Author Topic: My 72 Europa SS  (Read 40348 times)

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Offline Rosco5000

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #315 on: Friday,September 06, 2019, 12:43:01 PM »
 :beerchug: Man that is awesome.  That has got to be one heck of a beast on the road.  Nicely done.
1974 Europa Special
1969 Europa S2
1970 Lotus Elan +2
1978 Austin Mini - 1275, big brakes
1991 Ford Explorer - Lifted on 33s, custom lift and radius arms
2005 Chrysler 300C - chipped, lowered 22s
2011 Cadillac Escalade - Stage 3 cam, Headers, CAI, 2,600 stall converter

Offline BDA

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #316 on: Friday,September 06, 2019, 02:00:23 PM »
Does your Europa sound like this?

I thought it might be fun to hear what our Europas sound like so I started the topic, "What does your Europa sound like today:  http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=3279.0

Offline Certified Lotus

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #317 on: Friday,September 06, 2019, 02:09:47 PM »
That sounds mean and wicked. Congrats on getting her running again!

Offline Sandyman

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #318 on: Friday,September 06, 2019, 03:28:06 PM »
Sofa, congratulations. A long time and a lot of challenges. Well worth the patient work you put into her. Now the new challenge will be keeping the blue and red flashing lights out of your rear view mirror.

Offline Sofa King

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #319 on: Friday,September 06, 2019, 03:55:50 PM »
What’s behind me is losing! :FUNNY:

Offline shootingsight

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #320 on: Monday,September 09, 2019, 03:50:41 PM »
I'm working on repairing some spider web cracks.  I'm going to use polyester, because in 1970 epoxy didn't exist, so I'm pretty sure the car was originally polyester, and I figure the compatibility will be better.  However based on the above thermal expansion data, I found a source of glass micro beads I'll mix in.  Not exactly the same as glass fibers, but ought to be close.

I started by marking cracks with a sharpie, so I could still see them through the dust, and got a Dremel with a router collar and a 3/32 ball nose mill that I adjusted to stick out maybe 0.020 or 0.030, and traced over the cracks to create arc shaped valleys.

I'll update on how it goes.




Offline GavinT

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #321 on: Monday,September 09, 2019, 08:33:41 PM »
I'm working on repairing some spider web cracks.

[...]

I'll update on how it goes.
G'day, shootingsight,

It's probably best to start a new thread for your fibreglass repairs instead of tacking a post on to this thread.
Perhaps ask our gracious host, LotusJoe to move it?

Online EuropaTC

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #322 on: Monday,September 09, 2019, 10:45:32 PM »
I'd agree with GavinT, rather than add to this thread you'll probably get more response with a dedicated topic, but in case it doesn't happen, here's my 2c worth....  :)

Now this is going to sound very critical but honestly, it's meant in a positive way with good intentions. 

If you grind out an area of cracks by chasing them individually then in my experience they will return 6 months or less after you've put the paint on.  If this is your first venture into repairing crazing then it's natural to do it as you have done (I did exactly the same thing many years ago) because it feels as if you're minimising the damage/repair area.

The snag is that although it looks easier in fact it's harder. The general advice is to grind the cracks away with a "blend in" area, so for example you might grind a single crack giving 1/2" to 1" either side with a gentle bevel from the root of the crack to the surface. For an area such as you have there I would just grind the whole lot out (I use an angle grinder with sanding disc) and leave at least 1" of blending/bevel area around the edges. I'd also remove paint for another couple of inches outside of the repair area. It will look awful and you'll be thinking "what have I done ?" but that's just how it works.

I also use polyester resin. I know some folks swear by epoxy but personally I don't see the point on body panels such as this. 

Glass beads will act very much like body filler in that it'll have less strength than plain resin and surface tissue (sometimes called surface veil) or glass matting.  Beads and suchlike work well if you're making an internal corner radius or using it to fill very small pinholes in the final repair, but mostly I use plain resin with surface tissue. I'll use surface tissue to bring back up to 1/16" of repair, any more than that and I tend to use a light matting for the first layers.

Brian

Offline Sofa King

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #323 on: Wednesday,September 11, 2019, 12:45:08 PM »
First drive today with new engine!!

Ran great! Excellent oil pressure, sounded very healthy!

Only issue is with the brakes dragging! Need to sort that before I do any extended trips, but it can’t be anything major!

Offline BDA

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #324 on: Wednesday,September 11, 2019, 02:07:50 PM »
Excellent news, sofa!  :beerchug:

After you get your brake-dragging issue resolved you'll be hell o wheels!

Offline Sofa King

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #325 on: Wednesday,September 11, 2019, 03:19:35 PM »
I think that I have my brake problem figured out. Should be an easy fix, but it will be a couple of days before our weather clears and I can test my repair.

I’ll post my results.

Offline Sofa King

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #326 on: Thursday,September 12, 2019, 02:41:42 PM »
Weather cleared and I was able to go on an extended test drive! Brakes were perfect, oil pressure was great, life is good!

Offline BDA

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #327 on: Thursday,September 12, 2019, 02:44:46 PM »
Woohoo!!  :beerchug:

Offline Sofa King

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #328 on: Monday,September 16, 2019, 03:43:26 PM »
I was able to put about 90 miles on it over the weekend! Hit a car show Sunday to show her off!

Offline BDA

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Re: My 72 Europa SS
« Reply #329 on: Monday,September 16, 2019, 03:53:15 PM »
Very cool! I'll bet you got a lot of attention at the show!  :beerchug: