1265R is now in my garage

[gideon]

I've been soaking the splines in rust penetrant, and I've got the pinch bolt loose.  Here's a couple of close ups of the rack to steering column connection.

[jbcollier]

Brake m/c first:

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2parts/j/jb.htm

I believe you have to take the linkage box off to remove the m/c.  As you can see from the above diagram, there are clevis pins that can only be disconnected from the other side.

Steering flex-joint:

You have to completely remove the pinch bolt.  It slides into a recess on the pinion shaft:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9npIZggaeug/VgDfMQ8XUmI/AAAAAAAAEYw/xTy8-ObInHo/s1600/IMG_5389.JPG

Then loosen the column and you'll be able to push it off.

[Certified Lotus]

There is a safety wire in your photo. Need to remove that too. As JB said, remove pinch bolt entirely. Mine was a bear to remove with no rust ........

Regarding rusted nuts and bolts, I use PB Blaster, it seems to work better than WD 40. Spray the parts every day a little bit for a week. (If it’s dripping on the floor you sprayed too much). You want the liquid to slowly seep into the rusted or corroded areas. If that does work, use a torch. I’ve got one where the torch head is on a hose (it’s a plumbers torch) great for getting into tight spaces. Rembered, heat expands the metal so you want to heat the nut, not the bolt. (A fine tip torch is the best). Be careful of rubber bushings as you will ruin those with a torch.  Be extremely careful you don’t have any fuel in the tanks if your working in the rear of the car. 

[Grumblebuns]

Regarding the M/C removal, normally after removing the bottom nut and loosening the top nut, the M/C should pull out enough to allow you to remove the "C" clip holding the pushrod to the master cylinder and allow you to pull it out. In your case, the pivot linkage inside the linkage extension box may be seized (see attached pic of box). You can try to remove the bolt at the top of the box and see if that will free up the pivot to partially pull out the M/C and remove the clip. In the meantime, I would start applying PB Blaster or your equivalent of thread penetrant to the four bolts holding the linkage box to the chassis. The bolts secure the box to the backing plate inside the "T" section of the chassis.

FWIW, I'm doing the same job on my S2. In my case I have to remove the extension box.     

[Grumblebuns]

Spent the morning working on removing the M/C from my S2. I managed to get the four bolts holding the linkage extension box off from the spare tire compartment at the front. I then found out the steering rack interferes with the removal of the box from the front, the closing plate has to come off. To remove the closing plate, the anti sway bar may also have to come off. I decided to call it a day.

To gideon, you have to remove the closing plate in order to remove the body so I would remove the closing plate and remove the four bolts from the linkage box. This also makes accessing the two bottom bolts easier from the bottom. Just hope the fasteners aren't too badly corroded. The attached picture shows how far out the M/C pulls out with the linkage fully extended. You should be able to remove the retaining clip from the pushrod and remove the M/C from the linkage box.     

[dakazman]

Grumblebuns
Not a good idea to have brake fluid and coffee near each other.

So that’s what my missing brake cylinder is supposed to look like ...

Gideon , hope you got those rusted bolts out  if your not going to use any of those components again and want to get the rust off to free it up my last resort is to use full strength muratic acid dripped on just the nuts. It will eat the rust immediately. Available at Lowe’s or a pool supply company. Wait 10 seconds and douse with water to neutralize . It also will etch concrete off brick  and clean garage floors. Use a respirator.
Afterward use your pb blaster.
Dakazman

[gideon]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I got the steering column off fairly easily after I removed the pinch bolt entirely.  I didn't realise that was necessary.  The workshop manual says "release the pinch bolt", not "remove the pinch bolt". I also rigged up a support for the front end of the car using a piece of 4x4 lumber and a pair of large caster wheels.  Now I'll be able to remove the front wheels and get better access to the brake linkage box to work on removing it.

The muriatic acid trick is interesting.  I've used citric acid in the past to remove rust, it's a lot slower but a lot safer to work with.  I read that hydrochloric (muriatic) acid leaves chloride ions behind, even after a thorough wash, which then promote further corrosion. Citric acid doesn't do that.  Plus, I don't think citric acid will mark the fiberglass, should it come into contact.  I think a little experiment might be in order.

[dakazman]

That’s correct Gideon...muriatic acid does leave residue, but i said if you were going to throw out the component, but I have used it and sandblasted the components. It will also that chrome off..lol.
Thin metal there won’t be anything left to blast. Do not use on bolts , it will change the size or leave you with no threads .

Glad your moving forward, be careful with those 4x4’s
Dakazman

[gideon]

It's been a while since I posted any updates.  It's hard to find time for sailing and fixing an old car, but now the boats are all put away I've been able to get back to it.  Today, we lifted the body off the frame using 4 ratchet straps up to the ceiling, attached with some cord to the 4 corner body to frame attachment points.

[BDA]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[gideon]

After getting the replacement frame down from the ceiling and having another look round it, I decided that I really wasn't happy with the work the PO did to the front T section.  There are some pics earlier in this thread - he covered the front, top, back and bottom of the T section with another layer of steel that was welded in places around the edge and held with aluminium pop rivets in the middle.  So, I decided to drill out the pop rivets and cut the welds with a thing cutting disk on a dremel.  I was able to prise some of the welds off with a screwdriver.  The attached pictures show what I found underneath.  It appears that the T section had been weakened by corrosion and bent.  The front, back and top panels are not close to flat. There are signs that sand blasting has deformed the metal where it was weakened by corrosion. 

The good news is that the rest of the chassis is straight and hasn't been compromised by corrosion.  I could try to repair the T section but it seems as though it might be easier and better to cut the T off and replace it.  To that end I have rejoined a local makerspace, which gives me access to MIG and TIG welding equipment, a large sheet metal brake, blasting cabinet,  and assorted other equipment. 

Before I get started on making a new T section - does anybody have a good replacement T section, or have heard of anybody with such a thing?  I know there are some good, complete used frames out there, but I think the going rate for a good used frame is more than $1000, plus the cost of cleaning and painting.  I'm trying to keep the budget down, even if it takes a bit longer. 

I plan to TIG weld, though I have not done any welding before, so step 1 is to get some sheet steel and start practicing. My first question is:  what kind of steel should I buy?   I think the sheet thickness is 16 gauge originally.  Is that correct?  I think I should use low carbon (mild) cold rolled steel, is that the best choice?

Yes, I have seen Serge's videos on this topic.  Does anybody have any other tips on how to do this?  I was thinking that I would get the sheet metal CNC cut (plasma cut?), then dry assemble it all with temporary cleco rivets before doing any welding.  I am wondering what kind of jig I might be able to make, both for building the T section and attaching it to the backbone.

I'm going to use the drawings by Eddie Kirby as a starting point, here

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc

he seems to have drawn a better-than-original way to join the T to the backbone at the bottom.  Does anybody have any comments or suggestions about the drawings?

[BDA]

Sorry I don't know the specifics about the frame. I think you're right that it is 16 ga. but hopefully someone will know for sure. I would assume that low carbon cold rolled steel is used since it's cheap and stronger than hot rolled.

Learning to weld has been a goal of mine but in my present situation, I can't weld indoors very easily so unless I use a flux core welder, I'll have to practice at a friend's place. I barely got my toe damp at our local MG club welding "clinic" and I realize that I'd need a lot of practice. I would think it would be good advice for you to practice a lot first, too.

Your link didn't work, but I think this link will: http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/Lotus%20europa%20chassis%20drawing.pdf

Eddie's drawings are really good. It's too bad he didn't include the answer to your questions in them.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress!

[EuropaTC]

I plan to TIG weld, though I have not done any welding before, so step 1 is to get some sheet steel and start practicing. My first question is:  what kind of steel should I buy?   I think the sheet thickness is 16 gauge originally.  Is that correct?  I think I should use low carbon (mild) cold rolled steel, is that the best choice?

If you haven't done TIG and are a newcomer to welding in general, then you might find it's a steep learning curve. TIG seems to have some mystical reputation that seems to elevate it to "best" position, but in truth it's just another way of joining metal. And if you're doing carbon steel then there's an argument that says it's not the most efficient way of doing the job.

Don't get me wrong, I bought a TIG set a few years ago simply because "I wanted a go at it" and after a few hiccups I can stick metal together without it leaking or breaking, but it's not my go-to welding method. It's quite slow compared with metal arc or MIG but it does give you a sense of pride with good looking weld beads.   

When I repaired my chassis I used MIG.  It's quick and relatively easy to learn, especially if you have someone there to get you in the right ballpark with wire feed/amps. For something like the chassis, which is mostly thin steel plate, it's very easy to stitch it together with minimal distortion. 

As for the steel, I just bought 1/16",(16g, 1.5mm) low carbon steel (mild steel) for the sections I was doing. From memory that was fractionally thicker than the original, but of course corrosion and grinding preparation could account for that.   It might sound a bit cavalier but I can't see you going wrong with whatever you buy because it's the design that gives the strength, not the inherent tensile strength of the steel. 

I can't recall because it's so long ago, but it would be worth looking at the original chassis to see if there are any thicker reinforcing sections around the wishbone mounts or where the spring/damper feeds into the chassis. It might be thicker or reinforced there to stiffen the mount up.

Brian

[gideon]

I want to learn TIG welding so I can do some aluminium welding too. 

There's a half-open box piece that gets spot welded into either end of the T, so the sheet metal is doubled up where the wishbone mounts are welded in.  That's the reinforcement.

[jbcollier]

I have used MIG for years.  Before that oxy-acetylene.  With my latest MIG machine, you just set the metal and wire thickness and away you go.  Pretty easy really.  Most of the chassis is not welded, it’s spot welded: much less chance of distortion that way.

Take classes though.  You need to learn what a good weld looks like.  “Pretty” welds are not necessarily good welds.  I’d take proper penetration over pretty any day.