My 72 Europa SS

[Certified Lotus]

Glad to see you got her on the road. Now it time to enjoy the drives while you still do all the little things to complete the Europa. (You know those never end....) 

[Sofa King]

It got quite a bit of attention. It was mostly a “muscle car” crowd, so there were a lot of “nice Lotus” but they never got to the back of the car to see that it was a Lotus of a different color. Others saw the engine and didn’t know that it didn’t belong. Anyone with any knowledge of the Europa or that recognized the LS6 was blown away.

[Sofa King]

Another milestone... it’s first highway excursion. Actually did better than I expected! Very stable, and the RPMs were lower than I expected. 

Biggest issue is heat in the cabin. I have some spots that I’m sure need additional insulation. The heat is mostly coming from the front. The engine doesn’t seem too bad. Even with the widows down, there isn’t much air movement in the cabin.

[BDA]

I wonder if the vents above the rear window are blocked. I also wonder if hot air from your radiator is making its way to the backbone. Did you change anything related to cabin ventilation in the front?

[Certified Lotus]

That’s odd. I have really great airflow in my car, even with the windows up. I don’t remember if you modified the front end for radiator, etc. And as BDA asked, have you blocked the interior vents along the rear window?

[Sandyman]

Sofa, by the looks of the custom chassis that you built the rad is between the front wheels. Have you made enough ventilation for the hot air leaving the rad?
Sandyman

[Sofa King]

Thanks guys! That answers the major point of my question. My chassis isn’t close to stock, and I’m pretty sure that is where my heat is coming from, but I was wondering if heat in the cabin was normal. The body seems so aerodynamic that I get very little wind buffeting.

I do have the vent above the rear window open, but I also left the tunnel completely open. My thought process was to let air pass down the tunnel and through the engine bay. I insulated the tunnel itself, but not any part of the front bulkhead. I meantioned earlier that there are a couple of things that I wanted to try, and blocking off the flow of air through the tunnel and insulating the bulkhead were on the top of the list. If that doesn’t help, I’ll try it without the hood. I have a spare hood that I could experiment with venting if I decide that is the best course of action.

[BDA]

Yeah, I think you're going to have to address the exhaust from the radiator. I've seen where some exhaust the hot air through the bonnet which would take it over the roof and away from you.

[Sandyman]

Another thought would be to put vents on the top of the front fenders like Leftangle has done on his type 66. I think they look very slick.
Sandy

[Certified Lotus]

I’m in agreement with BDA. You need to vent the radiator hot air from the front. I’m wondering if you could install a separate puller fan inside the front area to exhaust the heat load to the front tire areas ( as per the original design). That whole frontal area acts as a plenum. In the stock car it works extremely well (as long as the radiator pusher fan is on) to provide fresh air to the interior.

I have pulled my interior arm rest off while driving with the engine up to temp. A lot of heat comes from this area too. Once I finalized all my work I will be adding some self adhesive insulation here.

[Sofa King]

Thanks, those are all good ideas! I have quite a bit of open area into the wheel wells. My plan is to first block off the opening into the tunnel, and add insulation to the front bulkhead. Next I would try to divert the flow of air through the radiator into the wheel well openings with aluminum sheets. If none of that works, I’ll add vent holes to my spare hood (bonnet). I’m sure some or all of those will solve (or improve) my problem.

[dakazman]

  The Chip Foose bonnet may also solve your dilemma.
Dakazman

[Sofa King]

The “Foose” bonnet is about what i have in mind. But I’m up for other options if I can find something with more “Lotus” character. But I don’t know what that might be.

[Sandyman]

Some look at the front hoods of the Europa type 62. Something like that might work.

[Certified Lotus]

I might suggest that if your getting a lot of heat load, insulating the area is not a solution. You need to be looking at removing or at a minimum reducing the heat load. The only way to do that is to vent the area more efficiently.