Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Le Saint on Sunday,February 21, 2021, 09:39:59 AM
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Hello everyone, I just got "my" Europa. It is a project, for the moment it does not roll! It is under renovation, the project having been abandoned by the previous owner, I am taking over. I'm Philippe, 53 years old. My Europa is a 4 speed Big valves built in July 1972.I don't speak English so this is a Google translation. Soon some pictures, best regards.
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:Welcome: Le Saint!!
I took three years of French in high school but unfortunately it was wasted. Thank goodness for google translate!
I know we all are looking forward to seeing pictures of the progress of your baby and canno wait to see the final result!
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Bonjour Philippe,
bienvenue sur le forum et Bonne chance avec la Restauration.
nous aimerions voir des photos
Salute
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Welcome!
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Glad to have you with us Philippe!
We love pictures...
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:Welcome: Ce forum est un endroit idéal pour se faire des amis du monde entier qui ont une chose en commun. Nous aimons tous la Lotus Europa. Bienvenue sur le forum.
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:Welcome: Le Saint,
X2 what literary said... 🤷🏼♂️.
Dakazman
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Bienvenue Philippe!
:Welcome:
Mark
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Thank you for your welcome. A small assessment, a lot of things have been done but the former owner threw in the towel, no more money! So the electricity is a total mess, nothing is tight, the dashboard is not there, nor the cap of the dashboard, the windshield is removed, the paint has been redone but not well. In terms of train, brake etc. lots of new but nothing is tight, settled ...Lots of positive points, new carpet, redone seats, engine: rectified cylinder head, valves, rectified crankshaft, new brakes, new suspensions (bearings maybe?) So this car is a project ;)
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I am very interested to have pictures of the same model: Europa Twin Cam 1972 4 speed to serve as a model and guide
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Check out this very long set of posts which documents the restoration of a Europa Twin Cam.
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=1704.msg15486#msg15486
Have fun!
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Le Saint,
Here is a good place to start :😃
http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/index.htm
Another site, with pictures of your model and maybe your serial number here.
http://www.lotus-europa.com/regspcl.html
Dakazman
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Merci la Floride ;)
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Certified has an excellent build thread with lots of pictures. Search for "Restoration of 2358R"
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Welcome to the forum Le Saint, and to the world of Europa ownership. Good luck with your project. Cheers :beerchug:
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Welcome Le Saint. :Welcome:
Congratulations on your purchase. Like you, I use Google Translate. But I didn't think I would have to use it for a Frenchman. Every September there is a gathering of Lotus Europe and Europa in France. Maybe the opportunity to see type 74. There are not many! More Renault engines.
,
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Quelques photos :
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Great photos, Le Saint! She looks like a great platform for you!
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Looks like a good starting point. Thanks for the pictures 👍👍
Why do you think that it doesn’t roll ?
Dakazman
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In fact nothing is finalized, electric to review, blocked gearbox, brakes to bleed, suspensions to be adjusted, undercarriage and bearing to tighten, windshield to glue, interior to be finished, paintwork to be reviewed and maybe surprises ...
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Nice looking Europa. Looks like lots of good work done so far. The aluminum cylinder head sure does gleam.
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In fact nothing is finalized, electric to review, blocked gearbox, brakes to bleed, suspensions to be adjusted, undercarriage and bearing to tighten, windshield to glue, interior to be finished, paintwork to be reviewed and maybe surprises ...
Oh good , I thought it was engine or gearbox failure.
Dakazman
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Hi all. My Europa is wheeling the front wheels are too high and the rear is too low! The shocks are new, do you think there is an inversion between the front and the rear for mounting the shocks?! ...I will take pictures of the new shock absorbers, they are yellow and the brand is STAX
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TCs have a higher nose than the S2s because of headlight height regulations (primarily in the US, I think). But from the pictures you posted, it looks like your nose is even high compared to that.
Do your shocks have adjustable spring perches? Do you know the rate and free length of your springs? Knowing that would be helpful.
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Voilà les photos :
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That rear shock looks like the spring perch is adjusted to its lowest setting. From the picture, it looks like you can raise the rear another couple of inches at least.
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d'autres photos
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It looks like you can lower the spring perches on your front shocks about an inch will lower the nose about a half inch. Keep in mind that when you change the ride height, you'll have to roll the car around so the suspension will settle before you get an accurate view of the height of the car.
If, after lowering your spring perches in the front, you are still unsatisfied with the height of the nose of your car, you will have to consider trying shorter springs. As I mentioned before, knowing the spring rate and free length of the springs would be very useful.
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Hard to see clearly but are the front springs settled on the adjustable perches? - they look to be caught above them.
Are the springs the correct diameter?
As BDA has said, do you know what length the front springs are?
Also, have all the bolts etc been tightened at the front? May be worth loosening everything, loading it correctly and retightening as a starting point before trying to adjust the spring perches.
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Good eye and points, JR73!
This might be a good time to remind Le Saint that the nuts on the front suspension pivot pins should be tightened at ride height. The reason for this is that if you tighten them at full droop, the rubber in the bushings will tear when the suspension bounces.
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Thank you for your answers, it is not for tomorrow that this suspension problem should be seen, but I will carefully keep your leads for the day when it will have to be fixed. Thanks guys ;)
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Hello everyone, I'm trying to find out if: the mirror that I had with my Europa is original? It is "old" but is it a model which was fitted to the TCs for the United States? Thank you in advance for your insight.
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That's just a generic, old mirror. Not original from the factory. Might have been installed by the selling dealer, or , more likely, a previous owner.
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The original mirrors were Sebring brand with chromed cast pot metal covers. These are very rare but I found these on fleabay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chrome-genuine-SEBRING-Mirrors-Porsche-mercedes-bmw-vw-audi-Fiat-Ferrari-talbot/114202776920?hash=item1a97041558:g:6-IAAOSwkm1fU33a). The pot metal covers were later replaced with plastic covers in either black or chrome like this (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fiat-124-Spider-AS-BS-CS-Sebring-Mach1-Mirror-Black/313313091233?hash=item48f2ea5ea1:g:RMoAAOSwg3FUoY0k). The mirrors were mounted on black plastic pedestals. I believe r.d. has made reproductions.
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The sebring mirrors were OEM at some point but definitely not with the S1 and at least early S2.
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As usual, I forgot to specify that I was talking about the TC and TCS and not earlier models. Apologies. I did check to make sure Le Saint had a TC though. :)
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Thank you gentlemen, and yes my Europa is a Twin cam (not special), so I have an old bad mirror which is not original ... I will find another solution. If you have a photo of a 1972 TC for reference I'd be happy to, thank you again. ;)
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I just did a search for "Lotus Europa Twin Cam" and looked at the Images and found some. Here's one: https://www.berlinetta-auctions.co.uk/weekly/car-detail/lot-33-1972-lotus-europa-twin-cam-special-jps
The Sebring mirrors are good. In fact they were used on F1 race cars back in the day. The passenger side mirror on the TC was only for looks. It was completely useless to the driver.
How original do you want to be? The mirrors I linked above for $450/pair are the most original you'll be able to get. The plastic version in chrome would be next. I think mirrors are one of those things for which most people who are concerned about originality are willing to accept alternates (I may be making an assumption here because I am not concerned about originality and don't know how those who are think) so you may want to update your mirrors and set them up so the passenger mirror is useful as well.
The nice thing is that the choice is yours! :)
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I am like a walker on a thread, keeping what is "original" and accepting to see points renovated. Currently the car does not have a mirror fitted. So if I find 1, in good condition and close to the original from 1972, it's nice. Now I am not ready to pay 250 € or 250 dollars for a "piece of plastic" you have to see ... Thank you for all the advice. (the devil is in the details, always ...)
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If you google "sebring mirror chrome", there are lots of reasonably priced options.