Restoration of 2358R

[4129R]

I will check 2420R this weekend with added interest.

[Certified Lotus]

This is the best picture I could find. The green is impossible to see, but hopefully you can get a sense of the shade of the grey. As I say, the green is just a tinge - it sort of softens the grey. Your second picture is probably as good as you're going to find.



Looking through the lotuseuropa yahoo group posts (great group to join), I found some suggestions:

• Porsche Metallic Graphite POR723
• charcoal metallic gray is very close to the color of the 80 Z28 Camaro
• Eastwood sells a dark charcoal wheel paint that is an almost exact match
• Eastwoods Charcoal Gray Rally wheel paint #1003Z was almost a perfect match to the original. The original is almost a little green in cast and has a little metal flake I believe.

There was at least one guy who said his were black (I've owned two TCSs and none of my wheels were black), another guy said that so few people really know that it doesn't really matter, and another guy said that Minilite doesn't even know the correct color for their 40 year old wheels. I don't know how much I'd agree with the comments above, but they seemed like they'd probably be good. I don't remember any metal flake at all.

I hope that helps.

I sent my wheel refinisher on the hunt for paint to match the OEM color. He reports back that Eastwood #1003Z is only available in a rattle can? I spoke with a very good automotive paint supplier today and they could not find any reference for Porsche Metallic Graphite POR723. Same with the Z28 reference. Anyone have a specific paint code & manufacturer for the aluminum wheel color?

[LotusJoe]

The silver sill panel is held on with pop rivets in the front and rear wheel arches, and double sided sticky tape, on all the ones I have removed. The chrome strip is held on by about 6 metal clips which are secured to the fibreglass and the strip just spring clips on to these metal clips, which go rusty.

Alex in Norfolk.

Chrome Trim Clips (18 per car)


Valance clips used along the bottom

[Certified Lotus]

My email to Andy:

Andy,

Thanks for sending my Classic Certificate of Vehicle Provenance for my 1972 Lotus Europa that I am restoring.

There is a question as to whether this model year car (1972 for federal export) had the side trim under the doors installed from the factory or if they came later with the later special models (my car has no trim under the doors). Also, are 1972 federal cars shipped with the big valve twin cam engine ? My twin cam valve cover does not say "Big Valve" on it.

Any insights or clarification would be greatly appreciated!

Best,

Glen

Response from Andy:

"The service parts list does not show what models the sill trim was fitted to, but various documents show this was a Europa Special feature.
 
Yes the Federal Twin Cam cars are unique in that those fitted with the S prefix engines has big valves, where as the rest of the world had to wait for the Europa Special before they had the big valve engines. Most publications omit this and state the big valve was only for the Europa Special."
 
Andy Graham
Aftersales Administrator and Archivist
LOTUS AFTERSALES, Units 6 & 7 John Hyrne Way, Longwater Business Park, Costessey, Norwich, Norfolk NR5 0AF England.
T: +44/0 1603 732178 | E: agraham@lotuscars.com
 

[Roger]

Your ribbed cam cover looks very like a Big Valve front the photo you showed.
What is written on It?  You may well have big valves despite the cover.

[EuropaTC]

Yes the Federal Twin Cam cars are unique in that those fitted with the S prefix engines has big valves, where as the rest of the world had to wait for the Europa Special before they had the big valve engines. Most publications omit this and state the big valve was only for the Europa Special."

Interesting, but I guess the really interesting question is did they also have the later sprint cams fitted ? I wouldn't have expected slightly larger valves alone to make a massive difference but if you had the cams as well, that would do it.

Brian

[Roger]

No, they have SE cams. Miles Wilkins suggests the big valves were a marketing gimmick that maybe added 1hp.

The Federal Stromberg emission controlled engine is a sorry thing

[Certified Lotus]

My wheel refinisher sent me a quick shot of the finished wheels. Yes, I know they were not originally black, but finding the actual paint code for the grey/green color proved to be difficult at best (although it is available in a rattle can).

[BDA]

They came out great. What color will you paint the car?

[Certified Lotus]

I plan on repainting the car the original color yellow. Anyone have a current paint code?

[jbcollier]

http://www.lotus-europa.com/colors.html

[Certified Lotus]

Thanks! I'll speak with my local automotive paint supplier and see what is available.

[Certified Lotus]

I've been traveling the last few weeks so I have had plenty of time to read about Lotus Europa's and in particular the restoration projects that many of you have taken on.

After much thought I have decided not to repaint my car at this time but take the chassis off, disassemble it, media blast and paint it and all the suspension parts, replace the shocks with full adjustable front and rear, rebuild the shift mechanism, install headers and a new exhaust, remove the brake boosters and replace the master cylinder with a smaller diameter bore and perhaps change out the rear drum brakes with discs.  Not to mention replacing the broken windshield and trim as well as the dash (while I have the windshield out).

I'd like to own a drivers car. No show car for me. I want a nice Europa I can drive on the back roads around the area I live (there are lots of places to drive on small windy country roads) and enjoy every moment and not wince when I hear a small stone hit the body. 

My plan in place and most of the parts I need ordered (except a rear disc kit form Banks......still thinking about that) I remove the brake boosters and exhaust system.  I think the PO had special brackets welded onto the chassis for the non OEM boosters he installed. Can anyone confirm the brackets in the photos are not OEM? If they were added I will remove and grind the welds down.

Because I'm removing the boosters and changing the master cylinder, will completely replace and reroute the entire hard brake line system.

While removing the rusted muffler (or silencer as they are called) I noticed the rear of the trans has sealant around the outside of the rear cover plate which means it was leaking.  Made a note when I pull the engine to take the trans apart and replace the gasket.

Also noticed that the rear lower links are bent, the left side significantly (looks like someone tried to jack the car here) and the right only a little. Will replace both along with the bushings, etc. The front lower a arms have a couple of small bends in them too.  Will replace those along with the bushings.  The suspension geometry is critical to these part dimensions so I'm not going to fudge anything here. 

And just to confirm that this car was in deep storage for many years, I found a nest and stash of acorn nuts in the front chassis box.  The right side hole for the brake master cylinder was taped off but upon close inspection determined that the bottom of it had a bit of animal fur on it and something had been going in and out of the area for a while. My shop vac with a small hose removed most of the stash.

Wonder what I will find next.......

[BDA]

I think your plan makes sense. I have Richard's rear disc conversion and i
I like it, but I seems that if you're a little adventurous, you could do your own and save some money. There are a few different tacts people have taken - some by members of this forum and some on the lotuseuropa yahoo group.

That is not at all the standard mounting for boosters. The boosters on TCs were mounted inside the driver's side rear wheel. Since you don't plan on using boosters, telling you that mounting them behind the rear wheels (in front of the tail lights) won't be interesting to you! 

Front A-arm pieces are - especially, lower - are very difficult to come by so you'll probably have to go with tubular ones which I suspect are mostly made by Richard. As for the rear lower links, you might consider using rod ends rather than bushings. If you use them, I would advise getting rubber boots for them.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Certified Lotus]

Thanks BDA. I read a number of posts on the yahoo group and saw that I could source the parts needed for a rear disc set.........but Banks has it all put together nicely in a complete package and I know it works. I'm willing to pay for the "engineering" and sourcing.

I've already sourced all OEM parts that I needed. Having owned and rebuilt a couple of Elan's I know just about everybody around the world to find parts ;-) Seems that most of my contacts have Europa parts too!

With regard to the OEM location of the boosters, yes I saw the holes on the drivers side of the engine bay for them. The PO provided the original boosters and the brackets and I read the shop manual to understand where they were originally located. Who ever relocated the "new" ones did a nice job of fabricating the mounting points and the welding is nicely done. Just wanted to check that the brackets weren't used for something else before I grind them off.

So now I have two complete sets of boosters. One set OEM that needs rebuilding and a lockheed set that works fine. Anyone interested in purchasing?