Hello i am a new europa owner

[TCS4605R]

I am in the middle of body work on my 74 TCS.  I have removed (3) coats of primer and (3) coats of color with a DA sander - did not find any evidence of gelcoat - if it was there, it was clear.  Like many, I had a lot of stress cracks in the old paint finish.  After removing all of the primer and color down to bare fiberglass, all of the stress cracks disappeared.  I have been told that wiping over the stress crack area on bare fiberglass would show up the stress cracks - I tried this and still no stress cracks.  My car had been repainted (same color) twice before I bought it in 1978 and I think the paint prep work was probably not the greatest and the paint was applied too thick and not enough time was given for the primer to thoroughly dry (like a month) before the color was applied.  Thus far, I have applied black epoxy primer and then high build polyester primer/filler.  I've also done panel fitting to get the panel gaps between panels even (4.5mm gap) and the adjacent panels meeting in the same plane.  I'm working with PPG paints and primers.  I'm doing block sanding now.  I plan on using PPG single stage urethane color - no clear after applying the color.  My belief is that most, if not all, of the stress cracks are in the paint itself and not the underlying fiberglass body structure.

Tom
74 TCS - 4605R

[Jesspo]

Hello,

after the Weekend work the Body is loosen and most of the Body parts are disambled. What me much confused are the Fitting of the front and rear Hoods. It is hard to explain, but the part of the Body before the windscren, means there where the wiper sits are not straight it goes from the scren to the Hood upward. so the diffrence between fron Hood and Body is around 8mm in the lock area. Is this normal? is it possible the the Body is bent there?

Also the back Hood fits very bad on the left side and on the rear lock area. Maybe the Hood is also bent? That there is a bit room for adjusting is clear but it will never look good as some other cars i see on Pictures.

I tried to make some Pictures please tell me your opinion and if this normal or how this can be fixed.

greetings Frank

[BDA]

This is not unusual. I think it's a combination of poor quality control and thin section fiberglass (I always wondered why Corvettes had such thick fiberglass body panels. Now I know.). The pads the boot rests on can be adjusted and that may help you get a better fit. There is also some adjustment available by moving the boot on the hinges by loosening the nuts on the long end of the hinge. The only adjustment to to the bonnet is to raise or lower the latch under the cowl in front of the windshield. I doubt that will help but you can try.

It's just one of those endearing qualities of an early Lotus! Actually, I think it may be more an issue with the TCs than other models (lucky us, right?). I could be wrong but I think Elan and even S2 panels generally fit better. Maybe someone confirm or debunk my assessment.

[4129R]

The 1972 TC that I own has an engine cover which is a very poor fit. Too wide. It has been lined with silver to stop getting too hot, and the weight of this lining is probably distorting the fibreglass.

[3929R]

Also, replacing the foam seals/strips that are attached to the underside of the bonnet and the boot changed the fitment of both decks on mine. I would think you could adjust the deck somewhat by adjusting the foam thickness, though the foam is placed about the middle of the decks. As a side note, it is really easy to cut foam with an electric kitchen knife.

[Jesspo]

Hi Mark

In the moment there is nothing of seals or strips on my car only the blank hoods. I agree a bit is to get with adjusting but not much.

But if this a normal think on a twin cam i am not happy with this but i will live with it. Let me see what the body shop says what he can do.

[TCS4605R]

I am in the process of adjusting the panel fits and gaps on my 74 TCS now.  What I am doing is very time consuming.  For the bonnet (front cover), I cut a wide plastic body filler paddle to the contour that I wanted and applied body filler (with the bonnet locked in place) to the bonnet to get the approximate contour.  I then sanded the filler with 80 grit, then 180 grit to get the contour correct.  I needed to re-add filler about six times to get the contour smooth.  The bonnet was only about 1/8" lower than the adjacent fenders, so the body filler was not too thick.  The engine cover was worse - it looked like the photos you have attached to your post.  I did not want the body filler to be too thick, so I added 3/4 ounce matt fiberglass to build the engine cover up so that the body filler would only be 1/8" or less thick.  I can post some photos if you would like to see my progress.  For the engine cover contour, I used a 12" wide drywall blade to create the new contour letting about 1/4" on the blade run on the rear fender while to rest of the blade ran on the engine cover. Again, it took about 6 applications of body filler to get the contour the way I wanted it.  Not an easy process.  The boys in England were not too good at panel fits and gaps.

Tom - 4605R

[TCS4605R]

Looking at your photos again, I think your bonnet latch needs adjustment to get the rear end of the bonnet (at the windshield) lower.  You can lower the latch hole on the body or you can remove the movable latch piece and bend it upward to lower the bonnet.  I moved the latch hole.

Tom - 4605R

[rascott]

i have found the same body droop in front of the windscreen.
this does not seem to be common.
i believe the fascia supports that area- lifts the center of the "dash" and levels that out.
might experiment and see if some upward movement can be had at those two fasteners bottom/center of the fascia.
my fascia was broken, and windscreen popped out when i got the car, so this is just guesswork.
'course i have only dummied a cracked screen in place, so far, but it seems to fit o k.
i will know better in about a month- expect to put a real windscreen in.

[3929R]

The seals are pieces of open cell foam adhered to the bottom of the deck lids. Here is a picture of the front one from the photo gallery (not my car). In front, some owners have added foam seals to the other three sides of the plenum in an attempt to increase airflow into the cockpit.

The back seal is in roughly the same place but over the front of the trunk box. In back there may have also been a second piece of foam across the back of the deck.

Any or all of these pieces of foam can raise the deck heights.

[TCS4605R]

Mark,

Nice bonnet support - where did you get it?  I have seen a similar support at Coleman Racing Products - http://www.colemanracing.com/Hood-Support-P3656.aspx

I don't remember that my 74 TCS bonnet and engine cover fits were as bad when I bought the car in 1978 as they are now.  I think the English fiberglass, as thin as it is, changes shape with time.

Tom
74 TCS - 4605R

[Jesspo]

Hi Mark

On my body and hoods are no seals in the moment. The body man will look next week what he can do.

[3929R]

Tom, it is a nice looking bonnet support but it is not my car.

[Jesspo]

hello,

i think this post will some People surprise and some astonish.  I changed my mind and will not restore this Lotus. Instead of this i will sell it in parts, So if there are interest let me know.

And here is the reason for the changing: today i bought an original europe Twin Cam Special. Ok it was and diffrent price range and the car needs also a bit work, but the overall condition and the originality makes this decision.

So in the Moment i am the owner of two Europa's. It is Chassis number 73021171Q, most is original but in the Moment it is painted black as JPS but the correct colour is lagoon blue. Later i will repaint it in the original colour. I will try to make the car as original as possible. I get the new one in three weeks then i will tell more Details.

greetings Frank

 

[BDA]

Frank,

Good luck with your new Europa and selling off the parts of the first one! At least you're still going to have a Europa!

I don't know what the 'Q' is for in your serial number. I would guess it has something to do with the market? Does anybody know?