Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: JeffBatt on Thursday,August 05, 2021, 03:25:58 PM
-
New member, just wanted to say hi!
Been working on ‘73 Special 2730R / JPS #003 for about the past 9 months, probably have at least that much still yet to go. Purchased as a stalled project with the bodywork completed, needed almost everything else!
Engine rebuild should be complete in a couple weeks and then the real work can begin :)
-
:Welcome: JeffBatt!!
Tell us more about your JPS! I’m sure I speak for everybody else here when I say we’d all like to see more pictures of your baby!
-
Thanks!
This is my second restoration and my biggest concern is figuring out the fuel injection stuff that it came with - sort of tempting to switch to Mikunis or something but I figure I should give FI a try since I have the parts. Well, most of them anyway :)
In addition to the engine rebuild, I had to have the front T of the chassis straightened a bit (right side had been pushed back about 1/4”), and a rusty patch repaired under where the carbs normally go.
Anyway, it’s been a more involved project than I originally imagined, but that’s how it goes! Looking forward to actually driving the thing next year. Fingers crossed.
-
Thanks for the pictures!
Fuel injection, eh?! This sounds like an interesting project. Are you planning on other mods or are you going to keep it pretty stock? That black paint looks great! Keep us up to date on your progress.
-
Is it a five speed? Also, I can't see from the photo (its fuzzy) if you have throttle bodies. Were the injectors installed in a modified head? I assume it is a stromberg head.
-
I’m trying to basically do stock but with some minor upgrades, such as shocks, Dave Bean water pump, upgraded control arms, things like that. I am planning on deleting the brake boosters (have a slightly resized MC), and doing other minor things like aluminum fuel tanks as well. I also ended up using polycarbonate side and quarter windows.
It has a Stromburg/Federal head. The injectors were installed but I have to go through everything to confirm how it was done anyway. There’s a lot of wiring involved, would never have done this if I had been the one to start the project but, you know.
This is also my first black car :)
-
Also yes. It’s a five speed. Trying to save the original knob actually.
The knob is going to have a little patina!
-
I also -had- an ashtray but the metal parts were lost by the chrome guy >:(
-
Ah… the ashtray! Those can actually be found. Do search on this forum and other cars who share the same ashtray. You may have to buy it from somebody in Australia or South Africa! Good luck!
-
I might fill the space with rally timers, similar to what I did on my MGB’s radio space. Long way away at this point, though.
-
:Welcome:
JeffBatt
Wow, they did a great job on the body. I’m a fan of the Black 🙌 .
Congratulations on finding 003. Looking forward to reading your journey, post often with pictures. I see you have that down pat.
Dakazman
-
I am a big proponent of fuel injection if you are not going to keep the strombergs. You can get the car to run perfectly using a laptop computer, and, you will get more horsepower since there is no carburetor pressure drop at wot. Does your system also control ignition?
I look forward to hearing how you get on.
-
Thanks, everyone.
The bodywork is pretty good, I’d probably classify it as a very nice driver. I think when all is said and done the car should look pretty good.
Regarding the fuel injection - it does seem promising and worth attempting. Will have to see how the engine ends up, had to have some significant rework done, unfortunately the previous rebuild had problems.
-
More various pictures and parts.
-
Your JPS is pretty rare. Only a handful of Fed-spec JPS Europa were built in 1972 because of the unavailability of the 5 speed transmission for Fed-spec cars. Nearly all of the first batch of 5 speeds were allocated for the first 100 UK Domestic version of the JPS. Most Fed-spec JPS were built early 1973. That being said the regular TCS did not even have the 5 speed option till late Dec/72. Pfreen has one of the earliest non-JPS TCS Fed-spec 5 speeds. And with factory A/C. There is another JPS 5 speed down in West Palm Beach, FL. His is also a Sep/72 car like yours with badge #007. My TCS is an Oct/72 TCS 2758R with the base 352 4 speed. About 250 Fed-spec TCS were built during the 1972 production year.
:Welcome:
-
Welcome to the forum, Jeff. Gorgeous Europa. Best of luck with the restoration. cheers :beerchug:
-
Thanks again, everyone!
To answer the ignition question yes, I believe it’s all controlled through the Emerald ECU and I have a Ford coil pack
Heritage sheet, I hadn’t realized a 5-speed was that rare at this point. Sept ‘72 build, issued from the factory in October. I wish I had the original wheels but alas.
-
Also yes. It’s a five speed. Trying to save the original knob actually.
The knob is going to have a little patina!
Maybe this will be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1ykpfB-tks
-
Thank you!
-
Spent a little time on the shift knob today, this isn’t what I expected but I kind of like it!
-
Nice job! :beerchug:
-
Thanks!
Where it started:
-
Good save! :beerchug:
-
Thanks! I wasn’t sure this was going to be salvageable in all honesty. :beerchug:
-
Switch gear and gauges, mix of refurbished and new.
THANKS SHERMAN, for the ashtray!! :beerchug:
-
Nice looking bits, Jeff! They will look good in your car!
-
Thanks! Itching to get the engine/chassis back so I can really get back to work on this thing!
-
Well, this isn’t good. Last guy totally killed the left rear hub axle. Yikes.
-
Bummer! That probably took some effort! At least replacements are readily available.
-
Yeah just started reaching out to the normal places.
Anyone know if these are the same between the Twincam and Special?
-
Yes, they are the same.
-
Great, thank you!
-
Fuel tanks!
-
Nice tanks! Were did you get them?
-
Thanks!
https://www.asheritage.com/
-
Looking at these windshield trim pieces I got from Banks…not sure how well these are going to work together.
-
I hope that's more promising than it looks. I don't know if you want take another swipe at the windshield surround but i THINK r.d. has a set with corners that match. It's not cheap as I remember.
-
Yeah, I emailed RD yesterday and he said this looks like what he has in stock right now, hmm… might look around to see what reasonable other options there are for the plastic pieces.
-
I think when I needed it, r.d. had the good stuff with matching corners but if it's not available, it's not available.
When I replaced my windshield, I used some stuff from SportWing. I got the idea from this thread (http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=291.0 - the link 3929R gave is now stale. I think this is the stuff we used but certainly didn't need a 60' roll: https://www.sportwing.com/Extruded-Moldings-Trim/AB10060-R-All-Brite-Molding). It is certainly not perfect. It generally looks pretty good. Because it's flat on the bottom, care must be taking to keep it aligned when you glue it to the car and mine has a place that's a little off. Because it's 1" wide, it doesn't fit the corners exactly. On the good side, it doesn't have foil in it so there is no wrinkling.
If I were smart and the r.d. stuff was as good as I thought it was, I would have used that but I'm not unhappy with what I have. I might exhaust my possibilities before I got it by checking with the usual suspects - DBE, JRE, SJ Sports Cars, Kelveden (although it's really inexpensive, assuming you can get less than 60', so it might be worth buying some and checking it out)
-
I recently read of someone slightly bending/curving the corners to match the linear trim. (Sorry, can't remember where.) Could that work?
-
Thanks for the advice, guys, got some work to do here. Looking around, all the “Lotus” trim being sold is what I already have. I wonder if it fits better when you actually install it?
The 60-ft roll BDA linked looks pretty good, too..
-
JeffBatt, this is what I did for windshield trim. I posted sometime back. PM me if you want the details.
Thought I would share the windshield trim I made. I was not happy with the trim currently available, the shape just doesn’t match the corner pieces. Anyway here is what I did;
Used 3/16” cedar plywood formed by clamping to the windshield and body to get the correct shape, top and bottom pieces. This took weeks by wetting, bending and the letting the wood dry and starting over. The plywood pieces were left wide, about 12”, which made the bending easier as there are compound curves involved. The bottom piece was particularly hard to bend and get to conform. The sides pieces where easy, basically straight but they do have a slight inside/outside twist to them. Once the plywood was formed, it was cut into strips so it could be slipped/ inserted into the corner pieces. To get the triangular shape to match the corners, I epoxied sheet metal strips .040 thick to the cedar, then used a flexible body filler to create the bevel. Sanded and epoxy primed the pieces. I have yet to cover the pieces with a chrome body wrap but a practice piece worked out very well. After the windshield is installed I will epoxy the pieces to the windshield with a urethane adheasive.
This was a huge amount of work to say the least.
-
Kram, this sounds amazing, very interested to see how that all turns out! A huge effort!
As with my other restoration, it seems like “new” trim parts are a real mess sometimes. Restored original beats new every day of the week…
-
Been awhile, finally got the engine/chassis back, redoing the suspension, brake lines, etc. lots of things to fix! Front suspension work already has to be re-done with new fulcrum pins.
-
Everything looks great! :beerchug:
-
Thanks! So glad to be able to make progress again. Hope to be able to get the body back on the chassis in a month or so, and maybe drive it at least once before thanksgiving.
The car came with stuff to convert for Fuel Injection, still not sure if I’m going to take that on, or just try Mikunis.
-
Looking great! Keep up the good work :lotus:
-
Thanks!!