Another Else Europa.

[Bodzer]

Hi all,

I've just bought a 1970 (registered in 1971 on my birthday coincidentally!) Else Europa. I bought it from Paul Matty's last month and have just got it delivered to my home in Ireland.  It's a PR suffix so after abit of research and help from Andy Graham at Lotus I have found out it is a Type 65 federal S2 Europa that was changed to a UK spec car on the production line.  It was supplied to J.A. Else and son who gave it, as far as I can tell, at least a stage one tune up. A single Weber 45 DCOE 13 and manifold and an Else cam cover.  I did an inventory of the parts that came with the car and thankfully it's not missing too much. Front and rear bumpers, blower and no badges.

It will be a long term project but I'm not New to Lotus.  I started off with a +2 in 2012 and renovated it. In the process of looking for spares I found a great S4 Elan DHC which I couldn't pass up so I sold the +2 to fund the S4 purchase (some may know me as Bombay Racing Green on th lotuselan.net).  With rose tinted hindsight I shouldn't have sold it but that's life! The S4 was already sorted so I've had the itch for another project and I have always liked the looks of the Europa so when this came up I couldn't resist.  My wife wasn't too impressed when she laid eyes on it this afternoon.  Being a farmer's daughter she didn't mince her words. "What's that heap of sh*te!"
A friend suggested I tie red ribbon and bow on in and try to pass it off as a valentines gift.

Being Ireland it was raining heavily so I don't have great photos of its arrival but here are two to keep you going.

Regards,

Pete

[BDA]

   Bodzer!


It sounds like you have some nice Loti there!


I think I would have sold the +2 to get the S4, too. The +2 is nice, but it doesn't do nearly as much for me as the S4 would!


Hopefully the rain will stop long enough for you to post some pictures of both your cars!

[4129R]

My wife wasn't too impressed when she laid eyes on it this afternoon.  Being a farmer's daughter she didn't mince her words. "What's that heap of sh*te!"
A friend suggested I tie red ribbon and bow on in and try to pass it off as a valentines gift.

[EuropaTC]

 

Welcome to the forum Pete, I think you might be the first from the Emerald Isle ?  That's a great find and as you're already steeped in Lotus I'm sure you're going to get a kick out of the project.  The 2 seat Elan is a great companion to a Europa of any variety, get some pictures up !

Brian

[Bodzer]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm probably missing something obvious but when I have chosen a attachment, how do I attach it to the post? I'm on an iPad, should I use a desktop?

[BDA]

There's a size limit for attachments so it would probably be a lot easier on a desktop. There are some tips on changing the resolution of your pictures on the forum to help you get under that limit if you need them. If you can't find them or have trouble, let us know.

[jbcollier]

http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=1379.0

[Roger]

I just saw your post on the Elan forum.
Welcome to the world of Europa. I'm  sure you'll have fun!

[Bodzer]

Thanks Roger.

I haven't had a chance to get to the desktop to resize the photos yet. Perhaps tomorrow. There are pictures still up on Paul Matty's website if people are interested.

Brian, the Europa certainly is a rare beast in Ireland. I know only of two.  Ironically, there was a Europa special for sale just around the corner from me here in Wicklow about two years ago. I spoke to the former owner and he said it went back to England. There about seven or so Elans.  I believe the fifth last Elan Sprint was sold here to a lady in Dublin who still has it! The Sprint sidewinders are still rolled up and in the glove compartment as they were never applied. There are quite a few +2 s though.

I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into the project. The interior is in great condition.  Most the mechanical parts appear to have been carefully removed and refurbished but not put back on yet. After a quick inventory the largest missing parts are the bumpers (I sold my +2 bumper last year thinking " I'll never need that again"! I have obtained both a front an rear bumper of eBay already. There is no blower but I can work around that. It a shame that none of the badges are there. The Else ones would have been a nice addition but I think I can make up some quite easily. The flank badges had a double E in the standard mounting.

My first question. I have the Else exhaust manifold. Does anyone think that a standard silencer will fit?

All the best,

Pete

[Bodzer]

Hi,

After much delay and after more than a little help from a fellow Else Europa owner (thanks Gary!), here are some photos.

I know that the chassis removal procedure calls for 4 persons to lift the body.  However, I've only got myself, the wife(no interest) a 5 year old and 3 year old twins. After three days of thought and research (thanks to Joji aka grumblebuns for the inspiration) I attempted the lift myself with a scissor jack and a small hydraulic jack.  Three days later and the chassis was off and the body was on a cradle. The chassis was in reasonably good condition aft of the tee section but the front itself had reached a religious state i.e. Holy. I've bit the bullet and bought a new chassis from Richard and am looking forward to getting it and get cracking. The previous owner but one thankfully used copious amounts of coppaslip so it was a real pleasure dismantling the chassis. A real change from a previous +2 project which fought me every step of the way.  I haven't managed to find the unit number on the chassis so I believe it to possibly be a replacement item. I've sent off most of the parts to get stripped and powder coated. 

Once the strip down was complete, domestic management ordered that the house was to be painted.  The undercoat was done and then I came down with a nasty chest infection which then resulted in pneumonia! Luckily it was caught early enough and I was only off work for a month. It didn't stop me shopping for parts though.

The previous owner got into contact with me and told me that he found the missing data and emissions plates and wanted to forward them on. I only knew the short VIN that was in the windscreen and on the V5. I've noticed that the DVLA was quite adept at shortening VINs as I've seen it on other Lotus cars. Luckily the number tallied up with the number I agreed with Andy Graham at Lotus.  The previous owner restores mostly Elans but bought this one as the body and interior were in good shape.  He never got round to restoring and just stored it.  He has quite a few Europa spares and, with his permission, I'll try to post it here.

The penultimate photo was the way I used to get the front springs off. I got the idea from the Elan forum.  It worked really well and was a lot safer than the ratchet straps I had used on the rear springs. The final photo shows the situation in the garage at the moment. The +2 is just a body with an ID and was a spur of the moment purchase. The owner was wanted rid of it. As you can imagine, my wife was nonplussed! She said that the pneumonia was the badness coming out!

All for now.  Hope to get more photos up. Thanks once again Gary!

Pete