Restoration of 2358R

[1970EuropaGuy]

Great looking bug! Yellow cars attract insects. I'm always amazed how many land on my Europa after a wash.

[GavinT]

By the way, I did get glue on the carpet. I need to figure out how to remove it without ruining the carpet.

Contact adhesive?
"Prepsol" (wax & grease remover) should do it without harming the carpet or leaving a residue but test on a scrap piece of carpet first.

[Certified Lotus]

Thanks again for the support and comments. Nope, didn't get high from the adhesive fumes Ted. (wore a mask and had a big fan running).  Yes I was also worried about the seatbelt retractor BDA, but to wasn't too difficult to fix. 1970EuropaGuy, I remember someone telling me about how yellow cars attract insects. GavinT, I will search for some Prepsol.  Pepboys and Autozone didn't have it.

[Certified Lotus]

My caliper rebuild kits came late Friday afternoon and I called Larry after work to see if he could come over to help with the brakes again. Larry installed the new seal and installed the left caliper while I put wrenches on all the brake line fittings to insure they are all tight. We bled the entire system, got very good pressure and no leaks. Put the wheels/tires back on and lowered the car to the ground.

Started the engine, let it warm up and adjusted the webers.  Put the airbox back on.  While the engine was running I noticed the radiator stay cool for a while and when it did get hot the fan did not go on.  The water temp gauge in the car was reading 110 degrees C and no fan. Shut the engine off and started trouble shooting the electrical connections. For some reason I wasn't getting enough voltage to the fan so I clearly have some wire tracing to do. Larry had to leave and I washed up for dinner.

Later that evening when it got cooler I went back out to the garage to tackle the door seal install.  It took a couple of hours (and a couple of beers) before I got both doors done and some additional trim pieces installed. The seals look like they will fit fine, but I won't really know until I readjust the doors and test with a light how well they will seal.

It was 12:30am by the time I finished. Need some sleep as Chis is coming over in the morning to help realign the doors.

[Certified Lotus]

Saturday morning, Chris came over. I was working on wiring so he and I spent the first half of the day tracing wiring and connections. I few things threw us for a loop and couldn't figure it out. Will post a few questions on another post to get some sage advice.

After lunch we tackled the door alignment. Chris worked from the inside and I worked from the outside while we aligned and then tightened down the door hinges. As we had done this before it didn't take too long and we checked for light leaks.  The drivers door has a small light leak along the front windshield edge but everything else looks great. The passenger door is perfect.

Once that was done we went back to wiring trying to understand the issues with the radiator fan not coming on at temperature. I ran out of time to fully trouble shoot as we have company coming. I'm hopeful with some advise from forum members I can figure this out and resolve tomorrow.

I told myself that if I didn't have the Europa on the road by Sunday I wouldn't drive it to LOG.  Tick Tock..........

[BDA]

Man, that door alignment is a thing of beauty!

[GavinT]

GavinT, I will search for some Prepsol.  Pepboys and Autozone didn't have it.

G’day, Certified,

“Prepsol” is the common brand name used in Oz, but I expect a generic wax & grease remover would be the same stuff.
I’m surprised it was difficult to find. Any place that sells auto paint will undoubtedly have it (probably in a can).

Perhaps your go-to brand is “Dupli-Color”?
Dupli-Color has the same stuff but in an aerosol can which might be handy for your job.


Dupli-Color Prep Spray, 11 oz.

https://www.pepboys.com/dupli-color-prep-spray-11-oz-/product/9865727

https://www.autozone.com/sandpaper-and-body-repair-tools/body-repair-and-accessories/duplicolor-paint-prep-spray-grease-and-wax-remover-11oz/963232_0

[tedtaylor]

well??   I'm on the edge of my seat here....it's Sunday night...….what's the verdict?

[BDA]

I'm anxious to find out too, Certified, but I didn't want to distract you. Maybe we should start a pool!

I hope it's good news!

[Certified Lotus]

I’m very close but still in the garage finishing up. I have the ash tray installed 

[BDA]

 I say, if the ashtray is installed, you're ready! 

[Certified Lotus]

Thanks for the research Gavin. I’ll pick up some Dupli-Color prep spray.

[tedtaylor]

just like my daughter had her baby this week (and didn't know the baby's sex) until birth......I think i'll do the same with certified when I come up Thursday morning to leave for LOG39 road trip.   Then i'll find out if he's driving the Europa or the Elan.   

[Certified Lotus]

Stopped working on the Europa at 2am this morning.  Could have kept going but I have a day job to attend to and I need a little sleep to be coherent........

Full day on Sunday. Took my new spare tire and aluminum wheel to NTB for mounting and balancing.  Now that I'm this far along on completing the restoration I'm fairly confident that I'll have the car ready for the LOG39 road trip.

Dan stopped by later in the morning arriving on his massive Honda Gullwing. Nice bike Dan!  He wanted to return the interior light I gave him that was original to the car as he felt bad that I melted the new one I installed. Thanks Dan, that was very considerate of you.

Spent most of the day chasing wiring issues. Added a bunch of new grounds which resolved most of the problems I was having. The turn signal lights are acting strange. The left signal blinks very slowly, like every three to four seconds. The right no blinking, just on. Need to figure that one out. Also have not been able to figure out where the ground wire inside the door for the electric motor goes. It has a small ring connector on it and it fits under a small bolt, I just don't know which one. Both motors have small bolts holding them together but they are sealed. Anyone have a picture of the exact location of these ground wires?  I finally go the radiator fan working. Also installed an extra switch circuit so I can turn the fan on manually if necessary (its an expensive engine, just being super safe about possible overheating).

My wife came out to the garage see how I was doing.  I've been putting in massive hours on this rebuild and she is amazed at my focus.  Of course she stepped up and took hold of the soldering iron to help with the wiring 

Finished most of the interior  (except the door panels).  Chris helped me bring down the Europa seats from the garage attic on Saturday.  That's when I realized I forgot the electroplate the seat runners I had previously media blasted.  Even though the seats were stored in a dry area for almost 2 years, the seat runners had surface rust. So I took the runners off, re-media blasted them and then electroplated them.  Before putting back on the seats I sprayed dry graphite on the inside of the tracks to make them operate smoothly.

I did not get to road test the car on Sunday. Had a bunch of opportunities but was worried that I would want to drive longer than I should and not get the rest of my work done. Will do a road test later today. Just need to install the review mirror 

Tick tock...........  LOG39 looks very possible (although I'm a day late with my self imposed schedule)

[tedtaylor]

my turn signals have the same symptoms when I first start the car.....until the alternator is revved up and charging, the voltage is too low and my signals blink VERY slow or just stay on.    Never did anything about it, except to make sure I revved the engine early when starting the car, then all seems fine after that.    So maybe a low voltage issue?   check that alternator is charging 13-14 volts.