The start of a long journey

[nigelc]

Thought i'd put this up there as the start point of what i think may be many months/years work  .  Just purchased a  1970 S2 that was dismantled by previous keeper at some point in the 90's ..Some interesting body mods to address , and a god awful 1980's aftermarket sunroof that needs to go .  Plan is to go with a modern stiffer ( banks most likely ) chassis , and probably an XE or Duratec powerplant ready for some club sprints and hill climbs .   The "complete car in boxes" has a significant amount of missing bits so i think the wanted forum on here will become my new best friend.

[BDA]

  nigelc!!

That looks like it will keep you off the streets for a while!

I have several of Richard's (Bank's) kits on my car though not his frame. He does great work and I would expect his frames to live up to his reputation. Spyder also makes a nice frame.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

[Runningwild]

Enjoy the journey !

[EuropaTC]

Hi Nigel,

Yep, I think that classifies as both a "project car" and "enthusiast needed" 

   and good to have another car on the way back to health.

Brian

[4129R]

Nothing much changes since they were manufactured. I seem to remember that if you bought the cars in kit form, you avoided paying purchase tax (VAT of old).

I friend of mine (who also lives in Essex) built his 1970 S2 from new.

Alex in Norfolk

[Bainford]

  Welcome to the forum, Nigel. Good luck with your project. Your support group awaits. Cheers 

[nigelc]

Thanks for the welcome and the comments all.
I am bracing my bank account for the first of many hammerings and am off to the Lotus festival at Brands Hatch this weekend to pick up some parts.  Then next weekend the cutting commences.... backwards to go forwards n all that ..

[buzzer]

Welcome to the forum great to have another UK member.
In my experience of picking Europa parts up at autojumbles is woefully poor. Even at beaulieu this coming  weekend there won't be may Europa only bits, in fact none last year I could find.
Have fun and this forum is a good start on any info or help , there are some very knowledgeable guys on here.
I started off with a headache too. But looks like yours might be even more of one than mine!

Dave

PS did you find any parts this weekend?

[nigelc]

Hi Dave

The Brands visit was worthwhile .. made a couple of contacts , and there was one stall up there with a lot of used parts .. mainly Elan , but a few Europa bits , and sounds like they have a lot of what i may need back at there workshop.. so useful number for later in the project.   I will say though that the "Trade Village" was more of a "Trade Village hall"  literally 4 or 5 stalls , and only one of those really catering for the non elise market .. As you say .. slim auto jumble pickings for the Europa even at a lotus focused event

some good racing though

[Steve_Lindford]

Brave to take on a project like that!

I managed to get a rear bumper from Beaulieu in almost perfect condition. There were a few front bumpers around too but I don't need one...

Steve

[nigelc]

well the pile of boxes in the garage is now much smaller .. with all the real junk gone , and the "can be saved  / repaired / reused / or used as a template" parts stashed away until i get a chassis to put them back on to .. The old chassis now sits on a trolley , and the sad looking body back on that .. logic being that even though its had it , the old chassis should at least hold things in line while i repair the body .     
The god awful spoiler has been removed from the front revealing some of the original lotus yellow , and far more pleasing lines . Two of the heavily butchered fenders have been cut back out to restore to original positions , and the copious amounts of body filler used to "style" the wide arch efforts of the PO removed .

May not look like much ... but feels like progress made :-)

[BDA]

Congratulations on your progress! Don't sell yourself short. That sounds like significant progress!

A fiberglass car is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it's so easy to repair. It can be a curse because it's so easy to modify and too often, those mods aren't enhancements.

Thanks for the pictures! Keep 'em coming and good luck!

[nigelc]

another productive weekend . the bastardised arches on drivers side are now also off..several pounds of body filler / bits of tin / badly done fibreglass repairs removed .  80's sunroof removed , firewall pretty well fell out ....deconstruction is nearly complete.

[BDA]

Get ready to itch! 

[nigelc]

Not put any updates on for a while but progress is being made . Body more or less back in one piece , sun roof deleted , floors strengthened , firewall half done , and most important .. roll cage built .. taking shape slowly but surely