New Member with S2

[jollygreen]

Hello Forum,
I wish to introduce me & my S2. I own it since december 2019.
I´m currently trying to make it roadworthy, not really a complete restore thing. Have to remove a lot of bricolage from my DPO (does this stand for dumb previous owner?).
But the body and chassis is in a relatively good shape, there are only some repairs to do to get it to the minimum of my standard. I plan to make it roadworthy and drive with it, so right now I put my eye on brakes, suspension, fuel system, engine and dashboard/interior rather than optical outside.
If it turns out to be a thankful car then, it will get it´s full restauration at some day. I do all the work by myself.

The car is VIN no. 7007210599R, chassis plate says body colour is L05 carnival red (it is mostly resprayed with a bit different red). Was brought into service 12.oct.1971 in the Netherlands with license plate 99-57-RX.

I thought that all S2 Fed were intended for the US market. But if my car was built in 1970 (I assume it is as I´ve checked with others that have similar VIN number, should be built 7/21/1970) then I suppose it was never in the US.

Regards,
jollygreen

[lotusfanatic]

Hello Jollygreen!

 

Mark

[jollygreen]

To my person: I´m from Germany (pretty much from the middle of it) and I love working on old cars and motorbikes. I do all work myself, also on my more modern daily driver cars. So the Europa is in good hands right now.
I share a work space with three of my best friends which I know since elementary school, all have the old-motor virus.

Do my posted pictures show up correctly or do I have to resize them?

[Bodzer]

 
Hi Jollygreen,

There was a batch of 1970 S2 Federal Europas that, due to a change in federal requirements, were never exported. They were modified for the UK (and I presume European) market. Hence my S2 has a PR suffix on its VIN. P for Uk and R for Federal. It has the slightly raised lights and side markers.

All the best!

Ps I think the 21 in your vin is the batch number and not the day.

[jollygreen]

My purchase of the car started with the biggest fail that an Europa owner can make: while I transported it on my trailer rear to the front (... every Europa connoisseur knows what comes next...) I drove 300km on the german Autobahn without incident.
As I left it 5km from my home, a gust of wind took under my engine lid, it flew open, cracked at the roof line and rammed into the windscreen. Then it flew away.
Hopefully no following car was taken into this incident.
While driving, I felt nothing of this all, but 500m further as I looked into the rear mirror of my tow car, I saw that all following cars stopped. So I took a halt at he side, got out of the towing car and saw the mess, first just the engine lid missing (thinking: ok, can glue it) then the windscreen (thinking f**k $$$$$).
Just in this moment, the first following car went by and a woman at the wheel said that nothing happened, it (the red ufo) flew over her car.
Then three other cars followed, one of them a Mercedes Sprinter with some guys aboard which I had seen opening their door in 500m distance.
Now comes the sad thing about this incident (and I´m really still fully upset about it): me an my friend went back the 500m to pick up the broken engine lid and it was nowhere to be found!
No broken pieces, nothing. Completely gone. We went hours around there - nothing. So I think someone in one of the following cars took it (stole it). I asked at the police and went by the place several following days, but nothing.
My poor engine lid! I could have repaired it easily. Still have no new one up to this day!

[lotusfanatic]

When I bought my S1A from the US, the previous owner had sent photographs of the car and all was well (as well as restoration projects can be)
The car was subsequently brought back to the UK from the US, however, when the car arrived in the UK, the engine lid was bodged in place with duct tape....
When I removed the tape, the engine lid was smashed to pieces, the tape was effectively holding the remaining parts together!

Some time later, I had another look at the photographs of the car as it left the previous owner's property to be shipped... the haulage company loaded it with the tail end facing forward 
So the journey to the US shipping port was to be the final day that the engine lid existed.

Luckily the car suffered no other damage of note (the windscreen survived intact)   

[BDA]

  jollygreen!!

That's really too bad about your engine cover, as bad as that is, worse things than that have happened and it should be pretty straightforward to repair. It looks like your baby is in pretty decent shape so hopefully you'll be driving her soon.

Your pictures came out fine and I know I speak for everyone here that we'd love to hear and see more about what you do with your car. Are you planning to keep her stock or are you planning any mods?

[bert knip]

Hi Jollygreen, that is indeed a sad story.
I have an engine lid for sale for $200 but is located in Florida USA.
It will be expensive to ship, because of the Covid pandemic.
I went to UPS and they told me shipping whit in the US would be $200, so to Germany it will be more.
Maybe you someone knows a cheaper way?

[dakazman]

  Jolleygreen.
 
   It’s nice to see another 70 S2 Federal!  Hopefully the worse is behind you now, and you can get that Thankful car your seeking.
Dakazman 0453R 👍

[jollygreen]

Hello All, and thank you for the welcome words.
Thanks for the offer with the engine lid, but I´m shure postage will be very expensive. Would be an option if someone imports a whole car and there is some space for transporting the parts in it.
There was a question if I want to keep it stock: I will keep the single Weber DCOE 45 (which is brand new from the PO) and the Hermes-type exhaust manifold which are both non-stock. And I discovered that I have Koni shocks from the early seventies, I will also try to save these.

The engine installed in my car ist engine number 697-04*2793 so this 697-04 the correct engine for the car? Should´nt it be a 821-30?

[Sandyman]

 :Welcome:697-04 is the 1.5 litre engine. (same as mine) Lotus upgraded the engine mid 1970 to the 1.6 L.
Sandy

[jollygreen]

So the 1.5 engine is correct for my car? Always thought the S2 (Fed) has the 1.6 litre? 
In the meantime, while I take pieces of the car for cleaning up and reworking, I make drawings from them (old technical engineers habit (illness)...) - maybe they´re helpful in the future for me or someone else.
Did a drawing of the attachment that connects the lower links to the gearbox last nite. Is not fully finished though.

[jollygreen]

Hello all,
just a sign of life and a question:
Work on my car is going along and I have a new engine lid in the pipeline which will arrive soon. More of that later.

I removed the fuel tank from my car and I want to replace it with a aluminium fuel tank. The original steel tank could be salvaged, it is not in a bad condition but this would be more expensive than just ordering an aluminium tank.
I have a left hand drive car with a LH fuel tank, and therefore I consider converting it to a RH fuel tank. But the RH fuel tanks are only available without fuel sender, so I need to convert this, too. I have to cut a hole for the filler cap in the body, too.

What is you opinion or experience with this? Is the work worth it for the gain in better weight distribution? 

I´ve also read the forum entries with the bad fit of the Banks fuel tank.

[jbcollier]

I would get both a LH and RH tank if you are planning on doing road trips.  I bought two Banks alloy tanks for my S1 and was delighted with the fit and quality.