Dragged Another One Home Pt.2, Saga of Sabbath 2098R

[Grumblebuns]

A good friend of mine passed away last year and I promised his wife that I would help get his stored Twin Cam Europa running and sell it for her. Almost a year and a half later that time has finally come. With the help of a friend and fellow Europa owner Larry Mullin and Greg, his son in law, we dragged the 72 TC out from its resting place for the last 10-15 years out into the open and onto the trailer (Pics 1-6). The Europa had been stored under a tarp covered temporary carport with the windows down and the carb openings open without an air filter. Even with the mild southern California weather, we do have some weather that will corrode and rot car parts. Out in the morning sun, we finally got to see what Whit, the owner had done to the car under his ownership.
The Europa is a repainted weathered black 1972 Twin Cam with a 336 transaxle, probably one of the very early TCs,  VIN 2098R. The first detail one notices are the very tastefully done, in my opinion,  wheel flares. The flares and the 7x13 BBS wheels fitted with 225/50/13 BFGoodrich tires make the car appear to sit really low and the flares beautifully wrap just around the top of the tires.The other items in the back suspension are the Koni rear shocks and the polished or chromed adjustable lower links.
The engine compartment is where Whit spent most of his time. The major modification is the installation of a dry sump system and the associated components. The oil tank is located in the usual spot, the rear quarter.  For some reason, he deleted the secondary butterfly manifold and the Strombergs are bolted directly to the head with a balance tube fitted onto the head behind each inlet flange. The headers are of unknown origin but do not look homemade.
Except for the 5 point seat belts the interior looks fairly stock. Seats look to be in decent condition with one seam split visible. The carpets are probably original and look like it.
According to Whit’s wife, when the car was put into storage, it was in running condition. She could hear Whit start up the car every so often, probably a lot less so in the latter years. If that’s the case, initial start up should be relatively straight forward, the biggest concern being the uncovered carb intakes. There is no timeline on getting this car started but I’ll work on it as time between the other projects in line allows.

[Grumblebuns]

More pictures

[BDA]

Good for you for helping out your buddy’s widow!

It looks like an interesting car but it might take a lot of work to get it sorted. One good thing is the oil tank is in a good place so hopefully you won’t have the draining problems I’ve had.

[Grumblebuns]

BDA, I also know that you have a dry sump system on your Europa. When you change your oil, does all of the new oil go into the oil tank or do you pour some in the crankcase? Assuming that there is no back leakage from the oil tank to the sump, how much oil comes out of the sump when you drain it?

Back to the original subject, Whit unfortunately left two Europas behind for his wife to deal with. His second Europa is a S1, don't know what year. The car is currently sitting on the top of a four post lift relatively inaccessible with all the garage junk and car parts blocking the way. Sometime after Christmas, I'll start moving the junk out of the way and start evaluating the S1 for sale.   

[BDA]

I probably should change the oil at least once a year but I’ve gone by mileage instead. Anyway it seems that usually an oil change is part of a bigger project and it ends up with taking the tank out and cleaning it.

But I think for a regular oil change you would just drain the tank and pan. I have a drain plug on the bottom of my tank to help with that. Thankfully, I have access to it. With the tank behind the wheel, you need to get a little creative. There generally isn’t much oil in the pan (that’s the idea, right?) but it should be drained anyway. I can’t say how much oil collects in the pan if there’s no leakage because my oil tank will drain after a week of not running. The reason is that my tank is too high. That’s why where your buddy put it is better. One of my brake boosters is there so I’m stuck with the arrangement I have.

[Bainford]

Very sorry to hear about your friend, Joji. The Europa has a sweet stance. Those 50 series 13" tires look huge on the Europa, and the flares are indeed tasteful and purposeful. Good luck getting it sorted. Is the engine internally modified? Did Whit leave behind any notes, or will this be entirely a work of discovery?

[Grumblebuns]

Unfortunately during our numerous conversations, Whit talked about Sabbath a few times but I've forgotten most of it. Like you said, this will be discovering things for myself as I proceed with getting this car running. I've attached a couple of pictures showing just how low the 215/50/13 tires make Sabbath look compared to my other TC with 205/60/13s. The pictures may be a bit misleading since the blue TC on the right has no motor installed, just the transaxle and has mismatched rear shocks. The bottom spring perch on the drivers/left side is about an inch higher than the right hand side causing the left corner to be jacked up a bit. Still, I think the 215/50 series tires make the Europa look the way it should.

Did more looking around the underside of the car this morning and found that Whit had installed rear disc brakes.

[BDA]

That car sounds better and better!

It’s a real shame your buddy wasn’t able to finish it and drive it.

[GavinT]

Hi Grumbles,

Very sad to hear about Whit. He always came across as a knowledgeably, enthusiastic and affable guy with a sense of humour.
It's funny how after 20 years on the old Yahoo list, you get to know some people even though geography means you'll likely never meet them.

Sabbath was legendary and the way it sits always looked 'right'.
Kudos to you for helping out Emmy, I recall was his wife's name?

Cheers,
Gavin

[Grumblebuns]

You have a good memory, Gavin. Whit's wife was indeed Emmy. Whit had always been pretty analytical in how he approached things he was working on, probably from his engineering background. Once I get Sabbath running and roadworthy, it will be interesting to see how he set the car up. The tires currently on it are relatively new, you can see the remnants of the tire stickers still on them. 

[dakazman]

       Those flares are identical to mine 👍👍
 
    I can’t wait to see your progress.
Dakazman

[LotusJoe]

Joji,
Sorry to hear we have lost Whit. He had been with us from the start... A lot of years. Glad you were able to rescue his projects.

[Kendo]

Joji, I just did a quick search of "Sabbath" on the groups.io site and got ~300 hits. So you might find some clues there.

[yellow16TS]

Looking forward to hearing the progress on Sabbath. I like the body modifications that Whit did. The wheels give it a great stance.

[Grumblebuns]

If Emmy's (Whit's wife) memory is correct, 2098R was running when parked for the last time. If so, should be a matter of looking the car over, changing oil, coolant, battery and turning the engine over to make sure it's not stuck. In the mean time I'll start going over what Whit posted about Sabbath on all of the Europa mail lists over the years (thanks Kendo for pointing me in the right direction).

I'm looking closely at the wheel flares on Sabbath. As I said previously they are one of the better looking ones out there and I keep wondering of their origins. I don't think Whit made them himself. They look awfully similar to the ones put out by Tomco Engineering sometime in the late 70s and early 80s. I did a trial fit on a set with my S2 with a set I've had for years to see how they looked, my initial impression wasn't too good, a bit too bulbous and cartoonish for my taste so I put them away. However, looking at the same apparent flares on Sabbath, I've changed my mind. The flares are relatively subtle though the fronts may still be a bit too bulbous but professionally installed, I think they look pretty good. Some pictures are attached.

Pic 1&2 are my stock bodied S2
Pic 3&4  is Sabbath
Pic 5 is cracked wheel arch on S2 with 185/60/13 tires, may need flares?
Pic 6 are the flares
rest are flares taped to my S2