Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Footer on Thursday,November 07, 2019, 12:49:03 PM
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Hi, I'm brand new to the Community and a new Europa owner after wanting one for a very long time. I have a 73 Twin Cam Special with a five speed . It was immobile for about 40 years before I got it, so it needs much care and attention.
It has the typical door droop that I was able to get level after reading the valuable discussion on the forum from Grumblebuns and others. Now that the door is "level" however, I need to adjust either the Door Latch Mechanism that is mounted on the door, or the Plate-Striker mounted on the door frame. Neither one of these seem to accommodate much movement for adjustment and certainly not enough to correct my alignment issue. I have a workshop manual but it says very little that is helpful.
I need to adjust one or both of these about a 1/4 to 3/8's of an inch total. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.
Thanks!
Footer
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Hi Footer, :Welcome: This is the Achilles heel of the Europa. As far as I can tell the only way to get the latches to work is to adjust the front pin so the latches fit. Then if the seam lines are not equal, shim the bottom pin ends upward.
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Greetings Footer, and :Welcome:
I know this will make some of you cringe, but my passenger door (right door for us yanks) had a bad case of the droops, and after buying a 1-1/8" box wrench to cut a slot into and buying boxes of band-aids for all the skinned knuckles, I looked at the door and thought; if it slipped out of place because someone leaned on it, might it not pop back into place if I lifted it sharply upward? So I did, and it did. The nasty grinding noise of the sandpaper washers was awful, but the door settled back into its proper place, needing only an adjustment of the latch bar on the door frame. (The hole for the striker/latch bar is quite oversized and adjustment was easy.) I'm sure it could slip out of place again if a butterfly lands on the door, but for now it is staying in place and I still have beautiful knuckles!
Tom
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I adjusted mine with out seal and they were perfect. I adjusted both.
A few months later they were dragging. I used a Q tip and put a light coat of lithium grease on the latch and striker and they are great again. Just saying, a light grease may help.
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Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'll reassess my situation and give these all a try.
Clifton, could you clarify your statement "with out seal" for me. I'm not sure what that covers.
Thanks!
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I put new door seals in and then removed them so I would know when the latch was catching while adjusting without the door seal interfering in anyway. The seals have since compressed down some now.
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HI:Its been mentioned but here is a picture of a"doctored" wrench to get at adjustments.
It does take patience and penetrating oil because most of the time there is enough rust in the picture to cause severe swearing.
I ended up cutting the pin,driving the whole mess out and replacing the upper and lower bushings along with a new pin.
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Hello Footer!
:Welcome:
I hope that you get to fix the lock/latch....
Mark
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:Welcome:
I’ve had my doors apart a number of times and adjusted them to get the best fit during my restoration. It’s a two man job and requires a lot of patience. As already mentioned, you might need to add additional washers on the bottom hinge to “shim” the door up to the right height.
I used cardboard folded over as the gauge for the proper gap and height of the door closed while adjusting/tightening the nuts on the door hinges. Once I got the door adjusted, then I loosened the latch and striker plate (the plate has a fair amount of adjustment, the latch does not). It took several adjustments to get it right, but finally closed the way it’s supposed to.
I’ve spoke to a number of Europa owners about the doors. If you take them apart they are never like the factory assembly. But at this stage of a Europa’s life you really don’t have a choice (it took me two days to remove the very rusty OEM hinges with a cutting wheel).
Good luck! I feel your pain :beerchug:
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:Welcome: Footer!
I wish I could help you with your doors but I have a different hinge arrangement and I claim no particular skill in this (or any) department. You're in good hands with the rest of the guys here.
When you get a chance, why don't you post some pictures of your baby and tell us about your plans for her.
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Thanks to everyone for the information I was looking for. I now have a re-positioned door that fits, closes and seals the way it was intended. It took me some time and there was the learning curve to get over, but now I'm happy with the results!
Here are a couple of pictures of my Lotus. I haven't been able to do it justice with lots of pictures, but this gives us a fair image of it's condition.
Between the seller and me, we came to the conclusion that it had been in storage since 1976 or 77. Not much to go on here other than the license plate on the car. Only 22,000 miles and the starter motor would spin the engine so it wasn't frozen. I sent it off to the machine shop to go through it and determine what, if any, rebuilding needs to be done other than changing all of the seals and gaskets. The seller had started to refurbish it so lots of parts were in pieces from the process. I've been putting things back together and doing some cleanup in the process. The Vin number is 73023090R and it's a numbers match with engine and six speed transaxle. My short range plans are to have it road worthy and drive able by the spring/early summer of 2020. Long range might include a new paint job since there are many nicks, scratches, etc that need to be fixed, although this aren't obvious until you get right next to the car. I first became interested in the Europa back in the early/mid seventies and have had them in the back of my mind ever since so I'm pretty pumped to now have one. Coincidentally, Motor Trend magazine did an article in April, 1974, on all of the mid engine sports cars available at the time(Fiat X1/9, Maserati Bora, Pantera, Ferrari Dino, Porsche 914 , Lotus Europa). I still have that copy. Periodically, I would pull it out and dream. Great stuff.
Thanks again!
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She looks like a great car to start with! I would say that I doubt it has a 6 speed. I think you mean a 5 speed in which case you have a 365 tranny. One of your projects should be to make sure your shift linkage is in good shape. Now that the engine is out, it would be a great time to tackle that. Another thing you might consider is replacing the transfer tubes with stainless steel replacements. Gas tanks are often a problem in these old cars. If the budget allows, I would advise aluminum replacements for them and your swirl tank but the steel is reparable and serviceable if not. The aluminum radiators available on fleabay are a nice addition but, again, your stock radiator can be checked over by a good radiator shop.
Good luck and keep us informed of your progress!
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You're right on that one, it should have said five speed.
Thanks!
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Just keep us in the loop about your progress and post lots of pictures and we'll call it even! ;D
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:Welcome:
Footer,
Very nice starting point, I hope you a speedy return of your car from the machinist. Your can looks to be in excellent shape. Your door looks perfect.
Keep posting pics of your build. Remember it’s the story of your car for future generations.
Dakazman
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Hello Footer, and welcome to the forum. Your Europa is beautiful, but I may be biased as it looks identical to mine. Curiously, your story is similar as well. Mine was put in storage in 1979 with 28,000 on the clock, and sat there for 30 years before being liberated.
The tawny colour is not well liked by some, but it is one of my favourite of the Europa colours. Like yours, my paint is far from great. I like that it is original paint, and I don't have a problem with patina or honest aging, so it will be staying as it is for some time to come.
A word of warning: If your paint is like mine, do not put a car cover or tarp over the car when it is wet or damp. The paint will be indelibly marked by horrible light brown discolouration. Words of experience...
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Thanks Bainford.
Thanks for the advice on wet paint/car covers. For me, this was also not my first choice but I do like it. I'm trying to keep it as original as possible without selling the house. My car has not been repainted.q
Out of curiosity, my data plate incorrectly lists the paint color as "L15" which is gloss black. Is your data plate accurate regarding paint color?
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my data plate incorrectly lists the paint color as "L15" which is gloss black. Is your data plate accurate regarding paint color?
Sounds like a typo or stamping error. My tag states the paint code as L16, which is correct for Tawny paint.
Curiously though, there IS a stamping error on my tags (or engine block). The Engine ID number on the tag does not match the engine stamping as two of the adjacent digits have been swapped around.
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I've found a crowsfoot wrench useful for adjusting the doors. It lets me tighten the lower nut from inside the car with the door shut, reducing trial and error for an acceptable fit. A good fit still eludes me :)