Restoration of 2358R

[Certified Lotus]

More progress today. Gotta tell you, taking lots of photos during the strip down of the Europa and labeling every single thing in zip lock bags is a must do.  After 19 months away from the body of the car its amazing what you forget.  And of course I'm also modifying along the way so everything becomes a rethink process before I finalize the install. I'm expecting my 2 month completion or the day before leaving for LOG to be on target. Lets see if I make it 
Latest work: 

*Dismantle the rear tail lights, clean, polish and install new gaskets.
*Install new license plate light fixtures
*I went to install the rubber bumpers for the rear engine deck only to find the left side had the hole glassed over and painted. Measured location for hole, drilled and installed.
*I got new custom vent screens from BDA last year.  They look very cool (nice work BDA) and I'm trying to decide if I should leave them metal color or black. Sleeping on that one.
*Installed the side badges and rear deck badge.
*Media blasted the door catches.  Will electroplate these before installing.

Time for a beer 

[BDA]

Glad you like the screens! The deck is curved slightly so gently bending them to as close to that will help in installing them and make them a bit more prominent. It didn't occur to me to paint mine but it might be a good idea. After all, the original screens were black and on my white car, they kind of blend in. That would probably be less of an issue on your car but it would certainly make more of a statement!

I didn't plate my door catches and I wish I had.

Good job bagging everything! I didn't and don't remember having many problems finding things but when I look back I'm amazed that at least that aspect of my build went as smoothly as I (think) I remember it did!

She's looking better each time you post. Pretty exciting, isn't it!

[dakazman]

Looking really sweet.
Bagging is very important. I keep things relatively together , but I wish I would have saved more bolts. I probably threw away most thinking I would replace . Another item is I that you are taking, a posting pics with the part numbers, Excellent idea.
 Certified, after  I disassembled 7 yokes yesterday ( yes I-was yoking around ) I found that not one had the slinger we talked about. Just another item to order.
Keep up the momentum!
Dakazman

[BDA]

I would throw out all the 50 year old bolts and use new. I replaced mine with AN hardware, which I admit is a lot of extra work and is overkill for the application, but certainly replace them with grade 5 or grade 8 hardware. The parts manual explains the code for bolt sizes if you don't have an original one to match against or you can just measure as you go.

[dakazman]

Doing just that , put in some ABS bolts all ready and AS. I n Ed another trip down to a aircraft surplus shop. We have a big one down here . Another source is a local hardware shop that is like a candy store. Travis hardware. I think he get items from the cape. Sometimes cheap , sometimes not.
Dakazman

[Certified Lotus]

BDA, decided to leave the screen vents natural metal. No painting. Regarding nuts, bolts and washers....even though I replace most with grade 8 or stainless steel, I save every used bolt until I finish the project. You just never know when you need something.

[BDA]

You got me, Certified! I really misspoke because, like you, I throw away very few nuts, bolts, and washers - mostly only when they have degraded significantly or maybe a weird size like those British Standard nuts. I still have some hardware from when I was racing in the mid '70s! You are right that you never know when you might need that nut or bolt. So I wouldn't actually throw them out. Certainly holding onto the bolts that came off your car before you rebuild it is useful for purchasing new replacements. I tend not to keep un-graded bolts (those that are not grade 5,grade 8 or of a known quality) but I even keep some of those for possible use on a lawnmower or a house project.

So that's pretty much what I actually do wrt old hardware. Thanks for pointing that out so I could clarify! 

[4129R]

I got a long sheet of thin ply, about 6" x 24", drilled appropriate sized holes, and put bolts of UNF, UNC and metric through the holes and named them, so I can identify any bolt I find.

Saves a lot of time when matching bolts.

I keep old sweetcorn tins and fill them with nuts bolts and washers of the same type.

I have a huge collection, old, new, plain, Nylok.

It makes assembly much easier, always the correct nut, bolt, or washer available in large numbers.

[Certified Lotus]

Dakazman, if I had a aircraft surplus shop near me I would be in big trouble.  I love used aircraft parts. Might be a big impact on my car restoration budget.

BDA, I'm like you. I save unusual and graded bolts for future use.  The plain jane stuff gets thrown away or moved to my wood working shop where home repairs are done as I always need some type of bolt or screw and just one of them.

4129R, not sure what a sweetcorn tin is but I have a similar "collection" of used and new nuts bolts and washers stored in various containers. I'm smiling at your ingenuity building a "bolt board".  I took the easy way out and bought them.....

[Certified Lotus]

I was working on various parts of the car yesterday. I try to figure out what needs longer set up or curing time and start those projects so I can work on other things while that is going on.

So I started my day with gluing the BDA Custom rear engine deck screens to the underside of the deck knowing it would be 24 hours before complete curing was accomplished. I then did a test brushing of the undercoat material I will be using for the wheel wells.

The rubber boot cover for the Lovejoy (no joke guys) shift linkage ujoint (sold by RD) arrived so I set about greasing the ujoint before installing the boot cover and securing. Then I attached the rear shift tube and attached the back of the transaxle. I know this requires some major adjusting of the thread lengths of the two shift tubes between the shift ujoint in order to have the proper gear selection, but that is for another day.

I had noticed that one of the rivets had pulled away from the bottom skirt to the interior body mold on the right side of the car. Of course it happened after painting. Drilled out the old rivet, installed a new one (with a washer backing) and will paint the body color later.

New aluminum fuel tanks needed installing. Spend a couple of hours test fitting then drilling out the mounting tabs for the correct size bolt and taping the washers and lock nuts inside of the tabs so they are easier to install.  Will mange the actual bolt in over the weekend.

[dakazman]

Some goodies I see going in I see😀👍.  It’s definitely going to be a masterpiece inside and out .
Dave

[BDA]

Things are starting to come together! Packing to u-joint with grease and putting a boot over it is a good idea.

[Certified Lotus]

Got the right side fuel tank installed.  Getting all the bolts to line up and then tighten them by myself was a bear. So I got my helper extraordinaire to come to my side of the garage shop area (were she rarely ventures) and help out. She didn't understand was all the fuss was about. It was easy to hold the wrench.......

The filler tube needed media blasting and painting. Then the proper length of the rubber hose to connect the filler and tank. Installing the new rubber grommet on the filler tube and the body was fairly easy.  Just leave the grommet on the smaller part of the filler tube (above the vent tube) and insert the whole assembly into the body hole for the filler. You can easily push the grommet seam in with a plastic tool and then push the filler down to the edge of the grommet seal. Painted a finish coat of black enamel on the metal trim ring. 

The silicone adhesive cured on the rear engine deck screens. Painted the stainless black where it was against the fiberglass so it blended in.

Next was the left side fuel tank. Of course it wouldn't fit from inside the engine bay so I had to move around the leg from my lift around in order to fit the tank in from the bottom. Ran out of time as my helper and I had dinner reservations. Will finish the left tank install tomorrow.

[tedtaylor]

Excellent work, but is that your finished gas cap?    No "flip top" ?

[Certified Lotus]

That is the OEM gas cap for a ‘72 Europa. Plus, I have a brand new pair from new old stock.