#460002 - Restoration

[BDA]

I had already seen the emblem and fiberglass repair videos so I watched the pedal assembly video. It looks like you did a great job of making a nice upgrade for your pedals! Very nicely done! 

If you haven't gotten to installing the clutch cable yet, might I advise that you use a cablecraft cable (https://www.cablecraft.com/cables/control-cable-assemblies/)? I use cablecraft cables for both accelerator and clutch cables but I readily admit that using a push/pull control cable for the accelerator is WAY overkill. I do think they make a lot of sense for the clutch, though. They are self lubricating and pretty much indestructible and something less important for the clutch is that they are much more flexible than other similar cables. I got a turnbuckle in naval brass and a left hand threaded 1/4" spherical rod end (sometimes referred to as a rose joint or heim joint) to make it adjustable. It also required a small modification to the clutch arm. If you need, I can post some pictures, but it's pretty simple and I like it a lot better than the stock cable.

[edit]Thinking about it a bit more, another substitute would be a Morse cable or similar. Here in the states (and I expect on the other side of the pond), you can get them at boat shops. They're usually less expensive than and not as flexible as the Cablecraft cables but since the clutch cable is pretty much straight, they should do very nicely.

Thanks for the videos and good luck with the rest of your car!

[Serge]

Your S1 shouldn't have an "Europa" emblem.  That came later.

You would think that,
however, in my engine cover, there are holes for this emblem. It might have been a 'Europe' emblem, but I have yet to have ever seen one. It is very clear that these are original holes, they are very accurate, very small and precisely the right size and location. Judging by the previous owners work, they could not have done it like this. I am 99% sure that these are original and meant for a badge like this. Maybe it should be a 'Europe' badge, in stead of a 'Europa' badge, but this is the one that came with the car.

If anyone can find me a 'Europe' badge, I will prefer it over the Europa one.

Serge

[Serge]

I had already seen the emblem and fiberglass repair videos so I watched the pedal assembly video. It looks like you did a great job of making a nice upgrade for your pedals! Very nicely done! 

If you haven't gotten to installing the clutch cable yet, might I advise that you use a cablecraft cable (https://www.cablecraft.com/cables/control-cable-assemblies/)? I use cablecraft cables for both accelerator and clutch cables but I readily admit that using a push/pull control cable for the accelerator is WAY overkill. I do think they make a lot of sense for the clutch, though. They are self lubricating and pretty much indestructible and something less important for the clutch is that they are much more flexible than other similar cables. I got a turnbuckle in naval brass and a left hand threaded 1/4" spherical rod end (sometimes referred to as a rose joint or heim joint) to make it adjustable. It also required a small modification to the clutch arm. If you need, I can post some pictures, but it's pretty simple and I like it a lot better than the stock cable.

[edit]Thinking about it a bit more, another substitute would be a Morse cable or similar. Here in the states (and I expect on the other side of the pond), you can get them at boat shops. They're usually less expensive than and not as flexible as the Cablecraft cables but since the clutch cable is pretty much straight, they should do very nicely.

Thanks for the videos and good luck with the rest of your car!

I have thought about it! I ended up buying a new clutch cable from SJS, and I think it's also teflon lined, but not sure. I think I cheaped out for the push-pull cable because of the cost, was 3x as expensive as a new replacement from the specialists.

But would like to see some photographs of the mods needed, should I want to revert to my original plan.


Serge

[jbcollier]

Who knows which PO did the deed?  Perhaps they weren't all incompetent?

Early S1 at a show in period (not the best angle):

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-v6NSC7S/A

Early S1s from1967 French motoring newspapers:

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-K9wmnMs/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-7KnqghS/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-Z7jDQxd/A

Early S1 in New York, May 1968 Motor Trend:

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-gw2zTzQ/A

Early S1A in Canada, Lotus Canada ad:

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-zvVq4LB/A

I have lots of period magazine tests and there is never a "Europa" or "Europe" emblem, nor "L-O-T-U-S" lettering, at the back of an S1 in period.  Many people added them.  Possibly because they were sick of being asked what it was.

[Serge]

I agree that I have never seen any S1s with the badge present. These cars do however differ from one to the other. Many of the articles deal with the prototypes, they are different again.

 I have seen a badge like mine, with EUROPE written on it, once online in France somewhere. I do believe my car may have had one of those.

Not sure what I’m going to do with the badge. Will have to do some research and think about it.

Serge

[jbcollier]

Yes, there were “Europe” emblems but seemingly not that many.

Also remember that the original Europa was meant as a Seven replacement so inexpensive (cheap) was the order of the day.  It didn’t work out so they went up market with the S2 adding an actual interior and even electric door windows.  There was virtually no badging on a Seven either.

[BDA]

Here are a couple of pictures of my clutch cable setup.

The first picture is of the bulkhead attachment of the rear of the cable. (Sorry for the filthy under side of the car!) To the left of the headers is a fabricated aluminum "bulkhead." At the top left of the picture is the attachment of the rear part of the "bulkhead" to the attachment point for the diagonal cross member brace. I no longer needed that because I have Richard's twin link. At the bottom middle of the picture is the green sheath of the cable. I put the silver insulation around the end due to the proximity of the headers. I chose the threaded adjustment on both sides of the cable just because it seemed to give me the most adjustment in case I measured wrong. This is the page that displays the cable I used (https://www.cablecraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CMC9008_Push-Pull-Standard-Flyer.pdf).

The second picture is of the adjustment mechanism. At the center of the picture is the turnbuckle made of naval brass. IIRC, I used the 1/4" size cable. The clutch arm required an extra "finger" to move it a bit further from the engine. I used rod ends but could have just as easily (maybe easier) used a clevis. I took a picture of the interior at the pedal assy. but all of the business end was covered by carpet. The only thing of note is that I used a piece of aluminum angle as the bulkhead for the cable attachment. I should note that the bulkhead attachment is a bit bulky. In the case of the clutch, the bulk is at the bottom and the only thing to note is that it doesn't allow the carpet to sit flat. There is no impact on the comfort or usable foot space.

The original cable does have a few advantages. You don't have to worry about getting the right size and the pedal end of the attachment is more compact but when I was building my car, I had been reading stories of people explaining how they lubed their clutch cable so it wouldn't break (I think I read of people breaking their cable). I didn't want to go through that. I also had a little experience with Cablecraft cables that I used on my race car back in the day and I was really impressed with them.

[Bainford]

BDA, thanks for the info and links. An interesting solution for replacement cables.

[literarymadness]

Here is the German Market only Europe badge.  Volkswagen owned the rights to the Europa name in Germany.

[literarymadness]

Here is another one.

[Serge]

Thanks! Any ideas if the badges are on S2s or on S1s?

Next time I visit my workshop I am going to take a look at the position of the holes, if it doesn't look right, they might have been added by a DPO.

The car had been painted over 2 or 3 times, and all holes that were made for 'new' badges were clearly visible. Only after removing all the paint to the original finish, I found the original holes for the championship shields on the side, and the 'Europa' badge on the rear.

My S1 came with a ziplock bag of odds and ends, some original, some not, and some I don't know! The original shields were missing, losse LOTUS letters were there (which definitly are not original), it contained a black Lotus badge (also not original). But it did include the original gearknob. The Europa badge was there, so there is not certaintly if its original. The holes that were covered up do however point that there was a badge on that location, just not sure if it was this one.

Serge

[literarymadness]

The Tan colored one could be an S1b or at least a very early S2.  It is hard for me to read the vin.

[literarymadness]

The car definitely has S1a or S1b features.

[EuropaTC]

Here is the German Market only Europe badge.  Volkswagen owned the rights to the Europa name in Germany.

That's interesting, I knew about the "EUROPE" badge but didn't realise it was only for the German market. I think there's sufficient evidence to support that the very first cars were called "EUROPE", if only by the factory during the development stages.

I've seen at least one magazine report showing an S1 going around a (Lotus ?) test track with the letters "EUROPE" very clear where the number plates would go on UK cars.  "car" magazine from June '67 has a blue one like this but refers to "Europa" in the text.

Chris Graham wrote a review for "Practical Classics" in which he claimed that the first S1's were sent to France in late '66 as "Europe". That sounds a bit early because the first UK releases were around December and it's hard to think they kept the production of a new Lotus out of the press for so long. It could be though, because the first UK reports I have refer to it as the "Lotus for Europe" although it is called "Europa" in the text.

In the Robinshaw book he shows reproductions of French PR in which the cars are shown as "LOTUS EUROPE" - a rough scan attached. 

So I think it's likely Serge that if your car had a badge of any sort then it would be the "Europe" one. And I'd expect it to be identical to the later Europa ones in terms of fixing pins which would explain the holes in the rear deck. Or alternatively your car might not have had any badges at all there but one of the previous owners "updated" the car to look like the S2 when that model came out ?

Brian

[Serge]

No S1s were delivered to France in late 1966. My car #460002 was the first Europa delivered to a dealer, this was februari 1967 and it was delivered to West Side Cars in Amsterdam. This was confirmed to me by Graham, the Lotus archivist.

#460001 was a car used in the UK, I presume by Lotus themselves? No more information on that chassis. They lost a lot of the old archives in a factory fire years ago.

Serge