Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: TurboFource on Saturday,February 01, 2020, 06:27:28 AM
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When looking at an Europa can you actually see the "T" section of the frame to inspect it while the body is still on ? Maybe with an inspection scope?
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since 99.9% of the time any rust is along the bottom, it is clearly visible from underneath. all the critical suspension points are also clearly visible from underneath and from the wheel wells. I don't believe "cracks" are an issue at all. So body on inspections should be sufficient.
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Not in an S1 but all the others, yes.
On an S1 the front of the T is open to the front compartment. Reach in with an ice pick and poke HARD at the bottom and corners. Next lift off the centre armrest and reach in a poke around in there as well.
On S2 and up you need to get the car up on stands or a hoist to get underneath. Again, get vicious with the ice pick.
Very, very carefully inspect where the front lower a-arms attach to the frame. Any distortion means the frame has to come out for major repair or replacement.
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Thanks for advice!
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Are detailed drawings available for frames? Just thinking ahead........I was an aircraft welder and machinist in the Air Force and repaired SR-71 and other aircraft parts....I am sure I could repair a Europa frame if need be ???
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Here's a drawing for S2
http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/Lotus%20europa%20chassis%20drawing.pdf
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The S2 workshop manual has pretty detailed drawings for those frames (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/diagrams/index.htm). There are also some drawings here (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1szP1L6-cHpjrGMF2dAiyQrY_aR-ZWDJM) but I haven't seen one for the TC. I'm sure that if you worked on SR-71s (Yousa!!) and there is a significant amount of a frame left that you'll be able to recreate (and even improve) a frame. If you do get caught up in that project, try to expand access to things like the steering u-joint, e-brake adjustment, shift linkage and shift lever. I have an early Spyder (before they went to their tube frame. It has much better access to those areas. Richard's (Europa Engineering) frames have a similar treatment for the front 'T' section (https://www.lotus-supplies.com/part-category/chassis/).
SR-71, eh!!!! What an amazing bird to work on! I'm more than impressed!
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I was stationed at Beale AFB when they retired the SR-71. It was impressive!
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I've seen the one at the Air & Space museum at Dulles. Too cool!
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There's also a CAD model of the front T piece here
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=3020
S2 frames commonly crack at the junction between the backbone and the front T, at the bottom. I don't think there's a way to get sight of it without lifting the body off. It's a design flaw.
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Hi Gideon,
will you be creating a CAD model of the S1 chassis?
Mark
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Thanks!
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will you be creating a CAD model of the S1 chassis?
No. I made the CAD model of the T cross piece (front box) for the S2 frame because I planned to remake that part for my project. But when I saw the S2 frame listed at R.D. Enterprises I decided to take the easy route and buy that. Thanks go to BDA for posting the link. So now I won't be making that piece, but I will do a little bit of work to strengthen the connection between the backbone and the front box.
You are welcome to take what I have done and adapt or improve it as you see fit. If you do it would be nice if you also share your work with the community.
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since 99.9% of the time any rust is along the bottom, it is clearly visible from underneath. all the critical suspension points are also clearly visible from underneath and from the wheel wells. I don't believe "cracks" are an issue at all. So body on inspections should be sufficient.
When I took the body off my TC there was quite a bit of rust on top of the frame, invisible from underneath. It wasn't enough to have made much penetration, but clearly would have in time.
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On my TCS there was rust on the top of the chassis and down the sides at the beginning of the Y section and going forward towards the gear stick. It was quite pitted but no penetration. This is impossible to see with the bodywork on.
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I plan to pull body off the frame when I get a car to evaluate it's condition and repair and preserve as necessary.
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My original frame looks pretty good I think (??) - after removing rust and underseal - but I worry about the bits I cant see.
Has anyone thought about creating an access plate to inspect the front of the frame - either from the front boot/trunk - or the footwell??
Does anyone know what treatment was given to the chassis/frame after leaving the factory??
Steve
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You could consider buying or borrowing an inspection camera. There are some very inexpensive ones available online, as in less than ten quid, so you can pick your price point.
If you're not planning to take the body off then how are you going to protect all that bare metal? I can see surface corrosion inside the frame through the big hole in the front face - so some sort of internal frame treatment is in order.
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Does anyone know what treatment was given to the chassis/frame after leaving the factory?
Do you mean did Lotus do anything to the frame? You mean other than painting it? I don't think anything else was done. I believe anything else that was done was done by the PO.
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I treated the bits I could access with hammerite. I managed to get a vacuum cleaner into the front box section and after took photos with a small camera. Ive bought dynax S50 to treat that area. There is evidence of condensation in the winter. It looks like there is some silver paint on parts of the frame - perhaps that is the original factory finish.
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Just came across this pic of when I removed the body from my '74 TCS. The padding on top of the "T" was not compressed, and this was the only area of rust, on the frame. But, as you can see, was fairly severe.
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I think that jute used in the stock padding retains moisture and made frame rot worse than it might be. After the frame is repaired (and modified), replace the jute with closed cell neoprene foam. I believe I used 3/8" thickness. r.d. enterprises sells it. I would think that Dave Bean, Lotus Supplies, SJ, etc. also sell that or something equivalent.
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The Foam Factory is another option for closed cell foam, and many other types of foam products- acoustical, etc...