dad's GT6 to our house in Aberdeen, and he turned up with some nasty burns to his hand, having put the thing out by just grabbing it, smothering it, and soldiering on!). As a result, Richard's business has closed and the lot has been getting cleared, with my father and the Le Mans crew having been a big help in the effort to move all the detritus.

And that is where the Europa comes to me. As my old man has now retired to the middle of nowhere and started spending all of my inheritance on a 10-car garage build and multiple classic car rallies, leaving him with little time to fix the Europa along with all the other unreliable classics he has amassed, we have agreed that I will take it on as a long-term project (and by long-term, I mean I do not expect to get this finished before the end of 2018).

The Plan:

Essentially, start stripping, label everything that comes off the car as "keep", "fix", or "replace", respray the car, retrim the interior, and if necessary rebuild or replace the engine and gearbox (however since the car did not stop running due to mechanical issues, I suspect a full rebuild of the engine will be unnecessary).

The one thing I do know at this point is that when the body is separated from the chassis, it will be going to Richard's son, who has started a classic-car-painting business in a small annex of his father's old site and has done some incredible work for a few customers so far. The boy has a natural talent for painting, and it would fit nicely into the car's story, so it feels like the right thing to do!

Unfortunately right now my garage is filled by another of my father's toys and will remain that way probably until mid-July, so I can only get cracking on the little things and can't yet take the body off (though I have thought about suspending the body from the ceiling instead). So far I've spent only one day on it, and some progress is being made.

Pics below, sorry for the essay but it's nice to document some of this stuff. I will be sure to post updates as I go.


Picking the car up from Richard's (many thanks to Mark from dad's Le Mans gang for doing most of the heavy work!):




Arrival at home, featuring one happy father, one bemused wife, and the aforementioned toy that is using up the rest of my space!













some evidence of wildlife:





The interior used to be black... yuck will probably end up putting the Banks leather seats and trim in, but TBC.







Simplify, and add lightness!



Not too bad after a clean:





Being 6'4, and more than a little lardy, fitting inside was a worry, but happily I can squeeze in, and will be able to drive as long as I don't need to use the handbrake or indicate left:



This is the damage that took the car off the road in the first place. I'm pretty handy but have not done fiberglass in the past. I do intend to do it myself if I can but will probably be looking for some advice on the boat websites/forums!



And this weekend's progress: removing bonnet and engine cover, removing bumper, lights and number plates front and back. Progress hampered by space limitations but progress nevertheless.

Note the correct method for holding the engine cover open:







I'll update as and when, but this will be a weekend-only project for the most part so we won't be going too far too fast I suspect.

(Edit due to Photobucket dying)

Edited by Tubes63 on Friday 15th September 09:32

NickCQ

5,392 posts

95 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Sounds like a fantastic project, will be watching with interest. Oh, and the other toy in the garage looks like a lot of fun too!

TR4man

5,207 posts

173 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Look forward to reading the updates!

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Tubes63 said:
Being 6'4, and more than a little lardy, fitting inside was a worry, but happily I can squeeze in, and will be able to drive as long as I don't need to use the handbrake or indicate left:

Bugger. Being 6'2" and absolutely not anorexic, I'd always put these in the "gorgeous, but I'd never fit" pile. Now I need to find another excuse.

Cracking car, cracking story!

foxoles

140 posts

125 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Good luck - nice find.
Started complete nut and bolt restoration of my '73 Europa Special in 1984, took 2 really enjoyable years. Sold it in 2012 and still regret it.

P5BNij

15,764 posts

105 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
What a great project, love the S2 Europa and always fancied one myself. I'd like to contribute a pair of '70s sideburns, a year's worth of Old Spice and a whole heap of goodwill towards the project...!

Rower

1,378 posts

265 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Looks quite a project - is that the Renault 16 engine ?

Bobo W

761 posts

251 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
- I'm 6ft 3in and fitted albeit with a saucer for a steering, the seats are laid back and supremely comfortable, you might be able to fix the seat to the floor to liberate a bit of extra headroom

- the umbrella handbrake is next to useless so never gets used at least until MOT time.

- my memory maybe playing tricks on me but I believe the original 1470cc engine was from a Renault 14 although availability of parts meant many were subsequently fitted with the 1565cc from the 16 - mine was, with a straight through drainpipe of an exhaust!

- getting the gear linkages right can be problematic given the number of ball joints

- Richard Winter at Banks is your friend for all things Europa but I guess you know that

Tubes63

Original Poster:

130 posts

129 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Bobo W said:
- I'm 6ft 3in and fitted albeit with a saucer for a steering, the seats are laid back and supremely comfortable, you might be able to fix the seat to the floor to liberate a bit of extra headroom

- the umbrella handbrake is next to useless so never gets used at least until MOT time.

- my memory maybe playing tricks on me but I believe the original 1470cc engine was from a Renault 14 although availability of parts meant many were subsequently fitted with the 1565cc from the 16 - mine was, with a straight through drainpipe of an exhaust!

- getting the gear linkages right can be problematic given the number of ball joints

- Richard Winter at Banks is your friend for all things Europa but I guess you know that
Cheers Bobo, yeah I'll be in touch with the guys at Banks in due course for sure. I've looked at removing the seat rails and bolting to the floor as you suggest and see no reason not to. I'm also buying a pair of thin driving shoes, the ones I wore in that photo had a half inch of rubber on the bottom which could make all the difference!

Tubes63

Original Poster:

130 posts

129 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Rower said:
Looks quite a project - is that the Renault 16 engine ?
As per Bobo's comments, mine is the 1565 Renault engine (at least according to the plate) but not sure what it's out of.

lukeharding

2,929 posts

88 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Looks excellent, can't wait to see more of it!

Keep it stiff

1,762 posts

172 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
About time we had another good restoration thread! Good luck with it, looking forward to the updates.

Trev and Jules

61 posts

150 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Looks like a type 65 originally destined for the USA with renault 1647 crossflow engine?
Good luck with this Richard Winter will be on speed dialsmilecool

Astacus

3,363 posts

233 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
Dont worry about the fibre glass repairs, its all pretty straightforward. There is a bible of Glassfibre repairs called "How to Restore Fibreglass Bodywork " by a guy called Mile Watkins I think. But also many many web guides.


skylarking808

778 posts

85 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
Great project.

Should be able to fit a smaller steering wheel and boss to help when you get to drive it. Made all the difference to a Porsche 924s I used to have.

Tubes63

Original Poster:

130 posts

129 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
Astacus said:
Dont worry about the fibre glass repairs, its all pretty straightforward. There is a bible of Glassfibre repairs called "How to Restore Fibreglass Bodywork " by a guy called Mile Watkins I think. But also many many web guides.
Cheers,

Just went to grab a copy of this on your recommendation... Not sure what the wife's reaction will be when I tell her I spent nearly £200 on a short used book from the 80s! laugh bodes well for the rest of the project!

Tubes63

Original Poster:

130 posts

129 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
Trev and Jules said:
Looks like a type 65 originally destined for the USA with renault 1647 crossflow engine?
Good luck with this Richard Winter will be on speed dialsmilecool
Quite possible, but I only know as much as the DVLA website at this point and they seem to think it's 1565cc. I'll need to be sure, though so I'll look into it biggrin

Thanks!

CraigyMc

16,309 posts

235 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
Tubes63 said:
Astacus said:
Dont worry about the fibre glass repairs, its all pretty straightforward. There is a bible of Glassfibre repairs called "How to Restore Fibreglass Bodywork " by a guy called Mile Watkins I think. But also many many web guides.
Cheers,

Just went to grab a copy of this on your recommendation... Not sure what the wife's reaction will be when I tell her I spent nearly £200 on a short used book from the 80s! laugh bodes well for the rest of the project!
Miles Wilkins is still in business and it's entirely possible owns moulds to remake body panels for the Europa.

http://www.fibreglassservices.com/

He's a character.

Tubes63

Original Poster:

130 posts

129 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
CraigyMc said:
Miles Wilkins is still in business and it's entirely possible owns moulds to remake body panels for the Europa.

http://www.fibreglassservices.com/

He's a character.
Awesome, just had a look at his website. Love the fact that he doesn't have an email address! I'll definitely be going to him for something at some point.


b2hbm

1,291 posts

221 months

Tuesday 16th May 2017
quotequote all
Hi there,

That's a cracking tale, very unusual to have such a detailed history of a car, especially with such a strong family connection. As already mentioned, Richard at Banks is probably the most knowledgeable guy for these cars and providing you call rather than email I've found him very helpful and he's certainly turned parts around for me quickly.

A couple of other resources you might find useful, firstly there's an email-based group on Yahoo Groups, mostly US based but some Brits and Europeans on there as well. Membership of the group gives access to the "Files" section which covers modifications, etc, that members have done over the years.

There's also Lotus Europa Central http://lotus-europa.com/ which has something called "knowledgebase" on there. That's a collation of the emails from the Yahoo group from year dot and although it takes a bit of getting used to it does cover a load of detail.

Finally there's Joe's forum at http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php, which is a modern format forum and very easy to get along with. Loads of references to suppliers, cross references, etc, Joe has done a pretty good job at pulling it all together. Mostly US based but there are an increasing number of Brits on there who are also doing restorations or building Europa specials. Pop in, you'll be very welcome.

Brian