First post from an old gearhead and Lotus Europa fan

[EuropaTC]

On the camera thing, the fibre optic cameras are getting quite cheap these days. Back when I was working we had a couple for inspecting tubes on heat exchangers, etc, and they were very expensive (we're talking thousands of pounds) but they've come down a lot in recent years.    I've seen them in Costco over here with a fibre optic lead and a hand held monitor so I'm sure they're very common over your side of the pond.

A couple of months ago I bought one from Ebay for the magnificent sum of £12, just for something to mess around with. It's only a lead which plugs into your laptop USB port and gets power from there, but I was surprised to find it actually works.  The resolution and focus depth aren't great but on the plus side I did manage to view inside the clutch bellhousing on my car, pick out the release bearing/input shaft/etc. 

It certainly beats a mirror on a stick and you'd easily send it down a chassis cross member and pick up if there's any heavy rust or holes.

The trick is understanding what you see because the view on screen is much closer than you're used to seeing and so small objects can look scarily large.  The software with mine had a scale for identifying how big objects really are and that worked ok, plus of course you can capture images or video as you do the inspection.

Brian

[BDA]

Is this what you're talking about? I'm a little confused because they call it a "Digital Microscope" (and I don't think we want a microscope). If this is what he needs, this is really cool! and if you're an Amazon Prime member you get free shipping!

Forgot to put the link: http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Endoscope-Borescope-Inspection-Camera/dp/B007UZ6RVO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408904348&sr=8-2&keywords=fiber+optic+camera

I also found out that searching Amazon for "usb wire camera" gets better results (some less expensive than the one above.

[EuropaTC]

Hi BDA,

I didn't get a link in the last post but searching Amazon for "Digitial Microscope" didn't bring up the same thing - this is what I bought....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261158772054?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

My description was wrong, they call it an endoscope and having read the advert again, all the memories came back. Well, it is a long time since I used one when I was working.....   (or "attending the workplace" as some folks used to say    )

It is far from professional quality, but if you have an idea about what you're looking for then it works. For example, if you thought you'd chipped a valve inside a combustion chamber or scored the bores,  this would get you inside to look. The main hassle is that with a professional tool you can manipulate the head to adjust the viewing angle using a joystick, but with this it's a case of "wiggle it about" until it gets in the right position. But this is cheap and I bought it as a toy to play with.....

Brian

[BDA]

Brian,

Sorry, I forgot to post the link. I've edited my post so you should be able to get it. It looks very similar to the one you linked but the camera part looks a bit bigger. I wouldn't think that would be much of an issue in looking inside an S1 frame. I guess taping it to a coat hanger or similar and fishing it through the access hole under the arm rest (there is an access hole and arm rest in an S1, isn't there?) might be one way to inspect it. At least until you get the engine out.

I'm sure you're correct that you won't get professional quality, but you should get a good enough picture to be able to decide if a new frame is in order. Sadly, from the little I've read, it seems that new frames are commonly required. Hopefully, that won't be the case for Tom.

[Serge]

Yes, there is a hole in the armrest in an S1. There's also a big round access hole in the front T-section, so that's another point of entry.

Serge

[jbcollier]

The front access hole will reveal all.  Brace yourself for bad news and have a comfortable chair and good scotch ready to hand.  I'm drinking an Irish single malt these days: Limerick Select.  It's been more than able to cure anything my Europa has thrown at me so far -- including a disaster of a frame.

[EuropaTC]

Yep, that's the same think BDA, in fact that one you've found looks a better quality version than mine.  And yep, the images you get will be good enough to assess the amount of rust (or not) inside a chassis member.

For the cost of the things it's something I'd just buy and put on the shelf "in case I need it". I used to use a pro inspection kit of small mirrors-on-sticks with a built in light source, the traditional way of doing the job years ago,  but these things are more versatile.

Brian

[3929R]

How big is the access hole? Plumbers are everywhere and every one of them has an inspection camera that they use for giving free bids.... I wonder if such a camera would work?