My 72 Europa SS

[BDA]

Nice part!

I was reviewing this thread and I don't think you've given a final accounting for how the car runs. So how does she run? Do you still have teething issues? I don't want to interrupt your development story, so you may want to finish your development posts before you get into how it drives.

[Sofa King]

It runs and drives pretty well! But it definitely is still “teething”! Unfortunately the weather here in Ohio didn’t cooperate this fall and didn’t give me enough decent weather to get it dialed in. I hope to have it sorted and will definitely post performance info when I can. For now it shifts very well and stops great. It pulls like a freight train in every gear.  My biggest issue is that it doesn’t like to start once it warms up. Pretty sure it’s a fuel table issue that should be fixed with a good tune.

[BDA]

That computer stuff is WAY beyond me - but then a lot is way beyond me. It sounds like that shouldn't be too big a deal. I guess one of those dyno places should be able to set you up and provide some interesting dyno charts to post!

[Sofa King]

I had to have the computer flashed to remove the anti theft system and some other things that I didn’t need. I will have the same guy do the dyno tuning. I will definitely post the results! (Unless it’s embarasing, then I’ll just lie!😂) Stock it should have made 405 hp, so hopefully it will be slightly better than that. It has a slightly hotter cam.

[andy harwood]

~400+ HP in a Europa. Mind boggling. Thank you for documenting your build. It is very impressive!

[Sofa King]

Thanks!
Having 400hp doesn’t mean I’ll be able to use 400hp, but it should be fun trying! And it makes a great noise in the process!

[Sofa King]

Seats were another issue for me. As I mentioned earlier, my head hits the roof if I sit on the floor, so space is a premium. I had planned to use the cover from my Kirkey aluminum race seat and just make it look like there was a seat there. It looked ok, but gave me no lateral support. I had an old pair of Miata seats laying around (Big surprise! 😂) that I used as a starting point.  I removed the covers from the seat cushions and the backs and then shaved off the top layers of foam. I tried to make them as thin as possible while leaving as much of the support bolsters as possible. Then I traced the outlines of the seats and the backs onto 1/4” plywood, cut them out, and used the plywood as my base. I stapled the foam pieces to the plywood, then wrapped them with the original seat covers and stapled the covers to the back of the plywood pieces. Seat cushions and back cushions are held in place with Velcro.
They look like stock Miata seats, and give me about 90% of the comfort of the full seat. Much better than I expected! They are a little faded, so I will dye them darker. Here is what they look like now:

[BDA]

Pretty cleaver and industrious! I chickened out and put a bubble in my roof.

[Sofa King]

I seriously considered a Gurney Bubble, but mine goes down instead. I call it the Sofa King Butt bubble!

[Yellowbelly]

Please keep the details coming you have made a lovely looking car. Did you get any further with fabricating your side skirts that you teased us with earlier?

[Sofa King]

Progress with the side skirts has been slow but steady. I had an issue with the fiberglass resin that I have been using eating the pink foam.  That wasn’t unexpected, but complicated things a bit. I ended up covering the foam with masking tape to protect it at least until the resin cured. That worked pretty well. It gave me enough of a base to use short strand fiberglass filler to refine the shape, and then regular bondo to fit them tight to the body. I still need to finish the surface for paint, but this is what they look like today:

[TCS4605R]

Next time, steal some plastic wrap for your wife’s kitchen supply and lay it over the foam - the resin and fiberglass mix won’t stick to the plastic- I used this method when I made some fiberglass inner fender panels to replace the original warped panels. I laid the fiberglass over some .020” aluminum I bent into the shape and size of the fender panels.

Tom
74 TCS - 4605 R

[TCS4605R]

Wait - not plastic wrap - use wax paper - also stolen from you wife’s supply.

Tom

[Sofa King]

Thanks for the wax paper tip! I was wondering if I was missing something that might work. I had thought about things that I could use as a form or buck to build over and then remove, but didn’t have anything that I thought would let go of the fiberglass. I’m sure I’ll need that little tidbit at some point!

[jbcollier]

I used vapour barrier plastic sheeting.  Works like a charm.