Finally a Formal Hello from TCS 4397R

[andy harwood]

Hi,
I'm Andy. Purchased 1974 #4397R in Jan. of this year, so am new to Lotus.
I've wanted one since I saw my first, a JPS, in about 1974. Time and life put one out of mind, till bored at work one day, googled Europa and got hooked - again. Could actually afford one now, LOL.
So, thought I'd get one while I could still get in/out of one.
The only draw back so far is I've not rode any of my motorcycles much this year. I 'collect' (accumulate)Buells, need to ride more.
So far, it seems having a Europa inspires one to accumulate Europa items also. A '73 TCS parts car followed me home, along with various upgrades to be installed.
Since buying the car, I've installed-
15 inch rota wheels & nexxan tires
12 circuit painless fuse block ( have a ez wiring harness, but was a little intimidated, maybe later)
insulated interior
auto meter led gauges, elec. speedo
delco altenator
hella headlights
aux. led turn/running/brake lights above rear window (I feel safer on a motorcycle)
I'm looking into rebuilding the engine that came in the parts car - anyone know of a shop that does head work on a TCS located near central N.C.?
Oh- I do seem a little undecided sometimes whether to keep or sale the Europa, seems I have a hard time saying NO to purchasing farkles and items for it. Retirement in looming too, and with it a location change, so I need to adjust for that.
I'm looking forward to reading and seeing other members cars here.

[andy harwood]

got to figure out posting.

I also put the Weber DGV on, works pretty well. I've purchased a 45mm SK Racing side draft carb and MG intake to mod and install.  Anyone have any experience with the SK carbs, or using a single 45mm Weber side draft on a TCS?

andyh

[LotusJoe]

I have an article on that Weber conversion.
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/Twink-carb-conversion.htm

Nice car. Where are you located?

[LotusJoe]

I'm looking into rebuilding the engine that came in the parts car - anyone know of a shop that does head work on a TCS located near central N.C.?

As I'm reading your post I realize you are in N.C. I was going to recommend a machine shop here in Southern California that does quality head work. Oops...But a very nice car anyway. 

[Bainford]

Welcome to the forum, Andy. That's a beautiful Europa you have there. Cheers

[andy harwood]

Thanks for the welcome. Mostly I just lurk around, but am going to try to be more involved.
My Europa was well taken care of by the previous owner (thanks Dave!)
Lotus Joe, I used the Weber 32/36 write up as a guide, and actually bought my modified intake from Twin Cam SportsCars, referenced in the article.
Since then, I've picked up on ebay a SK Racing side draft carb and MGB intake.  It's supposed to be a good carb? I'll have to modify the intake to fit the Lotus head.
This afternoon, I spoke with a Brit car shop, Southside British, about 30 miles from me. Didn't know they were there. I'm going to carry the head by next week for them to have a look.
attached pic is of one of the rusted tappets.

[LotusJoe]

You might consider a  38/38 DGAS synchronous. I switched to that carb and it made a hugh difference.

The rusted caps should not be a problem for a good shop.

Joe

[cal44]

Andy,

concerning the head.  If you can't find a good shop then ask on LotusElan.net.  There are  guys on the east side of the country that can point you in the direction of some builders that can meet your needs.  That rust "should" clean up and hopefully the aluminum hasn't corroded/pitted to much. 
Maybe a good boil and the pucks will come out with ease.....I hope.

For rust clean up I use Por-15 Metal Ready and I think Eastwood carries something along the same lines.

Mike

[andy harwood]

Thanks for the input.
When removing the vavles, I noticed something that may be more of a problem than the rust.
Head will go to machine shop tomorrow for evaluation.
andyh

[EuropaTC]

What's the problem Andy ?

If by any chance it's a small crack between a valve seat and the spark plug holes then that's fairly common but does look bad the first time you see one ?

Brian

[andy harwood]

the engine was 'rebuilt' and then left to weather outside. It appears the valves and seats were redeone, using old valves and guides. the head appears to have been resurfaced too, unevenly. In pic 1, cylinder 1, there is pitting, which could be polished out, I'm guessing. Also, the head surface does not cut into the valve seat. Compare to pic2, cylinder 4, you can see that the head has been cut down into the valve seat, almost to the valve seating edge. The valve in this pic is stuck in the open position. Is this a problem? Seems as if this could cause valve seating and valve/piston clearance issues.

[EuropaTC]

Hi Andy,

Yes, I see your concern, but I tend to have lots of optimism about these things and it all looks fix-able to me.

It's hard to judge from a 2-D photo but my initial reaction is that the valve seats look in need of replacing, which means I'd do the guides as well. Couple that with the opportunity of better materials and I think I'd do it. Hard to say for definite until it's been cleaned up, rust always makes things look worse than they are.

I'd take a gasket with me to the repair shop and lay it over the head to see if any pitting is in the gasket area. If so, that would concern me and I'd probably look at welding should that be the case.

Brian

[andy harwood]

Brian,
Thanks for the optimism.
Since it appears the head was shaved at a angle, I was thinking valves in cylinder 4 would be closer to the piston, maybe too close.
There is definite wear to valve stems, so yes, guides need to be replaced to.
Hopefully all is not lost. Maybe just more LMU's?
I'll know more after visiting the  brit shop tomorrow.
andyh

[EuropaTC]

Please post your findings Andy, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say concerning the combustion chamber corrosion.

It didn't strike me that the valves were too close on #4, I've seen the insides of 3 cylinder heads now and all looked similar to that and remember that the pistons have cut-outs in them for added clearance.   It might be of interest to know the depth of the head you have, apart from confirming if it's flat (or not  ) it would give you an indication of how much metal you have to play with.

The link below is the only place I've found this information, it's not in my copy of Miles Wilkins book or my workshop manuals but it does appear to be a genuine Lotus service bulletin.

http://www.lotuselan.net/publish/lsb_worshop_updates.shtml

It gives the cylinder head depths from new, plus the machining allowances. Definitely worth adding to your notebook if you don't have it already.

Brian

ps - for anyone not wanting to sully their computer with a Lotus Elan website....   

    Cylinder head identification   
         Small valve    'S' (also Federal Big Valve)
         Big valve    'N' or W (also S/E Stromberg)

    Cylinder head depth
        Small valve     4.638/4.643in.(11.78/11.79cm)
        Big valve     4.598/4,603in.(11.68/11.69cm)

    Maximum permissable metal removal
        Small 1 valve .045in. (1.143mm.)
        Big valve         .010in. (.254mm.)

[andy harwood]

Brian,
Thanks for this information.
Only having dial calipers, was able to measure head thickness at cylinder 4 end of head.
Got 4.601in. (in my usual clusmy manner, probably not completely accurate)
So have some leeway!!
 
off to the shop later this morn.
thanks again
andyh