1974 TCS. Parked 20 years.

[ottocycle]

Hello all.
I am a newbie here and wanted advice from some experienced members. I have just bought a TCS with 25,000 miles that last drove in 1995. It has been kept well and is all original. I believe it is a rare car in this condition and I do not want to restore it, they are ONLY ORIGINAL ONCE. It has no brakes and a noisy throw out bearing (I think) and will need a good going through before I can put it back on the road. It is in running condition and too nice to modify but I want to use the car and will consider reversible upgrades to improve reliability. I am thinking of doing the following:

1). New tires (suggestions?).
2). New belts and hoses (anything unusual here?).
3). Change fluids and give her a tune up.
4). Fix brakes. Pedal is on the floor. I am concerned about corrosion in the cylinders and lines.  Do I just run fluid through the lines to clean them or what? If I get the system up to pressure and the cylinders hold fluid without leaking, does that give them a clean bill of health?  Should I just replace everything? (I heard about removing the brake booster. What is the story behind that? Does a 1500 lb. car need boosted brakes?).
5). With such low mileage I would think the suspension bushings should be still good. Do they age well or should they be replaced as a matter of course even if they have no play?
6). What about shock absorbers?

Any other suggestions?

Thank you.

[EuropaTC]

Hi, and 

That sounds a very nice little project you have there. I'm on the other side of the pond so can't help with things like tyres, but there's plenty more folks who can point you in the right direction.

1. Tyres - yes after 25yrs the old rubber will not be as grippy as new.
2. Belts/hoses. Nothing tricky here, all available but some are unique to the Europa so it will be easier to source them through a specialist. If all else fails, there are UK Specialists (Banks) who ship globally.

3. Engine/gearbox oil - yes, also consider air filter (inspect at least) new plugs & contact breaker points/condenser. Electronic ignition is an option but I'd wait until you have it running first. Once you have the engine fired up, personally I'd change the coolant as the antifreeze is also a corrosion inhibitor and it's well past it's sell-by-date ?

4. Brakes.  Hmm. It depends how the car has spent the last 18yrs, if it's been nice & dry or subject to damp & condensation. I bought my car after a 2-3yr storage but in the UK this meant damp conditions.  The brakes worked & I drove it home, but within the first month I renewed the complete system. It had external corrosion on steel brake lines, degradation on rubber hoses and corrosion on the disks.  All parts are cheap (relatively) and available so why not get it 100% ?

The boosters are debatable and down to personal preference. They can stick with lack of use and you may find if you recommission the rest of the system they aren't working properly. It's usually the valves sticking and normally you can clear this.  I would suggest if they work that you drive the car with them fitted and see how you get along. It's easy enough to disconnect them and check the difference in pedal feel.

The rear brake shoes retain the same friction material for servo & non-servo applications IIRC, but you can get better front pads for non-servo applications. I use EBC Greenstuff pads in my non-servo TC.

5. Bushes. IMO the front wishbone inboard bushes last well, same for the roll (sway) bar and rear lower link bushes.  The plastic bushes in the lower trunnion assembly at the front often show wear and are cheap to replace with repair kits. Ball joints should be fine at this mileage.

Personally I'd just jack up each corner and feel for play at the wheel. If it's ok then I'd just drive it and see how the suspension felt because at the age of the car you can make a case for changing everything, including springs & dampers. The handling is the best part of any Lotus and I think I'd put a complete overhaul on the list of jobs for the first year, although it might not be the top priority for your cash.

Joe has collated some excellent references, workshop manuals, etc, via the forum home page which should help you to get started. When you get stuck on anything just post "help !!" and someone will be along.  It's a great help if you can post pictures of the problem, so a cheap camera for the garage should be top of your list !

Brian

[cal44]

Brother Otto,

where are the pix of the car?  I'm like a three year old........I like pictures.  Also there is a fellow that does booster rebuild in your corner of the country if needed or even wanted.....

Just take everything apart that has you wondering.........that way you'll know.

And.......what Brian wrote.

mike

[Bainford]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Your car sounds like a great find. Brian know his stuff and has given some great advice, and I'll add to it where I can. Your Europa sounds like it is in similar condition to what mine was in a few years ago. It is an unrestored car that was placed into storage by its first owner for 30 years. The 2nd owner bought it with 28,000 miles on it and did a full recommisioning, then sold it to me two years later. It is now driven regularly and has 41,000 on the clock.

1. Choices are becoming limited for tires. It seems few companies want to make a decent 13" tire these days, but there some out there. I think one of the best deals for a good touring tire is the Falken Sincera S828, 175/70 on the front and 185/70 on the rear. I buy them from Direct Tire on ebay for a very reasonable price, and if you live in the US shipping is free.

2. As Brian stated.

A couple of specialists to check out in the states are Dave Bean and RD Enterprises.

3. The one thing I would like to add here is keep a close eye on the carbs and the rest of the fuel system for leaks. If anything looks questionable, replace it right away. Fuel leaks on an old system are common, and leaking fuel drips onto the ignition, starter and exhaust. Problem spots are the fuel TEE between the carbs and the plugs on the bottom of the float bowls (o-rings). Inspect all fuel line joints carefully. Drivability issues may be due to Strombergs in need of a rebuild.

4. A note about brake boosters; Many Europa Twin Cams that are still driven regularly have had these removed (including mine). They can become troublesome with age and (aparently) are difficult to rebuild successfully. The usual route is to fit a master cylinder with a slightly smaller bore (usually .75" vs .70") though it doesn't sound like much of a difference. Numerous options have been exercised to source replacement master cylinders. Pedal effort can be a bit high (which I personally like). I have been giving serious thought to fitting the EBC Green Stuff pads that Brian mentioned.

5. Check for play or wear. Parts are readily available at reasonable cost as most front suspension parts are sourced from more common cars such as the Triumph Spitfire and GT6.

6. Shocks may need replacing, but the existing ones (if they are not leaking) will probably get you on the road. I believe my car still has the originals fitted, though I am quite eager to replace them. There are many choices available, and I am probably not the best one to consult as there are others with much more experience in this arena.

There are lots of good sites to check out online for info and advice. Try this one http://www.lotus-europa.com/ . A lot of good reading there, and the 'Knowledge Base' from the menu on the left of the page can be very helpful.

Sounds like a great find. Keep us posted, and we would love to see some pics.

Cheers
Trevor

[Roger]

Apart from the above - all good advice in my view, you should check the fuel tanks for leakage. My TC had an amazing amount of rust and crud inside, and they were removed, cleaned and treated with a tank lining compound.

[ottocycle]

Thanks for your advice everyone. I tried to post a photo but I could not get it to work. The photos I have are more than 600KB.
Sorry.

[cal44]

Otto,
you can do one of two things, resize the pix or start up on a site like Photobucket then transfer the pix to this site.  The Photobucket works well and it keeps you all your photos for you.
It's all for my greedy entertainment curiosity.

mike

[3929R]

Adding to what's already been said, there were 2 plastic tees on the fuel lines that often fail. 1 is between the carbs and the other near the bottom of the right hand fuel tank.  If you still have them, replace with brass tees regardless of how the plastic looks. RD sells the tees but so did my local generic parts store.

When my father put mine into storage in 1993 the master cylinder was shot and the brake pedal was on the floor when I took it out of storage in 2011. Is this the case with yours?  I've read that the original rubber seals were not compatible with more modern brake fluids.  I ended up removing the boosters and changing to a master cylinder with a 3/4" bore http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=93.msg459#msg459 http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/brakes/nissan_f10_mc.htm   (original parts boxed and saved if I or my kids want to return it to stock).  As soon as I finished the seals on the slave cylinders failed while bleeding the system.  I never drove the car with the boosters but I can imagine needing/wanting them.

 

[ottocycle]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
I have ordered braided lines and greenstuff pads. I think I will do the  M/C setup as described by Brian and Trevor. I spoke with Dave Bean who said that he could not get rebuild kits anymore. He carries a Lockheed replacement that can be adapted for about $400 each, so I am thinking of removing the stock bits and putting them away. That way if a bebuild kit becomes available later on I can return it to original.
I have never fooled with Stromberg carbs, but I cannot get the car to idle properly yet. It may be that there is a vacuum leak (prehaps due to bad boosters), or the carbs are gummed up and need a good clean and rebuild. When I get her above 2000 rpm she sounds great and revs freely. I need to get a decent book or link on Strombergs and do some homework before I start fiddling with her. Any recommendations?
Thanks again everyone,

Dermot.

[EuropaTC]

Hi Dermot,

The Twin Cam supplement workshop manual has a decent section on carburettors, so that would be my first port of call rather than buying a specific book. Joe has a link on this site, just look for the "fuel" section in the TC supplement.

http://www.lotuseuropa.org/workshop_manual.htm

I'd also be tempted to dive straight in and strip/clean the carbs on something that's been idle for so long. Also the fuel pump (very easy to do on a TC) just to make sure there's no more sediment about to come through.  As mentioned earlier, the fuel tanks are steel and do collect rust in the air space which eventually works it's way forwards to spoil your day 

It's still worthwhile checking the ignition timing before you jump on the carbs though, mainly because it's very easy to sort out and that eliminates one potential cause of uneven idle.

Brian

[ottocycle]

Brian,

Thanks for the advice. I agree with you, I am planning on rebuilding the carbs anyway, for the reasons you suggested. I want to read up on them before I remove them. I also believe that 90% of all carburetor problems can be traced to the ignition system, so I will check the timing and change the plugs.

BTW. I will be on your side of the pond next month. My wife and I are planning a trip to the Goodwood Revival.

Dermot.

[Brian]

Hello Dermot:  A lot of excellent info here.  I think that you are very fortunate to have acquired an original, unmolested example......surely there are not many of those left!  The only additional advice I would suggest, is to carefully document any assembly that you dive into.....by that I mean take as many photos as possible before, during and after.  Also, keep a notebook with sketches and notes documenting what you have done.
I can assure you that without this info, you will not remember what goes where!  Best of luck.  We'll all look forward to your progress.  BTW, I've had my Europa since '75.....body is off and rolling chassis is almost complete, but it is taking me forever as life keeps getting in the way.  It's a bucket list project for sure.....
Regards to all,
The other Brian, 3402R