ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2018

[Gmg31]

Delighted yesterday that the timing chain cover was surprisingly easy to remove. I bought an endoscope camera off eBay for £20 that connects to an iPad. I was able to see the leake with the engine running and it was clearly leaking from the rubber seal at the top. So fresh rubber seal, gaskets and some sealant and hopefully I can get this running by next weekend without quite some much oil gushing out.

[EuropaTC]

Well that's good news, at least you know where you're going with it now and a new gasket plus a bit of patience will sort that one out. On the endoscope, it's amazing what technology you can get these days for very little money. Back in the 80s I remember chatting with our inspection engineer about the possibility of buying "one of these fibre optic things" and finding it was well out of the works annual inspection budget !

Brian

[Gmg31]

After sealing the timing chain cover and tightening the sump I discovered a damaged thread on the bottom of the timing chain cover and consequently couldn't  tighten the sump.  Having sealed it all up I was loathed to dismantle it all again. So I took a short break, for my mental health. Then I purchased a new  M8 tap with extra long ratchet tool and re threaded the cover in situ. The bolt tightened up nicely yesterday and I got the engine running  without checking out oil everywhere. Hoping to send her off for tuning next week.

[EuropaTC]

So I took a short break, for my mental health.

   been there, done that !  It really is the best policy to simply walk away for a while. It's different if you're doing these things for a living, but a hobby should always be fun; get you thinking, yes, raise your blood pressure...  no !

It sounds like you're almost there, have you MoT'd it yet or is that joy still to come ?

[lotusfanatic]

it’s surprising how a ‘big’ issue can be thought through once you take a step back...
I’m glad to hear that it all went well
😊

[Gmg31]

She went off to a specialist tuner this week.  Hopefully next week she’s going straight to an MOT Garage. And then I can finish the last bits of trim and she’s ready for spring.

[Gmg31]

Tuning specialist rang me today. He found so many faults, he said it was a miracle I ever got her running.  A little disappointed that he found 4 faults in the fully reconditioned Weber carb and two faults in the fully reconditioned distributor. Jobs which I paid others to do.  Anyhow she’s running beautifully and is ready to be collected tomorrow and is then going to a local Garage for a couple of jobs and hopefully MOT.

[EuropaTC]

Hmm, it's disappointing to hear things like that, especially when you had decided to give the job to a specialist with more knowledge/experience. But it might just have been minor faults like adjustment and hopefully all that will be sorted by now.

Looking forward to the MoT result, with a car as clean as that I think you might just scrape a pass.....   

Brian

[Bodzer]

 Well Done. Good luck with the MoT. I’ve just taken the last few bits off the body so I can start prepping that. A long way to go yet!

[Gmg31]

Well after months of frustration, those who have followed another thread will understand this, I’ve finally got the brakes bled through and working beautifully. On the Home straight now. 1 piece of glass, and some trim and I’m good to go for MOT. oh and btw you may be interested to learn that a front splitter off a Seat Cupra R looks superb on a Europa. Photos to follow.

[Gmg31]

Some may notice that when I started this project I called it Else Europa restoration 2015. I changed that the following year to 2015-2016. After much frustration I changed it again to 2015-2017. Just had to change it again, hope that’s the last time

[Certified Lotus]

Trust me, after several Lotus restorations (in my garage) it will all be worth it 

[Gmg31]

A couple of recent upgrades to mention. Redesigned front spoiler using a Seat Cupra R splitter

[Gmg31]

Once I had fitted Electronic ignition the rev counter stopped working so this RVI to RVC conversion was required.  Anyone planning to do this, don’t forget that you need to change the basic wiring otherwise the car won’t start, duh that took me far too long to figure out.

[Certified Lotus]

Front spoiler looks like it was made for the car. Nice work!