#460002 - Restoration

[3929R]

   Interesting.  I look forward to seeing how much of a learning curve there is for the equipment.  You need my bad looking old truck to practice on. I'll drive it over to you. 

[BDA]

Another great video, Serge! I like the idea of taking the cross member out without totally dismantling the rear suspension but I don't think it will be as useful as you might think. Remember that the suspension links (the lower and the half shaft) are attached to the tranny anyway so you'll obviously have to disconnect them and at that point, the car won't be able to stand on its own. If you install a twin link rear suspension, you could fabricate a piece to bolt to the lower rear suspension arms then with your 'detachable' cross member, you might be able to do it.

If you still want to do your cross member that way, you could weld a box or pair of flanges that fits inside the ID of the cross member box on the shock ears. Then cut the bottom out of the cross member box section so that it slips over the box or flanges welded to the shock mount ears. Then bolt the cross member to the flanges or inside box. It's probably harder to describe than do it. I'm sure you get the idea.

Keep up the good work and the videos!!!

BTW - I forgot to say that I didn't have any trouble watching the whole video. :-)

[Serge]

Thanks everyone!

BDA, you are completely right!

Some of the twin-link cars or the cars with the spyder-rear-wishbone setup have this removable crossmember, because they can. I had figured it out afterwards that it wouldn't make a difference, because everything is connected anyway. So I decided to leave it like it is and not make it removable.

Serge

 

[Serge]

New update! Taster:










Very long blogpost about the restoration of the front suspension, 50+ pictures.

http://sleurs-motorsport.com/?p=679


Enjoy!

Serge

[Serge]

New video!

I wanted to make a single video, but it turned out that I had a lot more footage than I thought. In stead of releasing one single hour long video, I’ll be releasing four shorter videos for your viewing pleasure. This is the first of four on the front suspension. Afterwards I have videos coming on the front calipers, competition rear radius arm mounts, rear suspension, engine mounts, ...

In this video I strip, clean, paint and reassemble the front wishbones and uprights. In the next video we’ll talk about the restoration of the front hubs.

Link to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IpdF5VWFyo


Enjoy!

Serge

[BDA]

Good job, Serge!

I would suggest that a sandblaster that you hook to an air compressor would be a good way of getting the grung, rust, and old paint off those bits. It also gives a rough surface that is good for painting.

I know editing those videos must be a major ordeal. I've already done the stuff you're working on, but I still enjoy them. Keep up the good work!

[Serge]

Thanks!

Yes, an air compressor and sandblaster would be very useful tools, but I have neither, and don't want to invest too much if I can do it by hand too. My time doesn't cost me anything, and being a student, I don't make any money either. So I rather spend a day extra cleaning everything by hand if that means that I can buy another part for my Europa.

The easy way would be to have it powder coated, they sandblast everything before they powder coat it. Two birds with one stone, but not the satisfaction of knowing that you've all done it yourself (and saving quite a bit of money doing so).

Serge

[Serge]

The second video in the series of four on the restoration of the front suspension. In this part I restore the front hubs, install new wheel studs and new wheel bearings.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnidVlAaKCw


Serge

[BDA]

Another great video, Serge.

I would make two suggestions. I usually put a nut at the end of a threaded piece to help make sure the threads aren't damaged. I realize, however, that for the studs, there is little chance of messing up the threads. The other is because of the weird shape of the grease cap, I had a 10-32 nut tacked inside the cap. Now if/when I need to take the cap off, screwing a long screw into the hole in it will easily push it out.

Thanks for the videos, Serge and keep up the great work! Good luck with the restoration!

[Serge]

Thanks, BDA!

You are correct on protecting the threads, the nuts have been on there since after the video, but I should have put them on earlier to protect them while installing the bearings. The new grease caps that I have (not shown in the video) have a small hole on the front, and I use a wood screw to thread into the hole and pull the cap off.

[BDA]

Great minds think alike! 

[Serge]

Hi everyone!

I've met up with some fellow S1 owners last week here in Belgium (#40 and #70). #70 was restored in the '80s and has a crossflow engine, #40 has been rescued from a lockup somewhere in Belgium after been stored there in the 1970's. It has had a new front end grafted on from an S2 after an accident, but otherwise it is in surprisingly original condition. It will be restored in the next few years. The owner has a very nice collection of cars, including a Lotus XI, Lotus 340R, Lotus Elise S1, a Lola T212 and a Lancia Fulvia Zagato. He used to have a Lotus 47 and Lotus Elite Type 14.



In the meantime I've also edited another segment of the front suspension rebuild. In this video I'll work on the front anti-roll bar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSy7O6yoAfo


Enjoy!

Serge

[BDA]

Another nice video, Serge!

I cheated and cut the lower ring of the drop link in half and had four small tubes welded on either side of both halfs to allow me to bolt them together. I left the top bushes in. They looked in decent shape but beyond that, the looked like they were crimped into the drop link.

Those polyurethane bushings are the way to go!

[Serge]

Although I am really happy with the outcome of the poly-bushes in the droplinks, I will be relocating the ARB to just above the steering rack in the future. I have already collected all the parts needed to do this conversion. There are several reasons to do this. The main one being not having to deal with the studs on the end of the front shocks. There are several known cases of people having to replace the studs because they broke off and the roads in Belgium aren't the best. I will be using expensive aluminium monotube shocks and I don't want to risk them or the studs that they would have. With this relocation I will be able to get the shocks without the studs. The second benefit will be the addition ground clearance, because the front ARB is the lowest part of the car. 

Serge

[BDA]

Good idea!

The first Europa I had had a broken stud on one of the shocks. Nothing to do then except buy a new shock.