I guess I wasn't clear on the floor... I am still waiting for the integrity-less contractors to get the heater and pump hooked up. Went through the first bad storm last night, and it was nice not having to hear the tent garage get all @#&^% beat out of it all night! I spent the day today working on my friend's Triumph Spitfire. We were given a 1500 for free (actually expenses for a road trip to Salem, Oregon and back is all we have into it) to replace his 1300, which suffered from a broken top ring and piston/cylinder damage to #3. So there were all the nice parts laid out to see -- the front suspension, the steering rack, front sway bar, rear side marker lights, all parts borrowed by Lotus for the Europa. And lovely Mini-Lite style Panasport wheels, like those on my MGB. There is a nice wooden steering wheel in it, but I like the stock Europa one, provided I stitch the new leather cover onto it during the restoration process it will be nice and original. I have seen indications that the headliner material is no longer available for the Europa, and Banks has a fabric that doesn't look like the original at all. I will attempt to recoat the yellow stained intact headliner with upholstery paint, if possible. I had been thinking of "modernizing" the interior with newer looking items -- the seats will need rebuilding and therefore an opportunity to upgrade the interior when they are covered. So far I wanted to car to look as original as possible, but had wanted to switch the car's wiring system over to one with (in my case 21) more fuses, get away from the ammeter, maybe hiding the newer voltmeter guts in the old ammeter housing, and eliminating the old chrome plated ashtray and interior lights between the seats. Going too far?
